![]() The press of humanity against the railings led them to collapse, dumping hundreds into the churning whirlpools of the fast moving and rock laden East River. People scrambled in blind panic to avoid the heat, trampling all those who tripped or fell or were pulled down. This pushed the ten foot wall of flames directly astern, filling up all available deck space with fire. ![]() ![]() The people at the bow were cut off from any escape towards the largest portion of the ship, but they were also favored by the Captain's decision, once the news of the fire reached him, to put on full steam ahead toward North Brother Island, rather than turn the ship against the wind to slow its feast. The fire, fed by oxygen and the endless layers of flammable varnish painted for years upon the wood, made an absolute banquet of the steamer. The first crewman to arrive at the door, without any fire training whatsoever, pulled it open and fed the smoldering smoke exactly what it most craved: blessed oxygen.Ī few mothers and their boys who had been touring the engine rooms experienced the first blast of flame, with some racing up stairs with their hair on fire into the area where the children were eating their ice cream. Later inquests would reveal that barrels of hay that had carried the glassware for the trip aboard the night before had not been removed to the pier but shoved in this forward hold, where all manner of combustible oils, matches, ropes, and tarps were kept. However it was, there finally came a moment when "fire" was shouted and reaffirmed by not just white smoke but actual flame leaping from a hold in the lower deck at the front of the ship, almost squarely underneath the pilot house decks above, in the most impossible position to be sighted by the Captain. ![]() There were reports of a few children pointing out smoke to their elders only to be shushed at the thought of inciting some panic on board. Survivors would later recount their first thought at the smell of something burning was that the chowder had overflowed the pots. The band was playing and the announcement made in the first half hour that ice cream was being served in the forward lower deck, so that streams of children left their parents happily chatting while they made their way with older siblings to take part in the treat.Ĭlam chowder was on the menu to be served at arrival around lunch time, so it was bubbling along around the same time. Later estimates suggested nearly 1000 tickets were used, thus the general consensus that at least 1500 lives set sail that morning. One cast mate was assigned to count heads, but this was done informally and without much attention. The boys were in their knickers and newsboy hats by the dozens.Īs the crowds filed aboard from the East Third Street Pier, it was a clear and sunny day, and tickets required of adults typically allowed all of the younger children to board for free. Edwardian fashion of the day dictated long skirts and often fancy hats for the ladies, while the younger girls donned their lacy frocks and best shoes. Extended family, friends, local merchants who bought tickets to give as prizes from their stores, accounted for passengers.īecause it was a Wednesday, many of the men would not be in attendance, but kissed their wives, children, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins as they trouped out the door for a day of sun and fun along the beach, escaping the teeming and dirty streets of the Lower East side, or even the broader but still clogged thoroughfares further north.Įveryone wore their Sunday finest. While many earlier generations of German immigrants had arrived in Little Germany and moved north to better living conditions, everyone who had been touched by the church treated this outing as a grand reunion of sorts. In its 17th year, the Sunday School celebration had grown very large and popular.
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