Yesterday, June 15, was the 100th anniversary of the General Slocum disaster. She was an excursion boat carrying over 1300 passengers and crew when she caught fire in the East River in NY City. Over 1,000 persons, mostly women and children, perished either by drowning or by fire.
They just had a television show on it and they said that the clothing worn by the men, women and children increased the death rate in the drownings. The 1904 outfits were simply too heavy for those that knew how to swim.
Thanks For the info Har!
I hadn't heard of it.
"Other Major Disasters in US History" is a link on the left. There are some really interesting disasters linked there.
My wife was watching a program last night (Wednesday, 6/16) about the General Slocum on, I believe, the History Channel. I caught the second half of the program. She is a native New Yorker (though long transplanted to CT) but had never heard of this disaster; I had heard of it but did not know any details. The General Slocum sank only eight years before the Titanic. The captain of the G.S. eventually did two years in Sing Sing; the program indicated he was made a scapegoat by those who were truly culpable.
Until 9/11, this was the single most deadly disaster in New York City history, and originally, it was solemnly remembered by everyone. But the Titanic disaster overshadowed it, and then came all the other tragic events of the 20th Century: WWI, etc. It is surprising, though, that it is not better known.
I couldn't help noticing how similar the General Slocum was to the Fall River Line ships.
The disaster of the Sultana in 1865 was even worse. Her boilers exploded and she caught fire in the Mississipii river near Memphis. She was carrying Union P.O.W.'s home after the Civil War. No one knows the exact count but I saw a figure of 1,547 lost making it slightly larger than the loss aboard the Titanic.
Wonder what kind of voyages Lizzie and her party had aboard the Scythia. Apparently uneventful since there's no mention of it anywhere.
