The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-09-21
THE BAY STATE DISASTER

We append below the particulars Of this mel
anchoiy affair
The following is the statement Of the Engi-
'snscr Of the Bay State:
n was about 3 o'clock, A. NJ, when the key,
| OF tvrt, BY which the piston is attached to The
connecting rod, crank, gave way. and at the
next stroke OF tiIe-engine, the head OF the cyl
endcr was Blown completely of. and the steam
escaped, aud pervaded the promenade deck in
volumns. lspnn this ~esax are several private
state -ronrns, for the accommodation OF families,
persons who pay for extFa privacy, and some ui
" h ch were on that occasion occup ed by MIR.
De Wolf, Of Chicago, his wife and family Of eight
children.
/ The steam entered the windows Of these
rooms, and SO alarmed the four ED, st girls that
they rushed on deck, thereby meeting it in full
fsscc, and with sad effect. 1t is wonderful
but perfectly natural instance # maternal fore
sight, that Mrs. De WoH, on perceiving the
vapor. making way into the cabin, removed hi r
young st children from their berths to the fnor,
and they, Their, by escaped any injury whaiso-
ever. Had this taken place, (our informant
adds,) during the day while the deck is Usually
Gens " crowded with passengers, the conse-
qurnces would have been certain Il. ath IL many
and had tie steam rot vent at the bolt IN, ia
stead Of at the TIP Of the cy Under, the greater
p .rtinn of those board the ves sci mus, have
suffered, add but few would probably havecsca-
ped alive.
As an instance Of the effect, he states that
the plate glasses through which The workings
Of the machinery are 50 frequently observed by
Spectators on board, were shattered into frag-
ments At the moment Of the explosion the
pressure was only % pounds t., the inch, and the
engineer Immediately shut il off.
- a ~or.o,,ccJ.,t e A.. n Y;m.r ,vI,o
was on board at the time Of the accident, des-
cribes the dreadful scene which ensued:
AT 81 we were awakened by a crash, seem
ingly OF some metallic substance, accompanied
by the rushing or steam, and the shrieking Of
women and children. A servant in the saloon
warned us to keep our door closed, and open the
window, account Of the steam, which was
then rushing an. | Immediately dressed and
got out Of the window, to discover, ii possible,
what was the trouble. My eyes first fell upon
a man with blanket wrapped around his shoul-
ders, coming an, holding his hands to the light
in the state room windows, groaning as he
walked, and apparently in great agony. We
bathed his hands in water, the ekin then being
entirely off, owing TO his wrnging them on ac-
count Of pain. My companion accompanied
him 10 his state room, (hc had one alone,) which
was No. "a, on the larboard side, forward of the
gangway and machinery. lthcn locke arour
TO learn as nearly as possible the cause Of the
accident.
During my investigation Of The difficulties
could hear continual shricks and groons, with
calls for cotton, sweet oil, and -four, with which
TO alleviate the pain of the scalded. Walking
forward in the saloon, found on mattresses, the
fur daughters Of Mr.. and Mrs. DE Wolfe, Mr..
Thomas Warren, of Dartmouth, Mass and a
lady whose name | did not learn. Everything
that could be had was readily furnished BY me
Captain aud servants, and every possible 1tten-
linn was paid to the sufferers. Thy were
badly scalded, and their groans, esPec'aily Of
three Of the chIdrcn-for two the DE Wolf
family were quite young appalling, and
called most earnestly for ,he exercise of every
particle OF sympathy the human heart is capable
Of And great must have been their agony
One little girl, and sobs and groans, called up
on her mother, whose attention was then occu-
pied with her three other daughters, lifting her
little arm,. on which tue skin, from the elbows
to thu. rnds Of fingers, was in wrinkles, ready
at he least touch to peel of and leave the raw
Resh