In today's NY Times feature "On This Day", we're reminded of the General Slocum tragedy that occurred on June 15, 1904. At that time what is now known as the East Village in Manhattan was known as "Little Germany" though many residents were moving to the upper east side (the Yorkville area) and the upper west side of Manhattan.
One center for the German community was the St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, located on east 6th street, between First and Second Avenue (the original building still stands but was converted to a synagogue long ago; there is a plaque on the gates commemorating the Slocum tragedy). The St. Mark's pastor organized a yearly boat trip in June for the congregation from a pier on Manhattan's east side, on the East River. In 1904 the steamship General Slocum was used and it was supposed to proceed north on the East River to the north shore of Long Island for a church picnic. On route to the picnic site, a fire somehow started below decks which spread quickly through the ship. The captain of the vessel exercised poor judgment and instead of taking the ship to a beach or pier where people could jump to, grounded the ship on off shore in difficult waters. There were about 1,342 passengers on the Solcum that day, mostly women and children, of which about 1,021 perished. It is worthwhile to read the NY Times story about the disaster when it occurred. It can be accessed here: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html#article I was struck by one paragraph in the story; quoting: |Yacht Left Victims to Their Fate | |In marked contrast to the heroic actions of the river men is |the story, vouched for by an engineer working on North Brother |Island and by several watchers from the New York shore, |that a yacht, flying the pennant of the New York Yacht Club, |followed the ill-fated vessel up the river from the time she caught |fire, and when she saw her go on the rocks put about and steamed |away. All reports agree that the yacht made no effort whatever |to pick up any of the women or children who had jumped |overboard near her or to render any assistance at North Brother |Island. One might be tempted to use this as an example of bystander apathy but this would be contradicted by the assistance of the men who worked on the river, policemen, and others who came to the assistance of those trying to escape from the Slocum. Perhaps, at best, this is an example of "wealthy bystander apathy". Wikipedia also has an interesting entry (yadda-yadda) on the Slocum tragedy, putting it into historical context, how it helped to enforce safety procedures on ships, and served as a justification for teaching women how to swim; see: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html#article -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=11003 or send a blank email to leave-11003-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
