1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Racy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 1: The ps General Slocum burned in the East River in 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: New York on June n o four, so a hundred 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 1: and fifteen years ago this month, and this disaster has 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: also been a really frequent listener request, including from Kell, Suzanne, Linda, 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: Jesse Tory, and Michael Um. It has some similarities to 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: the East Lynn disaster, which we talked about on the 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: show a couple of years ago. Both of these vessels 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: had been chartered for a group outing that turned into 12 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: just a deadly maritime disaster very suddenly. Both of these 13 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 1: were also topics that I knew from the start we're 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: going to be tragic, but then turned out to be 15 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: even worse than I imagined them. The paddle steamer General 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: Slocum was built in It was named after Henry Warner 17 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: Slocum of New York, who had served as a general 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: in the Union Army during the Civil War. The ship 19 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: was one of two steamers owned by the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, 20 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: the other being the Grand Republic. It was a large 21 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: wooden sidewheel steamer with three decks. The General Slocum was 22 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: licensed to carry up to passengers, and when it was 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: first launched it was a modern, luxurious vessel, but by 24 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: nineteen o four it was really starting to show its age, 25 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: although it had been regularly repainted over the years, including 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: shortly before the disaster, but it also passed an inspection 27 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: on May five of nineteen o four. The Slocum was 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: an excursion boat intended for making short trips around New 29 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: York's waterways from the spring through the fall. In the 30 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: early part of the season, people could charter the whole 31 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: vessel for a flat fee. Starting around the beginning of July, 32 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: it operated as a ferry on the Rockaway Route, connecting Manhattan, Brooklyn, 33 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: and Rockaway on Long Island. For its June fifteenth, nineteen 34 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: o r trip, it had been chartered by St. Mark's 35 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: Evangelical Lutheran Church at a cost of three hundred fifty dollars. 36 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: The church was hosting its annual picnic to celebrate the 37 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: end of the school year, and most of the people 38 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: who were attending were church members who lived in Manhattan's 39 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: Lower east side. They lived in a neighborhood known as 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: Klein deutsche Land or Little Germany, because of a very 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: large population of German immigrants and their descendants who lived there. 42 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: At the time, this was one of the largest German 43 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: American communities in the United States. About one thousand, three 44 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: hundred fifty eight passengers were aboard the Slocum on the 45 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: day of the disaster. The exact number is actually an estimate, 46 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: since there were tickets for this excursion, but babies didn't 47 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: need one, and sometimes multiple children were brought aboard on 48 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: one ticket. Since the picnic was being held on a Wednesday, 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: most of the adult passengers were women. The men and 50 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: the families were more likely to be at work. Overall, 51 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: more than half the people aboard were children, and only 52 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: between fifty and one fifty of the passengers were adult men. 53 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: These passengers were in high spirits, dressed in their Sunday 54 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: best and prepared for a two hour cruise along the 55 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: East River from the Third Street Recreation Pier to the 56 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: north shore of Long Island. Once they got there, they 57 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: would spend the day at a picnic ground called Locust Grove. 58 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: They had food and a bar on the boat along 59 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: with entertainment provided by a band that was playing on 60 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: the promenade deck. Although they embarked generally as families, once 61 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: people were aboard, parents were totally comfortable letting their children 62 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: go off on their own and play together. They left 63 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: the dock between nine thirty and nine forty in the morning. 64 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: In command was the Captain William H. Van Shaik, with 65 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: first pilot Edward van Wort and second pilot Edwin Weaver. 66 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: Van Shaike had been aboard the General Slocum since its 67 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: launch and had a reputation for being safe and careful, 68 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: but he was also in his sixties and the General 69 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: Slocum had been through a number of incidents and accidents 70 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: over the years, so some people thought that it was 71 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: maybe time for him to retire. Not long into this journey, 72 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: of fires started in the forward compartment on the main deck. 73 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: It's not clear exactly how because there were just so 74 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: many possible sources. The forward compartment was being used as 75 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: both a storage room and a lamp room. Machine oil 76 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: for the mechanical systems was stored in the forward compartment 77 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: as well, along with two bags of charcoal and various rubbish. 78 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: There were lots of other flammable materials in this wooden compartment, 79 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: including three open barrels of glassware that were packed in hay. 80 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: Those had been brought aboard for the excursion. This was 81 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: also where a member of the crew filled and maintained 82 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: the lamps using a makeshift table made of wooden planks 83 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: laid over a couple of trestles. In the course of 84 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: this work, the floor of the compartment had been covered 85 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,600 Speaker 1: in a thin layer of oil. There had also been 86 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: an open flame in this room at several points over 87 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: the course of the morning. The compartment itself had electric lighting, 88 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: as did other parts of the ship, but that morning 89 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: the porter who was responsible for filling the lamps had 90 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: found the room to be very dark, so he had 91 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: lit one of the lamps using a match. He later 92 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: testified that he could extinguish the match, and he had 93 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: thrown it down on a bench. Someone else had been 94 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: working on part of the mechanical system in the room, 95 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: using an open torch as a light source. People also 96 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: lit matches and had other open flame in the room 97 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: for all kinds of reasons, something that was just inherently 98 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: dangerous given what was in there. Shortly after the fire started, 99 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: the general slogan was approaching a narrow part of the 100 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: East River known as Hellgate. About that time, a boy 101 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: noticed smoke coming from near the forward cabin. He told 102 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: a member of the crew, who apparently thought that the 103 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: child was playing some kind of prank and told him 104 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: to mind his business. A few minutes after that, other 105 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: members of the crew saw smoke coming from the forward cabin, 106 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: and they realized there was a fire and started trying 107 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: to put it out. The ship's firefighting equipment included a 108 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: standpipe and hoses. The standpipe and its valves were in 109 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: good working order, but the hoses were mostly old, cheap 110 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: linen hoses. Members of the crew attached a piece of 111 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: this old hose to the valve near the forward compartment 112 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: and asked the engineering room to send water through the standpipe, 113 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: but as soon as the water hit that hose, it 114 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: shattered in multiple places. There were also a couple of 115 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: newer rubber hoses on the boat, and members of the 116 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: crew got one of those to try again, but they 117 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: couldn't get that new hose to connect to the standpipe. 118 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: When they couldn't figure out why, they gave up, and 119 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: an investigation later revealed that when the first hose shattered. 120 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: It was blown off the coupling that was holding it 121 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: onto the standpipe, but the coupling itself was still there. 122 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: In their panic, the crew members didn't realize that the 123 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: old coupling was still connected, and if they had removed 124 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: the old coupling, the new pose would have connected with 125 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,280 Speaker 1: no problem. This was really the last of the cruise 126 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,119 Speaker 1: effort to try to fight the fire. There were fire 127 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: buckets on board, but they were empty and they weren't 128 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: put into use. There are also reports that a hapless 129 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: crew member dumped a bucket of charcoal onto a fire 130 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: to try to smother it. That doesn't appear in the 131 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: Federal Commission's report about the disaster, and it's such a 132 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: far fetched idea that someone would do that that it 133 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: seems almost unbelievable. At the same time, the way the 134 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: disaster progressed from here is almost unbelievable, and we're going 135 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: to talk more about it. After we first paused for 136 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: a little break. After the fire was discovered in the 137 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: forward compartment of the PS General Slocum, it doesn't appear 138 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: that the Captain William H. Von Schaik personally assessed what 139 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: was happening with it or gave any kind of orders 140 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: to try to get it under control. Instead, he looked 141 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: at where they were on the river and decided to 142 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: beach the ship so that people might be able to 143 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: jump to safety. The nearest land was west of the 144 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: boat in the Bronx, but this area was full of 145 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 1: stored lumber and gas tanks. Apparently someone warned Von Shaike 146 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: away from it for that reason, or he decided that 147 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: landing flaming vessel there would be more dangerous than trying 148 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: to find another location. The captain ordered the pilots to 149 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: aim north northeast toward North Brother Island. This required them 150 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: to travel at full steam ahead into deep water in 151 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: the middle of the East River. So the ps General 152 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: Slocum was made almost entirely out of wood. Its middle 153 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: deck was a promenade deck with it was mostly open 154 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: to the air, with a smaller enclosed space in the middle. 155 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: The top deck was a hurricane deck that was similarly 156 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: open to the air, and hurricane decks just get their 157 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: name from how incredibly windy attempts to be up there. 158 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: So when the vessel started bearing down toward North Brother Island, 159 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: it was full steam ahead against the wind and the 160 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: resulting air flow across its structure quickly spread the fire 161 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: from the forward compartment toward the back of the vessel. 162 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: When the fire started, the passengers were spread all around 163 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: the ship. There were more people on the promenade deck 164 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: than in other passenger areas because that's where the band was, 165 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: and because the fire heard it in the forward compartment, 166 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: most of the passengers were behind it. That meant that 167 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: as the boat picked up speed, the wind was spreading 168 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: the fire directly toward them. Very quickly. People started to 169 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: panic as various family members had got off to play 170 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: or socialized. People had become separated from one another, so 171 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: parents didn't know where their children were, and children couldn't 172 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: find their parents. Also, most of the people aboard could 173 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: not swim. Swimming hadn't really taken off as a pastime 174 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: in the United States at this point, and clothing suitable 175 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: for actually swimming was not considered decent for women to 176 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: wear at all. And, as we said earlier, because this 177 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: was a nice outing, the people aboard were in their 178 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: Sunday best so as the fire spread, people had a choice. 179 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: They could jump into deep water, weighed down by their clothing, 180 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: knowing that they could not swim, or they could stay 181 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: where they were and risk burning to death. The general 182 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: Slocum did have life preservers aboard, unlike a lot of 183 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: the other Meretime disasters that we've covered on the show. 184 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: There was a life preserver for every passenger, but these 185 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: were old. Some of them probably dated back to when 186 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 1: the ship was newly built. Their covers were rotten, so 187 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: when people got them down and tried to use them, 188 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,439 Speaker 1: some of them just fell completely apart in their hands. 189 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: Others had intact covers, but the cork inside had rotted 190 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: into dust, so when people jumped into the water with 191 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: these on, they just soaked up the water and became 192 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: incredibly heavy, rather than helping people to stay afloat. At 193 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: the same time, though very few of Slocum's life preservers 194 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: were put into use, Some passengers, as we said, grabbed 195 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:36,599 Speaker 1: a life preserver only for it to fall apart in 196 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: their hands, and then they just gave up on trying 197 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: to find another one. Also, the crew did almost nothing 198 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: to help distribute them. One testified at the coroner's inquest 199 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: that he had put one life preserver onto a person, 200 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: and that was the one that he put on himself. 201 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: Only about fifty life preservers were definitely used during the disaster, 202 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: twenty of them on people who drowned while wearing them. 203 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: The Slocum also had lifeboats. The boats themselves were in 204 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: generally good condition, but they weren't put into use during 205 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: the disaster either. The crew had never been trained on 206 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: how to operate them, and the mechanisms to lower them 207 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: had been painted over and were immovable. Some of the 208 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,959 Speaker 1: lifeboats were even wired down. Even if the crew had 209 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: been able to move these boats with the ship operating 210 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: at full steam ahead, they just couldn't have been lowered 211 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: safely into the water. The timeline of the disaster was 212 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: pieced together from eyewitness testimony, and it took as long 213 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: as twenty minutes from the time the fire was discovered 214 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: to the general Slocum being beached off North Brother Island. 215 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: During that time, the fire consumed more and more of 216 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,079 Speaker 1: the boat, and passengers jumped into the water. Rather than 217 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 1: burning to death, most drowned and some were crushed in 218 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: the paddle wheels. Then, just as the boat was reaching 219 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: North Brother Island, the starboard side of the hurricane deck 220 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: collapsed under the weight of hundreds of passengers. Dumping all 221 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: of them directly into deep water, but beating the vessel 222 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: off North Brother Island did not allow the rest of 223 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: the passengers to jump to safety the way that the 224 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: captain had hoped that it would. The vessel came to 225 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: rest at an angle with its bowl between ten and 226 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,479 Speaker 1: twenty ft from the shore. That's between three and six ms, 227 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: but that put the stern of the boat more like 228 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: forty to sixty ft from shore or twelve to eighteen meters. 229 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: The current there was very fast. The water was way 230 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: over people's heads, and because of the way the fire 231 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: had spread, almost all the passengers were towards the very 232 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: stern of the ship, where they had to jump into 233 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: this deep, fast moving water. It's estimated that between four 234 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: hundred and six hundred people jumped into the water and 235 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: drowned after the boat had been beached. North Brother Island 236 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: was home to a quarantine hospital for people with contagious illnesses, 237 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: and members of its staff came to the shore to 238 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: try to assist. Two nearby tug boats, the John L. 239 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: Wade and Walter Tracy, also rendered aid and probably saved 240 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: the lives of hundreds of people. Two men incarcerated at 241 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: nearby Rikers Island compelled a doctor who was working there 242 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: to take them to the site of the wreck in 243 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 1: a rowboat so that they could help with the rescue, 244 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: and there were people on other boats or boats who 245 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: rode out from shore who rescued people who had jumped 246 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: into the water along the way. But even with the 247 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: prompt assistance of all these people from outside the ship, 248 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: almost everyone aboard was injured or killed. It was the 249 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,199 Speaker 1: worst single day disaster in New York until the September eleventh, 250 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: two thousand one terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. 251 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: Roughly a thousand passengers died, and that was more than 252 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: seventy of the passengers aboard. Only two passengers escaped without injury. Meanwhile, 253 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: the crew, most of whom did not try to help 254 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: stop the fire or assist the passengers, was almost unscathed. 255 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: Twenty three of the thirty crew escaped without injury and 256 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: two were killed. For a while after being beached, the 257 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: general slocum stayed in place off North Brother Island. People 258 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: who came to help were mostly able to get it extinguished, 259 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,559 Speaker 1: and for a time the number of bodies pulled from 260 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: the water was relatively small, so a lot of people. 261 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: We're hopeful that there had been a miraculous recovery of 262 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: a lot of the folks. But the East River isn't 263 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 1: really a river. It's a tidal estu area that connects 264 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: New York Harbor to the Long Island Sound. Consequently, it 265 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: experiences regular tides, and as the tides rose, it lifted 266 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: the wreck, which floated about a mile before coming to 267 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: rest again off Hunt's Point, which is north of Rikers Island. 268 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: The shifting tides and currents also meant that more and 269 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: more bodies started washing ashore all along the East River, 270 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: something that continued for days. By one am on the sixteenth, 271 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: seven hundred thirty nine bodies had been recovered and sent 272 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: to a city morgue, as well as temporary morgues on 273 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: North Brother and Rikers Islands. This disaster was catastrophic for 274 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: New York City's German American community, and it was also 275 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: obvious that something had gone call silly, unacceptably wrong. We'll 276 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: get to the disaster's aftermath after another sponsor break. The 277 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: disaster aboard the PS General Slocum was devastating, especially in 278 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: New York's German American community. At least six hundred families 279 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: lost someone, and some families only had one surviving member, 280 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: somebody who had been at work that day instead of 281 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: on the excursion, who basically came home and found that 282 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: their whole family had died. Many of the people who 283 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: survived had serious burns, some of which were disabling. Many 284 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: had lifelong breathing problems because of smoke inhalation and burns 285 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: to their lungs. Post traumatic stress disorder wasn't recognized until 286 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: decades later, but survivors also had ongoing effects on their 287 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: mental and emotional health. The Little Germany neighborhood of the 288 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: Lower East Side had started to coalesce in the nineteenth 289 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: century as people left Europe in the face of famine 290 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: and unrest. The neighborhood really grew from the eighteen thirties 291 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: to the eighteen fifties, and in eighteen fifty five it 292 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: was one of the largest German communities in the world. 293 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: By nineteen o four, this community had outgrown the Lower 294 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: East Side and was starting to expand into other parts 295 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: of New York. This included people who had been born 296 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: to that first wave of German immigrants who wanted to 297 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: get out on their own, so some of the neighborhood's 298 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: population was already moving elsewhere before this disaster happened, but 299 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: afterward the neighborhood changed dramatically. People who had lost family 300 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: members found it too painful and moved away, either to 301 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: other parts of New York or other cities, or back 302 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: to Germany. Even for people who weren't really close to 303 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: any of the families that had been aboard, the sudden 304 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: deaths of so many children changed the character of the 305 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: neighborhood enormously. People described it as unnaturally painfully quiet. Soon 306 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: the Manhattan neighborhood of Yorkville was more associated with the 307 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: city's German community than the Lower East Side was. Other 308 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: communities in New York were affected by the tragedy as well, 309 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: including neighboring Italian and Jewish neighborhoods, but the Lower Reassigns 310 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: German Protestant community was by far the hardest hit. St. 311 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: Mark's Lutheran Church also lost much of its congregation. That 312 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: building still stands today, and it was converted into a 313 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: synagogue in ninety Naturally, people were outraged by this incredible 314 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: loss of life. The captain was also hospitalized due to 315 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: injuries that he sustained in the disaster, and he was 316 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: arrested while he was still in the hospital. He also 317 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: received hundreds of threatening letters. People called for investigations into 318 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: the accident and the steamboat company and the excursion boat 319 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: industry in general. A coroner's inquest was held about two 320 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: weeks after the incident and recommended that charges be brought 321 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: against the president and directors of the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, 322 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: the captain, the company's port captain, John A. P. S, 323 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: the ship's mate, and the government inspectors who had cleared 324 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: the boat. The coroner's jury also issued the opinion that 325 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: the system for inspecting vessels in New York's harbors was 326 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: not sufficient. Federal commission was also convened to investigate, and 327 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: they issued a report on October eighth, nineteen o four. 328 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: By that point, the General Slocum's wreckage had been raised 329 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,439 Speaker 1: from the river and towed to Rikers Island to be 330 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: pumped out, and the process, the bodies of eighteen more 331 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: people were found within the wreck, including one lodged in 332 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,880 Speaker 1: the wheel. The Investigation Commission personally inspected this wreckage, which 333 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,880 Speaker 1: was later sold and converted into a barge. That barge 334 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: think in New Jersey in nineteen eleven, but that time 335 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: there was no loss of life. Nearby tugboat rescued the crew, 336 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: who were the only people on board. The Commission's report 337 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,719 Speaker 1: was scathing and found numerous problems that were not at 338 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: all unique to the general Slocum. To start with, it 339 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: had been built with minimal attention to fire safety. It 340 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: had a working standpipe in the event of a fire, 341 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: and it was built with the boilers that required distance 342 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: from the wooden surfaces. Beyond that, though, fire safety did 343 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: not seem like it had been a consideration at all. 344 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,679 Speaker 1: The boat didn't have fireproof bulkheads or any other feature 345 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: that might slow down or stop the spread of a fire. Instead, 346 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: it was almost entirely a flammable vessel, covered in layers 347 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: and layers of flammable paint and varnish. The same was 348 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: true of most excursion vessels that were in use at 349 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: the time. The crew also was not trained in fire 350 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: safety or in what to do in the event of 351 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: a fire. Crews were supposed to have regular fire drills, 352 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,360 Speaker 1: but the Slocum's crew had not had one in more 353 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: than a year. Compounding this lack of training was the 354 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: fact that most of The crew were seasonal workers who 355 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 1: had been hired for very low pay. They had very 356 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: little training or experience, and because they've been seasonally hired, 357 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: some of them had never experienced a fire drill of 358 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: any type on any ship. Ever, they were not familiar 359 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: with basic things like what the ship's fire alarms sounded like, 360 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: or how to put on a life preserver. Another problem 361 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,159 Speaker 1: was an overall lack of maintenance, with many life preservers 362 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: and fire hoses literally rotten with age. After the General 363 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: Slocum disaster, other companies started replacing their worn out, rotten 364 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 1: life preservers with new stock, but that uncovered another problem. 365 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: Compressed blocks of cork were commonly used to make life preservers. 366 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: An employee at a life preserver factory in New York 367 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: discovered that at least one cork supplier was tampering with 368 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,959 Speaker 1: the product. This employee had been handling a block of 369 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: cork that was sold to them by the Non Perell 370 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: Cork Works of Camden, New Jersey, and something just didn't 371 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: feel right about it. Breaking open, the block of cork 372 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: revealed a six inch long iron bar. It's about fifteen 373 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: centimeters and it weighed about eight ounces or more than 374 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: two grams, so life preservers were supposed to contain six 375 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: pounds of cork, but instead of selling six pound cork blocks, 376 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 1: this corkworks was shorting the amount of cork and making 377 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: up the difference with iron. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote a 378 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: letter to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor that went 379 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: along with the Federal Commission's report. In it, he described 380 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: this as an offense quote so heinous a character that 381 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: it is difficult to comment upon it with proper self restraint. 382 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: It appears that the National Legislature has never enacted a 383 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: law providing in set terms for the punishment of this 384 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: particular species of infamy, doubtless because it never entered the 385 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: head of any man. That's so gross an infamy could 386 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: be perpetrated. Sometimes when you are reading articles on the 387 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: Internet about this disaster, it'll say that the life preservers 388 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: on the Slocum had iron bars in them. That does 389 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,719 Speaker 1: not appear to be the case. This appears to be 390 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: like the newly made ones that people were using to 391 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: replace the ones that clearly needed to be replaced. The 392 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: Commission's report was also scathing in terms of the captain 393 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: and the two pilots and how they had conducted themselves 394 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 1: during the fire. As we noted earlier, the master of 395 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: the vessel, William H. Vansteik, doesn't appear to have evaluated 396 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: what was happening with the fire, or given any orders 397 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 1: about fighting it, or issued any instructions about getting the 398 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: passengers to safety. He and the boat's pilots were all 399 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: in the pilot house when they learned about the fire. 400 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,439 Speaker 1: Van Shik ordered the pilots to proceed full speed ahead. 401 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: He left the pilot house for a moment, and then 402 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: he said, upon returning, that they should beach the boat 403 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: at North Brother Island. When the boat was beached, he 404 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: jumped overboard, breaking one of his legs in the process. 405 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: So Van Shayk had failed in multiple duties that were 406 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: his responsibility both before and during the accident. He had 407 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,239 Speaker 1: not ensured that the boat and its life saving and 408 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: firefighting equipment were up to safety standards. He had not 409 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: seen to the safety of the passengers. He had not 410 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,640 Speaker 1: conducted a fire or lifeboat drill that season. He had 411 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 1: not fulfilled any of his duties in the actual emergency, 412 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: which included delegating responsibilities to see to the passenger safety 413 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: and ensure that they did not panic. The commission also 414 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: found that Vansheike had multiple opportunities to safely beach the 415 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: vessel much earlier, but didn't take them, and if he 416 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: had done so, the fire would have had much less 417 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: time to spread before people could evacuate. These other possible 418 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: beaching points included Little hell Gate and Sunken Meadows, and 419 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 1: getting to them would have required the boat to turn 420 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,199 Speaker 1: sharply to the west. Then the wind would have been 421 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: blowing across the vessel rather than down its length, which 422 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: could have helped limit the spread of the fire. Van 423 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 1: Shake maintained that he had learned the fire too late 424 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: to beach the ship at any of these other points, 425 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: and that North Brother Island was their only option. It 426 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,359 Speaker 1: should also be noted that he stayed at his post 427 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: in the pilot house even as it burned around him, 428 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: and his clothes caught fire. The commission also found that 429 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: the lead pilot, Edward L. Van Work, was also at 430 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: fault for the way the vessel came to rest off 431 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: North Brother Island. It had come to rest at such 432 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: an angle that there was just no way for the 433 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 1: passengers to escape safely, and in the Commission's opinion, this 434 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: was either poor judgment or a lack of skill. Compounding 435 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: all of this, the testimony of the aptain and the 436 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: pilots didn't match up with the timeline that was pieced 437 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: together from other witnesses. These three men all said the 438 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,120 Speaker 1: same thing, that they beached the boat off North Brother 439 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,159 Speaker 1: Island less than three minutes after being informed of the fire, 440 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: and North Brother Island was their only option, But whitness 441 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: testimony from survivors and from witnesses on other vessels and 442 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: on shore suggested that the time between when the fire 443 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: started and the vessel was beached was as long as 444 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: twenty minutes. Either no one informed the captain of what 445 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: was happening for more than ten minutes, or the captain 446 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: and pilots were trying to protect themselves by saying they 447 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: didn't know about the fire until later. And The investigation 448 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: also found a lot of other problems as well, including 449 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 1: that the ship's mate did not have the required license. 450 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: It was also noted that the nature of an excursion 451 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: crowd meant that the passengers themselves really were not equipped 452 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: to take over and handle things in a crisis. They 453 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: needed to be in the care of a competent, well 454 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: trained crew who knew how to keep their safety. In 455 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,680 Speaker 1: my mind, and to quote the report quote, a very 456 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: important conclusion from this set of facts is that the 457 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: law and regulations must recognize the fact that an excursion 458 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,919 Speaker 1: party must be taken care of and cannot take care 459 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,400 Speaker 1: of itself. Henry Lundbergh was one of the inspectors who 460 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: had passed the general slocum just before the incident. He 461 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: was fired from his position, and both he and Inspector 462 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 1: John W. Fleming were indicted on charges of fraud, misconduct 463 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 1: and inattention to duty. The managing directors of the Knickerbocker 464 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: Steamboat Company were indicted as well, but the only person 465 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: ever convicted of a crime was Captain Van Shike, who 466 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: was convicted of criminal negligence on January seven, nineteen o six. 467 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: He had also faced two charges of manslaughter, but the 468 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: jury was unable to reach a verdict, and those he 469 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: was sentenced to ten years, including hard labor, which was 470 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: the maximum sentence allowed. The judge said that he wanted 471 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: to make an example of him, in part because no 472 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,719 Speaker 1: one else who clearly was culpable in this was facing 473 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: any actual trial. Yeah, it's like a carnival of complete 474 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: in attention to duty. Yeah, like Van Stike clearly made 475 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: a lot of errors here, but he also was scapegoatd 476 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: for this whole thing. Like he the whole thing got 477 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: pinned on him when it was a systemic problem at 478 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: multiple levels. Yeah, there were a lot of balls dropped 479 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,200 Speaker 1: along the way. Uh. Van Shike was incarcerated at Sing Sing, 480 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: but he was paroled after three and a half years. 481 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 1: President William Howard Taft pardoned him in nineteen eleven. The 482 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: families of the victims also received no restitution or compensation. 483 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:40,120 Speaker 1: The Knickerbocker Steamboat companies creditors filed suit, as did survivors 484 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: and families of the victims, and eventually the City of 485 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: New York. The company asked the court to limit its 486 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: liability to five thousand dollars, which was the value of 487 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: the ship after the disaster, and the company also faced 488 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: enormous criticism for continuing to operate its other vessel, the 489 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: Grand Republic, especially when the Grand Republic was found to 490 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,880 Speaker 1: have its life save and firefighting equipment in similarly poor repair. 491 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 1: The Grand Republic was involved in a series of crashes 492 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 1: with other vessels before being destroyed by fire while docked 493 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty four, with the crew safely evacuated. The 494 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: Knickerbocker Steamboat Company eventually closed down. In nineteen o six, 495 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: a memorial fountain was unveiled in Tompkins Square Park. It 496 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: had been paid for by the Sympathy Society of German Ladies. 497 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: It's inscribed with the words they are the Earth's purest children, 498 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: young and fair. There's also a monument at All Faiths 499 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: Cemetery in Queens, New York, where sixty one unidentified bodies 500 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: were buried. Adela Lebaneau, who had been six months old 501 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: at the time of the disaster, unveiled the statue while 502 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: she was still a toddler. She was the youngest survivor 503 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: of the incident, as well as the last living survivor. 504 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,239 Speaker 1: She died in two thousand four at the age of 505 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: one hundred. By that time, she was Adela Lebaneau Weatherspoon. 506 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: Two of her sisters also died in the disaster, one 507 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: of whose body was never found. Laws passed after the 508 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: disaster regulated the excursion boat industry more strictly, including requirements 509 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 1: for crew training and equipment maintenance. The disaster has also 510 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: been noted as one of the inspirations for more formalized 511 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: life saving programs in the United States and for children 512 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 1: to be routinely taught how to swim. It's not totally 513 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: clear how direct this connection is, though, As the story goes, 514 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 1: Wilbert E. Longfellow of Rhode Island, known as Commodore, was 515 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 1: distressed about this disaster, and so he started working with 516 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: organizations to teach children how to swim. Longfellow was definitely 517 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: involved in this work, There's no doubt about that at all, 518 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: but several of its milestones were still a few years off. 519 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: When the Slocum happened in nineteen fourteen, Longfellow started working 520 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,479 Speaker 1: with the American Red Cross to develop water safety and 521 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: swimming programs. He worked with the y m c A 522 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: and the Boy Scouts in the nineteen teams as well, 523 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: but it was still some time before it was considered 524 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: appropriate for women and girls to wear swimsuits that you 525 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: could actually swim in. That's something that we talked about 526 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: more in our episode on Annette Kellerman Tracy, what what 527 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: is the what is the listener mail situation? And is 528 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: it a little uplifting after all of this very very 529 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: sad material. My My listener mail is an update on 530 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: the shoes hidden in Walls question. Uh, if you have 531 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: not been listening to all of the episodes recently, we 532 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,600 Speaker 1: got a listener mail about the practice of hiding shoes 533 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: in walls to deter evil spirits and witches and such. 534 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: And Holly and I had a whole conversation in which 535 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: I was like, I feel like we talked about this 536 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: on the show, but I can't find evidence that we 537 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 1: did anywhere. And Holly also recalled having talked about it 538 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: on the show, and we put it out to listeners 539 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: to help us remember when this happened. So the first 540 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: person to tell us this was Stephanie. And Stephanie says, Tracy, 541 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: you remember the conversation you did have about him hidden mints. 542 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: You talked about it during the live show about John 543 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:08,080 Speaker 1: Quincy Adams at Adams National Historical Park. However, your batteries 544 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: entered the Adams Triangle and did not record the live show. 545 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: I think during your re record you briefly mentioned the 546 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: conversation and Holly saving a spider. I forgot about that spider. Yeah, 547 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: that was a great, a great little moment where um 548 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: we we rescued a spider and one of the park 549 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: staff came and helped us out with that. Um yeah. 550 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: As soon as she posted that comment on our Facebook, 551 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,959 Speaker 1: I remembered immediately that that was where it had happened, 552 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: and I think I replied something along the lines of yes, 553 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: with about fifteen says afterward and some exclamation points. And 554 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: then we also got a note from one of the 555 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: park staff that we worked with confirming that was the case, 556 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: not that not that I doubted what stuff that he 557 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 1: was saying at all. Um So we've heard from a 558 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: few folks who were there and remember that that is 559 00:30:57,600 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: where we talked about the shoes and walls. So thank 560 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: you everyone for uh filling that hole in my memory. 561 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 562 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: or any other podcast, where at History Podcasts at how 563 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com, and then we're all over social 564 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: media at miss in History. That is where you will 565 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,920 Speaker 1: find our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can come 566 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: to our website, which is missed in History dot com 567 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: and find the show notes to all the episodes Holly 568 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: and I have ever worked on and a surtable archive 569 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: every episode ever. And if you can subscribe to our 570 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: show on Apple podcast to the I heart Radio app, 571 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: and wherever else you get podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 572 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radios How 573 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit 574 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 575 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.