Maumee express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1837-1838, 1838-06-30


climax Of steamboat disasters. Many Of the
persona lost are Of the first families in the
Southern States.
From fhe Winning Ion .Aduertiser, June is.
Eoss Of The steam.packet Pulaski, ,0ith a cre,c,
offAiriylseven, and one hundred and or
one hundred and sirty passengers.
On Thursday, tho 18th inst, the steamer
Palsski, Captain Dubois, left Charleston for
Baltimore with about i50 passengers, ofwhom
about SO were ladies'.
All about II o'clock on the came night
while off the North Carolina coast say so miles
from land, weather moderate and night dark,
the starboard boiler exploded, and the vessel was
lost, with all tho passengers and crew except
those whose names are enumerated among the
saved ia the list to be found below.
Nc have gathered the following facts from
the first mate, Mr. Hbbcrd, who had charge of
the boat at the time. MIR. Hibberd states that
at about 10 o'clock at night he was called to
The command ofthe boat, ana that he was pa
cling the promenade deck in front Of the steer
age house; that he found himself, shortly af-
ter, upon the main deck, lying between the
mast and side of the boat; that, upon the re-
turn Of consciousness, lie bad confused idea
ofhaying heard an explosion, something like
that Of gunpowder, Immediately before he dis
covered himself in his (then) situation. lie was
induced, therefore, to rise and walk aft, where
lie discovered that the boats mdship was blown
entirely to pieces; that the head of the star
board boiler was blown out, and the top torn
open; that the timbers and plank on the star
board side were forced asunder, and that the
boat look in water whenever she rolled in that
direction.
lie became immediately aware of the hor-
rorsof their situation, and the danger of letting
thepassengers know that the bout was sinking,
before lowering the small boats. He proceed
ed, therefore, TO do this. Upon dropping the
boat, he was asked his object, and he replied
that it was to pass around the steamer to ascer-
tain her condition. Before doing this, howev-
er, he took in a couple of men. He ordered
the other boats to be lswered and two were
shortly put into the water, but they leaked SO
much in consequence of their long exposure to
the sun, that one ofthem sunk, after fruitless
attempt to Tail her. He had in the interim ta-
ken several from the water, until the number
made ten. In the other boat afloat there was
eleven. While they were making a fruitless
attempt to bail the small boat, the Pulaski went
down with a dreadful crash, in about As min
utes after the explosion.
Both boats now insisted upon Mr. IIibbcrds
directing their course to the Shore but he re-
sisted their Iemonstrances, replying that he
would not abandon the spot until daylight. AT
about three o'clock in the morning they started
in the midst of the wailings OF the hopeless be-
ings who were floating around in every drec-
&c al o.l. l.,
which was about 80 miles distant. After pull
ling about thirteen hours, the persons in both
boats became tired. and insisted that Mr. Hib-
berd should land. This he opposed, thinking
it safest to proceed along the coast, and to en-.
ter some one ofits numerous inlets; but he was
ut length forced to yield to the general desire,
and to attempt lehding upon the beach, lit
tle east Of Stump Inlet.
lie advised Mr. Cooper, Of Ga, who had CON-
mand ofthe other boat, aud couple of ladies
viii two children under his charge, to wait
until his boat had first landed, as he apprehcn
eei much danger in the attempt, and, should
they succeed, they might assist him and the la
dies and children. There were eleven persons
inthe mates boat, (haying taken two black wo-
men from Mr. Coopers.) Of these, two pas
sengers, one Of the crew, and the two negro
women were drowned, and six gained the shore.
After waiting for signal, which he received
from the mate, MIR Cooper and bis companions
landed in about thrceh hours after the first boat,
in safety. They then proceeded a short dia-
tance across Stump Sound, to Mr. Reeds, Of
Onslow county,. where they remained from
Friday evening until Sunday morning, and then
started for WiImington. The mate and two
passengers reached here this morning (June