Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1854-03-02
From the Missouri Republican.
Id R IL A ID + u L.
Steam Boat Explosion
S E 7 T. x Ill Kill T. d.!
rs Or 80 BADLY sCALDED!.

explosion took place, aud had on board
! about twenty or ,hrly passengers, besides
the Offs and crew. The explosion
was heard al distance OF several
squares, and SO grea, was is power thai
the entire upper works of the boat, as
far back as III whsel-house, We're Iierally
rlldied and fell with crash upon the
main deck
BY this accident one or Two whose
bodies were recoved, one negro and
the other "A deck hand, were instantly
killed, but unfortunately several were
blown into the rlger aud drowned A
gentleman who was on all ad accent boat
at The time, ,nforns US that he saw
three men drown.
The number of persoes scalded, so
far as we have baen able to ascertain,
amounts Il: the aggregate to abautlweu!y
h"e. Rev. S. G. Gissaway, Rector of
ST. Georges Church IN this city, was a
passenger, and was terribly injured. -
HIS skull was badly fractured. his face
distigui sd, and one of bis legs broken
in several slaces. When recognized.
which was not done without much diff
ficulty, he was taken 10 his residence in
almost iteless state.
Maj. Buel, u. 5. A., was also on
board, and severely injured. His ply
slcians fear that he has received internal
injury, from the Inhalation of steam. and
his situation is critical. Yesterday
evening, Maj. Buel's symptoms were
more favorable, aud he is expected 10
recover.
A shor! time after The explosion the
wounded were removed from The wreck
and levee, and taken up TO the Police
Office, and from there to the Sisters
Hospital. We paid visit early yester
day morning to this Institution, aud visi'
ted the Ward where the sufferers were
confined. Ii was sight calculated TO
make the stouiest hear, quake.
Fifteen men lay stretched upon beds
Of suffering, their faces and bodies most
horribly mangled and disfgured. while
the groans that wen, up from their ago
nIzed hearts, testified how fearful was
their affection.
The sutferings of soue were so acute
that they had to be strapped To their oeds
to keep them from jumping out in an
guish. The swollen faces, black with
the kissing steam, was an evidence that
the work of destruction was complete.
Below we give list Of the names Of
those persons who arc as the Hospital,
under the charge of the Sisters. Ii is
proper to state that several who were
scalded were taken To the various hotels
where they had been stopping, TO be
provided fo:. =,
J. f. Newberry, New York aged 40
years; John McCabe, Ireland. aged %
years; VIM. Chee.es. (colored,) illinois,
"a years; Favoriie HaIdy. Alton, %
years, % Engineer; Bro. James o.
keefe, 2, Ireland. SO years; Bro. Vim
cent. Pittsburgh; VIM. Currin. Ireland.
81 years; WIN. ]. Stewart, ST. Louis,
25 years; clerk Hubbell d Hunt; AL,
bel. Hardy, Alton, % years. LIST Engi
neer; Charles Corence, Germany, %
years; Daniel Leele, Ireland, Is years;
Bernard Riley; E. J. Mckenzie. Scot
land, % years; James CavenaLgh, Ire
land, 25 years.
Mr.. Brown, the mail agent was also
on board, and standing IN the Social
Hall. He fell with the wreck to the
Rain deck, aud, strange to say, was only
slightly injured. One man, whose
name we did not learn, says that ne was
standing near The clerks Office, and hi,
frs, SENSATIONS were gentle rlsliig under
his feet before the crash came. He W as
thrown out on shore. and fortunately es-
capped with only few sligh, bruises.
Some idea may be gathered Of the
force of this explosion, from the facs
that fragment OF the boiler. weighing
over one hundred pounds. was blown
with such violence, the distance OF a
square, that it struck the wall, in the
fourth story of the store occupied by
Messrs. Virgins e. Anderson. on the
corner of Market street and the Levee,
displaced several bricks and cracked the
wall. which is TWO brick thick, through.
One Of The fragments struck q dray
nOISc sIduuluS VI WIG iL0sCCS oho WV
him profusely.
l, is impossible a. the time we are
writing TO estimate the exact loss. A
gentleman who was standing on Market
street a, the time the explosion took
place. states that he saw a man some dis
lance IN the air, with his hands out
stretched, and that he disappeared in the
smoke.
Capt. Bruner, we understand, is unin-
jlred, and was either on the hurricane
deck or ascending near the wheel-house
when the explosion took place. The
clerk, Mr.. Jas. Godfrey, was in the o.
fee, aud was somewat injured. The
pilot, Mr.. B. r. Packard, had just step
ped on the hurricane deck from the
wheel house. when the explosion &C.
| Cured; he received no injury.
Major Ga,iin, of the United States
Army. was on board, but escaped with
lille injury. A litile boy. his son
abou. four or five years Of age. was bad
ly hurt.
The first and second Engineers are
at the Hospital, and hur. SO severely
that their recovery is considered hope
less. Their names are A. and F. Hardy