. ! The Cordi wa Daily Times
VOLUME (>NE. NUMBER 195. CORDOVA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, JULY 24,1915. . PRICE TKN CKNTS^
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1000 LIVES ARE LOST CAPSIZED BOAT
I
Special to The Times By Associated Press.
CHICAGO, July 24.—The big steamship East
land capsized in the Chicago river this morning
resulting in the known deaths of over 300 persons.
The Eastland had been chartered for the day, by
the employees of the Western Electric Company,
who had planned an excursion to Michigan City,
Indiana.
At the time of the catastrophe, the boat was tied
up at the dock, and there were about 2,500 people on
board. The cabins were full, mostly of women and
children, with the most of the excursionists crowding
the decks. A passing boat in the river attracted
the crowd to the outer side of the steamer. With
hundreds of people crowding the rail on one side of
the boat, the vessel commenced to list outward,
away from the dock. The water commenced to
flow into the cabins, and there was no escape for the
imprisoned women and children who perished in the
river waters among the most awful scenes of anguish
and torment.
As the Eastland listed, she broke away from
her moorings at the dock, turned slowly on her side,
and floated out into the middle of the river. When
the boat began to tip, the officers shouted a warning,
and ordered the crowd away from the outer rail,
but it was too late, as the boat had got too far over
to be swung back on her keel. She continued to
roll until the hawser snapped, and then floated off
with one side of the ship remaining above the water.
About one hundred of the excursionists climbed upon
the submerged portion of the vessel, and did yeoman
service in rescuing the others, pulling them out of
the water, and through the windows of the cabins.
Many others were saved by being picked out of the
water by the boats nearby, which rushed to the
rescue at once. Great holes have been cut in the side
of the Eastland, and the removal of the dead bodies
has commenced. Most of the dead are women and
children, and scenes of undescribable agony were
enacted on the doomed ship, as the little ones and
their mothers succumbed to the inrushing waters.
The survivors say that the boat was criminally over
loaded, and that the whole terrible occurrence took
but two minutes to enact. Police Superintendent
Schuetler estimates that there may be 1,000 dead. A
rigid investigation will be made into the overloading
of the boat, and the parties responsible brought to
account.
CHICAGO, July 24.—From the best information
obtainable the number of dead is estimated at 1,000
and 750 bodies have been recovered and identified.
Mayor Thompson, who has been attending the
Panama exposition, is hurrying home from San
Francisco on a special train.
CHICAGO, July 24.—All the down town depart
ment stores hurried truck loads of blankets to the
river front when the news of the terrible catastrophe
to the Eastland became known. The blankets were
not only used to cover the dead, but to wrap around
the drenched women and children who huddled in
shivering groups along the dock, cold and desolate.
Frantic efforts were made to revive the victims.
Pulmotors were secured as soon as possible, and
were worked on one body after another. As soon as
it became certain that life was extinct, the body
would be placed to one side and the pulmotor applied
to another victim.
CHICAGO, July 24.—Five steamers had been
chartered for the big excursion of the Western Elec
tric Company today. The Eastland was the first one
to be loaded, and took her fulfcapacity, 2,500 passen
gers. A government steamboat inspector stood at the
'gang plank, while the merrymakers filed on board,
and counted them. The Eastland is one of the fastest
excursion boats on the lake, being 265 feet long, and
38 feet wide.
CHICAGO, July 24.—Captain Harry Pedersen
and First Mate Fisher of the Eastland have
delivered themselves up to the police, and been
placed under arrest, pending a determination as to
who was responsible for the tremendous loss of life
on the Eastland. The fire department was called
out to assist in the removal of the bodies, and when
the firemen chopped their way through the side of
the overturned ship, they found the bodies of the
victims piled one on top of the other like cases of
merchandise. The bodies were loaded upon a tug
alongside of the Eastland as fast as they were
removed. On the tug they were placed upon stretch
ers and carried ashore to improvised hospitals that
had been arranged out of the buildings on the water
front. Hundreds of physicians were summoned to
direct the work of resustication.
<
FIELDSTAKEALL
i
f KATALLA, July 24.—There is con
siderable activity in this goold old
town, and at last we are enjoying a
wave of prosperity. Every idle man
has found employment, either with
the government party surveying the
Bering Coal fields or by the lighthouse
people who are installing a new light
at Cape St. Elias.
George Evans arrived on the
steamer Watson and will survey and
set aside the coal claims the govern
ment desires for naval purposes. The
other engineers are laying out the
other claims in units, preparatory to
leasing them, and it Is estimated that
to do this work will require most of
the summer.
Captain Porter, who was sent here
by the Alaska Engineering Commis
sion, to make weather observations, is
watching the tide at Kanak Island
and also surveying Controller Bay
harbor.
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MINTED TO
OFFICE
WASHINGTON. D. C.. Juyl 24.—
President Wilson today made two ap
pointments in Nebraska which have
been taken to indicate that there is no
serious breach between the chief
executive and his ex-secretary of state,
Bryan. He appointed Thomas N. Al
len, of Lincoln, a brother-in-law of
Bryan to the post of United States
attorney for the district, and selected
George L. Loomis, a strong Bryan
advocate as collector of internal
revenue for Nebraska.
RAILROAD AND MINING
OFFICALS G3 KENNECOTT
r _
Vice President R. W. Baxter of the
Alaska Steamhship Company and
Copper River & Northwestern Railway
and President Stephen Birch, of the
Kennecott Copper Corporation, Thos.
Riggs, Jr., of the Alaska Engineering
Commission, W. E. Dunkle and E. T.
Stannard, mining experts for the Gug
, genheims and Superintendent Caleb
t Corner left on a special train this
morning for Kennecott. They expect
to return to Cordova tomorrow.
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This Is Some Strawberry
There is on exhibition at the Cham
ber of Commerce rooms a monster
strawberry, grown by O. E. Lambert.
It measures four and a half inches in
circumference.
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Miss Helmlck Married
Word was received in the last mail
that Miss Merle Helmlck, formerly cm-!
ployed at Hegg’s studio has been mar
ried to a Mr. O’Keefe, a prominent
young business man of Tacoma.
—:o:—
Ralph Gordon left on the North
western for the states.
— :n- —
Miss O. Emerson and Miss A. Emer
son, who are making a pleasure trip
to Alaska, stopped off in Cordova and
are the guests of Mrs. H. N. Wilson.
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An extra train left here at noon
for Chitina and Kennecott, taklnp
passengers and freight for IntorlM
points.
SHIPS $1,000,000 ORE THIS WEEK
A million dollars’ worth of copper ore from the
Bonanza and Jumbo mines was shipped from Cor
dova to the Tacoma smelter this week. This valu
able cargo was taken out on three steamers, the
Alameda, Seward and Northwestern and there is
still about 500 tons of ore on the local dock, awaiting
the arrival of the freighter Cordova which is due in
port tomorrow.
When $1,500,000 worth of copper ore was
shipped from here in May, the financial world sat up
and took notice. This output was increased tr
$2,000,000 in June and'a new and startling record b
to be established for July. The interior mines an
working to their capacity and as long as the price ol
copper holds up that metal will continue to be mined
and shipped on an extensive scale.
In the meantime Cordova is being thoroughly
advertised throughout the United States as a great
copper producer and from present indications thb
town will add more to the mineral output of Alaski:
(luring 1915 than all the rest of the camps in the
territory combined.
, In this connection attention is also being
directed to the Copper River Valley as a tonnage
route and some of the leading newspapers and maga
zines of the country are inquiring why Cordova was
entirely overlooked by the Alaska Engineering
Commission in making its surveys from the coast to
the interior for a government owned railroad.
Possibly the members can otter some explanation of
their action, as we certainly cannot.
Makes Record Trip Fairbanks to Cordova
CHITINA, July 23.—Bobby Sheldon arrived
here last evening at 9:45 o’clock with his now auto
mobile, a seven passenger Cadillac. He left Fair
banks on Monday evening at 9:30 o’clock, bringing
out Thomas Riggs, Jr., a member of the Alaska
Engineering Commission, who is on route to
Anchorage and six other passengers, one of whom
got off at Willow Creek, bound' for Valdez. The first
stop out of Fairbanks was at Donnelly’s, the next
Meiers and then Chitina, with six passengers.
This makes a record trip over the summer trail.
Commissioner ltiggs having made the journey from
Fairbanks to Cordova in three days and 19 hours,
including stops at the roadhouses and waiting at
Chitina over night for today’s train. The
actual running time from Fairbanks to Chitina was
forty-two hours.
Autos are now getting to be quite the popular
method of travel here nowadays. Last evening C. L.
Hoyt arrived' from Gulkana with his auto truck.
Harry Chamberlain made the round trip to Jake
Nafsted’s roadhouse with several passengers and
J. P. Kockafellow entertained a party, by a trip out
the trail in his now Dodge machine.
Special to The Times By Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, I). 0., July 24.—'The govern
ment has determined to make diplomatic inquiries
of Germany concerning the attack made on the
Cunard liner Orduna by a German submarine. At
the time of the attack on the Orduna, which is n
passenger ship, there were a score of Americans on
board, whose lives would have been endangered if
the torpedo had struck home. One of the American
passengers has furnsihed a statement to the State
Department confirming the report that tin* boat was
atacked.
attacked.
ANOTHER RIOT OCCURS
IT STINDIRD Oil PUNT
BAYONNE, N. .1., July 24.—Another outbreak
occurred in the strike district, late yesterday when
i Sheriff Kincaid, of Hudson county, marched through
the streets at the head of 50 deputies, who had just
arrived to relieve the guard's on duty at the plants
of the Standard Oil and the Tidewater Companies.
Crowds gathered, following the deputies and hoot
ing and calling names. Before long, the crowd' began
to stone the marching men and a few shots were
fired, without anyone being hit. The police reserves
hurried to the scene and succeeded in restoring order
without much difficulty. Two of the men who were
wounded in the first riot, the day before yesterday,
are expected to die, the hospital physicians having
given up hope of saving their lives. All the others,
numbering more than fifty, will recover. Two
concialiators representing the Federal government
arrived here today, and began at once to hold eon
ferences with the representatives of both sides.
ITALY LIKELY TD QEGLARE
Will AGAINST TURKEY
Special to The Times By Associated Press.
HOME, July 23.—The diplomatic relations
between Italy and Turkey are strained, and there
is likely to be an open breach at any moment. Tin
refusal of Turkey to allow Italians to leave that
country is increasing the tension, and it is felt that
Italy will declare war on Turkey within a few days
ITALIAN ARMY TAKES
GORIZIA AFTER BATTLE
Special to The Times By Associated Press.
MILAN, Italy, July 24.—Tt is reported here
that th«‘ Italian army has occupied the city of
Gorizia. The report states that the city, which has
hetm one of the chief obstacles to the advance on
Trieste, fell after a tremendous artillery battle had
been carried on for weeks, with the Italians drawing
their trenches closer and closer to the doomed city.
REFORM SCHOOL BOYS
WIN FAME AT THE FRONT
LONDON, July 24.—Twenty thousand boys
from reformatories anti industrial reform schools
have won tin* Victoria Gross, and 56 others have been
forces since the beginning of tin* war. Three ot them
have wo nthe Victoria Cross, and 56 others have liven
rewarded with lesser decorations. The “roll of
honor” shows that 2,100 of the boys have been killed
* or wounded’.
WASHINGTON, O. C„ July 24.- ,
Officials of the American Red Gross
Society, who called on President Wil
son yesterday confessed to him their
discouragement at the conditions In
Mexico. The Society has been strenu
ously attempting to get food into the
famine districts of Mexico, and their
efTorts have practically all ended with
failure. The preslden urged the offi
cials not to discontinue their efforts
to aid the sufferers from the famine,
but despite the difficulties they were
encountering he asked them to con
tinue trying to get food Into the dis
tressed sections, and at least do the
best they could
NATURALIST LOSES
BOTH HIS HANDS
NOME, July 21 The (’orwin has
returned from her first walrus hunt
and relates a tale of frightful suffer
ing on the part of the Russian Bhip
Kolyma on the coast of Siberia, which
suffering resulted in the loss of four
lives and the loss of the hands of
Johan Koren, the naturalist who is so
well known to the people of this camp.
The Corwin brought back a big cargo
of skins, bone and oil. Captain Healy
relates that they met the Rus
sian ship Kolyma near the mouth
of the Kolyma river. She had been
frozen In there last fall. Two of the
crew died during the winter of scurvy
and the remainder suffered from ill
ness. In the middle of the winter the
vessel tried to escape through the ice
but had a large hole torn In her hull
bringing her near total destruction.
Captain Healy gave the stricken crew
all the fresh food of the Corwin and
Koren lost his hands by freezing.
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Northwestern Sails South
The steamer Northwestern reached
port at 8:3d o'clock last night and re
mained here until 3:30 o'clock this
morning taking on ore for the Tacoma
smelter. Her Cordova passengers for
Seattle were. Mrs. A. J. llenneke,
Miss Estelle Fitz. I’eter Vachon, R. L.
Vlning, J. R. Howard. F. If. Ewing,
Ralph Gordon, George Habu and 1*
steerage.
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Making Tour of Alaska
Miss E. M. Taylor, of Liverpool,
one of the tourists on the steamer
Northwestern, spent last evening in
town as the guest of Mrs. M. Laska.
Miss Taylor has visited all South
eastern and Southwestern Alaska
ports and will make a trip to Dawson
before returning to England.
Fairbanksans Go Outside
Peter Vaohon. R. L. Vining and Miss
Estelle Fitz arrived from Fairbanks
on yesterday's train and sailed this
morning on the Northwestern for
Seattle.
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Big Catch of Salmon
Yesterday K1.000 fish were brought
In from the Copper River flats for the
Canoe Pass Packing Company.
—-:o:
E. E. Prasons. of the Schonacker
! Brokerage Co., Juneau, is In town
| looking after local trade.
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E. S. Hewitt, representing Smith
Bros, typewriter, is registered at the
Windsor Hotel.
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J. B. Howard, who has been here
for some time, left today for Seattle.
Mrs. A. J. Henneke departed today
on a visit to her people in Wisconsin.