The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-06-17
Six Hundred Persons.
Continued from First Page.)

CONTINUED from First Page.)
%Ibulances from almost all the hospitals
lin Greater New York and every other
sort of conveyance which could be
found were put into service.
For Hours Bodies Drift Ashore
For hours the bodies of the burned
land the drowned drifted ashore on the
island n between 131st street and
l138th streets in Manhattan. Some
lcame ashore still alive. Many Of these
died while others will recover.
The scenes on the beach Of North
brother island were pitiable in the ex-
IRENE, as the living and the deed were
brought. in. Women with disfigured
faces, their clothes partially stripped
from them, were carried to the impro-
lyised emergency hositat, crying for
in the mad rush when the boa took
fire.
Meanwhile the Slocum burned to the
waters edge. Al 1925 o'clock, two
hours and twenty-five minutes after
the fire was first discovered, n sank
1t is estimated that there were then
nearly 100 charred bodies on her decks
Just after the steamer sank, the water
NEARBY was black with bodies. The
tN16 4A%AA - RAONA 49,
lightweight charred corpSes in Hunts
Cove off takers Island and carried
Them into the sound. Non of these,
bodies, it is thought, can ever be iden-
titled. Heads, legs and arms are burn
ed off and not a shred of clothing is
left on any Of them.
Tonight a surging crowd is held
back by police lines formed about the
city morgue at the foot of East 26thl
street. The crowd began to gather as
soon as it began to be rumored about
1.-THE city that the dead would be brought
to Manhattan from North Brother
island and other places where at first
1.-THE e had been taken. When the
Massasoit came to dock with So dead,
the work Of removing the bodies from
the steamer proceeded slowly until no
more room was found inside the morguel
and the autopsy room was cleared, and
the fhlackened and distorted bodies
were placed IN the floor there.
A Narrowing Scene.
When finally the morgue authorities
allowed the crowd to enter h morgue,
Ia scene ensued which was narrowing
in the extreme. In some cases, first
lidentifications were found to have been
Ierroneous, men laying claim to bodies
they afterwards decided were not
those of their relatives.
EIOTI W fuSl IdSG ule IOlCt.
, At the entrance of the charities pier
at the foot of East 26th street, theI
Icrowd tonight tried to push past the
police and a riot resulted. At the
height of the trouble a man who had
Learned that his wife was among the
Icharred dead tried to stab himself.
Inside the pier the bodies are arrang-l
ed in three rows, the entire length of
the pier, about $50 feet.
o. Y
itained in it's membership practically
all those Germans of the Protestant
faith within a radius of ten square
blocks. The excursion was the event.
of the yea for scores of well-to-dOj
families and had been looked
forward to for many months. Family
parties of ten or more had been madel
up, including in many cases the old
grandmothers, the mothers and the
children of all ages, with a sprinklingl
of those men Of the families who could
spare a day from their work.
Seeking for News of Relatives. |
A bureau of information was opened
in the church shortly after the first
news of the catastrophe was received
and ever since there has been a con-
|stant stream of agonized men, women
and children climbing the steps to ask
for news Of their relatives or friends.
las SOOH DIS IS"S - IoClfCo oo ~ SuA
|vivors or victims, it is posted outsideI
and the information soon spread
throughout the n~eighbohood.
Rev. ]. C. Schultz, the assistant pas
tor of the church, called at the tempo-l
Irary morgue tonight and identified
1.-THE body of Mrs. Anna Haas. the wife
of the pastor Of the church.
The coroner gave permission for thel
body to be removed to the residence
of DR.. Haas. |
| DR.. Haas is among the rescued. He
his wife and daughter got outside the
Trail of the Slocum before the steamer
ibeached. He cannot say whether they
Jumped or fell or were pushed into the
lwater. He sank and when he rose he
found scores about him fighting for
life. He failed to find his wife and
daughter. With great effort to keep
ia1oat and when abo to give UP I'M
despair, a man on n of the tugs
lpicked him up. OF the scores he saw
Iabout him when he rose, n by ons
sank. 1t is not yet known whether
his daughter is among the living OF
dead.
Will Try to Fix the Responsibility.
Assistant District Attorney Garvan
was at the scene of the wreck for some
hours. He said that he would subpoena
1.-The entire crew n as many OF the
tSoA 10 NJ oAAN WYNN h
every effort to fix the responsibility
flor the catastrophe.
Catholic Priests Give Consolation.
One of the first to go to the work Of
irescue was Rev. Father Donlon, OF st.
lJeromes Roman Catholic church. On
hearing the news Of the disaster, Faith
Ter Donlon gathered other priests and
lstarted for the water front. Although
lthey knew 1t was a Lutheran picnic,
1.-THE priests felt that 1t was their duty
Ito give religious consolation to al
whom they encountered. Father Don
lion gave religious consolation to 4;
persons, AZ Of whom died. One of the
tragic incidents of the day wac thu
death Of the family of Dr.. Haas. Hi.
iwife, Gertrude and his daughter, Anna
lare among the dead.
Story of the Catastrophe.
Peter ]. Tremble, a deck hand, wa!
iarrested by the police wandering aim
llessly about h beach. He told tn,
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