Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-06-23
TALE OF HORROR
NOT HALF TOLD
Hundreds of Bodies of Steamer
Disaster May Never
Be Found.
SCENES AT THE r
Thronss of People Plead for Chance to
Try to Identify Their Dead
Mother Finding Her Child's
Body Tried Suicide.

New York, June 1S.-With unceasing
efforts search is going on for the bodies
of those who persisted on the General
Slocum. What the list of victims will
total scarce any n dare venture Il
guess. but whatever the number may he
there is hardly Il parallel in the history
of disasters where death came to SO
many in so brief a period of time.
Police and health department officials
have placed the number at "a figure as
high as 1000 and more, but 1t would
seem that the maximum fatality will
not largely exceed 700.
All day long, from sunrise until dark
ness shut off even the melancholy sat-
isfaction of watching for the dead:
anxious searcherS kept up their vigil
lance II at dusk there had been recov
cred $50 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. n of those more
tha 200 were identified.
The east side has its human sym
pathies aroused to the fullest extent.
and down by the river. where the boats
unloaded their dead, thousands gath
cred throughout the day. Streets lead
ing to the mOrgue We're blocked, and
only with difficulty could the police
keep clear the passages leading to the
long rows of collins for those who came
10 search for the missing.
New York, June 1S.-The loss of life
by the burning OF the steamer General
Slocum In the East river yesterday will
approximate 1000. This estimate is
based on the opinion of the chief Of the
fire department., the %coroner's office and
the police. At 2:30 o'clock this afternoon
522 bodies lac been recovered, of which
155 had been identified. There were re-
ported missing 467 persons. The hos
pitfalls had III injured.
New York, June 1S.--After an all
night search. with the aid of profession
al divers. at North Brother island for
the victims of the Inflated steamer
General SlOcum, which burned yester-
day. 463 known dead had been recov-
cred up to 8 o'clock today. OF this num-
Der 116 had been identified. The num-
Der missing was estimated in the vicin-
ity of 400.
During the day yesterday 2O3 persons
were taken to hospitals. After treat
ment 1t was found that in many cases
the injuries were not serious and they
were allowed 10 depart. Some Of those
who remain in the hospitals are still in
u critical condition.
-Ail night crowds of people visited the
morgue with e~ntreaties for a chance
to try to make identifcations. Esti-
mates of the number of dead given nv
officials vary exceedingly. DIR. Darling
ton. president of the board Of health.
estimates the total at 1900. Inspector
BROOKS placed the number at 1000.
Mother Attempts Suicide.
n particularly sad incident during the
night was an attempt at suicide by a
GRIEF stricken mother at the morRue.
The woman was Mrs. Lena Rekanski.
She went there to try to inc her little
daughter. Wanda. and found a body
which She identified as that of her
child. Wandering from the morgue
she walked down to the pier and at
tempted to throw herself into the river.
She had been watched and a policeman
seized her in time to save her life.
Pastor Haas of st. Marks Lutheran
church Is completely Frustrated. He
has been unconscious most of the time
since the disaster. His condition is
critical. He lost besides his wife. and
daughter. his mother-in-law, Mrs. Carl
Hanson. n his sister-in-law Mrs.
William Tetimore. The latter's daugh-
ter. Edith. 2 a of age, was also
lost.
Assistant District Attorney Garvan
has placed Under seal n dozen life pre-
servers taken from the Genera SlO-
cum; of these only three were intact.
the rest had burst their compartments.
from which the cork was pouring. The
canvas coverings Of the cork were SO
rotten that an assistant Of Caravan had
no difficulty in ripping them open with
his finger nail.
Seeking Bodies Of Victims.
All through the night and today men
In diving suits and Others with CRAP
ping hooks stood on the decks OF tugs
which lowered about the sunken wreck
OF the General Slocum. AS bodies were
brought up they were transferred to
h tugs and taken ashore. How
many dead lie in the cnarred and
sunken hull cannot be estimated until
every nook and ri shall have been
gone over by the divers.
Unlike the Iroquois theater and other
great catastr0ph!es Of recent years
where h woe OF the disaster reached
throughout the land. the blow Of the
Slocum's mortality falls practically up
on n little neighborhood Of a great
city. st. Marks parish, which furnished
nearly every victim. lies within ten
crowded blocks OF the middle East Side.
Therein today there Is hardly q house
that 10 mo- n Of mourning.
Nearly Al Are Germans.
The members OF the little Lutheran
church were practically all Germans
or OF German descent, and all were
comparatively Of the well to do class.
The ace OF the burning steamer from