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ACTS OF HEROISM Many heroic acts were performed in the saving of lives as a result of the storm. When the City of Monroe was twisted away from the Anchor Line wharf, there were about 40 passengers on board and a full crew, as the boat was just making ready for the trip to New Orleans. When the moorings finally gave way the boat lurched over on its starboard side and nearly capsized. The movement threw nearly all the freight to the starboard side and this served to hold the boat in this perilous position. Captain Viegler made a reassuring speech to the passengers which slightly quieted the extreme excitement. He said they were all safe. When the boat struck the Illinois bank the captain was not to be found. At 7:30 o'clock Wednesday night, at which time the last news from the boat was received in St. Louis, he had not been found, and it is feared he was blown overboard. Fred W. Williams, a colored roustabout on the boat, saved four lives, all of children. Mrs. Mary Mannle, of 111 Collinsville avenue, East St. Louis, and her four children had been placed on the boat at 3 o'clock by their husband and father, Joseph Mannle. They were going to visit relatives at Cairo, Ill. Mrs. Mannle, with her children huddled close about her, was on the lower deck, awaiting, as she supposed, sure death. When the boat grounded, Williams, in answer to her appeals, grabbed one of the children and plunged overboard. A few strokes brought the little one safely to land, and Williams made three other trips, landing the other. children on the river bank. He performed this act of heroism in the midst of the storm, when there was the likelihood that the boat would be capsized every moment. When the wind had spent itself, the other passengers were landed in safety. Mannle, the father and husband, was soon on the scene, and Williams was the object of general worship at the Mannle homestead that night.
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