The Gonzales inquirer. [volume] (Gonzales, Tex.) 1853-current, 1854-02-18
Awful CONFEDERATION.

Sir or Serea &saBsAaaf< wifA fx~ir Ere;ohf
burned s--Lep ~ LiJSf p lNsaSiy 81 600.
0oo Property Dsstroyed! Fire Preyrss-
sing!!Y
The New Orleans Crescent Of the 4th Inst.
gives Che following account of the confosrs.
ton : =
At 10 minutes to four o'clock this t,,orn,no
the deep-toned bells sounded the slur,n Of e.
anu in q short time o Tremendous volume ~
smoke and flame issued from one OF the steam.
boats ,noored At the Levcc. Oh reaching ne
spot q fcwsrninutcs after the alarm. we asccr-
tanned that the tire broke ont on the sple,,dt5
st Louis STEAMER, Charles Belcher, which N
few minutes was \ nlasB.Qf luritl fame. --tbu
officers ofstl,c boat bAt eIY escaping witbo,,t
saving anything. This ~ fnme;ilsiely snrcssj
20 the acknowledgements. Nafeh ~ n 3 - fi1e
Liah Tnna, tlle 4loIlte sdi,, (5s1ssd 1'nrk
and ., one s W. =. md barge. b thh
time neaf5 tlis sn(iyi IRE department wsre on
the ground end doing duty but tho iirc made
suc!, rapid their labors were Of little
avail: kessycs wero groaning under the
hcavy b,sryi tbey Sustained from Inc quantity
and tept with which every description Of
IpFcslncss tsvcsbccn pouring in upon ,is during
( = teSv days past, conscqncntsupon rise In the
upper FLYERS Cotton, sugar, Western produce.
cct:, together with great quantity of way
freight ready 10 be shipped, were piled nm "a
the waters edge, and to this the flames Quickly
communicated, sweeping Off every thing IN H.
mad career. About llnlf nm hour after the FIRST
alarm great contraction was observable among
the officers aud crews OF the crowd of boat. ~.
ling wcdgcd In ms close ns they could possibly
be. and several, considering tic danger ahead,
got up steam NJ fast as pinc-knots and rosin
would let them .nd pushed into tho stream. -.
This was wise md jndicious move. AZ by so
doing and the wind being In shore Il prevented
the Hire spreading in the direction OF largc
| fleet Of them. s..,.5 Ss es-s,2' o
The Charles Ilclclicr, Capt Carlisle, arrived
last night from Nashville, viii, cargo of b0O
bales cotton, about roo hhds. tobacco and n
large lot Of pork We are informed that ihe
G. b. had on her nncrdccks aboat SO negroes
linen, women and children that owing
to the immense load they were unable 10 force
their way through tho engine room, 10 rcacl,
! tho shore and either jumped overheard and
drowned or perishcd IN the flames. Capt. Car
isles wife, although sick, jumped overheard
from the hurricane deck Of the l,ccher with
her child, and was saved All the cabin ma.
sengcrs were saved, but lost their baggage.
Some OF the books, valuable letters md papcrs
were saved by the clerk.
| On The Natchcz vt least five persisted, viz
! two OF the chambcrmaids, two Of tho deck
hands md the pastry cook
| Tho Nntchez arrived yesterday with $500
bnlcs of cotton, and there were at least $500
bales yet to bc discharged.
The Mohican Ind large and valuable cargo
and was to leave this morning for the Tcnnes.
see river
The Crescent and I.iah Tuna had nearly dis.
charged their loads.
| The Saxon had about onc-half OF her cargo
on hoard for St. Louis.
The Snliana took fire but happily II was pm,
out without much damage, when sho raised
steam and backed out from the wharf
| The Grand Turks stern was in flames, but
owing to the moving out of three boats adj.
Joining. and the working Of engines, she was
rescued from tho coni!agration,