The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-10-21

quences may be so terrible IA thav
nave proved to be in this case. Cannot
oe passed over, even where there has
ueeh sooo conduct in other respects on
the part OF the man implicated. Ac-
cord'ngiy, the three officials named
VIII De removed from the service.
moreover You will please direct their
successors in office at once to ndu
a thorough examination of the entire
inspection force of the port of New
York, with the object OF wedding out
all the men whom such examinatioo
snail show to be unified TO perform
IAe very and responsible
duties OF their positions. The super.
'lSlnS inspector general has at pres
ent no headquarters force of special
agents, so that il is very difficult for
MN TO exercise any adequate and d.
rect supervision over the various local
divisions OF the inspection service. In
each division he must rely chiefly on
the fidelity and energy Of the local
heads, and when these fail to perform
their duties they must be held &C.
countable. He must, however, exer-
else as thoroughly a supervision as
the means at his disposal allow. In
order that l may be informed as 70 the
exact condition Of the service in all
its parts, / direct you to order a search
ing investigation in consequence of the
investigation of the commission into
the conduct of the central office and
of every outside subdivision of the
service save hat in New York.
"You will also make such changes in
the regulations as are recommended by
the commission, and you will there
fore call a special meeting Of the board
OF supervising inspectors for this pur-
pose. You will also lay before the
Congress a request that the law be
changed in the various particulars rec
hy --s-.
particular emphasis laid upon the pro-
posal of the commission that there be
created by a law a special body thor
oughly to investigate the laws which
are supposed to provide for the safety
of passengers on steamboats,, and es-
pecially on excursion boats, where the
prime causes of danger are the over
crowding and the flimsy and highly in>
fammable character of superstructures
Very truly yours.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT,
'tHoH. v. II. Metcalf, secretary of Com
merce and Labor"
WHERE THE FIRE STARTED.
The report states that the Genera.
Slocum was owned by the Knicker>
booker Steamboat Company. a New
York corporations; that the Slocum was
last inspected by Henry Lundberg, and
John w. Fleming, May 10, 1904, and
that current certificate of inspection at
the time of the disaster was issued
MAY 6 by James a. Dumont, inspector
of hulls. and Thos. H. Barrel, inspec-
tor of boilers, the board of local in
spectors at the port of New York. On
the origin Of the fire the report says:
The fire started in the forward cabin,
SO called, being the third compart-
ment under the main deck from the
bow, and probably originated in a
barrel containing packing hay which
was in that compartment, one of the
barrels used for bar glasses and brought
On board by the charters. Fire was
probably communicated to this barrel
through the carelessness of some IN
known person."
The report also states that this cabin
was filed with inf1ammable material in
Guiding "a large amount of oil; that
members of the crew Frequently light
ed matches in the compartment, and
that On the morning Of the disaster a
porter filled the lamps in the cabin,
lighted a lamp, blew out the match and
threw it on the BENCH
The condition of this cabin, with the
III for which it was used" the
report r~ecites, constitutes one of the
essential facts Of negligence contribut-
ing to the disaster"
Speaking of the lighting appara>
tus, the report says:
This forward valve and standpipe
were supplied with a 100-foot length of
cheap, unlined, linen hose, costing
probably less than 20 cents a foot, age
unknown, bur probably several years
DID,
The rest of the fire apparatus on the
main deck is said to have consisted or
the after valve of the said standpipe,
two hand fire pumps n some 20
buckets. None of remaining apparatus
was used and the buckets were empty
1t is stated further that the line fire
hose attached to the w standplpe
burst in two or three places, and vas
blown off from it's own coupling with
the standpipe. Efforts then were made
to attach rubber hose to the standp1pe.
Upon the failure to couple the rubber
nose to the forward s~tandpipe," the re-
port says, 1.-The crew gave up all further
attempts to fight the fire and went ait,
some of them overheard Tribute is
paid to Assistant Engineer BRANDON
and Chief Engineer Conklin who re-
manned at their posts.
Continuing, the report says:
NO ATTEMPT TO FIGHT FIRE.
The evidence before the commission
establishes the fact that the master
made no attempt to fight the fire, to ex-
anime it's condition, or to control, az
ure, direct or aid the passengers in any
way whatever. 1t is alleged that he
was unable to reach the place where
the passengers were, by reason OF fire,
but this is contradicted by the evidenc
of many witnesses and is obviously not
true"
IAN essential fact of negligence is the
utter failure of the master to fight the
fire or aid the passengers. In a less de-
gree the pilots, in the same manner,
after Bleaching the boat, and while there
We're still many passengers on board,
failed in their duty to assist n rescue
the said passengers"
The commission expresses the opin-
ion that the men in the pilot house had
knowledge of the fire in time to have
beached the vessel either in Little He'll
Gate, to the westward Of the mixer
Meadows, or in the Bronx Hills, to the
eastward of the Sunken Meadows, in
stead, as the commission states, of pur-
suing a course which drove the flames