Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-10-20
THE sLocuM INVESTIGATION.

inspectors and all people connected d.
rectly and indirectly with the disas-
ter to the General Slocum which last
June resulted in the death of hun
dreds Of men, women and children, Is
not to be overlooked, but is to bring
about punishment for every guilty per-
son, is good news for the people of
the nation. Though this has been a
year of disasters. the General Slocum
fire stands out as the greatest of all. A
whole parish was stricken by the hand
of death. The steamer was crowded
to its capacity by hundreds of bright
faced excursionists. all members Of a
New York parish and all bound for a
day up the river for delightful pic
mic. Suddenly fire was discovered,
starting no one knew how, and In a
moment the big boat load of people
became frightened, panic stricken
mob, fighting for life. In the struggle
the officials and crew of the steamer
seem to have lost their heads and sub
sequent investigation shows that the
crew, at least, was made up of igno-
rant men whose nerve failed in the
hour Of need. Investigation further
OAS C11S S1AO oCSdHCI was uOt
equipped as it should have been. The
fire hose was useless, the life preserv-
ers were rotten and these facts con-
founded the confusion started by the
tiny blaze which grew as did the panic
until it enveloped the whole steamer.
Days afterward. the final count of the
dead was announced as close to 1000.
Scarcely home In the parish but was
the abode of death. Scarcely an eye
that was not dimmed with tears for
some dead relative
And all this, it seems, or at least the
greater part of the blame for the aw-
full loss of life. was due to the ineffi-
cheney of the crew, the lack of pre-
cautions against such an accident. and
finally to the carelessness Of the in
spectors placed in New York by the
government. whose sworn duty was to
inspect the steamers and see that they
were fitted with appliances and pro-
vided with precautions to prevent loss
Of life
1t is to the credit Of the authorities,
local and national. that complete in
vestigation was at once undertaken.
President Roosevelt himself, gave his
personal attention to the matter to In
sure honesty in the investigation. And
he was successful. Indictments have
been found against the captain Of the
Slocum and the managing directors of
the company which owned the
steamer. This was done by the civil
authorities. Meanwhile a report has
been made by a commission appointed
for that purpose and the government
employees who were responsible for the
lack or the carelessness of inspection
are to be removed from the service.
The report of the commission has
been made to the President and he
has written to Secretary Metcalf of
the department of commerce and labor
ordering him to remove the three in
spectors, investigate thoroughly the
work OF steamboat inspection, and
petition congress to enact law Gre
ating commission to investigate the
existing statutes.
The Presidents action in this mat
ter has been wise in every respect.
Instead of rushing into the case with.
out first acquiring knowledge, of 1t. he
has caused minute investigation to
he made and now that he has the re.
port of that investigation he directs
that every possible precaution be
taken to prevent another such disas.
ter as that which cost the lives of SO
many people last June. The Slocum's
dead will be avenged