CATASTROPHE: Death of van Schaick

Shifty and absend-minded, Death is seldom timely in his remembrances. Last week, 23 years too late, he sought out William van Schaick, once Captain of the famed excursion boat General Slocum.

The 15th of June in 1904 was a blue and shining day. There were a few white patches of froth against the china sky and a warm wind loitered in the air, as gay as a song. The people who boarded the General Slocum that morning — mostly women who were bringing their small children on the annual...