This is where Captain Van Schaick made a terrible mistake in judgment. Since land was nearby, all the Captain had to accomplish was run his ship aground before the flames spread any further. Then he could unload his passengers, mostly woman and children, quickly before there have been any fatalities. But for reasons uknown Captain Van Schaick chose to head straight into a headwind and try to land his boat at North Brother Island, just off the southern shore of the Bronx. Captain Van Schaick would later say the explanation for his decision was he was wanting to stop the fire from spreading on land to riverside buildings and oil tanks. But by going into heavy headwinds, he was really fanning the fire.
Captain Van Schaick later said at his trial, "I started to head for One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Street, but was warned off by the captain of a tugboat, who shouted in my experience that the boat would set fire to the lumber yards and oil tanks there. Besides, I knew that the shore was lined with rocks and the boat would founder if I devote there. I then fixed upon North Brother Island."
The German immigrants were different compared to Irish immigrants who, due to the Irish potato famine in Ireland, were also emigrating to New York City at a fast pace during the middle area of the 19th century. Whereas the Irish were mostly lower-class laborers, the Germans were better educated and possessed skills that made them obtain a greater rung on the economic ladder than did the Irish. More than half the bakers in New York City were of German descent, and most cabinet makers in New York City were either German, or of German descent. Germans were also very active in the construction business, which during the time was very profitable, because of all large buildings being integrated New York City during the mid and late 1800's. To get more details on 7others kindly head to https://7others.com
Joseph Wedemeyer, Oswald Ottendorfer and Friedrich Sorge were New York City German-Americans who were extremely active in the creation and growth of trade unions. In New York City, German-American clubs, that have been called Vereins, were highly associated with politics. Ottendorfer owned and edited the Staats-Zeitung, the biggest German-American newspaper in town. He became this kind of force in politics, in 1861, he was instrumental, through his German Democracy political club, in getting New York City Mayor Fernando Wood elected for his second term. In 1863, Ottendorfer propelled another German, Godfrey Gunther, to succeed Wood as mayor.
Individuals who tried to utilize the life jackets aboard were in for a terrible surprise. Although there have been 3000 life jackets available, these were all but useless. A large proportion were rotted out, with the cork inside the jackets employed for buoyancy almost entirely disintegrated. The people who did don living jacked and plunged into the water, immediately sank such as a rock. Some individuals tried to dislodge the emergency lifeboats, but they failed to do this as the lifeboats were firmly wired in place.
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