New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-03-11
TrE g-glsTER TO TRy PRINCESS.

-. 18Th, ,,y-ir,I.,s Of the destruction OF the
...,me- Princes. intelligence o. which Was f9rETled
s. ,be tune By telegraph. TIE PiesysHe says;
"Tb.-e suuenrs . have Been rot the si9.s:t wan
iIg Of the tremendous explos %, Wolcl loon pa
abort 10 o clock Sunday morning ~ai7 th- pace.
wss or her wsy 10 this - aad bus short ane ai'ef
she hal LEI. Bate, Rouge.
"ssyer.l .sseDgers 81. II q Bitoo Rj5ge; sinong
tlese Old IN, I'd, Mr. Thomas Ahscs 81 W Ia
reior Miss who wsct boa-d the ste siner NetcleE
Tor she hsj left TIE wreck and ssnts "a list OF tue
dead wounded, missing sad saved. a. FAR - De VS.
sble 10 ssccr'sn the facts. Re no d)not, nal mucu
ditiicuIty IN doing e., az persons wac nave gone
through steamboat eNpo'or, wheiherni lr.d or not
.cec 10 be mentally affected 10 very peculiar way.
They csDrot TX dates or localities with any pTecison'
Some ofthe passengers iofcrmed ns posluvey ire eA
1losion took place 90 Saturday night az III oc.oek
others, Sunday morning aro.her, who arrived ee,e
Yesterday about oclocS that it took place on n
Day night ARD with oiner facts OF she catastrophe.
Four Of the lsrge powerful ooLeTs eXp.olsi az a.
oaee driving aft, clearing al before them, ana the
whole upper cabin, stste rooms, bureaus deck
tsYss snd all fell in almost Immediately, snd in few
romenis the flames burst fOc'h. The shock was so
sudden and 60 Tremendous, 20 utterly unlooSei iOr
apparently TO have oeSideEei the orSVesl anu os'
expefieI ced men.
Tie pilot George II. Csse, who vas at the wheel
Vas thropn ito the water lie swivel here lat even
Ing or the stesmer William VI. Morrison, end from
what we could ls,In knew nothing more OF the cais-
trOlhe, than that he Suddenly found himself nyloS
through the sir, and moment after 10 the wafer,
without having the Temotest idea OF wat was the
matter.
.sTbe chief engineer. Andy Ssesny, hal ended his
watch 81 s o'clock q. N, when the second engineer,
Peter Hersey went or snd was attending to his duty
when the explosion occurred, be beng the hrst VIC
TIM. He WAS cut in two lie j. reported by the
superior ocsrs and employers TO be seaiy, reliable
man. 70 wise incorporate, and frs. rate engineer.
lie was well known here.
Eve could no ascertain whether CIpt. Jackson
VAS on duty or not at the time az the eNJos!0n lie
was formerly plot of the boat aud nad been acting as
csutair for several trps. he is reported as among
The rissing. NJ. Afleck's letter says that he was
understood 20 be across the river, badly hurt.
The first clerk, Mr.. james lzod, was 10 hrs Office
AZ the time and Ouad si;ertee explosion IN space
% the deck below left vacaLt by the barsted b2'Ts
"The force of the explosion, or some other lucky
accident gave the boat turn toward the bauks sac
soon struck on sand that utet ont into therver
from the shore, and where she grounded. lle maze
OF duty, with several Of the crew, jumped on the oar
ard succeeded in making the boat fast In the mean
while those who we're uBininf6d busisd themselves IN
,nteavOring 10 rescue their unfortunate companions
buried in the burning ruins OF the cabin, ana gathered
ip which we're many ladies and children AL VINO conli
be moved, wounded or not, were taken on tle sand
bank there h await in q state OF agony anu hoir0r
,hs. can family be imagined, the hand OF rescue from
some passing vessel.
boat Na,eh.l which left here ON slturtay afternoon
wat frt heat Ia pear tine disastrous scene. What
s- spps ling 81. ctacle that small sardosr must nave
presented q the amazed ana grefstrcsen oeho.iers
The magnfcen. boat uow u 80 oI oIs@'ng rlias, IN
whioh smcllered the remains Of maeS pahS sIlTheh
wretch; the gh5stly corpses Of the dead lying "-'V
aud there's the groups OF wounded men, dsh cured ani
crashed by the terrible powers OF steam Snd ire COM
bined; he women and children gathered in grief and
honor, with the live and vel men, all overwhelmed
by catastrophe the more terrible that Il was 50 M
expected; and toe fierce sres of the burning wreck
Isl tins up this picture Of desO.aton and death aud
misery Well might the stou'est heart turn appa led
from such narrowing spectacle
rla aid nv tha r-rf N n
her officers, and passengers exer.ing Themselves
to the utmost to give all the relief in their power;
and soon this STATED on her way mp the river
her decks filed with mattresses which reclined the
bllCkeLod forms OF those who but a day before had
lett their homes TO spend the last Joyous week Of the
Carnival in the Crescent City"
The Data adds:
"As number S:f rersors wera picked mp while
oDeing to bales of cotton, and taken 10 the opposite
shore, hope was expressed that among them were the
actipg captsr. Wm. l. Jackson, and Mr.. John Clark,
assistant clerk but the arrival Of the Empress, Capt
Ieyden, on yesterday afternoon, made il too certain
that they were among the lost Tee Empress brought
dogn some twenty persOrs, among whom were six or
eight wounded fremep, all colored but one. a white
Fan, whose name could not ascertain died on lie
passage. The Natchez took n large number Of per-
sons Uack 70 the points from which they embarked,
and alec number OF wounded were carried to Baton
Rouge.
The Princess was one Of the most splendid boats
on the liver, having been built at Cincinnati in 1855,
Did enjoyed reputation for safety never yet gained
by suy steamerSse confidence which rendered the
shock greater. her officers have always been known
among the most careful men the river, aud from
fact that only one boiler exploded, 1t is thought
that there must have been flaw impossbls for the
most experienced eve to detsc.. She was commanded
By Capt w N. C. Wilson, who, fortunately for himself
ard family detained ia this city anf did not go up
on Ier. The Princess was Owned as follows: one-half
10y Capt. {. Wilson, three eighths by Capt. Truman
G. Holmes, ard the remaining eighth by Mr.. James
Izod, the first clerk During the past Summer she
had been repaired at cost Of so OO0 and 5000
we're spent in repairing boilers.
Among the saved were both The pilots, one Of
whom repOr ed lost; and we sincerely hope
that many more may yet be found uninjured.
" The whole number lost sni kilei may safely be
set down IS within seventy-fye hundred, g. the
outside, and we have to hope ami believe lat
the number may be less"