Omaha daily bee., 1904-06-17
NE PLACE DEAD AS HIGH AS i,5OC
Possible that Investigation Will Increase
the List 10 One Thousand.
,lVERS AT WORK ON SUBMERGED HULL
Over Five Hundred Bodies Rave Already
Been Recovered,
STORIES OF CAUSE OF FIRE VARY WIDELY
Complete Death List VIII show the
Catastrophe to he one of Most
Appalling i'm American
History.

NEW YORK, June 16.-with unceasing
effort search is going for the bodies OF
| those who perished yesterday on the Gen
eral Slocum. What the list of victims will
total scarce any one dare venture guess,
but whatever the number may be there is
| hardly a parallel in the history OF dlsas-
ters where death came to so many in so
| brief period of time.
! Police and health department efficials
have placed the number at a figure as high
! as 1000 and more, but tonight it would
| seem that the maximum fatality will not
largely exceed ZOO.
All day long, from sunrise until darkness
shut off even the melancholy satisfaction
of watching for the dead, anxious search
ers kept up their vigilance and at dusk
there had been recovered 536 bodies for the
greater part women and children. Mothers
who weeks ago had planned that fatal out .
ing for their children; little ones who had
longed for the coming of the happy day.
| Up to dusk 400 bodies had passed through
the morgue and of these more than 800
were Identified. The East side has it's
| human sympathies aroused to the fullest
extent and down by the river, where the
| boats unloaded their dead thousands
| gathered throughout the day Streets lead
! ing to the morgue were blocked. and only
with difficulty could the police keep clear
the passages leading to the long rows of
collins for those who came to search for
the missing.
Up the sound where the hulk of the
General Slocum lies submerged, showing
\ only a paddlebox. scores Of small craft
aided the tugs in graphing for the victims
| Divers went down time and time again.
! vph Cor
they declared there were no more bodies In
the wreck.
Mr.. BRrnaby's Statement.
The coroner's investigation to fix the
responsibility of the disaster will begin on
Monday next The federal authorities as
well as the district attorney also will hold
| an investigation. The society for the pre-
vention of cruelty to children, through its
| counsel, has signined its intention to push
| the inquiry to the utmost President r. A
Barnaby of the Knlckerbocker Steamboat
company, owners OF the Slocum made a
! general denial today of the reports that
| the steamer was equipped with worthless
| hose and life savers. and that the life
savers were lashed to the steamer with
| wire.
THE apparatus for fire fighting on the
| boat at the time of the accident was Of
the very best that money could buy" said
| Mr.. Barnaby.
THE boat was thoroughly overhauled
| early this year and spent over $4,000
on reftting machinery. hose, extinguishers,
| as well as for life preservers. We did all
and more than the law requires The hose
was all new this year and was all right
| The fact that the vessel was rated as a
Al risk is the best evidence that all that
human foresight could provide was done.
| The reports that the life RATS and boats
were tied on with ropes and wires is abb
solutey false.
The life RATS were simply laid on the
| deck and could have been thrown over
| board by anyone. The boats were simply
! lashed with thin rope that was not COW
cred with paint and which could easily
have been cut. No wires were used what
ever venture TO say that many people
were killed simply in the efforts to get at
the boats 100 failed in doing what one
man could have done. We had over 500
| life preservers more than the. legal capacity
| of the boat, something like 1000 or 1900
new ones having been put in this year
| The allegation that they were old, rotten
and worthless is not true"
Loss Falls on One Neighborhood.
| Unlike the Iroquois theater fire and other
| great catastrophes of recent years, where
| the woe Of the disaster reached through
out the land, the blow of the Slocum's
mortality list falls practically upon a little
| neighborhood in great city. ST Marks
| parish, which furnished nearly every VIC
tim, lies within the crowded blocks OF the
| middle east side, and therein today there
| is hardly house that is not one of MOURN
! ing. The membership of the little Lu-
| theran church Is practically German or OF
! German descent and all OF the compare
| lively weil-to-do class.
! The race OF the burning steamer from
! the moment the fire was discovered until
its bows crashed on the shelving beach OF
North Brother island lasted little more
than ten minutes, yet that time suncNd
! for deeds OF heroism which make the one
bright chapter in the heartrendlng story
Brave men, devoted mothers and even
maldens and youths of tender years each
contributed their part TO the roll OF heroic
acts.
There were rescues in the face of almost
certain death, and useless, but exalted self
sacrifice. The credit for the greatest saw
! ing OF life is due TO the hardy tugboat men
and other followers of the river. who
/ braved flames and held the noses OF their
boats against the fre-wrapped steamer
| until driven of by the awful heat scorched
and choking. Dead bodies Of women with
| their burned arms casping close the pitt
full forms Of little children and babies were
found, their tiny arms enfoldlng each other
| In the stin embrace OF death.
! Examples of Hehrtlessness.
! But there Is a darker side limited at
| along the river front, where are told stories
that seem TO be the inevitable Rccompani-
! ment OF Americas great calamities. There
/ has been no evidence Of character specific
! enough TO fasten Il upon individuals aud
permit OF punishment but survivors and
| eyr-witnesses say that some brutal acts OF
| selAshness and cowardice on the part OF
the slocum's crew were seen and that dis
tress signals from the burning boat were
| disregarded by passing craft One man
AYERS that big white yacht passed tho
Slocut when the bodies Of women and
children were going overheard and did not
even slacken speed According to this man,
the yacht few the pennant Of the New