The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-08-11
Loss of the CLAW.
AccotNT BY A PASSENGER.

stculuDOaJ henry NlaN, OH ncr reccHu
disastrous trip down the North river,
and n witness ofnearly everything which
occurred on that unfortunate occasion,
and as the reports of the accident which
have been published and in some instan-
ces the testimony taken before the Cor
oncr's Jury are in some particulars in
complete, and.pcrhaps, inaccurate, it may
prove of some service for me to furnish
you narrative of the events in question.
was to come down to this City from
Hudson. on Wednesday morning, and
concluded to take the day boat for the
passage When went on to the dock
at Hudson, both boats. the Henry Clay
and the Armenia, were in sight, but the
Henry Clay only, was in the Hudson, or
easterly channel of the river, the Arme-
MIA having taken the Athens, or westerly
channel of the river, which at this place
is divided into two channels by large
fat Ofcoursc the Armenia could not
make the Hudson landing. This being
the case. it may be properly stated here,
the officers of the Henry Clay required
the Hudson passengers to pay higher
fare than the whole advertised fare from
Albany to NewYork.
When we left Hudson the Armenia
was little ahead of us in the Athens
channel on the opposite side of the riv-
er When we came out into the chan
mel, below the Flats, the Armenia was
perhaps two or three lengths ahead At
Catskill both boats made the landing,
the Armenia being ahead and landing
first. Immediately after leaving the
Catskill dock, the Armenia being then
about thrcc-quartcrs of a mile ahead, it
was evident. from the shaking of the boat.
the more rapid action of the engine and
the violent humming noise caused by the
blowers, that our speed was greatly on
the increase. and that there was Il deter
mination on the part of those in COM
mand to pass the Armenia. We gradu-
ally approached her, and when about five
or six miles above Kingston Point we
were sailing side by side with her, the
Armenia being on the inside or toward
the westerly shore of the river The
purpose of our pilot evidently was to
force the Armenia so far toward the
westerly shore as to drive her on the
/ flats. which here line the channel, or COM
pei her to stop and allow us to 60 ahead
and make the landing first. He accor-
dinghy steered our boat, whose bow was
now few feet in advance of that of the
Amcnia, in direction across that i'll
which the Armenia must travel, or &c
aground unless she stopped. The con
sequence was, that the two boats came
in contact. At this moment person
who | understood was an officer of the
boat, came on the promenade deck where
l, with great many passengers, wa'
standing, and requested all to go over oI
the larboard side of the boat. The OBJ
iect and effect of this move was to raisC
the STAFFORD guard of the Henry Clay
which was next to the Armenia. abov,
the larboard guard of the Armenia Th,
result was. that our tenders went against
the larboard side Of the Armenia ahC
bent or stove in a portion of her wood
work, Just forward of her wheel-house
The maneuver answered its purpose, anC
the Armenia was compelled to stop he
engine, and we shot ahead and made th'
Kingston landing first. There were nu
mcrous remonstranccs addressed by tn
passengers particularly the ladies, to thu
, person, or officer, who had come on TIN
promenade deck. as have stated III
treated these with iudifiercr &C. and, witt
something of dcrision as | thought, in
sisted that there was not any danger
This was the beginning of the days ad
, ventures After leaving Kingston land
ing we gradually left the Armenia.
is proper to state that while we wer
proceeding, as above stated, to overtak
the Armenia before reaching Kingston
| distinctly noticed the smell of smok
issuing from the ncighborhood of tn
furnaces, which | then thought ana he
leve stated to some standing near, wa
caused by the boat being on fire
1t was precisely the same smell o
} smoke which preceded the last fatal ca
lamity At about o'clock, was stand
ing on the larboard guard i'll the aitc
part of the boat, in conversation with \
Crist. Esq and another gentleman. w
had just passed Font Hill, and the thre
were speaking of that place, when a wo
man came out on the guard holding
child in each arm eXclaming the boat i
on fire. The smell of smoke | had be
fore noticed was now very distinct an,
unmistakable, but, as in the previous in
stance, it had disappeared without any
apparent danger, !, for the moment be
lievcd that no evil consequences would
follow The ladies came rushing upor
the guard from the saloon, and advised
as many as were within my hearing no
to be alarmed or excited. | stated that i
there was any danger of the boats bur
ming it was so easy to run her ashor
and apparently SO easy to obtain assist
ance from that shore, that | did no
think there was any great danger, anC
that at any rate unnecessary alarm o
excitement only increased the danger
whatever it might be. A person pres
entity made his appearance who shouted
to everybody to 60 aft, and he was obey
ed by many if not all As quickly as
could | leaped through a window int
the ladies' saloon. The gangways for
} ward were filled with smoke and dark
red, smoky fame, and judge that i
was impossible, even if had so intended
to have made my way forward. Thi
could not have been more than three o
four minutes from the first alarm whicl
| heard, went across the ladies' sa
loon, which was vacant, to the starboarC
guard and went on to that quarter. In
very short time after this the boat wa
got around, and headed for the easterl,
| sLnrn Thn wind Which wns hlnwinl