1871 Westfield ferry boat disaster...
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August 12, 1871
SUPPLEMENT FRANK LESLIE'S ILLUSTRATED, New York, August 12, 1871
* Staten Island Ferry Boat
* Westfield explosion disaster
The front page has a heading: "TERRIFIC EXPLOSION, At The Battery, of the STATEN ISLAND BOAT "WESTFIELD" with related print.
Great double page centerfold of the explosion. (see) Another related print on the back page.
4 pages in nice condition.
wikipedia notes: During the 1850s, Staten Island developed rapidly, and the ferry accordingly grew in importance. But the poor condition of the boats became a source of chronic complaint, as did the limited schedule. The opening of the Staten Island Railway in 1860 increased traffic further and newer boats were acquired, named after the towns of Richmond County which covered the whole of Staten Island. One of these ferries, the Westfield, came to grief when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry at about 1:30 in the afternoon of July 30, 1871. Within days of the disaster, some 85 were identified as dead and hundreds injured, and several more were added to the death toll in the weeks following. Jacob Vanderbilt, president of the Staten Island Railway, was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction. The engineer of Westfield was a black man, which aroused openly racist commentary in New York's newspapers, though Vanderbilt stoutly defended his employee.
* Staten Island Ferry Boat
* Westfield explosion disaster
The front page has a heading: "TERRIFIC EXPLOSION, At The Battery, of the STATEN ISLAND BOAT "WESTFIELD" with related print.
Great double page centerfold of the explosion. (see) Another related print on the back page.
4 pages in nice condition.
wikipedia notes: During the 1850s, Staten Island developed rapidly, and the ferry accordingly grew in importance. But the poor condition of the boats became a source of chronic complaint, as did the limited schedule. The opening of the Staten Island Railway in 1860 increased traffic further and newer boats were acquired, named after the towns of Richmond County which covered the whole of Staten Island. One of these ferries, the Westfield, came to grief when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry at about 1:30 in the afternoon of July 30, 1871. Within days of the disaster, some 85 were identified as dead and hundreds injured, and several more were added to the death toll in the weeks following. Jacob Vanderbilt, president of the Staten Island Railway, was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction. The engineer of Westfield was a black man, which aroused openly racist commentary in New York's newspapers, though Vanderbilt stoutly defended his employee.
Category: Post-Civil War
