Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-06-24

trip TO New York on Wednes,.a,
morning, instead of stopping auC
oHerlng assistance to the Genera
Slocum, continued on her way. mass
Ing only a hundred yards from tn,
burning steamer as the victim.
. Jumped for their lives.
A young woman passenger told the
Following story: "Wneu the fire or
the Slocum was raging a tug ap-
preached the side Of the steamer and
l called to one Of the men standing
In the bow: Take me off, The
man shouted: Got any money! 'Pve
got So 50,' l answered. sGive it to
me and I'll take you on he said. 81
gave nlm the money with the excep-
ton of 50-cent piece, which, in nv
excitement, | let fall to the deck of
the boat, and he helped me onto the
tug An elderly woman dressed in
black stood beside me looking for
succor from the tug. Got any
money? the man asked her when she
started to follow me onto the tug.
I've got ST. she replied. "a dollar
Is better tnan nothing said the man,
and he attempted to seize and drag
the fainting woman onto the tug,
but lost his hold on her, and she fell
into the water and was swept away.
why did you let that woman fali?'
L asked, 'Oh, we haven't got any
too much room here he replied,
and there are plenty of others who
nave money that want to get on.
She was nearly gone, anyway"
The excursion steamboat Sirius
passed the Slocum just at the crisis
OF the disaster, with 1900 passengers
from st. Johns church. bound up
the sound. When the fire started in
the Slocum the Sirius was almost
alongside, aud every detail of the hor-
rible scene was witnessed by her pas
sengers. The captain feared that
the flames might be communicated to
his vessel and ordered the Sirius at
full speed ahead. In attempting to
pass his boat became enveloped In
smoke. Panic seized the crowd, for
the heat was intense and all were in
darkness.
| WHAT SOME SURVIVORS SAY.
AS they regain strength in hospital
or home, suffering survivors of the
horrors of the Slocum disaster are
able to tell the story of their terrible
experiences in the awful minutes
which dragged along between the
time of the discovery of the fire and
their rescue.
Miss Susan Schultz said: "It was
too awful to remember about, and
wish l could forget it all. Such
tearing, pushing and hauling never
saw before. In the water it was
worse. Women fought for small
pieces of board, grabbed each other
for support, some of them begging
others to save their children. i
could not tell you all the things
that passed through my mind. The
blaze sprang up all of a sudden.
Then the wild rush began. | don't
know how l got into the water, but
after l had been in short time |
felt sort of suffocatlon. | could
not breathe. My ears tingled and |
seemed to hear sounds like music
afar off. | don't remember any more
until found myself on the island
with the doctor working over me.
Later l was taken to Lincoln
Hospital"
The engineer who drove the fated
vessel at full speed to beach her,
among other things, said:
"The little children from the port
door looked scared. kept my eye
on them, intending to take them into
the engine room as soon as could
leave the pump, But the roar from
above came, and then mob of hat
less men, women and little children,
tearing at their hair, all ablaze,
rushed by in a wedge ! saw the
children face the mob. / saw some
run away before it. And | saw the
rest, perhaps recognizing some one,
run toward it with their arms out.
The mob swept on. ! saw the little
bodies blazing after it had passed.
"Brandow, white in the face, still
gripped the throttle. Pandemonium
beat all around us. Women and
children rushed by in flames without
stopping. l could hear some of the
crew shouting, begging, fighting for
common sense, The draught swept
in through the gangways on either
side of the engine room and saved us.
"The firemen came up the iron
stairs. SO back, boys said. You
couldn't get out now, and I'll give
you chance with me- 1t seemed
two hours, but in reality it was two
minutes, after the first rush that the
captain rang for full speed ahead.
"The air grew dense. Thick smoke
came through the doors, ] at the
pump and lrandow at the throttle
could not see each other. Terrible,
flaming figures ran past with arms
ablaze, yelling.
"'Her new coat Of paint is feeding
the flames,' thought to myself. The
screams outside were becoming more
and more agonizing. The smoke
blinded us. The heat made the iron
flooring a griddle for our feet.
81 laid my head on my arm to
protect my eyes from the smoke.
Suddenly there was CHASTITY cry of
despair. A blazing figure fell out
side the door. Then l noticed the
smoke was tainted. / smelled it
again. / saw Brandow sway at the
throttle and pull himself together.
"The woman outside was burning.
1t was the smell of human flesh
burning. Outside IN three minutes
more figures stumbled over the first
and lay there.
81 suppose | was wandering a
little. L thought how lucky it was
that the captain had not ATTEMPTED