Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1850-07-11
Burning Of the GRIMM steam.

Burning of the Griffith Steamer.
we gave an account last week of this dread
full catastrophe on Lake Erie, near Cleveland
Our account of the number lost was not exaq-
gerated There were 326 souls aboard The
| burning boat, and less than forty were saved
Mr. H. IT, Parks, Postmaster ofRochester, Pa.
was aboard, and one of the saved There
were, at least, according to Mr.. Parks esti-
mate, two hundred and fifty emigrants (chiefy
IRON England and Germany on board.
| Mr. Parks was on the wheel. He could not
SWIM. While there, scores foated round him.
shrleking madly, save me save me- He
could do nothing. He felt like giving up
But with few others he held on, and soon
the struggle was over, and all was quiet save
the sound OF the waters as they beat against
| the charred hull of the steamer. Capt Roby.
| the commander of the boat was lost with ali
his family; and his life is insured for $4,000.
he list of names is not quarter complete.
though it is positively known that at least 2s0
persisted. ]. r. Munson, a low, thick set man.
had ST. ,l60 in his pocket-nine 800 bills on
the Mechanics Association in the city of New
York. Bound for Toledo.
Mr.. Atkinson, keeper of the Farmers Hotel,
at cleveland, was on board the Griffith, and by
keeping to the windward of the fire, and cut
ting the rope OF one of the tenders, kept in the
water, and thus saved himself
oRlGlN AND PROGRESS OF THE FIRE.-The
second mate, S. McCoit, gives in the Cleye-
land Plain Dealer the following account of the
origin of the fire He said they arrived at Fair
port at O'Clock in the morning, stopped but a
moment, and left on their course, every thing
appearing right. 1t was his watch from Fair,
port. The Captain and first mate had turned
in; he went up to the pilot house and talked
with the wheelsman for a few minutes, went
down and was standing by the captain on deck,
when the wheelsman called out to him that
there was fire between the smoke pipes on
deck. He ran up and saw stream of sparks
issuing from below up between the smoke pipes
and their water jackets. He Immediately
called the deck hands from below with buckets,
and commenced throwing water down the
pipes.
The flames and heat increased rapidly, and
he ordered the wheelsman to put her ashore
She was then about two and half miles out.
The captain was called, and by this time the
alarm had spread through the boat The cabin
aft was cut off from communication forward bv
wall of fire through the centre of the boat,
and running head to land threw the flames and
smoke back, so that the passengers commenced
jumping overheard as soon as the flames broke
out. In about five minutes the boat struck and
all hopes of getting ashore being cut of, gen
eral rush was then make for the water. The
poor emigrants tumbled overheard like so many
scared sheep. At that moment every thing
seemed to be lit up with flames. The captain
had gathered his wife, mother and daughter
around him near the mast. The last words he
| spoke were, Dear wife, prepare 10 meet the
worst He clasped her convulsively in his
arms, kissed her, and quick as thought whirled
her over the deck into the water. He then
grasped his mother and threw her overheard,
then his little daughter, and lastly jumped in
himself. They were seen no more till taken
| out dead.
Of an English party of thirty-four, three on
ly were saved. The names of the families
were William Walker, wife and one child ;
Josepy Mooney, wife and four children-one
saved. Thomas Rhodes, wife and five children;
| VIM. Tailor, wife and four children Mrs
Lace and three daughters-lost-from England.
Mr.. Parker and six children; Mr. Jones, from
England. A young man from Cornwall to
Cincinnati. A majority of them were destined
for Medina county, where they have rela-
| tives.
By far the saddest sight was the funeral of
the trench On small hillock, on the high
| bank overlooking the scene of death, where the
night before so many struggled in vain against
their fate, was opened trench 80 feet long, 6
wide and s deep. In this had been laid in
promiscuous order, man, woman, child; hus
band, wife and daughter; the father and son,
mother and infant, layer upon layer, until with
in four feet of the surface. What horrid
work! To see human beings arranged for
compactness, the rough pile and larger bodies
leveled up with children and lesser bodies so
that this vast grave should present an even sur
face to the brush and boards which were laid
over their faces, and on which the earth which
was dug out of the pit was thrown back
When we ascended the bank, we found two or
three hundred people around the brink of this
mound taking last look, and performing the
! last sad rites to the victims below. A clergy
man or an exhorter was addressing the by
ISLANDERS, and warning them in accents solemn
of the uncertainty of life, and the leetness and
vanity of all things here below Although
there was no procession, no tolling bell, no
confined hearse, or funeral array, the scene
was solemn and impressing. Yet how soon
will this event be forgotten.
The GERMAN DEAD.-A committee of Ger
mans was appointed at Cleveland to take charge
of the remains of their countrymen buried in
a common grave on the bank of the Lake, over
. looking the place of disaster and after much
deliberation, they decided to purchase the site,
enclose it, take up the bodies, make the neces-
airy search for money and valuables, records of
identity, etc., place them in board coffins, re-
inter, and erect an appropriate monument. For
this purpose second vault was dug beside the
one already filled, and the necessary boxes
were made to enclose the Dead numbering
nearly one hundred. A number of English,
some Irish, and few Americans occupied the
same grave with the Germans, and the surviv-
ing friends of some of them were present to
take charge ofthe bodies. The Germans were
from Baden and its vicinity, and considerably
exceeded 100 in number, perhaps as high as
$50. The fatality was terrible.
Mr.. Studdeford, one of the owners of the
Griffith, had taken his wife and sister to Buff
falo, left them to return by the Griffith, and
took the North Shore line to Detroit on busi-
ness, expecting to join them at Monroe. Both
the ladies' were lost, and the bodies have not
been recovered.
| The Women of the. Revolution