Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1848-01-26
of the St eambOat seabirls
explosion OF Zoo Kegs OF
q POWder-ifS Effects &c 3

fA@uAE sIHS OA the 81 am boat S0lkipSa
ExpiOsiOa OF Zoo Kegs OF
pOWder-itS Effects &c
The steamer Declaration arrived at this
port yesterday from the Chic, bringing the
first news Of the burning of the steamer Sea
bird, at Cope Giradeau, and Of the cxplo-
sion of twelve hundred kegs OF powder.
slowed in the hold Of that vessel. The fol-
lowing particulars are contained in a slip
from the Cape Girardeau Eagle Of Wednes-
day last.--St. Louis Repu Jlicaa:
The steamer Sea BIRD arrived here last
Sunday morning, from New Orleans. At
ter putting out a parcel Of freight, and find
ing the water too low to proceed ON her trip
30 st. Louis, she dropped down about hail.
lais below the landing, and tied up, intend
| ing to wait for 4 rise. She had large lot
offreight on board, including between elev-
en- and twelve hundred kegs of powder
About.3 O'Clock last night there was an o.
larm offire. Twas soon ascertaincd tt.at
the Sea Bird was burning. 1t commenced
in the LADIES' cabin. and had made; SUCH
| Roadway that it was found impossit lie to mr.
| rest it. An attempt to scuttle b or. r-oved
unsuccessful. Capt.. McMurfrr, an5, some
ofhs hands started off to mp. orise the citi-
lzens in the vicinity OF their DANCER. and Sc
cure their own safety. , bout an hour after
the fire commenced the, powder exploded
causing, the most t".emep,lous and terrific
noise that was ever heard in This section ,of
country. ,l,ts s-5I 197,s''
The concussle n caused an almos, uniyer-
sal jarring Of , .ouscs and crashing Of win
dows, causy z many who were unacquaint-
CD with tn. cause, to conclude that it was a
te1tipie earthquake, and others supposed
t ING. " q day ofjudgnent had come, certain.
NC damage done to windows and doors of
Ia, ,,u' ses, in many instances, is IMMENSE
ne College building, Situated only about
; one hundred and fifty yards distant, was
much injured. The windows fronting the
river were all destroyed; several of the doors
were blown Oft and broken; much Of the
!. plastering thrown down, and the furniture
much damaged; supposed to be $500. The
Gne new brick baiiding Of MIR. &. Nj. lior-
Irelt, situated near the river, is considerably
) injured. The Baptist and Methodist church
r es have lost nearly all their panes of glass.
: and number Of the sash are broken; every
= house has been more or less injured, but we
r are pleased to state that no person Is serl-
I ously hurt. Fragments of the boat, iron
. and wood, were scattered in almost every
: direction, but fortunately not one Of them
=, fell on any house. The large iron cable
was blown into pieces and piece contain
ing many links, was found come two hun
: dred yards distant.
The tremendous shock would have pros.
tratsd several houses, we have no doubt;
! and done much greater injury, but it was
: broken by t. bluff nenr which the boat lay,
Capt. McMurt5y supposed the fire was an
accident. as there were two men on the
watch at the time it was discovered. The
boat was partly injured.
Capt. McMurfry deserves much credit fer
q his precaution in sending runners und Ct
, ing among the citizens himself, informing
! them of the powder Oh board. He informed
s US, q day or two ago, of,he quantity Of pow
8 der on board, and on account Of the danger
Of the citizens in the event Of en- explosion
. he dropped down below. We regret the
, loss which the Captain has sustained by
r this misfortune, as We know him to be u
worthy and enterprisng man, and deserve
better luck. He was lying in his bizth {.
sleep, when the fire was discovered.
4 The report of the explosion wss ListiDct.
| " heard a! Cairo, distance Of some forty
: miles. 3, g.
+ Fragments CT iho boat chains, anchors.
y and boilers, are found in every direction
: some upon the opposite bank of the river.
THE STEAMER PLANrER-The wreck
Of this iI!-!ated steamer was towed into
port on Saturday last. She is almost. a
complete wreck-her cabin being entire
. !y gone, and the boiler deck torn away
, cs far back as the wheel houses. The
books and papers were nearly all lost,
and the large iron safe in the office, con-
tanning some five hundred dollars, was
5 blown into the river, and lost. Capt. BELT
has furnished the editor of the New Era
with the following list ofkilIed and wound
p ed:
. Mr.. Watts, pa ssenger, killed--resi-
? dence, Wincheste r, Iii Jos. Edwards,
passenger, killed residence, Florence,
Ill.,; Mr.. Smith, passenger, kiIed--resi-
dence, illinois, but of town forgotten; Sd
Engineer killed, name not recollected; ed
Engineer, badly scalded and bruised, name
not recollected; Eliza Lane, colored cham.
ber.maic killed; one white. fireman, kill
cd, unkt own; Mr.. Hatch, passenger, bad
" it jure d; two deck hands, one fireman
n and carl enter, badly scalded and other
: wise injarcd; \ /. Belt, brother Of Cap
tain, All ! sewers others, slightly injured
. several missing, names or places Of resi-
: dence vi known. The freig h. and passen
ger book, toget her with nearly every
thing el Sc in the clerks office, was throw
> overheard and lost. 1t is Therefore no
known | ow mar y were on board, Or VIVA
h the number Of Tiled, missing, and drown
!, ed, will be. The Planter is owned en-
e tirely by her ct mmander, Capt. Belt, AM
: the damage dor Q to her machinery an,
! works cam 1t be repair ed for less thar
!, four or five thousand dollars
), He had an insurance Of $4,000 in til,
), Columbus Q flee of this city, but the poll
5 cy does not cover loss by explosion O
i breaking Of machinery therefore,, it will
t lallaltogeths upon her own owner.--Re
! publican.
e CRIME IN Ireland Sir Geo. Grey sta
Q ted in the House Of Co nmons on the 29tl