South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1837-06-03
NO. so.

| tain, forinstance, saved his wife, but saw has
| two children perish. Mr. Smith saved his
wife and one child, and saw the nurse RASH
madly through the flames with his daughter,
and both persisted Mr.. Candles wife, wei
understand, was burnt to death, he escaped;
although very badly burnt. One young mani
| who had reached the hurricane deck IN safety Il
| heard the cries of his sister, rushed back tol
the cabin, clasped her in his arms, and BOTH
were burnt to death. One Of the clerks, oneI
of the pilots, and the first mate were burnt to|
DEATH. All the chamber maids, and women|
employed on the boat, perished.-Out of 35I
| negroes that were known 10 have been on
board, only two escaped alive. The Benz
Sherrod had the largest crew of any boat Ga +
| the river, land by reference to the list ofnamss
heretofore published, it will be seen, that out
of the fifty saved, over thirty belonged TO the
boat and out of the sixty or seventy cabaJ
passengers, there are but about ten or twelyeI
left alive One of the officers Of the boat as
sured us that in addition to the cabin passen-
gers, there were at least sixty or more deck
passengers, of whom scarce six are saved.
Altogether this has been one of the most Sc
rious disasters that has happened in the annals
of Mississippi steamboats,; there being at
least one hundred and fifty families deprived.
by it of some dear and beloved member-ove,
scarce a moments warning. And among
those who are saved, many are said to be So
verely burnt some, so much SO, that theu
recovery is doubtful.
We understand that eight different exPlo-
sions took place on board the boat while bitrn-
ing-frst barrels ofwhiskey, and brandy, &c.
then the boilers blew up with fearful expio-
sion, and lastly. thirty nine barrels Of gum
powder exploded, which strewed the surfaced
of the river with fragments.
A large quantity Of specie was In tho boat
on its way to the Tennessee banks; this was
lost. One gentleman placed his pocket book
containing $4,000 under his pillow, and
though he escaped with life, he lost all his
money. A great many more persons on board
had very large amounts of money with them,
the most, or all of which, in the confusion,
was lost.
There were two hundred and thirty-fve
persons on board, of which not more than six
ty escaped, leaving one hundred and seventy
five drowned, including the Captains three
children and his father. His wife was picked
up by fiat boat badly burnt.
.Nelaacholy Death By Poisoniag.-A
Philadelphia paper states that a western
merchant, named James johnson, a.
bout IS years of age, who was on the
eve of his departure for home, met his
death on Tuesday by the carelessnes1
of a druggist, who administered to him
dose of arsenic instead of magnesia
The nature fthe dose was not discov
cred until he was past all relief.
A school boy Of Louisville, the 9th
er day, addressed letter to Thomas H
Benton, requesting him to be a. candi1
date for the Presidency, to which hd
signed his own, and the names Of two
of his companions: and two fictitious
TO this the Colonel returned
an elaborate and pompous answer, and
forthwith published the correspon
dence in one Of the ST. Louis papers
as an evidence of the high esteem Q
his fellow-citizens. The illustrious bal
roller has humbugged the country q
often that he cannot complain of being
himself in small way.
Republican Banner.