Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1846-04-29
MISCELLANEOUS.
CURIOUS IMPORTATION.

bers, the progress of steamboats,, both
in this couutry and Europe, has been
reviewed, showing conclusiveiy the adj
vance of mechanical knowledge in both
countries. This is a subject always in
teresting: but there is one page in his.
tory, which, though short, is dark and
gloomy. To this rage we now turn,
in short notice of the accidents that
have occurred TO steamboats,, since their
introduction into this ccunIry.
The first steamboat accident in this
country happened III 1918 to the Wash
ine,on, On the Ohio river. According
to a Letter to Congress by the Secretary
of the Treasury, written in 1883, tn"
whole number c! steam engines Of every
kind thai were then in USE in the United
States, was SOLO; rf that number SOU
were in steamboats,, $50 in locomotives
aad 1860 in manufactures of different
kinds.
The number Of accidents to s!cam
engines M TO that time, causing lnss OF
life was 26!, of which $50 were in
steamboats,.
The greatest loss of life by steam
boat accident was by the collision and
sinking Of the Mnnmou'h i" 1887. on
rhe Mississippi; the number OF lives
lost was 800.
The greatest loss of life by the ex>
plosion of a Steamboat was in 1883, in
the case of the Oronok on the same ;
the number Of lives lost was l39.
The boilers of the steamboat Mosel'e
hIew up at Cincinnati, Ohio, destl oying
100 persons.
The greatest lnss Of life, by snagging,
was in the case Of the steamboat 81.
Louis on the Mississippi'n 1884, when
there were l3 lives lost.
The creates, loss Of life by shipNreck
was in the case of The Home in 1887,
m the coast of Narth Carolina, when
100 persons were lost.
The greatest loss of life, by the burn
ing of steamboat up 10 that lime, was
in the case Of the Ben ShcrEord on the
Mississippi, in 1887.
Tlfe-a...,i,e.r- e-steaI,.haatr- -lAni-tste-I Ia
1928. was %. During the year 1887,
no less than 50 sleamnost> were lost on
lne Western waters. During the ten
ears, from lS3Oto lS40, eighty sieam>
boats were lost by explosion, in the u.
States, by which means 7SG persons
we're killed outright, and 296 wounded
badly, of which number 254 died from
the injuries received.
On The 18th Of June, 1887, the steam.
boal Pulaski was Destroyed by the ex-
plosion of one of her boilers, while on
The passage f,om Charleston TO baIi'-
more, and 1872 persons pclishrd.
About the same time similar accl.
dent occurred TO the steamer Washing
ron, on Lake Erie, by which 40 lives
we're lost.
One hundred and seventy lives were
lost by the destruction of the Lexington,
in 1910, TIE particulars of this sad
disaster are familiar to every New York
er, and therefore it would be worse than
useless to repeat them.
The burning Of the Erie" on Lake
Erie, IN August, 1871, sent to their un'
timely graves IT'S peri9ns-and u is but
, short time since our sympa'hIes were
aroused blythe destruction of the Ill-ia'ed
Swallow.
Accidents to steamboats, are alarming
Is frequent, and scarcely newspaper
reaches MS from the South or West, but
chrnniclcs the destruction OF one or more
As these accidents. in nine cases out OF
ten, happen through gross carelrssness;
the persons responsible Should be nun'
ished as the sacrifice OF human ''te 'e'
ouires. This method, think, would soo'
put stop to them.-N. Y. Ece. Gag.
Steam Bonnet KanWactnrc.-The
straw used in the manufacture OF hats /:
the culms of several kinds of grain Of
grass. In this country wheat and ry:
cums are mostly used /; they ale cut
while the straw is green, and are bleached
by the means of sca!ding and exposure
to the sun. and by chemical process
10 the New England States the braidlng
or plating OF straw is great business
In Massachusetts alone, there are up
wards of 1900 females employed in
straw work. Norfolk county neal Bos'