Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1841-10-05

Doat; looked up and saw the WATERS running
up stairs; he followed as far as the stairs and
| then went back and drew on his boots; he then
| raWup the centre stairs thick, suffocating
smoke methIm, and he put his hands over his
eyes and h1around the ladies' cabin towards
the stern; h found the passengers hud-
died togetha pme on the floor; saw no
lady but n she and her husband
were blow preservers; he ask
| ed Mrs. Ly SouD save him; she had
her mouth an Fe of the preservcr, and
made no reply, ont shook Iher head; he then
asked Mr.. Lynde if he coad aid him any !;
Mr.. Lynde said his life preserver would not
support both, but was sorry he could not aid
him.
moment Mr.. Gelston, the clerk of
pe running aft with a lantern in
called ont, ssstand aft;" the pas
out "Rhere;" saw no other Off
the boat as he thinks; Gelston
lantern and jumped over the rail-
ing ern. That he (Beebe) picked up
the d and the flames in moment came
rushin some held their hands to their
faces, S e fell down, and all was confusion;
that he dropped the lantern and made his way
over those on thehoor and reached the railing
at the stern; that Mrs. Lynde reached the rail-
ing with him, and she called to her husband,
'scome, William, come quick, ace must jump
over" Mr.. Lynde seemed 10 be unwilling.
From the railing B. leaped and caught hold of
the Nhain leading from the stern to the rudder;
sa more of Mrs. Lynde; the small boat at
Frn had been lowered before this; on the
and chains he found or persons; Mr.
4 On, the'clerk was one, Mr.. w Wilkinson, of Eu-
bother, and there was a black man, APP
p& naked, hold of the end of'the rudder who
afsaRwards got on to something and foated off
That he had nothing to rest his feet upon and
had to cling to the chain with his hands; arms
and legs; when the boat was III the trough
of the sea, the waves would dash entirely
over him; that he was under water and out of
wafer alternately, as wave followed wave;
that his mouth and nose filled with water, but
he had learned to hold his breath under water,
and whenE he came up ne could spit and blow
it out. The lead on the deck melted and run
down upon his head and when out of water he
would take his hand and put water upon his
head; that the heat from the burning boat was
SO great that the back of his hands and the
top of his head was so mnch burned that the
skin came off; and had it not been fos the
waves dashing over him he could not have
lived.
That several men caught hold of him in
their des tn struggles; one man got his arms
around him, that he begged him to let go, and
the man begged to hold on, that he had to pull
his hair with one hand, and hold on with the
other and his legs sometime before ne got re-
leased; some foated so near him that he had
TO kick them off. The man who was near him
would often cling hold of him when under wa
ter, and he begged him often not to do it; and
the man would say, 81 am sbsry--I did not
mean to BHb.;
The lake around the boat was covered with
floating substances and human beings; a small
boat passed near them astern, and some one
on the rudder called out,s afor Gods sake
come TO us" but heard no reply. That il was
about haitian hour, perhaps a little less, after
the fire broke out, before the action of the en-
gine ceased; that pieces ofthe burning boat
were constantly falling around hnn, but he was
SO far under the stern, most ofthem fell beyond
him: that one stick hit him on the head, and
he was so stunned that he almost let loose his
hold; that after the boat stopped, MIR. Gelston
who was on the rudder, told item the safest
place would be in the wheelhouse; ifthey
could get on the paddles; that he was about
| to let go and try to swim to it;when one ofgthe
men left the rudder, and attempted to reach it,
but failed, and was lost; and he then abandon
ed the idea of trying himself. That the dread
ful cries ofthe Storage passengers at the bow
of the boat, the noise of the flames, the dash
ing Of the waves, and the death calls of those
around him, were horribly terrific. That Mr..
| Gelston and one or two others must have been
| struck from the rulderby pieces of the boat
falling upon them. That his leg got between
two pieces of timber, and badly bruised his an
Gle; saw several lights, and thought he heard
| the report of gun, supposed on shore. He
chung to the chain at least two hours and a
half with nothing to rest his feet upon any
part of the time; the only rest he had was
when under water, as the water would buoy
him up, so he needed not exert himsefso much
| to hold on;talked with the persons around him:
| told one man who he was, and begged him to
| him to tell his father and mother what became
of him, and that he held on as long as he
could; that he did not think he could be saved,
| for his hands, after while became numb, and
! he was so much exhausted that it was with the
greatest exertion he could keep aacdke; did be-
come insensible for a moment, once or twice,
and then reused himself by changing the po-
sition of his arms and legs about the chain;that
the water dashing over him prevented him
/ from burning to death, the heat was so intense
/ that some of those on therudder and chains
were praying all the time; that some five OF
| ten minutes before taken off by the Clinton,
| the guard near the stern, fell over and came
very near hitting him; that it did not separate
entirely from the boat; that it was on fire, and
the stern ofthe boat just over his head "as on
| fire also. MIR. Wilkinson, who was near him,
got on to this guard, and he (Beebe1 asked to
be helped on, Wilkinson extended his
hand and helped him on; it was on fire,
and he took handkerchief or cloth which
Wilkinson gave him, and with water exiting
uished the fire around him. Here he re-
named till the small boat of the Clinton took
| him of.
Such is the story ofyoung Beebe. As soon
as he was placed in the small boat he fell asleep
Considerable water run from bis mouth and
nose on his way back to Buffalo: and so seri.
ously was his leg injured, that he was unable
to- Ok across the room until the 22d inst
| HIS lands and head were very badly burned
but we are happy to say he is rapidly recoV,
ering. =