我们在水手博物馆收到了很多惊人的捐款，但是时不时地我们收到一些令人惊叹和感人的故事，我们不禁会受到影响。最近的一项捐款是由罗伯特·齐普（Robert Zipse）捐赠的尼克博克轮船公司（Knickerbocker Steamship Company）的一分钱。这个代币和其他类似的代币被用来在尼克博克公司船只之一上购买商品。使这个特殊的令牌（如下图）如此特别的是，那个男人所赋予的感性和含义，他的生活永远改变了，那天应该充满欢乐和乐趣。
1904年6月15日，圣马克的福音派路德教会租用了尼克尔博克汽船General Slocumfor their annual excursion and picnic to Locust Grove. St. Mark’s was located in area of Manhattan known as Little Germany as there was a large population of German immigrants in the neighborhood, including many who had only recently arrived. As this excursion was on a weekday, it was mostly attended by women and children. This included William F. Zipse (pictured below in 1906) who at the time was 15 years old, his mother Sophie Zipse (pictured below on the day of her wedding) and William’s five siblings, Sophia (17), Mary (13), Louise (10), Helen (3) and Albert (1).
General Slocumleft the pier at 9:40 a.m., with the energy and excitement of the 1358 passengers high. Rain clouds that had threatened the excursion earlier in the morning had passed and a fast tide was helping the ship to make good time through the water. It was only twenty minutes later, as Slocum was approaching the treacherous area of water known as Hell Gate that a problem was first noticed. A fire had broken out in the forward cabin, which was being used as a lamp room. Faulty equipment and lack of effort to help the passengers led to a chaotic and disastrous scene aboard the boat. Nearby boats came to the aid of the passengers, without which the death toll would have been much higher.
It only took about 20 minutes from the time the fire began to creep through the boat to when the boat was beached on North Brother Island, but the pain and suffering of those involved would last much longer. In total (according to the 1904 report by the US Government), 955 people had died, including William Zipse’s five siblings, Sophia, Mary, Louise, Helen and Albert. William managed to survive because he fell onto one of the tugboats that came to help, most likely jostled off the boat by fellow passengers. The fall broke his leg, but he was safe. William’s mother, Sophie, managed to survive by holding onto driftwood and was found the following day on the East River near the Battery.
尽管有许多可能被指责为这一事件，但只有威廉·范·舍克（William Van Schaick）上尉被定罪。该赛季通过该船的检查员亨利·伦德伯格（Henry Lundberg）被罗斯福总统开除，但没有被定罪。范·沙克（Van Schaick）被判犯有刑事疏忽罪，并被判处Sing Sing监狱判处10年徒刑。由于塔夫脱总统赦免了他的年龄，他只服刑约三年，因为他的年龄很高（此时他已经超过70岁）。范·施·施·沙克（Van Schaick）General Slocum，，，，was no doubt partially responsible for the diasaster, the fact that no one else was convicted of any crimes, including the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, means that justice was never fully served.
本来应该是一场愉悦的巡游已经变成了一场噩梦，这将改变曼哈顿小德国的面貌。葬礼进行了一个多星期，那些仍在试图弥补破碎生活的人。许多人离开了小德国，试图摆脱痛苦的记忆并重新开始。在许多情况下，灾难消除了整个家庭。至于Zipse家族，威廉的父亲弗雷德里克（Frederick）因失去孩子而无法继续工作并于1917年因癌症而死亡。索菲一直活到1940年，当时她与丈夫和在灾难中丧生的五个孩子被埋葬。至于威廉，他是一个雄心勃勃的人，因此能够捡起碎片并为自己和家人开个美好的生活，但他从未忘记。灾难结束后，威廉仍然有两个尼克伯克代币。这些他每天都在口袋里携带这些，以记住并尊重他失去的家庭。正是由于威廉的惊人故事和这场灾难的重要性，我们很高兴能将这个代币进入我们的收藏，因此感谢罗伯特·齐普（Robert Zipse）为我们的家庭财富设置了一个合适的家。
您好，这是一个感人的故事。我与Slocum灾难有一些非常切线的联系。当我还是个男孩（回到1950年代中期）时，我会在纽约州普莱森特山谷小镇（当时非常古朴）度过夏天。我住在鲍勃·怀特福德叔叔的农场。他的妻子（劳拉姨妈）是德国人，她的母亲和兄弟在那艘船上死在大火中。The story I heard was that her father did not want them to go and there were some harsh words spoken and her father’s last words to her mother had been something along the lines of “If you go, then don’t come back.) Aunt Laura stayed with her father, which is why she was around to tell me that story. Also, If you’ve never read the James Joyce novel “Ulysses,” the whole novel takes place in one day, and it must have been the day of or the day after the Slocum disaster, since several times throughout the novel’s ‘day’ different characters are asking if others had heard the terrible news from America.
顺便说一句，这是纽约国王角的水手博物馆吗？
嗨，吉姆。谢谢你分享你的故事。相互联系的人和事件的可能性真是太神奇了。我知道，这场灾难摧毁了德国社区中的许多家庭，并创伤了那些幸存或那天没有上船的人。
We are The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virgina.
有谁知道尼克伯克轮船公司总裁弗兰克·A·巴纳比（Frank A. Barnaby）怎么样？
Hi Susan. Unfortunately I haven’t run across anything mentioning what happened to Frank Barnaby. I am currently unable to search in our library as it is closed. An excellent book on the tragedy is Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum by Edward T. O’Donnell. I know it talks about the aftermath of the Slocum incident and the guilty verdict for the captain, but I’m not sure if talks about what happened to Barnaby.
Hi Rachel,
水手博物馆是否有有关一般slocum的展示或信息？我只是现在才了解我的家人与悲剧的联系。威廉（William）的母亲索菲亚·齐普（Sophia Zipse）是我曾祖母玛丽（Mary）的姐姐。索菲亚（Sophia）与玛丽（Mary）的家人（包括我的大父亲）一起搬进去，因为她的丈夫去世了，显然一直留在她去世。当我们住在约克镇时，我很想参观水手博物馆并了解更多信息。
Louise Naughton
Hi,
Just wanted to mention that the coin you show with the article is a civil war token (seehttps://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces96193.html例如）。您显示的另一个令牌（五分之一）显然与汽船相关。
非常感谢您在Slocum上的文章和收藏！
Hi Gary,
非常感谢您阅读我们的博客和信息。Slocum将军当然是海上历史上有趣而悲惨的一部分。
我在皇后区的阿斯托里亚（Astoria）长大，在那里我在当地历史巡回演唱会中了解到了Slocum灾难。我刚刚发现，由于家族史研究的结果，我的伟大姨妈（Catherine Coan Weis）是悲剧的幸存者！交叉引用日期，我意识到她的第一个儿子（约翰·韦斯（John Weis），1岁）死于悲剧。凯特当时23岁。我无法想象痛苦。我想某个地方有一群幸存者，但我认为在这里纪念她以及她失去的孩子会很高兴。
那天，我的曾祖母和祖母在教堂野餐的那一天。我很幸运能在这里发表这一说法！！！我在阿斯托里亚（Astoria）长大，当我去阿斯托里亚公园（Astoria Park）站在地狱桥（Hellgate Bridge）时，我总是会想到这种贸易。好难过！！！
我的祖母和我的祖母aboard the Slocum that day of the tragedy for the church picnic. I’m very fortunate to be here to make that statement. I was raised in Astoria and everytime I would go to the park, I’d remember the Slocum tragedy! So sad.