Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-07-23
Arrest of the Captain of the
Montreal.
QUEBEC, July Il

On demand of the counsel for the sur
vivors, Captain Rudolph of the steamer
Montreal was arrested to-day, and impris
oned to await the finding of the jury, which
it is expected will be delivered tomorrow
or Thursday.
IL is in clear evidence that the burning
of the Montreal, and the terrible conse-
quence which followed was the result of the
most criminal earelessness, inefHciency and
cowardice, ON the part of the officers of
the boat.
In the first place, there was no sufficient
guard against fire. There was exposed
wood work in dangerous proximity to the
boilers. But this fact would not perhaps,
have subjected the Captain to a criminal
prosecution. For it was shown that, in
this particular, his vessel was not unlike
many others of even higher reputation than
the Montreal. Indeed, there is reason to
fear that not one steamboat in ten is prop
erly guarded against fire. And it l.: e daily
miracle that they escape the consequences
of this criminal neglect in their eonstr=e-
ton.
In the mex. place, Capt. Rudolph exhib-
tied the most shameful stupidity after the
fire was discovered. He seemed wholly
untitled for the emergency. He knew
neither what to do himself, nor what TO di-
rect Others to do. And like all stupid
men, he had not the grace to adopt the
suggestions of others wiser than himself
This was fatally illustrated in his neglect
to comply with suggestion, when the fire
was first discovered TO he unmanageable,
to run the boat on shore. AT that mo-
ment, sand beach was accessible; and it
could have been reached before the flames
had driven any single one of the passen-
gers into the water. But the suggestion
was disregareed. The course of the vessel
was confined as when the fire was discor-
cred until opposite rocky coast; and IFS
course was only changed when flames had
driven hundreds of the unfortunate crea-
lures on to the bulwarks or into the water
and even then the wheel was deserted and
the vessel left TO herself The result was
that she struck upon rock at the worst
point of a bad range of coast, where the
water was deep, and where more than two
hundred and fifty perished.
But Capt. Rudolph was as brutal and
cowardly as he was stupied. He did liter
ally nothing to help the woman and chill
dren by whom he was surrounded, and
who were momentarily driven into the
flames or water. His refusal to run his
vessel on shore at the point first suggested,
might have been overlooked as an error of
judgment. The point ultimately selected
might have been attributed to indiscretion
or fatality. But his infamous indifference
to the fate of his passengers proven
neglect to raise fnges to aid them-tho
fact that not even chair or table or plank
or door was thrown over to the STRUGGLING
sufferers by his direction; that, to secure a
safe standing place for himself, he forced
women into the water by crushing their
fingers 10 compel them to loosen their hold
that he seized, for his own use, the only
on the boat-that he delib-
erately looked on and saw women and chill
dren sink into their watery graves, until a
clear spot was thus made for him to leap
into the water himself without running the
risk of being grappled by those he saw.
sinking; these, and hundred other facts
equally revolving, which were brought to
light by the thorough and sitting inquest,
render his arrest proper, and will, if sus-
tanned on trial, justify the punishment (how-
ever such trial might result here) surely
awaits him there.-Al6any Ere. Jomnal