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Ednar, The Post-Crescent: Yes, I was on the scene and recog nized the picture without first reading the article on the back cover of the Feb. # issue of The Post-Crescent section of “View.” This was the photo of The East land excursion boat disaster. I was only 10 years old but remember it vividly. My dad was a conductor on the old Chicago Alten Railroad pas senger train (now the Golf Mobile Ohio). My dad's run was every day to Chicago and return every evening to Dwight, Ilr. I made the trip with dad that morning. When the train arrived at the old Union Station everyone was a stir with the news. ‘'The Eastland turned over in the river and many lives last” was the headlines in the Chicago papers. Dad signed in to the dispatcher and changed from his uniform and we were on our way in minutes to the scene of the disaster. The one thing I remember was workmen cutting holes in the side of the hull with saws like those used to cut ice from a pond. I had left on boat trips with my dad and mother on this very dock several times to Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, South Haven and Holland, Michigan. All excursion boats left from the Graham Morton Docks which were at the foot of Clark and South Water streets, which is now Wacker Drive. Years later I worked at Marshall Field Co., wholesale. One old-timer there told me that Marshall Field Co. sent all available blankets from both the retail store on State Street and the wholesale division at Adams, Quincy and Wells street to the scene of the ac cident. Later, I remember reading the boat was salvaged and used for a Coast Guard vessel and later a training ship. Wayne H. Martin Appleton
Newspaper Details
Appleton Post Crescent
Appleton, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Feb 20, 1975
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Natalie Z.
MN, USA 21 Jun 2026
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