BACK PAGES:ON THE day that James Joyce picked to immortalise the Dublin of his youth, The Irish Timescarried the usual complement of reports about now obscure political controversies, court cases and concern over the funding of the Royal Hibernian Academy. The most dramatic report came from New York where a Sunday school outing turned into disaster: along with so much else, it was swept up into Joyce's narrative.
Five hundred persons, mostly children, perished today by the burning of the steamer General Slocum, near Hell Gate, on the East River. The disaster is the most appalling that has ever occurred in New York Harbour, and the fact that the victims were almost entirely of a tender age or women renders it absolutely distressing.
The annual Sunday School excursion of the St Mark’s German Lutheran Church was proceeding to Locust Grove, a pleasure resort on Long Island Sound. As the steamer made its way up the East River, with bands playing and flags flying, every deck was crowded with merry-makers. When she was off Sunken Meadow a fire broke out in the lunch room. The crew endeavoured to extinguish the flames, but they quickly became uncontrollable, and made rapid headway.A panic ensued.
The Hell Gate rocks hemmed the steamer in and she was unable to turn. The vessel, consequently went on at full speed, and was finally beached on North Brothers Island, where the Municipal Charity Hospitals’ physicians and nurses were immediately available for the injured. No attempt was made to lower the lifeboats.
With the first rush of fire and smoke those on the forward deck were driven away, and many were crushed against the rail or pushed overboard. As the panic spread many sprang over the rail, first in twos and threes, and then as the fire rushed aft dozens of crazed parents threw their children overboard, and then followed themselves, only to be drowned in the swift waters of Hell Gate.
With its engines going at full speed, the big vessel churned its way on towards the beach, leaving a train of dark struggling forms in her wake. Continuous blasts of her siren brought dozens of craft to the rescue, which was marked by great pluck and daring. Some tugs stuck to the side of the steamer until they themselves caught fire.
Before the vessel was beached the crowded hurricane deck gave way, precipitating hundreds into the fiery inferno between decks, already choked with a struggling, panic-stricken mass of women and children.
Even when the steamer was stranded there was still a considerable stretch of open water between it and the shore, and many more persons perished either by fire or water almost within a stone’s throw of safety.
The paddle wheels of the steamer, which was burned to the water’s edge, are also choked with half burned corpses. The rocks are piled high with bodies. Most of the rescued are badly burned and many cannot possibly survive their injuries.
The life-belts on board were lashed to the ceilings and could only be reached by tall people. Thus very few of the children were able to obtain any, but every man on board able to swim went overboard laden with children. Many of these burdened heroes were drowned.
The life jackets turned out to be made of inferior materials and glue which dissolved in the water: many mothers had put them on children and thrown them overboard only to see them sink. The captain was later jailed for three years for criminal negligence. The death toll reached 1,021 of the 1,300 on board, making it the highest death toll in New York’s history before September 11, 2001.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1904/0616/Pg005.html#Ar00500