Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-17

ter was 955 persons and the number injured
IT'S. out of total list of 1 1853. This great
loss OF life, percentage of death OF 1882
over seven-tenths-is obviously abnormal
and extraordinary. The abnormal percen-
tage is due primarily to the composition or
the excursion party. about nfne-tenths being
women and children Other factors are the
\ great depth of water In the channel the
swift tide, the extreme rapidly and prog
ress Of the fire. the small amount of assist
ance rendered the passengers by the officers
and crew of the vessel, and the collapse OF
the starboard side of the hurricane deck
aft. A very important conclusion from this
set of facts is that the laws and regulations
must recognize the fact that an excursion
party must be taken care Of and cannot
take care of itself"
Owners Censurable.
In some detail the commission discusses
the duties and responsibilities of the own
ers of excursion steamers and of the Off
GERS and crews of the vessels. The re-
port then reads:
while it is true that it is the business
Of the steamboat inspection service to see
that proper safety appliances as required
by law are provided, this by no means re-
lieves the owner from a similar legal and
moral obligation, nor from the liability for
the maintenance of proper crew discipline
The commission is of the opinion that the
owners Of the General Slocum are CEN
surable in high degree for the made
quate and improper conditions prevailing
on board this vessel. and that, whatever
may be their technical legal liability, they
and their executive agents share largely
In the moral responsibility for the awful
results Of this disaster"
In connection with Its inquiry the COM
mission made a thorough investigation of
the conditions and actual workings of the
steamboat inspection service in the port
of New York, believing that as New York
is the most important port In the coun-
try from the standpoint of the steamboat
inspection service, careful inquiry into
the workings of the service there would
serve as sufficient basis for general reme-
dial recommendations.
Inefficient Inspection.
1t was found that the operations of the
steamboat inspection service at New ork
were unsatisfactory, inefficient and negli-
gent In many respects. The evidence shows
that the local inspectors were interpreting
their duties In a manner not justified by
the statutes The requirement as to the
testing of fire hose on passenger steamers
was wholly disregarded. The assistant in
SpectOrS made no measured pressure test
whatsoever of the fire hose, except such
as might incidentally take place by the
use of such hose for the testing of boilers.
They uniformly reported the fire hose .'in
good condition.. but no pressure test ever
was made. The local inspectors who signed
the certificates of vesselsl had no; personal
knowledge of these matters. simply accept
ing the reports of their assistants. They
never followed up the assistant inspectors
to see that they did their work properly.
They failed practically. too. to instruct
properly new assistant inspectors.
The commission censures particularly the
inspection of fire hose and of fire-fighting
apparatus generally. and finds that the
work of the service falls materially below
the standard demanded by the statutes
No evidence was presented to the commits
sion which indicated that the lack of eff
cheney was due to corruption or to improp-
er motives. but the commission helds that
men who are responsible for the safety of
the full. In order that these results may
be accomplished at New York the commits
sion believes that there must be funda-
mental changes In the methods and person
mel Of the inspectors.
Recommendations.
Many recommendations are presented, all
of them based on the examination into the
Slocum disaster. These recommendations
are principally of technical character re-
lating to the laws and regulations govern
ing the steamboat inspection service, laws
regulating the construction of passenger
steamers and laws giving authority to the
force absolutely Its orders issued to vessel
owners and to the officers and crews of
steamers. 1t Is pointed out that the pres
emit laws relating to safety appliances are
inadequate in that they do not require spe-
officially just what safety appliances and
how many shall be carried on each vessel
These recommendations will be transmit
ted to Congress at its approaching session,
and legislation will be asked along the
lines of the report and recommendations
of the commission.
Edwin P welIes. millionaire treasurer of