Futility Closet

In 1904 a Manhattan church outing descended into horror when a passenger steamboat caught fire on the East River. More than a thousand people struggled to survive as the captain raced to reach land. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the burning of the General Slocum, the worst maritime disaster in the history of New York City. We'll also chase some marathon cheaters and puzzle over a confusing speeding ticket. Intro: In 1959 a Norwegian insulation company wrangled a three-ton block of ice from the arctic to the equator. At his death in 1838, the governor of Bombay was transported into innumerable pussycats. Sources for our feature on the General Slocum: Edward T. O'Donnell, Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum, 2003. Henry Davenport Northrop, New York's Awful Steamboat Horror, 1904. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce, 1915. "In re Knickerbocker Steamboat Co. (District Court, S.D.