The Slocum Disaster Investigation
The report of the Federal Government Commission on the Slocum disaster in New York Harbor declares that the condition of that ill-fated vessel was “not abnormal, but typical,” and no more dangerous than hundreds of vessels carrying passengers in different parts of the country. The number of passengers perishing by the Slocum’s burning was 995. Reinspection of 268 vessels revealed the fact that fire pumps, hose, and life preservers were in bad condition, tho pronounced good. We are told that the Nonpareil Cork Works had put upon the market blocks of compressed cork for life preservers, each of which blocks contained a piece of bar iron weighing several ounces. Such business is infernal. There is no law against such practices, because no one imagined that such a deed could be done.