Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1904-06-18
MEANWHILE DIVERS AT WORK IN
EAST RIVER CONTINUE TO
FIND coRPsEs.
INVESTIGATIONS

me bureau OF Commerce and Labor,
the Coroner and the District At.
torney Will All Try to Locate the
Blame for the Awful Disaster.
New York, June II. Forty-eight
hours after the burning of the General
Slocum the exact number of the vic
tins is still unknown. In the early
hours few bodies were
brought to the morgue, bringing the
total up to 532
Bodies in Paddle Box.
Late in the morning report came
from the divers at work on the hulk
of the Slocum that they had discover
ed a mass Of bodies wedged in one OF
the paddle boxes. How many corpses
there are will not be known until the
coroner arrives on the scene.
The Missing.
The number of missing is placed at
between 400 and 500 but various Of
ficials still adhere to the belief that
between 900 and 1000 persons perish
ed,
First of Funerals Today.
The sad task of burying the dead be-
gan today. While in many instances
joint services will be held over sever
al of the bodies the German Lutheran
clergymen have a herculean task be-
fore them in administering the last
rites over the dead.
Realize Awful Work of Fire.
The distressing concentration of the
blow of the disaster is-lsb1,t by the
TACT that In one apartment house Sss :
Eighth street there are thirty-five dead
while in q Rivington street house sir.
teen bodies await burial.
Three Investigations.
Preliminary steps have been taken
for three distinct Investigations of the
disaster. These will be undertaken by
the federal authorities through the de-
partment of commerce and labor, by
the coroner's office and by the district
attorney.
Inquest Begins Monday.
The coroner's inquest will begin on
Monday next. Captain Van Schaick
of the Slocum and six of his crew lie
in hospital with policeman at the
bedside of each. They are at present
detained as witnesses.
Many Are Bitter.
There is open criticism of the fail
ure of the General Slocum's officers
and crews to meet the emergency
when the great fire broke out Wednes-
cay, but TO formal action has been
!a.scn by e;tEer the municipal or fed
eral authors, Capt. Van Sc,aick
ard the two -tilots ire under al.csr,
Tut are he.; only as witnesses.
Resoons;b flies Were Not Met.
That there was terrible faiiu,e to
meet the .cs..nsibilites is undonbt.
ca. No effort as far as can be learneo
vas made ), launch the life rats or
boats and no concerted attempt was
made toward equipping the helpless
women ami children with life pre-
| servers, and according to several state.
ments most Of these supposed instru-
ments of safety were practically
worthless, either coming apart when
an attempt was made to use them or
not possessing the bouyancy they are
supposed to have.
Life Preservers Were Old.
Assistant District Attorney Garvau
has placed under seal a dozen iif,
preservers taken from the General
| Slocum. OF these only three were in
tact. The others had burst compart-
ments from which the cork was
/ or;,, -
cord were SO rotten that an assistant
OF Mr.. Garvan who made the expert.
ment had no difficulty in ripping them
open with his finger nail.
Officers Are Criticised. '
/ There is general criticism of the
j captain and pilots for their failure to
i turn the vessel ashore the moment
they were informed that the fire had
gained headway. Capt. Van Schaick
A has made several statements, varying
in detail but none of them is consid.
cred satisfactory
4 Pilot Makes Statement.
4 Pilot Van Wart. however, said to-
day that he could not dock the vessel
4 because all OF her hawsers were burn
j ed. His statement follows:
When / discovered the fire on the
steamer decided to make for the first
dock that could find, but in moment
III was informed that all the ropes by
! which we usually tied up had been
burned. ! then decided TO make for the
! first point of land where there were
no rocks and beach the vessel, and
this did The presence of rocks all
along the shore made it impossible for