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A MOST DREADFUL
Over Six Hundred Men, Women and
Children Lose Life in the Burning
of ail Excursion Steamer.
AWFUL
Sunday School Picnic Par*
ty Numbering Nearly
2,000 are Whelm
ed by Flames
and Die.
Or.c of the mosi appalling disasters
in the history of New York, tragic in
its immensity, dramatic in its episodes
and deeply pathetic in the tender age
of most of its victims, took place
Wednesday morning in the East river
at the entrance to ihe Long Island
sound, within a short distance of New
York shore and within sight of
sands of persons, the majority of
whom were powerless io minimize the
ex ten! of the catastrophe.
The three decked excursion steam
er General Slocum, with nearly two
thousand people aboard, caught fire
in Hcl] Gate, off 135th street, and
burned to the water’s edge.
The flames burst through the decks
from the lower hold with such fury
that before the steamer could be turn
ed into the shore and beached six hun
dred and fifty people had lost their
lives.
Following the discovery of fire
aboard, the passengers, consisting
principally of women and children,
w'ere seized with panic. The scream
ing passengers rushed to the rail and
plunged overboard, others fled to the
end of the vessel, were caught by the
flames and consumed; still others
stood riveted in their tracks, going
down to death when the immense hur
ricane deck collapsed and fell into the
seething flames.
« Such scenes of horror even stagger
the imagination; they cannot be dc
scribed.
as the flames roared through the
ship, men, women and children, crying
piteously for help, which none could
render, either jumped headlong into
the water or were consumed by the
flames.
Many who were rescued reached
shore insane, mothers crying in vain
for their children; children calling
their parents whose bodies were at the
bottom of the river or in ash as in
the sunken ship.
Mothers fought mothers, believing
their children had been claimed by
mistake. Men, wrapped in flames,
fought for places of safety, only to
fail back into the roaring cauldron.
Children, helpless and in panic, their
white faces made whiter by the wall
of smoke, peered into the faces of eye
witnesses, who were powerless to aid
them.
Here and there a scream would
Hie death of some unfortunate who
been licked up in the fire.
Now and then a pitiful,
ing cry of terror rent, the
nium as a mother saw her child
to the flames.
Wildly insane, people rushed
side to side of the ill fated ship,
praying others cursing as the
15 re w momentarily more intense
torturing.
MANY COMMITTED SUICIDE.
Scores committed dehorn ate
when they realized all hope was
Pai-sengeis, seeing the flames
proach nearet. dcliberatelj
from their dizzy height into the
current below, knowing there was
help for them there, hut
drowning to cremation.
The tragedy canto with such
suddenness there was no warning
any one. A moment be To re the cry
“Fire!” .the steamer echoed with
laughter of children and the
shouts of the party.
The fire was first discovered
135tli street. The flames came
a rush seldom witnessed for fury
swiftness. There was not a
to right about the ship.
At the first outcry of alarm,
and women sprang to the rail,
a moment at the scene of
ble peril behind, and then jumped
the water.
When the steamer hart
138th street passengers ere
overboard by the scon- and a mom
later by Hie hundreds.
HURRICANE DECK COLLAPSES.
! At this moment the hurricane deck
' was crowded almost to suffocation. It
| was here hundreds had rushed for
j ! safety, hoping to escape the terrific
tongues of flames that were sweeping
the lower decks.
Then came a crash, a dreadful noise
of tearing planks and stifled screams
of agony and indescribable woe—the
great deck with its hundreds had col
lapsed and all gone down into the
seething furnace below.
The fire is said to have broken out
in a lunch room on the forward deck
j through the overturning of a pot of
grease. The wind was high and all ef
, R)r ^ s sb bdue the fire were futile.
At 134th street there are several
,
j lumber yards and oti J tanks, and _ as
Captain Van Schaik, in command of
the General Slocum, started to turn
hm vessel towards , the shore , there, .. , he
was warned that it would set fire to
the lumber and oil. and so he changed
his course for North Brothers island,
one of the twin islands near the en
trance to the sound, some half a mile
I away, where the boat partially burn
j ed, vsas beached.
She sank near tins place at 12:2a
I o’clock, hours and 25 minutes af
two
ter the fire was first discovered.
When the police headquarters re
ceived the first vague report of the dis
aster every source of succor and aid
was utilized. The hospitals were no
tified by telephone and each sent all
able and ,
aval surgeons, nurses
lances to the scene.
The police reserves of a half dozen
stations were hurried out and more
than fifty patrol wagons were sent for
ambulance purposes.
North Brothers island, where the
Slocum was beached, is occupied by
municipal charity hospitals and a con
siderable number of physicians and
nurses were immediately available.
Many of those picked up alive in
the river will die.
Every man on board who could
swim weut overboard loaded , down
with children. Many <> iese ,° S
( because, bun as it. .
|tlieir li\es cam
i were. they could make no headway
| ; against the overpowering swirl of the
’ tide as it rushed from the East river
i ;nt() ibe gound
,, U) Wednesday night four hun-
1 ^ had been
dr (1 and f or tv-seven bodies
] recovered and divers were still at
work taking bodies from the hold of
steamer. The remains of many per
wns who leaped into the river have
] ‘
u)L yet been {oimd and it will be some
i time before the list of dead is any
where near complete.
The General Slocum left Third
street East River, at 9:30 o'clock Wed
nesday morning, having on board the
! ann ttal Sunday school excursion of
•
j gt Mark’s German Lutheran Church,
J ' atevi j n sixth street. Her desilna
tion was Locust Grove one of the
many resorts on Long Island Sound,
The excursion was in charge of the
Rev George C. Haas, pastor or the
'
( . burcb
The vessel was commanded by Cap
j , ajn ^TlMam Van Schaik, one of
i bPst - known excursion boat
in New York harbor. He has
rnanded the General Slocum for
most the entire time since sfim
built. in 1891. The number of
cursionlsts on board is variously
mated at from 1.500 to 2,000, but
wording to an offlcial statement,
| sued by the Knickerbocker
j ship Company, owners of the
the number of passengers was
: being one-third of the vessels
that
| consed capacity.
During her flame-enveloped tun
j North Brothers Island the General
, cuni’s whistles kept blowing for
! aD ce. but before the whistle
b iow several tugs, the
,,f which had seen the outbreak of
f trP> started after the vessel, joined
a yacht, while row boats put out
( he shore. The number of these
| constantly grew and not the
dramatic incidents of the
were the efforts of the people on
; boats to rescue those who had
j overboard from the burning
Men crowded to the rails of the
and caught up the drowning
they were borne by the
There were many thrilling rescues
this means.
Captain Van Schaik *and his
‘pilots, Edward Van Wart and E.
Weaver, have been arrested.
At midnight the casualties were
>mated as follows: Known dead,
nj fired in various hospitals, 300;
-. saved, 200 - number
• sir, •175.
UTTER ROUT
Decisive and Bloody Battle Fought
at Telliss, Hear Port Arthur.
JAPS WERE THE VICTORS
Result of the Conflict Eliminates all
Hope of Relief for Beleaguered
Stronghold.
Advices from Tokio state that the
. R UgS j an bope of relieving the pressure
on Port Arthur by threatening the
j rear of General Oku, the commander
1 of the Japanese forces investing the
Russian stronghold, came to an end
j Wednesday at Tellip.su, a point on the
railroad * 50 miles north of Kin-Chou
; and T -‘ miles north of V afangou, when
I the Russians were out maneuvered, en
! veloped and sweepingly ' defeated.
They left over 500 dead on the field
| and the Japanese captured 300 prison
! o«’s and fourteen quick-firing field
( g , mg The Ru8gians retreated hastily
, to the northward
j The Japanese charge that the Rus
■
j sians vio]ated the Japanese flag . Cer .
rain offlcers aver tbat during the fight .
j ing a body of RlJBian soldiers appear .
. . Tananese flair -ind that
j the >JapaneKe ' aiti!lerV( (i Reived by
I the HsCg . ceftsed firing upon that
ticular body of Rugglasss . official dis
i patches from the Japanese command
er ,, made spec5flc charges of this flag
v j 0 i a ti on
Early estimates of the Japanese
losses at Telissu say that 1,000 men
were killed or wounded. The Japan
ese attacking force was divided into
right unci left columns and began the
advance on Tuesdav along both sides
o{ (h<j railroad They encountered the
Russians east of \ afangou and dro\e
them back. At a late hom in the af
ternoon the Russians held a line be
tween Lung-Wang-Liao and Ta-Fang
Cheng. The .Japanese artillery open
j I ed on this line and ihe Russians re-
1 sponded.
The shelling continued for two
; hours, and it was followed by the ad
vance of the Japanese line to a posi
, j ition extending from Lung-Chia-Tung
1 to Yu-Hotun. Darkness put an end
j i to the fighting. The Japanese dis
patched a column to the westward to
j ward Fu-Chau for ihe purpose of cov
er ; ng the Russiaji right wing and to
j protect their left and rear.
During the night it became apparent
that the Russians were being retn
j forced, and it was decided to make a
general attack in the morning and
force the Russians into a defile back
of Telissu.
When morning came it was discov
ered that the Russians held a line
extending from Ta-Fang-Shen to
j ; ted Cheng-Tsu-Shan at over two divisions. with a force estimat
] Whi.e the mam Japanese torce was
raoving north along the railroad, co -
j j the nRht antl aU converged g at
' -
,he , Rns . I>osltlon .
j “ oon ou mai ' 1 an ’
J The Ru8 this . position . were at
sians m
.
| * disadvantage, but they held it until
j 8 ° clock m the afternoon. At ,s
; tm,r they ««re routed. Ihe cavalry
I '
i continued to pursue the enemy and
i probably inflicted considerable punish
! tnent.
The Japanese commander makes no
] estimates of the Russian losses, but
j Ways they probably were great.
MAY NEED EDNDS Al HOME.
Alabama Miners Decline to Aid
Brother Workers in Colorado.
: At Wednesday's session of the
j ted Mine Workers of America, district
^[ abama a t Birmingham, a
: tion was offered authorizing a
] sentative of the Colorado miners
| j n the district to solicit financial
. |, Qr (, be c 0 j orado miners from
i miners. A member, who lias
j cpil fj y been j n Colorado, opposed
s 3({ Uon ot the resolution, saying
from present indications the
j j miners might soon need all
j available funds at home. On
statement the resolution was
j Panama io use ami rican coin.
\
.
] Commission Atjrees Upon Sysieni of
j j eucv (or the ( aunt Isthmus.
A Washington dispatch says:
] commision charged with the
tion of a currency system lor
have reached an agreement which
tablishes a coin equivalent in
ness and weight to the dollars of
United States as the standard,
which also makes the United
j dollar legal tender in Panama.
i Under the terms of the
j the Panama government will recoin
convert the Columbian silver
! coins of the size of a sip er dollar.
t
FIERCE AND FURIOUS
as Onslaught of Japs and Russians
at Vafangou Witnessed by Asso
ciated Press Man.
The correspondent of the Assoeiat
ed Press was present at the battle of
v “ f “ 80u ; aml ? ys:
The stern, dogged , « fighting at the
t battle of Vafangou was like another
i Borodino. The roar of the machine
I guns ami the boom of cannon still
j j three ring in days one’s of ,-orhbat ears. Throughout the officers and the
' mm vled witb wh ln >> ,u< * ” d
heroism. They have added a glorious
page to Russia’s military history.
“The enemy’s advance originally in
cluded the fifth, eighth and eleventh
divisions, twelve squadrons of cavalry
i and splendid artillery. About 200
j guns were belcTTing a continuous
j stream of shot and shell. Large rein
! foreements enabled them to turn the
! Russian flanks. The division on ihe
right precipitated the battle on the
morning of June 15. Major General
! Gerngross. who was wounded, com
mandod the- left flanK, and General
i Lor.tchkavsky commanded the center
includiag four battalions cone tied in
a small wood whence they dealt death
and destruction on the enemy. The
Russian right was protected by Cos
sacks, , dragoons and Siberian rifles,
“While the i big guns were thunder
| ing I made m.v way. ai about 11 a. m.,
to the Russian right flank and climbed
a hill, where I could view the whole
field of ba-ttle:”
A dispatch from Liao-Yang says,
During the night of June 15 the Rus
sian forces under General Stakelburg,
which had been engaged with the Jap
anese for two days, slept in their po
sition, four miles south of Vafangou,
and on ihe morning of June 16 assum
ed the offensive and attacked the Jap
anese lines.
The battle lasted all day and the
Russians inflicted heavy loss on the
enemy.
No doubt was felt by the Russians
of their ability IO' force the Japan
ege blit heavy reinforcements
f 0r enemy had been brought up
rapidly from the south, arriving in
time to turn the scale.
An entire division of fresh Japan
esc ! roups was thrown into line
against the already tired Russians and
! the immense superiority in numbers
j enabled r.hem to over-lap tfhe left
j flank of the Russian;:, who had not suf-
1 ficient
men to meet the turning move
ment and were forced to withdraw
WISCONSIN “SfALWARTS” WIN.
, The Republican National Executive Com
mittee ,, Decides .. a I . actional , hqht. f .
j , the republican ... national .. , committer; ..
; at the ,, meeting , m Chicago Friday ,
j ; afternoon ... voted , to seat the , Wiscon- ....
'
sni .... stalwarts, including ,, United
i i i htales Senators ^ Spooner and Quarles.
! *
j 1 he faction , headed by , Governor La- ,
holiette fighting ~ the ... tour del- , ,
was tor
j egai.es , at , large, . Isaac , Stephenson, ...
Robert Id. LaFollette. James B. Stout
and W. D. Connor. The “stalwarts.
so-called, were demanding seats for
xfinite-d States Senators Spooner and
Q„ arleg an<] Congressman Babcock
i an<1 K,niI ttaenson ’
Each faction has a state ticket of
I its own, as well as a state committer,
, In{eregt in lhe resulI ot th( vviscon
,
j sin contest was more general, prob
; ab iy than that regarding ‘ any ' other
: „„ e , lion b6{ore , he
, ;omn ute
A large likeness of the laie Mar
cus A. Hanna has been hung in the
coliseum and it is the only portrait
j j that will greet ihe eyes of ihe dele
! gates to the republican national con
i ; vention.
• Measuring 20 feet high and 17 feet
! wide, the huge oil paiting. mounted in
a massive gjit frame, has been placed
just back of the spectator’s stand,
I RUSSIANS IMPRISON AN AMERICAN.
j ^ Correspondent of
1 ar Indianapolis Paper
I onquishes in Port Arthur Jail.
A cablegram to The News,
apolis, from Stanley Washburn, Spc
i cial correspondent of The
i News, at Chefoo. says that Hector
Fuller, staff war correspondent, of The
Indianapolis News, has been captured
by four Russian sodiers and taken to
• Port Arthur. He was blindfolded ami
j placed in prj*nn.
. ---------
LOSSES DROVE HIM 10 SttCIDf.
j Chicago Lawyer Slays Sell in a Jackson
| ville, Florida, Hotel.
Charles s. McCoy, a prominent at
I torney, with offices in the city Vf! *
j Chicago, committed Suicide in Jackson
i Fla., Friday morning by cut
ting his throat with a razor in a isath
! tub at a hotel.
- is said,
t it in the last few
1 days, had lost $10,009 by speculating
in stock on Wall street through a lo
:al firm.
Mr. McCoy was in Jacksonville ook
ing after a suit of John L. Davis,
against the Seminole TtH’d Reek Pho- 1
phut,* Cowpimy.
Barasrsi
r I
JL1V/1V
GROWS APAC
,
List , Dead SIccum
ol in Hoicca
Thousand Souls u,1
, «
j BODIES
j BEING RECOVER!
j
Up to Thursday Night the Remi uu
536 Victims Had Been Ta
From the Burned ;r.
Stonier.
j A New York dispatch sAys:
Wi
unceasing effort search is going on j
the bodies of those who perished %
nesday on the General Slocum Whj
the list of victim:} will total scarj
one dare venture a guess, h'h wh;
ever the number may he. there
hardly a parallel in th e history of dj
asl>ils "’here death came to so maji
brief a period, of time. Poll
and hearth department officials l
‘ ia
<p i aGPd a flgnre as high as ] ()()
more,
l *‘ iV b>ng l hursday, from $
rise until darkness shut off even t|
melancholy satisfaction of watehij
f OI . tba dead anxious searchers ki
up the eternal vigilance, and at du
Ibere had been recovered 536 bodij
for the greater part women anti ci
dren—mothers who weeks ago J
planned that, fatal outing for thl
children; little ones, who had Ion
tor the coming of the happy day.
Unlike the Iroquois theatre, and<
catastrophes ol : recent
er. years, wh
the woe of the disaster read
throughout the land, the blow oft
Slocum’s mortality falls heavily u;
one little neighborhood of a great ci
St Mark’s parish, which furnish
nearly every victim, lies within t
crowded blocks of the middle easts]
of New York, and there is hardW
house there not in mourning.
The race of the burning, stead
from the moment the fire was disq
ered until her hows crashed on
shelving, beach of North Brothers
land lasted little more titan fen a
utes, yet that time sufficed for del
of heroism which make the one bra
chapter in the heartrending story. 1
credit for the greatest saving of I j
is due to the hardy tugboat men J
other fo5l °' wers of the river ’
braved flames and held the nosei
their . boats against , he fire-wrapl J s
steamer , until driven , , off „ , by the J u
scorched , , ami , choking. , , . Dead , boi
of , found with their J of
women were J
ed clasping , close , ,. the pi|
arms J
forms of „ little children, .... , and if
were found, „ , their .. . arms enfolding ,„„J f
other , in , the ,, stiff _ embrace of , deaf
Cowardice Laid to Crew.
But there is a darker side hii
at along the river front, where
iold stories that seem m be the to
able accompaniment or all great
,amities of a character ’ Ther0 specific has been enough no . e ™J to
ten it upon individuals survivors and and pennj m
punishment, but
nesses say that some brutal the| ad
selfishness and cowardice on
of the Slocum's crew were seen
■ that, distress signals from, the'
ing boat were disregarded by I*
Even, more horrible is the sto
Miss Martha Weirk, who says
while she struggled in the vat
boat drew alongside her. and that
after stripping her of her rings
i other jewelry, pushed her hack
the water, The body of the ste
had been rifled when found, a
several dollars he was supP 1 *
have in his pockets, not a cent
found,
Mayor Takes Action.
M ay or McClellan announced -
day afternoon that he had de««
j proclamation asking ^
issue ______ a ^
scriptions for the burial of
and for such other immediate
as could be given, He said he
ask ten of prominence id
men
on a committee! to take charts®
Pbnrf.
JUVENILE COURT ENCOllRA&tS ci
More Youths are Being Arrested *
i Than Ever Before
! assert t*>
I The police of Atlanta
juvenile court of tnai eit.v I s
more harm than good, bum
• They claim that, crime is
tiplied by the establishment
juvenile court. will sho 1
The police records
for the past month m° rt
15 u ^‘ ^
: were arrested under -
than for the six months P r
j Outside of the crmr.ua ' ^
i boys are arrested on ni ’
’ vocation,