The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-12-04
steam boat Disasters ON the Lakes.

EXPLOSION or THE inDs, ENDENoE-SBvEN LIVES
L0sT-sIn souL"Us ESCAPES.
A correspondent of The Cleveland Pam Desler,
writing u Saul STE Marie, Nov. 70, gives the fol-
lowing account ,be po-ion on board the propei'
loY hide per ceBce on Lake SUPERIOR
That Inflated craft, The propeller 'IndepenAence,
after repeated msbaps which resulted in the ruin OF
her former osDer, was purchased daring the pest
summer-wbilst Occupying her annual Posluon on
the beach Of Lste SuUer1' r-by Capt. naekey and
Mess.s Mcknight a. Co., and sas gos stioat in Esp
TENDER After being thoroughly overhauled, abe
was declared by mpetsot judges TO be perfectly
seawertby. Her capacity being greater than any
S Ssynr s qa.y shs . wait
ing shipments, her readiness 70 receive cargo Was
esteemed sod-sepd. Owing 70 . scarcity Of hands,
some ten days were Consumed IN loading her, and
then as II for an nd ootiou Of her impending fate
she proved to be hard sgr und, and two days were
occupied In getting her aAoat once more. At liz
O'Clock on Mopdsy nie hit she left the dock and ater
proceeding short d. lance .as ssoppeo ,or ne Rrs
10 her engine hsvng stopped on the centre the Deli
to 60 ahead beipg runs for the third nme wnen
the fearful explosion ocsurred-the tmmed1ate eaose
Of which ia attributed TO not letting of steam during
the stoppaGe
Seven lives are DOW o. ertained to be lost, naAes
Of all kno except Mir Session, the st engneor.
That there were 70 uore killed would seem inseedi.
BILE, after viewing the wreck. The boat, with the
exception OF twenty five feet of her bow, h blown TO
atoms. Her engine and boiler, with TIE exospeaon
Of small piece Of the ter. cannot be discovered IN
u
Of the wreck, ard large portion Of her 100 barrel
bulk cargo is red hit0er and thither altogether
making the ESCAPE OF thirty lives truly m!acp!1us
The most thrilling incident contested with the
disaster the of Mr. j. n Watson, clerk OF
the boat. and formerly proprietor OF the Hel0deon
building in your city. He vas thrown far forward o.
the wreck and TIE first sensation he recollecs WA
finding himself cropping on the bottom OF the nver,
with not Sufficient ~ let to attempt gaining the
surface. After reaching the latter, he found hisof
surrounded by portions of the wreck and cargo, and
was fooled m first obraio.e support Dy graphing
bundle of pressed bay. Atthis time it was presumed
by the captain that Mir. w was among those In the
water. The voice Of tie former was heard above the
din and confusion, calling u his intimats friend and
Deighbor-"W stshD car you sustain yOurselE Our
boats are destroyed, aud We can render you no rs
tis'ance" .Oh, Dol | im nearly exhausted" was
the faint reply
He continued floating uu til he fell in wish niece
of the wreck, which was the se:ond engineer,
who, though terribly scaded, assisted him on h, and
now their peril was still imminent. They were fast
nearing the raids hut luckily the crew Of the Pc
niDsula had taken The alarm, aud with small boat
Messrs. WATSON and Houston Mr. H. being aaleep
In his berh at the tide of the explosion, was des
tute of all clothing, except his shirt and his suffering
from cold was intense. The other survivor who was
thrown overheard is Mr.. Alfred Thomas, of Ohio.
He WAS also thrown forward of the wreck, and al
though severely niered he succeeded in reaching it,
over its sioe. Captain Msckey states that when he
was in the rigging TO avoid The falling mast Mr.. 7.
| foated past bin followed by "Turk," large net
| dog belonging 70 MIR G. Vaughan. Messrs. G. D.
| Ensign and G. Vaughan, OF Cleveland, were among
the passengers fhe total destruction Of the boat
extended forward to within room of the theirs,
and although thar was shater they escaped unin
jured. That nearly all GU board were not lost is ox-
ing to the depth Of water, DOLLY reaching her upper
deck the passen gers mostly far forward,
and the crew mostly forward At the time, engaged in
adjusting the anchor
Her cargo comprised general assortment Of pro.
n a 1nfOnRr
gon and Lsponte; ano great suffering and inconve-
nience will be- caused by the loss of it.
Although the loss Of the Independence, with it's
destruction OF Ire has been the only mournfn marine
disaster OF the A0pg the steamers connected
with the Lake Superior trade there has been for the
last few days constant succession OF disasters and
hairbreadth escapes from imminent peril. The first
to lead fl the Canadian steamer Kaloolah. She
was disabled, aud could not be got ready 10 make
her most important srp-which caused much loss to
our reighbors across the river Next comes the mar
row escape ct the steamer Arctic with the loes OF
most Of her cargo, consisting of winter supplies for
the Canal Company. At the same time the propel-
Ter Napoleon vas ON Lske Superior, disabled and
given up for loet hs her officers but finally reached
her destination, with damaged cargo-The fourth
have related.
WRECK OF TIE STEAMER ALBANY ON LAKE HURON
PERILoUs SITUATION OF TWO HUNDRED PAssEN-
4 passenger on the Albany writes from Pressure
Isle, Nov. 70, To the Cevel md Plain Dealer the fol-
lowing account OF the wreck Of that steamer
We reached Lase Huron at P. M, and at IL,
gale accompanied by q suow storm, set ia. Nv room
was In the ladies' lower cabin: aud at this morn
ing vas art used by the BOUNDING of the steamer
upon the rocks Immediately under me. followed by
the screeebiDg Of the ladies' the slamming OF le9s,
and tumbiDg OF furniture; and was further startled
on finding my room floor covered with water. The
latter, however, was found to originate from the
waves washing over deck.
Capt; Jones relates follo.s:-After passing this
place, finding she not making Storage headway
al his fuel lnsit sent tO allow such detention, de-
| cided on putting back for this halbor. The night
| was thick and teupestlous, making 1t an easy mat
ter TO mistake the course On discovering his error,
he immediately put shoat. in accomplishing which
she struck aft, the well known reef mile east
Of here which unshipped the rudder, leaving her at
the mercy II the .avestbe wind blowing gale at
the time of sea. She continued to be driven over
the reef thence on the bar to within half mile Of
the shore ard now lies In five feet Of water, with the
same depth in her.
The only thing approaching q panic among the
two hundred souls on board, was from an apprehen-
sion OF fire when one OF her smoke pipes fell previous
| to her fires being extinguished.
Her passengers have all reached shore, by TIE aid
| Of the life boats.
| The boat, with the exception of her engine and
furniture, will PROBABLY prove total loss. The in
surspce on her expired on the 25th This is severe
calamity to her enterpri-ng owner, COL Mcknight,
in connection With The loss of the propeller Inde-
pendence the insurance her having also expired
| on the day preceding her loss.
Metsrs Vaughan, Thomas aud Ensign, who were
on board tue Independence when she blew up, are
among cur passengers: and, as might be naturally
| supposed are decidedly sensitive on the subject Of
lake navigation. Mr. Emerson, Of the same party,
peIsevered forward to Lake Superior. Mr. James
Miller also OF the same party escaped both casual
ties by deciding to accept proposition 10 winter at
the "Soo," after getting on board the indie pendence
with his baggage. Mr. Thomas has nearly recovered
from his injuries.
! Particulars of the Fire in Council Hlum
City, Iowa. Loss &2O0 200.
| (trem tie Bugls Extra. NV. II
On Friday night last, at about ten O'Clock, P. NJ,
the store Of Messrs rootle & jackson was discovered
to be on fire ard upon bursting in the door dense
volume Of smoke, followed immediately by sheet
of dre burt OUT, An alarm was Instantly given.
and In tes minutes the streets were alive with
people, as many had nj retired to bed. In fifteen
minutes the ,iore enveloped in fsme, and little
nIfar fn nd