1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Our next episodes of the show cover somebody 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: whose life is really just like a whole tour of 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: previous episodes of the show, and one of the historical 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: events that's going to come up on those episodes is 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: the general slocum disaster, so we are bringing that one 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: out as today's Saturday classic. Heads Up, this is probably 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: one of our all time saddest episodes and it originally 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: came out on June. Welcome to stuff you missed in 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: history class. A production of I heart radio. Hello and 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: welcome to the PODCAST. I'm racy B Wilson and I'm 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: holly frying. The PS general slocum burned in the East 12 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: River in New York on June oh four, so a 13 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen years ago this month, and this disaster 14 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: has also been a really frequent listener request, including from Kell, Suzanne, Linda, 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: Jesse Torrey and Michael Um. It has some similarities to 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: the east land disaster, which we talked about on the 17 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: show a couple of years ago. Both of these vessels 18 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: had been chartered for a group outing that turned into 19 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: just a deadly maritime disaster very suddenly. Both of these 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: were also topics that I knew from the start we're 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: going to be tragic, but then turned out to be 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: even worse than I imagined them. The Paddle Steamer General 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 1: Slocum was built in it was named after Henry Warner 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: Slocum of New York, who had served as a general 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 1: in the Union army during the civil war. The ship 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: was one of two steamers owned by the Knickerbocker steamboat company, 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: the other being the grand republic. It was a large 28 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: wooden sidewheel steamer with three decks. The General Slocum was 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: licensed to carry up to passengers and when it was 30 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: first launched it was a modern, luxurious vessel, but by 31 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: nineteen o four it was really starting to show its age, 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: although it, I'd been regularly repainted over the years, including 33 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: shortly before the disaster. But it also passed an inspection 34 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: on May fifth of nineteen o four. The slocum was 35 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: an excursion boat intended for making short trips around New 36 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: York's waterways from the spring through the fall. In the 37 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: early part of the season, people could charter the whole 38 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: vessel for a flat fee. Starting around the beginning of July. 39 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: It operated as a ferry on the rockaway route connecting Manhattan, 40 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: Brooklyn and rockaway on Long Island. For its June fifteenth 41 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: nineteen o four trip, it had been chartered by St 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church at a cost of three hundred 43 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,679 Speaker 1: fifty dollars. The church was hosting its annual picnic to 44 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: celebrate the end of the school year, and most of 45 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: the people who were attending were church members who lived 46 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: in Manhattan's lower east side. They lived in a neighborhood 47 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: known as Klein Deutsch Land, or little Germany, because of 48 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: a very large population of German immigrants and their descendants 49 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: who lived there. At the time, this was one of 50 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: the largest German American community us in the United States. 51 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: About one thousand three hundred fifty eight passengers were aboard 52 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: the Slocum on the day of the disaster. The exact 53 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: number is actually an estimate, since there were tickets for 54 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: this excursion, but babies didn't need one, and sometimes multiple 55 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: children were brought aboard on one ticket. Since the picnic 56 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: was being held on a Wednesday, most of the adult 57 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: passengers were women. The men and the families were more 58 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: likely to be at work. Overall, more than half the 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: people aboard were children and only between fifty and one 60 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: fifty of the passengers were adult men. These passengers were 61 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: in high spirits, dressed in their Sunday best and prepared 62 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: for a two hour cruise along the East River from 63 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: the Third Street recreation pier to the north shore of 64 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: Long Island. Once they got there, they would spend the 65 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: day at a picnic ground called Locust Grove. They had 66 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: food and a bar on the boat, along with entertainment 67 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: provided by a band that was playing on the promenade deck. 68 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: Although they embarked generally as families, once people were aboard, 69 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: parents were totally comfortable letting their children go off on 70 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: their own and play together. They left the dock between 71 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: nine thirty and nine forty in the morning. In Command 72 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: was the captain, William h Van Shaik, with first pilot 73 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: Edward Van Wort and second pilot Edwin Weaver. Van Shaike 74 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: had been aboard the General Slocum since its launch and 75 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: had a reputation for being safe and careful, but he 76 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: was also in his sixties and the general slocum had 77 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: been through a number of incidents and accidents over the years, 78 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: so some people thought that it was maybe time for 79 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: him to retire. Not long into this journey, a fire 80 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: started in the forward compartment on the main deck. It's 81 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 1: not clear exactly how, because there were just so many 82 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: possible sources. The forward compartment was being used as both 83 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: a storage room and a lamp room. Machine Oil for 84 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: the mechanical systems was stored in the forward compartment as well, 85 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: along with two bags of charcoal and various rubbish. There 86 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: were lots of other flammable materials in this wooden compartment, 87 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: including three open barrels of glassware that we're packed in hey. 88 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: Those had been brought aboard for the excursion. This was 89 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: also where a member of the crew filled and maintained 90 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: the lamps, using a makeshift table made of wooden planks 91 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: laid over a couple of trestles. In the course of 92 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: this work, the floor of the compartment had been covered 93 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: in a thin layer of oil. There had also been 94 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: an open flame in this room at several points over 95 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: the course of the morning. The compartment itself had electric lighting, 96 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: as did other parts of the ship, but that morning 97 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: the porter who was responsible for filling the lamps had 98 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: found the room to be very dark, so he had 99 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: lit one of the lamps using a match. He later 100 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: testified that he could extinguish the match and he had 101 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: thrown it down on a bench. Someone else had been 102 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: working on part of the mechanical system in the room, 103 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: using an open torch as a light source. People also 104 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: lit matches and had other open flame in the room 105 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: for all kinds of reasons, something that was just inherently 106 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: dangerous given what was in there. Shortly after the fire started, 107 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: the general slogan was approaching a narrow part of the 108 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,239 Speaker 1: East River known as Hellgate. About that time a boy 109 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: noticed smoke coming from near the forward cabin. He told 110 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: a member of the crew, who apparently thought that the 111 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: child was playing some kind of prank and told him 112 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 1: to mind his business. A few minutes after that, other 113 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: members of the crew saw smoke coming from the forward 114 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 1: cabin and they realized there was a fire and started 115 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: trying to put it out. The ship's firefighting equipment included 116 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: a standpipe and hoses. The standpipe and its valves were 117 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: in good working order, but the hoses were mostly old, 118 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: cheap linen hoses. Members of the crew attached a piece 119 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: of this old hose to the valve near the forward 120 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: compartment and asked the engineering room to send water through 121 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: the Standpipe, but as soon as the water hit that 122 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: hose it shattered in multiple places. There were also a 123 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: couple of newer rubber hoses on the boat and members 124 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: of the crew got one of those to try again, 125 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: but they couldn't get that new hose to connect to 126 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: the standpipe. When they couldn't figure out why, they gave up, 127 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: and an investigation later revealed that when the hose shattered, 128 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: it was blown off the coupling that was holding it 129 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: onto the standpipe, but the coupling itself was still there. 130 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: In their panic, the crew members didn't realize that the 131 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: old coupling was still connected, and if they had removed 132 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: the old coupling, the new pose would have connected with 133 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: no problem. This was really the last of the cruise 134 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: effort to try to fight the fire. There were fire 135 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: buckets on board, but they were empty and they weren't 136 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: put into use. There are also reports that a hapless 137 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: crew member dumped a bucket of charcoal onto the fire 138 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: to try to smother it. That doesn't appear in the 139 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: Federal Commission's report about the disaster and it's such a 140 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: far fetched idea that someone would do that that it 141 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: seems almost unbelievable. At the same time, the way the 142 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: disaster progressed from here is almost unbelievable, and we're going 143 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: to talk more about it after we first paused for 144 00:07:49,880 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: a little break. After the fire was discovered in the 145 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: forward compartment of the PS General Slocum, it doesn't appear 146 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: that the captain, William h Von Shaik, personally assessed what 147 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: was happening with it or gave any kind of orders 148 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: to try to get it under control. Instead, he looked 149 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: at where they were on the river and decided to 150 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: beach the ship so that people might be able to 151 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: jump to safety. The nearest land was west of the boat, 152 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: in the Bronx, but this area was full of stored 153 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: lumber and gas tanks. Apparently someone warned von Shaike away 154 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: from it for that reason, or he decided that landing 155 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: a flaming vessel there would be more dangerous than trying 156 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: to find another location. The captain ordered the pilots to 157 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 1: aim north northeast toward north brother island. This required them 158 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: to travel at full steam ahead into deep water in 159 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: the middle of the East River. So the PS general 160 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: slocum was made almost entirely out of wood. It's middle 161 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: deck was a promenade deck with that was mostly open 162 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,959 Speaker 1: to the air, with a smaller enclosed space in the middle. 163 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: The top deck was a her cane deck that was 164 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: similarly open to the air, and hurricane decks just get 165 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: their name from how incredibly windy attempts to be up there. 166 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: So when the vessel started bearing down toward north brother island, 167 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: it was full steam ahead against the wind, and the 168 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: resulting airflow across its structure quickly spread the fire from 169 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: the forward compartment toward the back of the vessel. When 170 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: the fire started, the passengers were spread all around the ship. 171 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: There were more people on the promenade deck than in 172 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: other passenger areas because that's where the band was and 173 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: because the fire started in the forward compartment, most of 174 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: the passengers were behind it. That meant that as the 175 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: boat picked up speed, the wind was spreading the fire 176 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 1: directly toward them very quickly. People started to panic, as 177 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: various family members had got off to play or socialized. 178 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: People had become separated from one another, so parents didn't 179 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: know where their children were and children couldn't find their parents. Also, 180 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,559 Speaker 1: most of the people aboard could not swim. Swimming hadn't 181 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: really taken off as a pastime in the United States 182 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: at this point and clothing suitable for actually swimming was 183 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: not considered decent for women to wear at all. And, 184 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: as we said earlier, because this was a nice outing, 185 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 1: the people aboard were in their Sunday best. So as 186 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: the fire spread, people had a choice. They could jump 187 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: into deep water, weighed down by their clothing, knowing that 188 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,719 Speaker 1: they could not swim, or they could stay where they 189 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: were and risk burning to death. The General Slocum did 190 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: have life preservers aboard, unlike a lot of the other 191 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: maritime disasters that we've covered on the show, there was 192 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: a life preserver for every passenger, but these were old. 193 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: Some of them probably dated back to when the ship 194 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: was newly built. Their covers were rotten, so when people 195 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: got them down and tried to use them, some of 196 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: them just fell completely apart in their hands. Others had 197 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: intact covers, but the cork inside had rotted into dust. 198 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 1: So when people jumped into the water with these on, 199 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: they just soaked up the water and became incredibly heavy 200 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: rather than helping people to stay afloat at the same time, though, 201 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: very few of Slocum's life preservers were put into use. 202 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: Some passengers, as we said, grabbed a life preserver only 203 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: for it to fall apart in their hands and then 204 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: they just gave up on trying to find another one. Also, 205 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: the crew did almost nothing to help distribute them. One 206 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:19,679 Speaker 1: testified at the coroner's inquest that he had put one 207 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: life preserver onto a person and that was the one 208 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: that he put on himself. Only about fifty life preservers 209 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: were definitely used during the disaster, twenty of them on 210 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: people who drowned while wearing them. The slocum also had lifeboats. 211 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: The boats themselves were in generally good condition, but they 212 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: weren't put into use during the disaster either. The crew 213 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: had never been trained on how to operate them and 214 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: the mechanisms to lower them had been painted over and 215 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,319 Speaker 1: were immovable. Some of the lifeboats were even wired down. 216 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: Even if the crew had been able to move these 217 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: boats with the ship operating at full steam ahead, they 218 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: just couldn't have been lowered safely into the water. The 219 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 1: timeline of the disaster was pieced together from eyewitness testimony 220 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: and it took as long as twenty minutes from the 221 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: time the fire was discovered to the general slocum being 222 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: beached off north brother island. During that time the fire 223 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: consumed more and more of the boat and passengers jumped 224 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: into the water rather than burning to death. Most drowned 225 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: and some were crushed in the paddle wheels. Then, just 226 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: as the boat was reaching North Brother Island, the starboard 227 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: side of the hurricane deck collapsed under the weight of 228 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: hundreds of passengers, dumping all of them directly into deep water. 229 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: But beating the vessel off North Brother Island did not 230 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: allow the rest of the passengers to jump to safety 231 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: the way that the captain had hoped that it would. 232 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: The vessel came to rest at an angle with its 233 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 1: bowl between ten and twenty ft from the shore. That's 234 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: between three and six MS, but that put the stern 235 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,679 Speaker 1: of the boat more like forty to sixty ft from shore, 236 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: or twelve to eighteen meters. The current there was very fast. 237 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: The water was way over people's heads and because of 238 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: the way the fire had spread, almost all the passengers 239 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: were towards the very stern of the ship, where they 240 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: had to jump into this deep, fast moving water. It's 241 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: estimated that between four hundred and six hundred people jumped 242 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: into the water and drowned after the boat had been beached. 243 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: North Brother Island was home to a quarantine hospital for 244 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: people with contagious illnesses, and members of its staff came 245 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: to the shore to try to assist. Two nearby tug boats, 246 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: the John L Wade and Walter Tracy, also rendered aid 247 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: and probably saved the lives of hundreds of people. Two 248 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: men incarcerated at nearby rikers island compelled a doctor who 249 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: was working there to take them to the site of 250 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,079 Speaker 1: the wreck in a rowboat so that they could help 251 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: with the rescue, and there were people on other boats 252 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: or boats who rode out from shore who rescued people 253 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: who had jumped into the water along the way. But 254 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: even with the prompt assistance of all these people from 255 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 1: outside the ship, almost everyone aboard was injured or killed. 256 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: It was the worst single day disaster in New York 257 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: until the September eleventh two thousand one terrorist attack on 258 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: the World Trade Center. Roughly a thousand passengers died, and 259 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: that was more than seventy of the passengers aboard. Only 260 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: two passengers escaped without injury. Meanwhile, the crew, most of 261 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: whom did not try to help stop the fire or 262 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: assist the passengers was almost unscathed. Twenty three of the 263 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: thirty crew escaped without injury and two were killed. For 264 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: a while after being beached, the General Slocum stayed in 265 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: place off north brother island. People who came to help 266 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: were mostly able to get it extinguished and for a 267 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: time the number of bodies pulled from the water was 268 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: relatively small. So a lot of people. We're hopeful that 269 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: there had been a miraculous recovery of a lot of 270 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: the folks. But the East River isn't really a river, 271 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: it's a title estuary that connects New York harbor to 272 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: the long island sound. Consequently, it experiences regular tides and 273 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: as the tides rose, it lifted the wreck, which about 274 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: a mile before coming to rest again off hunt's point, 275 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: which is north of rikers island. The shifting tides and 276 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: currents also meant that more and more bodies started washing 277 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: ashore all along the East River, something that continued for days. 278 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: By One am on the Sixteenth, seven hundred thirty nine 279 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: bodies had been recovered and sent to a city morgue, 280 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: as well as temporary morgues on north brother and rikers islands. 281 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: This disaster was catastrophic for New York City's German American 282 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: community and it was also obvious that something had gone 283 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: colossally unacceptably wrong. We'll get to the disaster's aftermath after 284 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: another sponsor break. The disaster aboard the PS general slocum 285 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: was devastating, especially in New York's German American community. At 286 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: least six hundred families lost someone, and some families only 287 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: had one surviving member, somebody who had been at work 288 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: that day instead of on the excursion, who basically came 289 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: home and found that their whole family had died. Many 290 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: of the people who survived had serious burns, some of 291 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: which were disabling. Many had lifelong breathing problems because of 292 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: smoke inhalation and burns to their lungs. Post traumatic stress 293 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: disorder wasn't recognized until decades later, but survivors also had 294 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: ongoing effects on their mental and emotional health. The little 295 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: Germany neighborhood of the lower east side had started to 296 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: coalesce in the nineteenth century as people left Europe in 297 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: the face of famine and unrest. The neighborhood really grew 298 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: from the eighteen thirties to the eighteen fifties, and in 299 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five it was one of the largest German 300 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: communities in the world. By nineteen O four, this community 301 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: had outgrown the lower east side and was starting to 302 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: expand into other parts of New York. This included people 303 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: who had been born to that first wave of German 304 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: immigrants who wanted to get out on their own. So 305 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: some of the neighborhood's population was already moving else where 306 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: before this disaster happened. But afterward the neighborhood changed dramatically. 307 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: People who had lost family members found it too painful 308 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: and moved away, either to other parts of New York 309 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: or other cities, or back to Germany. Even for people 310 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: who weren't really close to any of the families that 311 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: had been aboard, the sudden deaths of so many children 312 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: changed the character of the neighborhood enormously. People described it 313 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: as unnaturally painfully quiet. Soon the Manhattan neighborhood of Yorkville 314 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: was more associated with the city's German community than the 315 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,239 Speaker 1: lower east side was. Other communities in New York were 316 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: affected by the tragedy as well, including neighboring Italian and 317 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: Jewish neighborhoods, but the lower eastsidnes German Protestant community was 318 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: by far the hardest hit. St Mark's Lutheran Church also 319 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: lost much of its congregation. That building still stands today 320 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: and it was converted into a synagogue in ninety. Naturally, 321 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: people were outraged by this incredible loss of life. The 322 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: captain was also hospitalized due to injuries that he sustained 323 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: in the disaster, and he was arrested while he was 324 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: still in the hospital. He also received hundreds of threatening letters. 325 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: People called for investigations into the accident and the steamboat 326 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: company and the excursion boat industry in general. A coroner's 327 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: inquest was held about two weeks after the incident and 328 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: recommended that charges be brought against the president and directors 329 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: of the Knickerbocker steamboat company, the captain, the company's port captain, 330 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: John A P S, the ship's mate and the government 331 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: inspectors who had cleared the boat. The coroner's jury also 332 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: issued the opinion that the system for inspecting vessels in 333 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: New York's harbors was not sufficient. Federal Commission was also 334 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: convened to investigate and they issued a report on October 335 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: eighth nineteen o four. By that point, the General Slocum's 336 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: wreckage had been raised from the river and towed to 337 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: rikers island to be pumped out, and the process, the 338 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: bodies of eighteen more people were found within the wreck 339 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: including one lodged in the wheel. The investigation emission personally 340 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: inspected this wreckage, which was later sold and converted into 341 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: a barge. That barge thank in New Jersey in nineteen eleven, 342 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: but that time there was no loss of life. Nearby 343 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: tugboat rescued the crew, who were the only people on board. 344 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: The commission's report was scathing and found numerous problems that 345 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: were not at all unique to the general slocum. To 346 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,679 Speaker 1: start with, it had been built with minimal attention to 347 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: fire safety. It had a working standpipe in the event 348 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: of a fire and it was built with the boilers 349 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 1: that required distance from the wooden surfaces. Beyond that, though, 350 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: fire safety did not seem like it had been a 351 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: consideration at all. The boat didn't have fireproof bulkheads or 352 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: any other feature that might slow down or stop the 353 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: spread of a fire. Instead, it was almost entirely a 354 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: flammable vessel, covered in layers and layers of flammable paint 355 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: and varnish. The same was true of most excursion vessels 356 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: that were in use at the time. The crew also 357 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 1: was not trained in fire safety or in what to 358 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: do in the event of a fire. Crews were supposed 359 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: to have regular fire drills, but the slocum's crew had 360 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,199 Speaker 1: not had one in more than a year. Compounding this 361 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: lack of training was the fact that most of the 362 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: crew were seasonal workers who had been hired for very 363 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: low pay. They had very little training or experience and, 364 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: because they've been seasonally hired, some of them had never 365 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: experienced a fire drill of any type on any ship. Ever, 366 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 1: they were not familiar with basic things like what the 367 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: ship's fire alarms sounded like or how to put on 368 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: a life preserver. Another problem was an overall lack of maintenance, 369 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: with many life preservers and fire hoses literally rotten with age. 370 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: After the General Slocum disaster, other companies started replacing their 371 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: worn out, rotten life preservers with new stock, but that 372 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: uncovered another problem. Compressed blocks of Cork were commonly used 373 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 1: to make life preservers. An employee at a life preserver 374 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: factory in New York discovered that at least one cork 375 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: supplier was tampering with the product. This employe had been 376 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: handling a block of Cork that was sold to them 377 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: by the Non Perel Cork Works of Camden, New Jersey, 378 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: and something just didn't feel right about it. Breaking Open 379 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: the block of Cork revealed a six inch long iron bar. 380 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: It's about fifteen centimeters and it weighed about eight ounces, 381 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 1: or more than two grams. So Life preservers were supposed 382 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: to contain six pounds of Cork, but instead of selling 383 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: six pound cork blocks, this corkworks was shorting the amount 384 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: of Cork and making up the difference with iron. President 385 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to the Secretary of Commerce 386 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: and Labor that went along with the federal commission's report. 387 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 1: In it he described this as an offense, quote so 388 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 1: heinous a character that it is difficult to comment upon 389 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: it with proper self restraint. It appears that the national 390 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: legislature has never enacted a law providing in set terms 391 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: for the punishment of this particular species of infamy, doubtless 392 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,120 Speaker 1: because it never entered the head of any man that's 393 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: so gross in infamy could be perpeture e did. Sometimes, 394 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: when you are reading articles on the Internet about this disaster, 395 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: it'll say that the life preservers on the slocum had 396 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: iron bars in them. That does not appear to be 397 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: the case. This appears to be like the newly made 398 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: ones that people were using to replace the ones that 399 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: clearly needed to be replaced. The commission's report was also 400 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: scathing in terms of the captain and the two pilots 401 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: and how they had conducted themselves during the fire. As 402 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: we noted earlier, the Master of the vessel, William h 403 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,199 Speaker 1: Van Shike, doesn't appear to have evaluated what was happening 404 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,239 Speaker 1: with the fire or given any orders about fighting it, 405 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: or issued any instructions about getting the passengers to safety. 406 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: He and the boat's pilots were all in the pilot 407 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: house when they learned about the fire. Van Shik ordered 408 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: the pilots to proceed full speed ahead. He left the 409 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: pilot house for a moment and then he said, upon returning, 410 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: that they should beach the boat at North Brother Island. 411 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 1: When the boat was beached, he jumped overboard, breaking one 412 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: of his legs in the process. So van Shaike had 413 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: failed in multiple duties. That were his responsibility both before 414 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: and during the accident. He had not ensured that the 415 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,399 Speaker 1: boat and its life saving and firefighting equipment were up 416 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: to safety standards. He had not seen to the safety 417 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: of the passengers, he had not conducted a fire or 418 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: lifeboat drill that season. He had not fulfilled any of 419 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: his duties in the actual emergency, which included delegating responsibilities 420 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: to see to the passenger safety and ensure that they 421 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: did not panic. The commission also found that Vansheke had 422 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: multiple opportunities to safely beach the vessel much earlier, but 423 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: didn't take them, and if he had done so, the 424 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: fire would have had much less time to spread before 425 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:44,400 Speaker 1: people could evacuate. These other possible beaching points included Little 426 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: Hell Gate and Sunken Meadows, and getting to them would 427 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: have required the boat to turn sharply to the West. 428 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: Then the wind would have been blowing across the vessel 429 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: rather than down its length, which could have helped limit 430 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: the spread of the fire. Van Shaike maintained that he 431 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: had learned of the fire too late to beach the 432 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: ship at any of these other points and that north 433 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: brother island was their only option. It should also be 434 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: noted that he stayed at his post in the pilot 435 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: house even as it burned around him and his clothes 436 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 1: caught fire. The commission also found that the lead pilot, 437 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: Edward l Van Wart, was also at fault for the 438 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: way the vessel came to rest off north brother island. 439 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: It had come to rest at such an angle that 440 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: there was just no way for the passengers to escape safely, 441 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 1: and in the commission's opinion, this was either poor judgment 442 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: or a lack of skill. Compounding all of this, the 443 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: testimony of the captain and the pilots didn't match up 444 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: with the timeline that was pieced together from other witnesses. 445 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: These three men all said the same thing, that they 446 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: beached the boat off north brother island less than three 447 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: minutes after being informed of the fire, and north brother 448 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: island was their only option. But whitness testimony from survivors 449 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: and from witnesses on other vessels and on shore suggested 450 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: that the time between when the fire started and the 451 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: vessel was beached was as long as twenty minutes. Either 452 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: no one informed the captain of what was happening for 453 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: more than ten minutes, or the captain and pilots were 454 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: trying to protect themselves by saying they didn't know about 455 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: the fire until later, and the investigation also found a 456 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: lot of other problems as well, including that the ship's 457 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: mate did not have the required license. It was also 458 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: noted that the nature of an excursion crowd meant that 459 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: the passengers themselves really were not equipped to take over 460 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: and handle things in a crisis. They needed to be 461 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,360 Speaker 1: in the care of a competent, well trained crew who 462 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: knew how to keep their safety in mind. And, to 463 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: quote the report quote, a very important conclusion from this 464 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: set of facts is that the law and regulations must 465 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,879 Speaker 1: recognize the fact that an excursion party must be taken 466 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: care of and cannot take care of itself. Henry Lundbergh 467 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: was one of the inspectors who had passed the general 468 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: slocum just before the incident. He was fired from his 469 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: position and both he and inspector John W Fleming were 470 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 1: indicted on charges of fraud, misconduct and inatten into duty. 471 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: The managing directors of the Knickerbocker steamboat company were indicted 472 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: as well, but the only person ever convicted of a 473 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: crime was captain Van Shike, who was convicted of criminal negligence. 474 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: On January seventh, nineteen O six. He had also faced 475 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: two charges of manslaughter, but the jury was unable to 476 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: reach a verdict and those he was sentenced to ten years, 477 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: including hard labor, which was the maximum sentence allowed. The 478 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,640 Speaker 1: judge said that he wanted to make an example of him, 479 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: in part because no one else who clearly was culpable 480 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: in this was facing any actual trial. Yeah, it's like 481 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: a carnival of complete inattention to duty. Yeah, like Van 482 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: Stike clearly made a lot of errors here, but he 483 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: also was scapegoated for this whole thing. Like he the 484 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: whole thing got pinned on him when it was a 485 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: systemic problem at multiple levels. Yeah, there were a lot 486 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: of balls dropped along the way. Uh, Van Shike was 487 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: incarcerated at sing sing, but he was paroled after three 488 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: and a half years. President William Howard Taft pardoned him 489 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven. The families of the victims also received 490 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: no restitution or compensation. The knickerbocker steamboat companies creditors filed suit, 491 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: as did survivors and families of the victims and eventually 492 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: the city of New York. The company asked the court 493 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,679 Speaker 1: to limit its liability to five thousand dollars, which was 494 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: the value of the ship after the disaster, and the 495 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: company also faced enormous criticism for continuing to operate its 496 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: other vessel, the grand republic, especially when the grand republic 497 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: was found to have its lifesaving and firefighting equipment in 498 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,199 Speaker 1: similarly poor repair. The Grand Republic was involved in a 499 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: series of crashes with other vessels before being destroyed by 500 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: fire while docked in nineteen twenty four, with the crew 501 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: safely evacuated. The KNICKERBOCKER steamboat company eventually closed down. In 502 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: nineteen O six, a memorial fountain was unveiled in Tompkins 503 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: Square Park. It had been paid for by the Sympathy 504 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: Society of German ladies. It's described with the words they 505 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: are the earth's purest children, young and fair. There's also 506 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: a monument at all faiths cemetery in Queens New York, 507 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: where sixty one unidentified bodies were buried. Adela Lebaneau, who 508 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: had been six months old at the time of the disaster, 509 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: unveiled the statue while she was still a toddler. She 510 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:22,160 Speaker 1: was the youngest survivor of the incident, as well as 511 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 1: the last living survivor. She died in two thousand four 512 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: at the age of one hundred. By that time she 513 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:32,639 Speaker 1: was Adela Lebaneau weatherspoon. Two of her sisters also died 514 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: in the disaster, one of whose body was never found. 515 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: Laws passed after the disaster regulated the excursion boat industry 516 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: more strictly, including requirements for crew training and equipment maintenance. 517 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: The disaster has also been noted as one of the 518 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: inspirations for more formalized life saving programs in the United 519 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: States and for children to be routinely taught how to swim. 520 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: It's not totally clear how direct this connection is, though. 521 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: As the story goes, Wilbert a longfellow of Rhode Island, 522 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: known as Commodore, was distressed about this disaster, and so 523 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: he started working with organizations to teach children how to swim. 524 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: Longfellow was definitely involved in this work, there's no doubt 525 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: about that at all, but several of its milestones were 526 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: still a few years off when this slocum happened. In 527 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: Nine longfellow started working with the American Red Cross to 528 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: develop water safety and swimming programs. He worked with the 529 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: Y M C A and the boy scouts in the 530 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: nineteen teams as well, but it was still some time 531 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: before it was considered appropriate for women and girls to 532 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: wear swimsuits that you could actually swim in. That's something 533 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: that we talked about more in our episode on a 534 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: Nette Kellerman, hey so much for joining us on this Saturday. 535 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: Since this episode is out of the Archive, if you 536 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: heard an email address or a facebook U R L 537 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 538 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: could be obsolete now. Our current email addressed is history 539 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: podcas cast at I heart radio DOT COM. Our old 540 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: house stuff works. 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