Lincoln telegraph., 1838-05-10
LINCOLN TELEGRAPH
B AT n M E:
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 10.
AWFUL STEAM BOAT MURDER.
ABOUT TWO HUNDRED LIVES Iosr!!


1t becomes our painful duty to record
yet another dreadful and heart-rending
Steamboat disaster. Most awful for the
destruction of so many lives. We have
compiled from authentic sources, all the
the important facts in tho event.
On the afternoon of the a5th April,
about 6 o'clock the Steamboat MO-
SELLE, ney and elegant boat, being
full of passengers for Louisville, and st
Louis, proceeded about mile above the
quay, to Fulton, in order to take in fam
lily. After taking the family on hoa,d,
meanwhile the Captain, du,ing the whole
time of detention, was holding on to all the
Steam he could create, in order to show
off to the best advantage, while passing the
city, the boat showed off, and on the first
evolution -of the wheels. all four Of the
boilers burst with tremendous and as
founding noise. The explosion was des-
tructive and heart-rending in the extreme.
'sHeads, limbs, bodies, and blood, were
seen flying through the air in every direc-
ton, attended with most horrible shrieks
and groans from the dying and wounded.
The Boat was about thirty feet from the
shore, and was rendered perfect wreck; ;
her hurricane deck was entirely swept
away. She Immediately began to sink, and
float with the strong current down the
river.
The Captain was thrown into the street,
and was picked up dead, and dreadfully
mangled. Another man was thrown en-
tirely through the roof of house, and
limbs and fragments of bodies were scat
tered ever the river and shore in melan-
choly profasion. Those of the passengers
who remained unhurt, when they. discov-
cred the boat to be sinking, became panic
struck, and jumped into the river, and but
few of them reached the shore No boats
were to be had except large unmanageable
wood-1ats, which were brought to the
relief of the sufferers, as soon as possible,
by the few persons on shore.
The accident unquestionably occurred
through the imprudence and carelessness
of the Captain. He foolishly held on his
steam in order to show off his boat, and
pass those who started a short time before
49,, Il H.. $50. b;o, L;s r,p,, I;co .nd jo
stroyed many more.
The mails of yesterday state that the
whole number Of persons lost must be
nearly TACO hundred and forty. The editor
of the Cincinnati Post says, the accounts
published fall far short of the dreadful real
ity. The fragments of human bodies are
now lying scattered all along the shore, and
we saw the corpses of number so mang-
led and torn that they bear scarcely any
resemblance to the human form. We also
saw several with their heads and arms en-
tirely blown off,; others with only part of
their head destroyed, Others with their lower
extremities shivered to an apparent jelly
Fragments of the boilers and other por-
tions Of the boat were thrown from so 20
200 yards on the shore, some of them hay-
ing passed entirely over the two rows of
buildings on the street, and a portion of
the boilers tearing away the gable end OF a
stable situated high up the steep hill in the
rear of the houses, at least 200 yards from
the boat. Other parts of the boat were
driven entirely through large house on
the street, entering through the windows
on one side, and passing out on the other.
1t is positively stated that one man was
picked up on the Kentucky side, having
been blown completely across the river"
ANOTHER STEAM-BoAr EXPLOSION. -
The Louisville Journal gives the particu-