Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1855-10-27

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Shorty after nine a'slock yesterday morning,
one Or Tue most ttsmendcts ssploslcnt took place
chronicla.f The small stAamitug SsneiA, was in
the act Of psslipg through Rndelph strsst bridge,
when one Of the boilers explodsd. with . fearful
noise, tearing the upper. works Of the boat COM
pletely To atoms, thrown high in the air
by the cloud Of steam that rose from the wreck
The boiler, which was Of theusnat kind Of steam
bpat boilers about sixteen feet in length and
three feet in circumference, ives Lifted bodily from
it's place in the vessels hold, and, passing through
both the main and upper decks, was thrown over
the larboard wheel house, and into the rivsr.1 1t
may be imagined what destruction followed in its
course. Hardly . timber, u plank, or board
wasleft unbroken. The smoke.stack came tumb-
ling upon deck, which in turn was crushed down
was left asshapeless mass of rubbish. ~ 1ssda s9
Capt. j. Donaldson, the Seneca's commander,
Was standing, when the explosion took place,
upon the upper deck, giving orders in regard to
the vessel which he had in tow. 70 He was thrown
into the river and sunk never to rise alive. ALI
yesterday afternoon persons were engaged in
dragging the bottom with hooks, but the body at
O'Clock had not been found. saeY zof arsaA
William Vaughan, engineer, and part owner of
the boat; was terribly wounded in the face and
limbs by flying fragments of the wreck. His
check bone was crushed inward, and frightful
wound, two or three inches in length, made in his
face. There were other wounds on his chest, and
a serious confusion on each ANGLE, made probably
by fragments Of iron projected by the explosion.
His body presented spectacle truly frightful when
brought across tho river and placed in G. d.
Spaid's Office. DR.. McVickar dressed his wounds,
which it was thought, might not prove fatal to his
life. lie is, however, terribly hurt. $50 Q' Jazz
The wheelsman and fireman saved themselves
by jumping from the boat into the river, hardly
an instant before the calamity took place. The
explosion was preceded by sort of Kissing noise.
of steam whistle. The sound was understood
by the men as a warning that some part of the
steam machinery was about to explode and their
timely leap for life into the water probably saved
them from far worse calamity than an unpleas-
ant cold bath. 80 t.-.-..---. ~
A lady, the wife Of the fireman, with her infant
child, was on board when the accident happened.
She escaped uninjured. Her babe was in q berth,
in small cabin on the upper deck. The cabin
was lifted bodily several feet into tho air and fell
back again with crash; but, almost miracuously,
the child, save slight scald on one arm, was
harmed. --------------
The Seneca was owned by G. d. Spaids and
William Vaughan. She was a crazy old craft,
totally unfit for any service whatever, and should
long ago have been consigned, her timber to stove
wood, and her machinery to the raw material of
some iron foundry. There are one or two other
tugs running in our river which belong to the
same class. We hope the present accident will be
a warning to their owners, which will induce them
to make every thing about their boats secure be-
yond doubt, or else that they will abandon them
altogether. Human life should not be jeopardiz-
ed for all the profit that can be made by running
such worthless and unscaworthy old hulks.
The immediate cause of this explosion is un-
known. The Seneca had q vessel in tow which.
instead of passing directly through, warped against
the western abutment of the bridge and made it
necessary for the tug to stop and back her en-
gines In the act of doing this the boiler blew up.
Il Chicago Times 18th.