The Washington times., 1904-06-17
THOUSANDS VISIT
THE CITY MORGUE
ThrOng There to Sec the
Dead of the SlOcum.
TRIES TO LEAP FROM PIER
Pathetic Stories Told of Ravages the
Fire Made in Families on
East Side.

mvIsue Is the center which attracts
those in search Of missing relatives. and
those who come out Of idle curiosity.
Yesterday, from dawn until after mid
night, the searchers came and went, and
after them came the undertakers to car
~ the bodies which had been Identified.
Before the days end. il was estimated
lhai So'oO persons had visited the dead
This morning the ceaseIess tramp of
people passing through the front uoor
began again, only now the se3rcherS
are hoping against hope, of finding some
trace of their missing friends.
The dead were brought down from
North Brother Island. in such collins
as the department Of charities could pro-
Nloe. ana laid in two long lines on the
pier of the department of charities.
The supply of collins in the depart
ment was easily exhausted. and when
commissioner of Charities Tully learneu.
OF this fact he issued orders 10 buy as
many collins from dealers i'm Manhattan
as could be supplied in "a hurry n de
iNered at the pier. me result was that
while most Of the bodies were i'm plain
wooden boxes. not "A few were in more
elaborate cloth-covered baskets.
Big Force of Police.
olice Captain Shire. OF the East
Thirty-hfth Street station. stationed. at
dawn yesterday. eighty patrolmen. with
two sergeants and two roundsmen. at
the pier and along Twenty-sixth Street
as far west as First Avenue. Captain
SHIRE anticipated that. between 6 and S
O'Clock. an unusually large number OF
persons would visit the morgue, and he
wanted to keep the crowd orderly.
II * estimated that about 1000 persons
visited the pier.
The early evening crowd was made
up largely Of working men and women
VINO went home from work by way of
the morgue.
Woman Tries Suicide,
After the crowd had considerably
Trimmed out a young woman. all in
black. walked along one line of collins.
and stopped beside one in which was
the body of a white-haired woman.
The young woman kneeled beside tine
coffin and exclaimed:
"Oh. mother. it's you. And I sent you.
told you it would be pleasant, and 50
you went. and killed you
The daughter left the coffin and
the boats tie up. As she reached the
edge of the pier, she looked at the
water a moment then stepped back
ward and dashed forward. apparently
70 jump of the pier.
4 Bellevue woman nurse who hap
pened 10 be passing got directly in the
way Of the woman. knocking her down
Several policemen rushed 10 the assist
ance OF the nurse. and finally carried
the young woman to the p~sychopathic
ward.
MOlucI anu SH4luACH.
The physicians said that it was simply
q case Of acute hysteria. and that the
sufferer would come back TO herself in
an hour or two. That was what hap
pened. and when the yc ing woman re-
gained her senses she said she was
Mrs. Katharine Diamond of - Mangin
Street.
She said that her mother. Mrs. Kath-
arine Birmingham. had gone on the Sun
day school excursion, taking Mrs Dia-
mond's two children with her. Mrs.
Diamond wanted the children TO go. and
thought that il would also be a pleasant
outing for her mother. Mrs. Birming-
ham. It was learned, took the
children I'm her arms. rushed 20 the
after part Of the boat. and was prepar-
ing 10 leap overheard when the upper
deck gave way and crushed out the lives
Of both the children and their grand
other visitors I'm the morning were
Charles Ottinger. Of 81 East Seventh
Street and his two dauf hters. Kathar-
Inc and Lillian. The three. with "A son.
George. are the only ones left Of a
family Of nine. The Cttingcrs were
practitioners Of ST. Marks Church. and
MIS-. Ottnger, with her two pairs OF
twins. Charley and Emma. eleven years
old. and Arthur and Andrew. seven
years old were among those who went
down on the excursion.
Ottinger first found Charley and En-
ma. and a little way up the second
line the three found Mrs. Ottinger's
body. with her two twin boys. Arthur
and Andrew, claeped In her arms.
Wife and Children.
Detective Sergeant McCanerty was one
OF the early corners. He said he was
looking for the body Of Mrs. Todt. the
jsnitress OF the housc at 1O3 East Sew
enty-ffth Street. where McCanerty lfv-
ed. He said that Mrs. Todt. with her
daughter. Mrs. Henry Hermann. Of 40
Fifth Street. and Mrs. Hermann's
six children, had been passengers on the
Slocum. lie found the body Of Mrs.
Todt, but could not get any trace OF
Mrs. Hermann or the children.
The steamer Fidelity got to the pier
about 10 o'clock with four bodies. and
the Massasoit got in at 2.45 with thirty
nine more The MassasOit also brought
down from North Brother Island a con-
siderable cargo Of the belongings Of the
dead. There were two baby carriages
filled with children's straw hats. Their
were also several barrels fall Of women's
handbags, purses. and belts. Many Of
the purses contained considerable sums
OF money.
Of Eleven, Two Return.
One OF the most striking cases Of the
wiping out OF almost a whole family
WIS furnished by Henry K-assebaum. OF
1S6 Guernsey Street. Greenpolnt. He
said he was looking for the bodies OF
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry c.. Schnude. OF 42s
last ofhtNAF-HlAAn Street MIR. CnnuQ ]
was his fathcr-in-law and a deacon i'm
st. Marks Church. Mr.. and Mrs. 4
SChnude. their unmarried daughter, An /
nettc. about thirty years old, Mr.. and
Mrs. Henry G.. Schnude, 1r., the ~latter's /
two small children. Grace and Mildred. /
and old Mr.. and Mrs. Schnude's two
other daughters, Mrs. Kassebaum and
Mrs. Freda TOniDOrt. and the last
named's two children. Francis and
Charlotte. were All aboard the boat. All
Of the family lost their lives. except
Mrs. kassebaum and Annette Schnude.
Pathetic and tragic scenes were re-
peated time and time again. as the iden-
tihcrs recognized the faces Of friends
and relatives. Mothers cried out and
tainted beside the boxes containing bod
les OF their husbands and babies. and
one despairlng woman tried TO throw
herself into the East River. but was
prevented BY "A Bellevue nurse.
One feature Of the scene was the in
vasion OF the pier bv hundreds Of young
and fashiOnably-dressed women. MANY
were accompanied by escorts, others
went unattended. but nearly all were
unTnlstakably idle sensation seekers.
Two OF these women drove over IN an
automobile. The police at First Avenue
at FIRST refused them permission 70 pass.
But the women begged actually with
tears in their eyes 10 be allowed 10 see
whether any Of their friends were
among the dead. They smiled later when