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Show tM J IWtHHHHljH Wl f llllttl M t 1 tfl f SIX HUNDRED LIVES ARE LOST IN MARINE DISASTER ON EAST RIVER, NEW YORK j i UT0W YORK. Jue 16. Laden J? 't W with a thousand excurslon- u' ' 1 lBt- n,0'3Uy' wometl and chSl dreri. the big Btcameship Gon- 3 ersl Slocum caught flro in the wa- icra ol Hell Gate today and more ' than 600 persons Perished in tho Sj ! flames or re drowned Up to 0? S o'clock this morning 4lo bodies J jiave been recovered. The disaster I the most appalling- that has ever 5 'occurred in New York harbor, and s made more distressing by the fact that most of those who lost their lives were women or children of tender age. Crowded With Meny-IrTokers. The excursion was given under the auspices of St. Mark's German Lutheran church, of which Rev. George C. F. HasB is pastor. The General Slocum left her pier at the foot of Third, street a few minutes after 9 o'clock. The boat proceeded ' up East river, every deck crowded with morry makers, the band playing play-ing and flagH flying. The Slocum had reached a point, thc Sunken Meadows, at thc cx- ironic eastern end of Randall's island, is-land, when fire broke out in the lunchroom in the bows. Members of the crow endeavored to extinguish extin-guish the flames. The efforts were unavailing, and in an incredibly short time thc fire gained uncon-trolable uncon-trolable headway. Clouds of smoke rolled back through thc crowded docks. The flames swept forward , Instantly, and a wild panic ensued. Steamed Toward the Beach. Hemmed in by the rocks of Holl Gate, the captain was unable to turn his vessel in the channel, and crowding on all steam he made fob M t I I I I I t H m-H-m-H lorth Brother's island, directly ahead. According to the best evidence evi-dence no attempt was made to lower low-er boats or life rafts. People Go "Wild. With the first rush of smoke 'and fire, those on the forward deck' were driven back and many persons were crushed against the rails and pushed overboard. As the j' panic spread many sprang over trjetrail, at first by twos and threes, and then as the fire rushed aft they went over by dozens. Crazed parents pa-rents threw their children overboard over-board and followed themselves, only to drown in the swift water. of Hell Gate. As with her engines driving her at full speed the big vessel churned toward the beach of North Brother Island she left a train of dark forms in her wake and how many thus perished probably will ncv.ir be known, Before she beached the crowded hurricane deck gavo way and precipitated pre-cipitated hundreds into the liery furnace between decks, already-choked already-choked with a struggling panic-stricken panic-stricken mass of women and children. chil-dren. Thc continuous blasts of the Slo-4--H- nninmnmn cum's sirens brought dozcri3 of tug3 and small craft to her side and thc work of rescue vns quick and daring. Some of the tugs stuck to her side until they themselves , were nflre or were vl riven off by the leaping flames. Perished in Flames. When thc steamer was beached quite a distance of open water lay between her and the shore, and many persons periBhed either In thc flames or were drowned in efforts to reach the shore. When the alarm was turned in to police headquarters and thc appall- -M-44 MM M-44-M MMM4MM ing extent of thc accident became ' IF ' fjl known, the police reserves of all 4- if'-l thc near by stations were called out 4 m. ; i'H all the available patrol wagons hur- l m ' l ried to thc scene and thc hospitals ' ff lH in thc northern part of the city ' JIulJI each sent all the available sur- ijf j gcons and nurses. "" ' M J 'H Hospitals All Filled. 4- ' if Several of the hospitals were 4- 1 M I '1 compelled to turn away thc injured, - 1 ! their accommodations being al- iRg ready crowded. Most of the res- JW ! cued are badly burned and many -f- flsjj I will die. The Slocum burned to the trf i rH water's edge after she was beached. J vx j M 4 M M M M M M M M I M M 4 M M ' M .' iH |