The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-21
BODIES COME
TO SURFACE
SlOcum'S Death List Still
Grows.
us coRPsEs RECOVERED
COVERED THE JURIST IS CONDEMNED
Three Hundred Persons Still
are Unacc0unted For.
Some of These, However, Are Among
Unidentified Dead, and Some
Have Been Buried AZ the
sUnrecognizable.v

New York, June 20.--The list OF
those who persisted on the General
Slocum is growing at an alarming
rate. Bodies came to the surface to-
day on the shores of North Brother Is
land singly and In groups of twos and
threes, until at dusk ninetythree addi-
tional had been recovered Every pass
ing steamer seemed to churn up the
water TO such a degree that In It's
wash one or more bodies would be
swept onto the beach.
Between the hours of 8 and o'clock
in the afternoon, forty-five bodies,
some of them badly mutilated, were
taken ashore by the searching parties.
This brings the total number Of
bodies recovered up to 725, and yet
there are something like 400 persons
unaccounted for, A number of these
are among the unidentified at the
morgue and over on North Brother Is
land, and the "unrecognizable'' that
have been buried in the Lutheran
cemetery on Long Island.
Coroner's Inquiry.
The coroner's inquiry into the dis
aster was begun to-day. Thousands
of persons gathered in and around the
armory in the Borough OF the Bronx.
where the inquest was held. Among
those examined were Frank A. Bar
nahy, president OF the Knickerbocker
Steamboat Company; James II. Atkin-
son. the secretary OF the company:
Mate Flanagan of the Slocum and sew
erai members of the crew.
More than 200 witnesses received
summons to appear at the inquest
scheduled to begin before Coroner
Berry to-day. 1t was also planned to
have present an assistant United
States district attorney and a stem
ogr4nher with instructions from the
DepA rtment of Justice to take down
all testimony offered. AS fast as the
note are transcribed. the evidence
wi,aAbe examined by United States Dis
trset ATTORNEY Burnett. who wal Ia
turn forward the evidence, together
with his opinion thereon to the departs
ment.
IF the evidence warrants IT," said
General Burnett to-day. IT shall not
wait until the end OF the inquest be-
fore moving In the matter. If the evil
dence is strong enough the Federal
jury will be considering certain
phases of the case before the inquest
has closed"
In addition to the interest which the
department of Justice has taken in the
inquest, H. X. Smith, the local repre-
sentative of Secretary Cortelyou of the
department OF commerce ana AaDOT
was under instructions to keep that
department thoroughly advised as the
inquest progressed.
Had No Fire Drill.
According to the testimony of John
J. Coakley, one of the Slocum's deck
hands. at the coroner's inquest. he
never had been instructed in a fire
drill since he became an employee OF
the Knickerbocker Company at the
beginning of last season.
Edward Flanagan, the mate of the
last two seasons on the Slocum who
hired the deck crew. said he was pres
ent when the special inspection took
place and at this point the coroner
ordered Inspectors Fleming and Lund-
berg to leave the court room
Flanagan, however, said he did not
accompany the inspectors on their
rounds. He knew. he said, that ten
or twenty of the life preservers were
| ordered down by one of the inspec-
tors He declared that all the preserv-
ers were stamped 1891
To United States District Attorney
Wise. Flanagan said he had no license
as either master or mate. His duties
were to take charge of the deck crew
Did you ever have a fire drill?" ask
ed Mr.. Wise.
Flanagan replied Not to my mem
DRY. / did not keep track"
Have you seen the fire hose uncoil-
ed since the season openedY'
Not to my memory don't recall IL.
have been very sick"
Flanagan admitted telling the cor
oner and Assistant District Attorney
Garvin at different times that the in
spection was made of the life pre-
servers on the promenade deck only.
The inquest was adjourned until to-
morrow