New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-07-25
EASTLAND WRECK
SURPRISES LOSS
OF THE SL0CUM
Burning in East River De
stroyed Fewer Than
Chicago Disaster.
NEW HORROR RANKS
WITH SEA TRAGEDIES
Sinking of the Titanic Alone EX-
ceedS Ii in Cost of Human
Life.

Life.
Rcmcmbrances Of the General Slo-
cum disaster in 1904 flashed into the
minds Of residents Of this city yester-
day when. from Chicago. came news
Of the capsizing Of the excursion
steamer Eastland with a holiday crowd
imprisoned in her cabins
Terrible as were those memories 70
many. the earliest dispatches from the
Western city showed that the horror
Of the accident there exceeded that Of
the tragedy that occurred in the East
River on June IS eleven years ago,
when the General Slocum burst into
flames. Nearly one thousand persons
lost their lives that day. Late last
night Chicago reported the death of
more than 1900. Nothing in the
history of navigation on inland waters
Of this country can COMPARE with II,
either in the point Of lives lost or the
peculiar manner in which the accident
happened.
The Slocum disaster occurred when
the excursion boat was heading up the
East River into the Sound, crowded
with members Of 81. Marks Church
and their friends.
When the fire was discovered the
passengers rushed for the life bets.
As fast as eager hands grasped them,
the rotten canvass crumpled and the
decaycd cork with which they were
filled blew into the water In the panic
women and children, who comprised the
greater number of the eXcurSlonlsts,
leaned or were pushed into the water
When beached on North Brother
Island. near the entrance 10 the Sound,
a mass Of laundering humanity was
left IN the steamers wake. Few Of
those who leaped overheard reached
shore alive. The search for bodies
lasted for days. Many were never re-
covered. Entire families, in some in
stances, were wiped out, and few that
were on the Inflated excursion did not
lose By death some relative or friend.
Blame for the accident was placed
on the commander Of the General Slo-
cum. William H. Van Schaick. Although
the fire hose was as rotten as the NE
preservers. the steamer unequlpped
with lfeboats and the crew IMMERSED
in fire drills. il was maintained that
the captain might have saved the lives
of his charges had he beached ms yes
sci as soon as the fire was discovered
He was sentenced 20 ten years IN sing
Sing, and was pardoned by Presldent
Taft after serving two and a nan years;
Many other disasters have occurred
on the Great Lakes and their adjacent
waters. but none has approached the
u
dav In 1871 the steamer Erie burned
TO the waters edge on Lake Erie, with
the loss of l75 lives Six years later
FIRE DESTROYED the Phoenix, on Lake
Michigan. with a loss of PAT passen-
gers. and in 1850 another disaster took
place on Lake Erie, when 300 persons
aboard the Griffith lost their lives
through fire.
In 1852 a storm on Lake Erie sank
the Atlantic, with a loss OF ZoO. In
1857 the Montreal was burned on the
St. Lawrence River, $50 lives beng me
toll. The Lady Elgin caught ire while
crossing Lake Michigan in 1861 and Is
persons were lost, while 100 more were
killed on the same body of water eight
wears later in the burning Of the
steamer Scablrd.
The three great ocean disasters, all
Of which occurred within the last three
Years, did not eclipse the EaStland &C
c.dent in the number Of persons lost.
The nearest approach was the Titanic
catastrophe. on April II. 1912. OF the
shjp's passengers and crew l,bSo per
sons were lost, including many men
and women Of international reputa-
ton.
The Titanic, then the largest ship
afoat. was running at full speed from
Liverpool TO New York on her maiden
voyage When of the Newfoundland
Banks she ran into an iceberg, ripping
out her plates and waterught eompart-
ments and sinking n two hours. The
survivors numbered 7i5.
When the Cunard liner Lusitania
was sunk by a torpedo discharged from
a German submarine off Old Head OF
Kinsale. on the Irish coast, on May Z,
mo e than loo persons persisted.
The Empress Of Ireland sank in
twenty minutes of Father Point. in the
st. Lawrence River. on May %, IVA,
sitter collision with the collier Stor-
stad. In that wreck 1924 lives were
lost
The burning Of the Uranium liner
Nolturro i'm midocean. on October 9,
1913. was responsible for the ceath OF
1876 persons
On July p. 1898, while of the New
foundland Banks, not far from where
the Titanic came to grief, the French
steamer Bourgogre went down, with
S7l persons on board Seven hundred
persons persisted in the Thames, near
Woolwich. i'm 1873. on the Princess
Alice. The Utopia. British steamer,
that sank of Gibraltar in March, 1871,
cost the lives of 574 Of her passengers.
Some marine tragedies which the
Eastland disaster recalled We're the
sinking Of the Japanese liner Matsu
Maru. on March %. 1908, OFF the coast
OF japan, with 500 on board; the ship
Kapunda. with a loss Of 2e9, of Brazil,
ir 1897. the excursion steamer that
went down at Montevideo, Uruguay. IN
April. 1905, with a death toll Of 200;
the Larchmont. that came TO grief IN
Long Island Sound on February L,
1907. drowning 1888; the State Of Flor
ida. of the Canadian coast, in 1854,
1928 dead: the Russian steamer Libau,
June z. 1903. of MarSeilles, 100 dead;
the Norge. June 25. 1894. off RuckalPs
Reef. on which 600 persisted, and the
Nile rive steamer that sank in the
Nils on April 3, 1912, the dead in that
instance numbering 200.
DRY REBUKE FOR CONAN