Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-02-20
Loss of the John Adams.

1he terrible loss OF lite on this Ill lated
steamer was autographed some time SINCE
Tie Western mails have brought full parric-
ulars of tie frightfuI catastrophe, which oc-
CURED a part of the Mississippi where no
such thing was expected. The Cincinnati
Commercial gives the following account;
The circumstances as We obtained them
from Mr.. Leonard, the pilot, who was on
watch nj the time, are in brief as follows;
During the evening. and up TO ten O'Clock,
the weather was misty, with indications of a
fog but it cleared up, and every thing was
fine and fair for run-so much so, that the
Captain, Henry A. Jones, left the deck with
the certainty that all was safe, and that there
was nothing TO indicate even possibility of
danger. Bur about 3 o'clock in the morning
al distance of some $50 miles above Vicks-
burg, she struck SAWYER or snag, and
Immediately commenced filling. The boat
was heavily load, and was drawing about
ten feet of water al the time. She became
manageable, and Notwithstanding The eff
forts OF the pilot 10 run her on the bar, IN.
der full head OF steam, she SINK in less than
Ten seconds, in over sixty feet Of waierl Size
went down with plunge, bow foremost.
and at such an angle that when the pilot ran
from his place, he took position upon the
curve of the wheel house next the deck.
which was in almost n horizontal line! AZ.
ter The bow struck the bottom, the upper
works of the boat were detached, the cabin
broke in two, and the chimneys passed down
through the casing and disappeared The
two sections of the cabin Huated round and
formed V, but finally drifed iogethey, aoa
those who were upon them, and those oplv,
were saved. The cabin drlied some eight
miles before it was landed. When the bont
struck, the alarm was Immediately given.
and hunters OF persons, men, women and
children, made their way TO the deck, and
thus were saved; but as the warning was
short. numbers doubtless persisted IN their
beds, or Struggled for life 10 meet death al
last between the decks. The engine was
heard to work and the paddles TO beat after
the boat had gone down, and they continued
until the water, by passing through the scape
pipes, stopped Them
The Louisville Journal says Capt Jones
was standing in the main CABIN at the lime
the boat began 10 sink, and by his exeriions,
aided by some OF his officers, the ladies' and
children were safely transferred to the after
part Of the hurricane deck, The only dry spot
on the boat, but they bad 10 wade in the wa
ter up their necks. The passengers in the
forward part of the cabin were nearly all
drowned Of the deck passengers consist
ing mostly Of Irish, some Germans, and five
or six Italians, all except three were lost
One Of the deck passengers swan five miles
before be reached the shore. There were
only two firemen, out of 70 saved, and all The
deck hands were drowned All the officers
were saved.
The loss OF life IS estimated at 100 to l35
souls, Of which number about 80 were cabin
passengers, so deck passengers, and the re-
mainder belonging to The crew. We could
moi ascertain the names Of any Of the suffer-
ers. The books and papers as well as the
money IN the clerks office, were saved, how
ever, and that officer who stayed with the
wreck, will probably give the names Of the
persons drowned. Some Of the Californians
had deposited their money with the clerk;
others retained it in their own possession.
The cabin, shortly after the sinking of the
boat, broke into, and then foated down The
river with the passengers on The deck. Pre-
vious TO this, however a raft was made With
planks, and OH it several men were despatch
ed 10 the shore for aid Most Of the ladies'
and children were thus safely landed. The
portion Of the cabin which foared off was
picked up by the steamer Peytona, about II
miles from where The accident occurred,
and those on il taken on board at O'Clock
in the afternoon following. They were in
very destitute condition, most of them having
escaped in their night clothes, and being cx- \
posed in that manner for nearly IL hour s.
Fortunately the weather was mild.
The children were miracuousiy saved
Holes were cut i'm the boiler deck, and through
them they were extricated from their bertfs.
They were found lying on the mattresses,
which were floating on the water in the
rooms. One Of them is said TO have been
asleep. They were the children Of aMrs.
Hoffman who has just returned from Olifor-
MIA. The survivors who were taken ashore
were treated in the kindest manner BY Mr..
Carter and another plsnte: in the neighbor-
hood of the accident,
A clairxnxanf Il Cleveland has had m