MANY FORCED TO LAST TRIP ON EASTLAND
Employees of Western Electric Bought Tickets On Fatal Excursion in Order to Avoid Displeasure of Company Foreman

MORE WERE ABOARD THAN ANNOUNCED

A Money-making Arrangement Has Been Disclosed. The Government Will Conduct a Rigid Inquiry Into Blame for Disaster

[Associated Press Dispatch] CHICAGO, July 26 -- Plans for an investigation by federal, state and city authorities to fix the blame for the capsizing of the Eastland have been completed. The inquest will start tomorrow. Efforts continue to remove the victims of the disaster. Despite an all day search by divers but a dozen bodies were found. Estimates of the number held under the boat vary from 150 to 500.

The coroner and state's attorney reiterate the charge that all possible causes of the disaster could be blamed to the negligence of the federal inspectors and the failure to enforce the marine laws. The last inspection was made by Robert Reed, a government official, who declared the steamer fit this spring and procured a position as chief engineer of the boat for his son-in-law, J.M. Erickson.

Efforts to tabulate the dead and determine the total death list at a round thousand or twelve hundred as some predict, continue. The Western Electric company say that 400 of its employees are still missing. The probability of swelling the list was announced by detectives who assert that the tickets numbered 2,550, exclusive of children, musicians and crew and that the total may have been 2,800 instead of 2,408, the number reported sold.

Complaint was made that several employees were forced to buy tickets to the picnic fearing discrimination by the foremen. Correspondence seized show that the ship company urged that "the more tickets sold, the greater the rebate in aid of the organization." According to the state's attorney the letter showed a rebate offer of one-third on all over 4,000 and less on those above 2,500.

Correspondence between Secretary of Commerce Redfield and William Hull of Benton Harbor, Michigan, vice-president and general manager of the St. Joseph and Chicago Steamship company, the owner of the Eastland, in regard to the effort of the enforcement of the new seaman's law would have had on the Eastland, indicated that the department of commerce had not conceded anything that would tend to make the steamer less safe than the law demanded.

Redfield aroused by the catastrophe at Chicago, tomorrow will take charge of the government end of investigation. He has been directed by the president to do everything to disclose the blame for the upsetting of the Eastland and discover ways of preventing a repitition of such an accident.

To make sure that none of the members should avoid the inquest and other inquiries, eight more of the crew were arrested. Nearly all of the seventy-two men employed on the ship are now held, in addition to Walter Steele, the secretary of the company, owning the boat.

The county grand jury was ordered to hold a session to take cognizance of any evidence of criminal negligence in connection with the overturning of the Eastland. The members of the jury went over the wreck but said they had nothing further to present. The identification of the victims was all but completed tonight, except the corpses still in the river. The checking against duplications in the various lists proceeded all night. Funerals were held for a few of the dead and many more are planned for tomorrow, but most of the burials will take place Wednesday.

Bishop McDowell of the Methodist church and Reverand Samuel Fallows of the Reformed Episcopal church took charge of the funeral sermon arrangement and gathered volunteer preachers to officiate at the obsequies those for which no other arrangements had been made.

More than $200,000 was subscribed by business houses and individuals during the day to alleviate suffering among those who have lost means of support in the tragedy. While several families are almost wiped out, most of the households affected have lost only one, or two members. Many employees of the Western Electric company had been working part of the time but with the aid of the National Red Cross it is thought there will be no suffering for lack of funds.

William Olander, secretary of the Lake Seaman's Union, tonight said that many other ships on the Great Lakes were as dangerous as the Eastland because of faulty construction. He said that the Eastland was not properly designed and he charged that the United States inspectors under Captain Westcott of Detriot, chief of the lake district, played into the hands of the ship owners at the expense of sailors and passengers.

He said this was shown by the fact that thirty-one ships passed by inspectors had sunk on the Great Lakes since 1905, several of them taking all on board to death. This statement and others of a similar nature caused the investigators to decide to look into the conditions of all vessels issuing from the Chicago harbor. Captain Westcott was subpoenaed to tell his side as to the inspection of lake steamers.