#166 General Slocum Disaster 1904

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Places & Travel, History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2014

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On June 15, 1904, hundreds of residents of the Lower East Side's thriving German community boarded the General Slocum excursion steamer to enjoy a day trip outside the city. Most of them would never return home. The General Slocum disaster is, simply put, one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Before September 11, 2001, it was the largest loss of life of any event that has ever taken place here. This is a harrowing story, brutal and tragic. The fire that engulfed the ship near the violent waters of the Hell Gate gave the passengers a horrible choice -- die by fire or by drowning. In the end, over one thousand people would lose their lives over an horrific event that could have been easily prevented. But in this tale are some surprising and even shocking stories of human survival, real stories of bravery and heroism. www.boweryboyspodcast.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Bowry Boys Episode 166, the general Slocombe disaster.
0:04.6	Hey, it's the Bowry Boys!
0:06.1	Hey!
0:07.1	The Bowry Boys is sponsored by Audible, the internet's leading provider of spoken audio and attainment,
0:11.8	providing digital versions of tens of thousands of audiobooks for downloads
0:15.2	to your computer, phone, or MP3 player.
0:17.3	To download your free audiobook today, go to audibletrial.com slash Bowry Boys.
0:22.3	Hi there, welcome to the Bowry Boys.
0:24.1	This is Greg Young, just me this week for a very special episode of the show.
0:29.1	First of all, I have to apologize if I had a little bit of a cold this week,
0:32.4	so my apologies, I sound a little different.
0:34.9	Also, at the top of the show you may have heard me mention our new sponsor, Audible.
0:39.2	If you've listened to other podcasts, I'm sure you've heard their recommendations before.
0:43.3	If you stick around until the end of the show, I'll give you a little bit more information on them and a special offer.
0:48.2	Now, I'm recording this show in mid-June 2014.
0:52.3	In just a couple days is the 110th anniversary of a horrific event
0:57.3	that occurred in the waters of New York on June 15th, 1904.
1:02.2	While on a church sponsored day trip heading for the Long Island Sound,
1:05.8	the General Slocum Steamboat caught fire in the East River,
1:09.0	rapidly spreading and trapping its passengers between a fate by fire or drowning.
1:14.0	By the end this disaster had killed 1,021 people, mostly women and children.
1:20.4	This is the largest loss of life in a single event in New York City history up to September 11th, 2001.
	...

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