Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1837-05-25

he Eternal Dsiw S;snssiL enasvsd insa vliE q
Ais bissb !. that they viii defeaa thesr sith Per,
sessring order, WHISTLER insnlsed hy foreiKa De-
spot or aaslss eoro 'Oa q Aussriss.
May Is. issr.
DREADFUL STEAMBOAT DISASTER.
Loss efRors tam one hundrfde tr;ons.-
oH.the stb inst. FIRE broke out on
board TIE Steamboat Ben -Sherrod. A.
bout 30 miles below Nsichey, oa her
way 70 Louisville. Ii spreSdei such
rspldity as-io battle every effort on the
part Of the passengers and crew tcf
quench IL. Pa q few minpiss AFTER the
IRE was discovered, the xhoie boat vas
enSeloped in4iames. -
Be.ngin the Stream and her Wheel
ropes burn Of. II WAS i'm 61sibie 10 run
her ashore, and ss alternative WAC lefs
20 the persona on board, but 20 iump
into the wafer and atteiapt TO save
thsmseivesby swimming. OF floating on
such eEtisles as they. could and, or to
perish IN tha 6amea. :
The Columbus, at that dnoneht de-,
| scending. rounded to.a1d saved several
Of the pAsseagerN Bdt with az (i,e.Ss-
ksistsnee THAI shs, could render, more
than lV0peTsons petisbed. There we're
Two DISTINCT explosions supposed
to be the boilers. and the other % Be
from quantity Of powder on board.
A passenger on board the Columbus
describes Che sceHe- as The most awful
he ever witnessed. The screams of
meo. women and children, pietced the
air for miles around. v lille in he bright
Flight that went Up from the waters, ths
hanging forms Of the poor vsstches as
they chung eonvuISivelY to the burning
sides Of the boat, stuck The deepest
anguish to the heart of the spectator
Amonkstihose saved, ate Capt. Casile-
man andlady, 6 officers, 2aofthOrrew,
8 deek. and abe following cabin passed.
gers: James Smith, lady and sob, Thos.
Cook, Wn. II. 'MeCloud, VIM. Beattie,
Thos. Lamar, Samuel Ray. Lister Sex
ter. Mr.. Gamble and son, Amos Brun-
die, and four others, names nofknown.
Our limits preclude the possibility Of
enaneTaling the various heaEs-Iending
| sights that AHA calaufito0s affair occa-
stoned. The captain, for instance. saw
ed his wife, but saw his two children
perish. Mr.. Smith saved his wife and
one child. and saw the nurse rush mad
" thfoueh the'6ames with bic dauRh-
ter, and both persisted. Mr.. Gamble's
wife, we understand, was burnt 20
death. be escaped although very badly
burnt. One young man who had reach
ed the hurricane deck in safety, heard
the cTies Of his sister, rushed back 10
the cabin, ciasped her 10 his arms, aRd
both were burnt 10 death. One Of the
cleVks, one Of the pilots, aud the frst
mate were burnt up. All The eham-
Der maids and women employed on the
boat, persisted. Out of35 negroes that
were known. TO have been on. board,
only two escaped alive. The Ben
ShsTFod bad the largest crew Of aay
boat on the river, sRd BY reference 10
the list Of names. il will be seen that
out Of the 90 saved, over 80 belonged
to the boat; and out Of the GO or 20 Ca
bin passengers, there are about ten OF
twelve left alive. One Of the officers
Of the boat .aSsused as, tbal in addition
20 the cabin passengers, there were a
least 90 OF more deck passengers, Of
which SIX ave saved.
Alogetheg this has been one Of sbe
most serious disasters that hes happen
edin che annals ofthe Mississippi boats;
there being AZ lesst l50 fsmilies De.
priysd BY Il Of some dear and beloved
membeF--oyss oas bundred beings
hurried BY Il out Of time into eternity,
with scarce = moments WaFuing. And
amongst those who are saved, msny are
said 70 be severely burnt; some, 40
much 50, that iheir recovery is very
doubtful.
Charles Downing has been elected
The Delegate from Florida 10 the next
Congress.