Columbus Democrat. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1852-04-24
IFpm,he s. Louis Republican,
DREADFUL EXPLOSION AND LOSS or
LIFE.

anu tue urNlTuctlUn ui 4 laIEr huH'eF OF uuUlaH
beiugs--it cannot be a>certsined how many.
The history ofth,s dreadful event, a, well as we
could ascertain it during the prevailing intense
excitement, is about as follows:
The steamer Glencoe had Iust arrived from
New Orleans heavily laden, and was endeavor
ing TO etltc; landing between Pine and Ches-
nut streets.
The steamer Aleck Scott, Georgia, Cataract
and Western World were lying. one beside the
other, at that point and the Glencoe was at
tempting an entrance between the Cataract and
Georgia. She Law with her bows little above
/ the stern of the Georgia, when two or more OF
her boilers exploded, spreading death and de-
struction in eve ~ direction about her.
From young gentlemen who, during the
upward trip of the Glencoe, acted As her assist
ant clerk. We learn that she carried eighty deck
passengers more or less, aud from twenty 10
twenty-five cabin passengers. The boat had
touched at several adjacent steamers sufficient
| " long time to allow very many persons from
shore TO board her swelling her number con-
sid-rably.
1 The explosion was, as we have inimatea,
tremendous one The eutire upper works OF The
/ Glencoe, forward of the pilot house--uolortu.
/ nately the part whore the majority of the pass
/ sengers had gathered to witness the landing
were torn away. Chimneys, boilers, limhers
and fire oh, we're scattered about with many hu,
man beings in every direction.
The work Of destruction was not confined to
/ the Glencoe. The after upper works of the
/ Cataract which lay close by, taking in the whole
ofthc ladies' cabin. was destroyed Other boats
near 10y were visited, but to less extent, by tue
/ calamity,
Shortly after the explosion. the boa, was dis
covered 10 be on fire, and simultaneously with
the discovery, commenced floating down The
full eItcn, OF the rain presented Itself as she
passed down.
The cabin forward Of the wheel house was
gone portion Of it had been thrown on the
freight piled at The iorecasile. this mass rising
a. high a, the after hurricane deck The flames
were burning Gercey about where the boilers
had been, aud spreading rapidly to all sides
From the shore, many human beings, meu and
women, could Ike deserted hurrying from one side
to the other, desperately seeking some place of
/ escape.
One or two poor fellows who had been scai
ed and afterwards caught in the falling tlmbers,
were seen moIioning and heard crying loudly for
assistance, as the flames reached and developed
them. The scene was most horrible one.
As the boat continued to glide down, her va
became filed with her surviving passengers. -
The yawls of some other boats also were push
out and succeeded in saving others. Ne can
make 10 correct estimate of the number OF per.
sons lost by scadng aud drowning 1t is sup
posed that from sixty to seventy were saved
Allowing this estimate 10 be correct, from thr-
ty to forty, or even more, lives have been lost
We give such names Of persons lost as we
could learn amid the existing excitement
John Denny, clerk Of steamer Glencoe killed
His bod, found on the hurricane deck of steam.
er Western World, horribly di4agured
George Buchanan, engineer OF the Glencoe
reported killed. We heard the report subse.
quently conradced
son Of Capt. Lee, ofthe Glencoe, killed.
Miss Kent, on the steamer Cataract. killed
James Little, pastry cook Of the Cataract
killed
McLane, bar keeper ofhe Glencoe, blown
ashore, and dangerously wounded.
Daniel Human, from Warwick county, Indi'
ana, arm broken and badly scaded,
Francis aiierata, hotel runner, slightly in
jureG'
George Washington Rae, hotel runner, dan,
gerously wounded IL sde-right foot nearly sey
cred from body--not expected to survive.
Michael Dunn, arm broken and scaIded
, George Reeder and James Wes, hotel.ruu
} ners, missng-supposed to have been lost
, Mr. StaddIfond, from Ohio, blown oyerboart
slightly bruised--saved.
Captain Lee, wife, and one child saved The,
had gone ashore before the occurrence of tn,
accident
The names above were all that we could ga
Their from sources to be at all depended on
Some twelve or fifteen bodies were counted or
boats and on shore very few Of which coulC
be identified.
The scenes witnessed Immediately after ih'
occurrnnce Of the catt.uopha are Of the mos
> hean.rendng description, We noticed severa
y, men, their faces blackenej, their clothes wet an,
! soilsd with ashes, huuying along he leyee an,
crying for relief One body On the Cataract
n had the head blown entirely of. Ne saw, also
!. the legs Of boy or gil, TIE body having lodge
= in some other direction. \ number Of physi
clans were in attendance, and rendered ever,
service which lay in their power.
5 The body Of lady, 80 horribly mingled tha
IS it scarcely held together, was taken from thi
g ruins Of the Cataract ladies' cabin She wa
not, OF course, identified. Ii was thought tha
she had baen blown from he Ill fated Glcnc ,e
) A little girl, aged about n IT, "a, was also pickle
u up on the Cataract, and was for while belle
Z we'd that she could be saved. But closer ex
Z animation by the physicians re raled one or tw'
tatsl wounds which induced The opinion that sh'
- would not survive until morning
, The burning Glencoe lodged at first about tn
- foot Of Spruce street, where some Of the sufvi
"A vors VINO had not escaped by the yawls succeed
ed IN gaining the wood boats and thence reach
ing the shore. Afterwar1, she swung aroun
y and floated until within few blocks of the ga
e works, where she permanently lodged and burn
10 ed to the waters edge. The fire was commu
!" ncated to the wood boats she had passed, seye