Do you think Mason, really? I just don't see him as culpable. For one thing his wife was on board, you don't see him exposing her to those wildly overcrowded conditions- read somewhere he was both baffled and angry at the number of passengers. He was carrying the full load of regular passengers, too, including women and children.
Wasn't Sultana contracted, as in part of a government contract to get men home? If by graft you mean crowning off the war by yet more gouging of the government by unscrupulous contractors, it'd be 100%. Those boiler explosions were not uncommon, there was always a steamship disaster. Whomever patched that one may have had no idea her weight would be increased so crazily- patch could have held without it. You tend to read about that patch as some sloppy job and bet it wasn't. Tradesmen knew their stuff, it's what they did. Patch just wasn't the problem, the weakened boiler was.
That Confederate thing, about planting something that caused it is and was too handy. I mean, for one thing why would they, war was over. Besides, there were Confederate prisoners on board ( en route somewhere, I forget ), enough of them it would be unlikely to be unknown- they were marched on board under guard.
Maybe greed, not graft, and 100%?
Im sure the unscrupulous could make a killing.
Watched the documentary today. Well done. It explains a lot.If you have a Amazon Prime acct. They have a Great documentary video "Remember the Sultana".
Well worth the time to watch it.
Patching the boiler - no easy task..as you said, very few trained in the craft and they are trying to patch iron of unknown quality, making the job very difficult. Not unlike a tire, the patch may have lasted a few hours, then as the environment imposed its will, and the pressure was increased to make way, it is not unlikely that it let go.Whether the mechanic (from what I have read it was one man) was good at his craft, I think is a **** shoot not unlike getting your car fixed today. The steam leak was a problem which reared its head around the 25th of April, 1865. Im not so sure that a ship's Captain had much choice. The education system in the USA didnt have a ton of training options for boiler techs. It was a newer technology and Im sure many men wanted no part of it considering the possibility of getting scorched with super heated steam. It may seem like a pretty simple task but it is not. We are not talking about welding the leak shut. Im pretty sure this is a two man operation with the inside man taking the brunt of the abuse. Nor am I that sure that the Captain (Mason) was all that well trained in stability and trim. The better trained Captains went to sea, the lesser could work smaller vessels on rivers and such, if trouble occurred you could often ground the vessel. Counting the number of people entering and leaving a vessel- not easy either. At one point Williams goes to "lunch" (must have been like 10 courses) for a train pulls in by the Sultana and 700 additional souls enter the River boat. All tolled not easy to ascertain. People claiming to cause disasters or huge pranks are not uncommon. Confederate agents claiming they planted a bomb? Look at Booth's motivations. There was graft occurring regularly during the war. Grant had his own father thrown out of the area of his command because he sought to influence him in regards to trade. The infamous Special Order No. 11. Given the scope of the war and the state of record keeping, Im sure the unscrupulous could make a killing.
We would have to wait 105 years until a kind heart like Richard Nixon would establish OSHA (and the EPA). I like Nixon, I think history had been unkind but is now swinging around to objectivity....Oh I hope the Mods dont fry me for saying that......It seems to me that steam related accidents (whether ship or rail), were all too common in the mid-19th century. Part of the problem must be attributed to the developing technology and primitive safety measures of boilers and steam engines and part to a culture of corruption. That's a dangerous combination.
The British used low pressure steam in their steamships, and these were slower, more expensive, and safer.It seems to me that steam related accidents (whether ship or rail), were all too common in the mid-19th century. Part of the problem must be attributed to the developing technology and primitive safety measures of boilers and steam engines and part to a culture of corruption. That's a dangerous combination.