A terrible disaster occurred yesterday on board an excursion steamer on the East river, New York, near Hell Gate, by which 500 persons ╤ nearly all of them children ╤ perished.
The steamer was chartered for the annual Sunday school excursion of the St. Mark╒s German Lutheran Church, and was proceeding to Locust Grove ╤ a pleasure resort on Long Island Sound. As the steamer made its way up the East river, with the bands playing and flags flying, every deck was crowded with merrymakers. When she was off Sunken Meadows a fire broke out in the lunchroom. 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 Hospital╒s physicians and nurses were immediately available for the injured. No attempt was made to lower the lifeboats.
Children Thrown Overboard.
With the first rush of fire and smoke those on the forward deck were driven back, 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 the Hell Gate. With the engines going at full speed, the big vessel churned its way on to 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.
Collapse of a Deck.
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 burnt to the water╒s edge, were choked with half-burned bodies, and the rocks were piled high with bodies. Most of the rescued are badly burned, and many cannot possibly survive their injuries. After the disaster the pilot and the captain of the steamer were formally arrested and then transferred to hospital.
