Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-17
DEAD NUMBER 532
Search for Victims of Slocum.
Disaster Continues.
MANY ARE YET MISSING
SAD TASK OF BURIAL BEGUN IN
NEW YORK TODAY.
Thirty Five Unfortunates in ApaTe.
ment House-Pathetic Incidents
Twenty Members From q Class.
MANY ARE YET MISSING

unknown In the early morning hours Q
| few bodies were brought to the morguA
| bringing the total up to 532. As the morn
| ing wore on with no more arrivals nope %
| gan to be felt that the awful total had psen
completed but II was soon shattered bv
report that divers at work on the hulk OF
the Slocum had discovered mass OF bo0soe
wedged in one of the paddle boxes. How
many corpses there will prove to be In th'S
place will not be known for some hours a.
| they viii not be disturbed until the coroner
| is the scene.
One hopeful phase of the situation is the
steady decrease in the number or missihe'
though 1t is still appallingly large, the num-
Der of missing being somewhere between
400 and 500 The various officials whose
nosition brings them into touch with the
disaster still adhere to the belief that when
ell is told It will be found that between
| 500 and 1000 persons perished.
Burying the Dead.
The sad task of burying the dead oesan
today Early in the forenoon meeuhs "
| the German Lutheran ministers OF 'he CITY
was held and a program OF services az
ranged. While in many instances JOINT
service will be held over several podies
| nevertheless the clergymen of this denomas
ma ton have an herculean task before tnein
ir adm,nistertng the last rites over the deao
of their faith ., -. th>
blow of the disaster is shown py the IaSs
that in one apartment house in sth street
there are thirty five dead, while IN nIs.
ington street house sixteen bodies await
burial.
Three Distinct Investigations.
Preliminary steps have been taken loH
three distinct Investigations OF the ois'
aster. These are being undertaken by the
federal authorities through the Depart.
ment of Commerce; by the coroners of'
flee and by the district attorney. The oo1-
oner's inquest will begin on Monday nsxS
and Cant Van Schaick of the Slocum anu
six of his crew lie In a hospital wltn
policeman at the bedside OF each. Iney
are at present detained as witnesses. IhS
authorities are rapidly gathering sucn
evirlence as will be aidful in ascertainin8
whether or not there was neglect OF
carelessness in the safety appliances Ok
the vessel.
First Officer Edward Flanagan Of the
Slocum is quoted in an interview as say
ing that the steamers fire hose was rot-
ten and useless and that II burst In
dozen places when he and his men trl0o
to use it. The charge is also made tha{
the life preservers on the vessel were olo
and rotten and in most instances proved
inadequate when used.
Pictures Of Life Preservers-
Several papers today print pictures OF
preservers taken from the Slocum, which
bear in black letters this inscription:
Passed by United States steamboat in
spector June 1s 1891" William Thembleys
deck hand, corroborates Flanagans
statement regarding the defective fire hose.
and IL is reported that evidence has been
secured showing that some of the life.
boats were made fast by wires, making "
impossible for them to be cast loose ana
lowered. All the men who have made
these statements will be called as Witnesses
by the coroner. .,,
maintain their patrol of the waters of the
EAST river In the vicinity of the accident,
in the hope of recovering bodies.
Sister Ship Passes Wreck.
While the divers and others were busy
looking for bodies today the steamer Grand
Republic the sister ship of the General Slo-
cum passed up the river with a party OK
excursionists board. Every deck was
crowded As the vessel neared the point
where the divers were working on the
wrecked vessel the police boat patrol wm..
tied for the Grand Republic to slow down
SO as not to disturb the divers; but, accord.
ing to the police. no attention was PAID 70
the warning signals
II was only when the Grand Republic was
almost upon the divers float, and waves
made by the vessels began to make the
float rock and sway, that the pilot seemed
to realize that he should obey the signals.
and slowed down slightly. By the time the
Grand Republic was abreast of the wreck,
however all steam was put on again ana
the boat proceeded up the SOUND.
100 Applications for Burials.
The superintendent of the Lutheran Gem.
etery at Newtown. Queens borough said
today that about 100 applications had been
made for the burial of victims OF the Gem
eral Slocum diseaster. and that fresh appte
cations were being constantly received.
20 dald
laid at rest In the burial ground today, and
a far larger number will be buried there to-
morrow when 1t Is expected that the inter-
ments will go up into the hundreds; for
several days after that succession or bur.
ials of victims is looked for at the Cemetery.
pathetic story was contained in the re-
port made to the St Marks Chnrch inI0s-
ma ton bureau today by Miss Helen Cold
strum a teacher in a public school in the
heart of the stricken district Miss Gold
strum gave instruction to class OF tWen-
ty little girls and six boys After the acci"
dent she made canvass of their homes.
and found that nearly twenty members OF
her class were dead or missing, with no
hope of any being found alive. The bodies
of twelve of the little girls have been re-
covered. Five of the six boys were saved
Every Hour Adds to Horror.
Every hour adds to the horror of the ex-
cursion steamer disaster of Wednesday.
when the General Slocum was burned to
the waters edge near North Brother Is.
land. Divers had explored the wreck OF
the steamer yesterday and reported thas
no more bodies were to be found there, ous
today a diver who was at work on uhe
sunken hull found a large number of BODIES
packed tightly inside one OF the padais
wheels just how many there were va
not known, but 1t was planned 10 renSsS
them as soon as Coroner C'Gorman reachso
the scene. A. ,,, A..
The coroner had arranged TO Visit tns
wreck today for the purpose OF ,rsa h,,ts.
inr n possible, what evidence OF cuipaDinty
on the part of the knickerbocker steam
boat Company or OF the omcials OF tne
foat n any could be secured to present %
the coroner's inquest. Therefore II was 0e.
term.ned to take out the bodies at Thar
time.
At various hospitals where the injured
are II was said today their condition wa