Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1858-05-01
The steamboat Conflagration ut St.
f I0mis. Gt

The steamboat ConfIagration ut St.
Louis. E
A passenger on the steamer Hannibal City
| thus describes the destruction of the Ocean
Spray by fire, just above St. Louis on the
evening of the 21stinst. We copy from the
Gate City:
The Ocean Spray, running between St.
Louis and Peoria, was n fast boat, and it ap-
pears her Captain wss anxious to beat the
tIanniba City. On Thursday last, she left
St. Louis little before the Hannibal City,
which lett at about Is minutes before
O'Clock P. NJ, and soon came up along side
of the Ocean Spray. Mr.. Foster says he
then saw distinctly fireman on the latter
dip a pine knot in turpentine and attempt to
force it into the furnace. 1t was too large
to 90 in, but the flames flashed over it, ID
the fireman dropped it on the coal pile,
which was lit is said) thoroughly saturated
with turpentine. Almost instantly cloud
OF smoke, like an explosion of gunpowder,
rose up as high as the chimnies, and of
course the boat took fire. The boat was
running at tremendous rate, against high
wind, and the fire famed down the cabins
and leveled them to the lower deck in about
ten minutes. Fortunately she was running
close to the western shore; the pilot headed
her in, and she struck Immediately below
the Keokuk, which had been laid up there Tor
some days. The captain, pilot, and some OF
the passengers jumped on shore; very few
could have done so, as the fire spread from
the western side, and most of the passengers
were on the other side, watching the uanni-
bal City. Besides, the bank was very high
md perpendicular, and it required great
leap to gain the land. A great many men
and women were seen in the water, and the
yawl of the Hannibal City was sent to their
assistance, but it picked up only two men and
two women. The deck hands of the Ocean
Spray, being mostly in front of the fire, had
| time to lower their boat, into which they
hurried and rowed off The Hannibal City
landed as soon as possible, above the Ocean
Spray, took on about forty of her passen-
know how many were lost; she had on per-
haps $50 in all.
A passenger on the Ocean Spray (NIr.
Deniston, of Lynchburgh, O y thus describes
the scene on that boat after it took fire, at
which time he was standing on the front
stairway.
He ran up stairs for his baggage, which
| was in a state room, and dragged his trunk
and caSpet sack as far as the clerks office,
when he saw the flames coming in at the
door in front of them. He dropped the
trunk and umbrella, and made dash for the
stairway through the flames. Somehow, he
says, he reached the bottom of the stairs,
but rot without having his hair and eyebrows
pretty badly singed. Here, at the forward
deck, he found crowd of men all waiting
for the boat to strike the shore, the pilot
having turned her to shore as soon as the
alarm was given. He jumped when the rest
did, and landing safe y he began to throw in
the river all the pieces Of wood or logs he
could gather on the shore. While on the
shore he saw the women rushing over the
| top of the boat, some on the hurricane roof,
and some, even, with their children up on
the texas, and imploring for help and scream-
ing from the fright of the moment. He saw
one mother bring three children to the edge
of the hurricane root, the oldest being prob
ably about ten years old. She first caught
her youngest in her arms and gave it d des-
perate fling. 1t struck the shore with great
violence and must have been seriously in
iured. The second child she could not throw
so far, and it fell in the water, where its lit.
tie hands, padding about the surface, arrest
ed the attention OF some gentlerne who
reached in and saved it. The third child,
being SO heavy, fell farther back from shore,
and would probably have drowned but for
some noble hearted man, who having wit
messed the efforts of the heroic woman,
plunged in head foremost, and brought the
child to the surface and to the shore. The
mother afterwards leapcd in the water, and
was rescued.
The captain, clerk, pilots and mate were
saved. All the cabin boys but one, called
Hank, were saved.
Mr.. -Jeni>ton relates tha - pile the flames
were raging, he saw pJofwoman at the
railing Just in front of the wheel-house
Those on shore shouted 10 her to jump
which she attempted to do, but was caught
by her clothing, and swung in under the
railing, down into the eng inc room, where
all was one blaze of fire.
MIR. Deniston thinks there cannot have
been less than twenty lives lost. He thinks
there were some sixty or seventy passengers
in all, and good many of these deck pas
sengers.
The men, as a general thing, jumped, and
reached the shore safely, though he saw foul
of them hanging to one log out in the river
three Of them Oh the upper side Of it and one
on the lower. The log kept turning over
and over towards the man on the lower side.
until he, becoming exhausted with his efforts
to keep on it, sank below the surface and
was drowned.
A lady was endeavoring to keep herself ur
by small piece of q board not more than q
foot square. Her dress for time seemed tC
buoy her, but becoming thoroughly satu.
rated, the piece OF wood was insufficient
She would sink almost below the surface
and then by strong effort straghten her
body, throw back her head and stiffen hel
arms, but all of no avail She sank and was
seen no more.
The state rooms were all supplied proper
ly with lite-preservers, very few, if any at
all Of which seemed to have been used. The
lightning-like speed with which the flames
sped along the boat, may have prevented
any access to them by the alarmed passen-
gers and crew, who had run hther and hith-
err, in order to see from whence the flames
proceeded.
The yawl of the Ocean Spray was manned
but became so unmanageable by reason OF
the numbers that chung to it, that it drifted
down the stream hundred yards before
Ian ding, though it was not more than ter
yards from the shore.
Several horses, which were fastened ir
stalls behind the wheel-house, were burned
up. The kickings, rawlings, and human-like
cries Of these poor brutes, as flames wrapped
them around. are described as most terrible
anG heart-rending
Canital UnvostSUation