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KF5JRV > TODAY 15.06.24 10:54l 53 Lines 3046 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 1021_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jun 15
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<N2NOV<K5DAT<VE3CGR<KF5JRV
Sent: 240615/0948Z 1021@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.24
More than 1,000 people taking a pleasure trip on New York City\u2019s East River are drowned
or burned to death when a fire sweeps through the boat. This was one of the United States\u2019
worst maritime disasters.
The riverboat-style steamer General Slocum was built in 1890 and used mostly as a
vehicle for taking large groups on day outings. On June 15, the St. Mark\u2019s German
Lutheran Church assembled a group of 1,360 people, mostly children and teachers,
for their annual Sunday School picnic. The picnic was to take place at Locust Point in
the Bronx after a cruise up the East River on the General Slocum.
At about 9 a.m., the dangerously overcrowded boat left its dock in Manhattan with
Captain William Van Schaik in charge. As the boat passed 83rd Street, accounts
indicate that a child spotted a fire in a storeroom and reported it to Captain Van
Schaik. Reportedly the captain responded, \u201cShut up and mind your own business.\u201d
But as the smoke became more obvious, crew members were sent to investigate.
By this time, the storeroom, filled with a combination of oil and excelsior (wood
shavings used for packing), was blazing out of control. The onboard fire hose,
which had never been used, tested or inspected, did not work.
Captain Van Schaik made a fateful decision at this time. Instead of directing the
boat to the nearest dock where firefighters could engage the fire, he pointed the
boat toward a small island in the East River. He later told investigators that he
did not want to risk spreading the fire to the dock and the rest of the city, but the
strategy proved deadly for the passengers. Instead of grounding the boat on the
sand, the boat crashed onto the rocks of the island\u2019s shore.
At this point, other factors also combined to exacerbate the situation. The lifeboats
were so firmly tied to the steamer that they could not be released. The life
preservers had not been filled with cork, but a non-buoyant material that made
them weighty. The children who used them sank to the bottom of the river. Other
children were trampled to death in the panic. More people were killed when the
raging fire collapsed some of the decks, plunging them into the fire.
In all, 630 bodies were recovered and another 401 were missing and presumed
dead. A cannon was brought to the scene and fired over the river the next day to
loosen bodies from the river mud. The boat\u2019s crew, and officers in the Knickerbocker
Company, owner and operator of the General Slocum, were charged with criminal
negligence. However, only Captain Van Schaik received a prison sentence. He was
supposed to serve 10 years, but was pardoned due to old age in 1908. President
Theodore Roosevelt fired the chief inspector of the U. S. Steamboat Inspection
Service in the aftermath of the accident; wholesale changes in the industry followed.
A mass grave was set up in Queens for the victims and a yearly memorial was
held to honor their memory.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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