Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1904-06-24
Hundreds of Bodies of Steamer
Disaster May Never
Be Found.
SCENES AT THE MORGuE
Thrones Of People Plead for Chance TO
Try to Identify Their Dead
Mother Finding Her Child's
Body Tried Suicide.

Slocum. What the list OF victims will
total scarce any n dare venture q
guess, but whatever the number may be
there is hardly a 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 more, but 1t would
seem that the maximum fatality VIII
| not largely exceed 200.
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 and ut dusk there had been recov-
cred $50 bodies, for the greater part
women and children-mothers who
weeks ago had planned that fatal cut
ing for their children, little ones who
had longed for the coming of the happy
day. Up to dusk 499 bodies had passed
through the morgu n of those more
than 900 were identified.
The east side has it's 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 were blocked, and
only with difficulty could the police
keep clear the passages leading to the
long rows Of collins for those who came
TO 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 loo. This estimate is
based on the opinion of the chief of the
fire department, the ~coroner's office n
the police. At $3.50 o'clock this afternoon
522 bodies had 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 ZIG had been identified. The num-
Der missing was estimated in the yicin-
ity of 400.
During the day yesterday 2OS persons
were taken to hospitals. After treat
ment it was found that in many cases
the injuries were not serious and they
were allowed to depart. Some of those
who remain in the hospitals are still in
a critical condition.
All night crowds of people visited the
morgue with e~ntreaties for a chance
to try to make identifications. Esti-
mates OF the number of dead given by
officials vary exceedingly. DR.. Darling
ton, president of the board of health.
estimates the total at 1900. Inspector
Brooks placed the number ut 1000.
Mother Attempts Suicide.
y particularly sad incident during the
night was an attempt at suicide by a
grief stricken mother at the morgue.
The woman was Mrs. Lena Rekanski.
She went there to try to find 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. and his sister-in-law. Mrs.
William Tetimore. The latter's daugh-
ter, Edith, 2 years Of age. was also
lost.
Assistant District Attorney Garvan
has placed under seal O dozen life pre-
servers taken from the General Sio-
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
other tugs and taken ashore. How
many dead lie In the cnarred and
sunken hull cannot be estimated until
every nook and corner shall have been
gone over by the divers.
Unlike the Iroquois theater n other
great catastrophies of recent years
where the woe of the disaster reached
throughout the land, the blow of the
Slocum's mortality falls practically up
on one 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 a house
that is not one of mourning.
Nearly All Are Germans.
The members of the little Lutheran
church were practically all Germans
III III ANCl q AAtAA oil N&AN
comparatively of the we'll TO do class.
The race<of h burning steamer from
the moment the fire was discovered
until her bows crashed on the shelv-
; ing beach OF North Brother island
lasted little more than ten minutes
yet that time suficed for deeds of
heroism which make one bright chap
ter In the heartrending story. Brave
men, devoted mothers, and even maid
ems n youths OF m years contrib
uted their part to the roll OF heroic
acts. There were rescues in the face
OF almost certain death. and useless
but exalted self sacrifice. Credit for
the greatest sacrifice in saving life Ii
due to the hardy tugboat men and
other followers of the river. who braved
the flames and held the noses of their
boats against the fire wrapped steam
er until driven OF by the awful heat,
scorched and choking. Dead bodies OF
women were found with their burned
arms clasping close the pitiful forms
Of little children.
A Darker Side, Too.
But there Is q darker side limited at
along the river front, where are told
stories that seem to be the inevitable
accompaniment Of all great calamities.
There has been no evidence OF a char
acter specific enough to fasten 1t upon
individuals and permit Of punishment:
but survivors n eyewitnesses say
oome brutal acts Of seInshness and