Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1859-04-05
rmlai NrenID.Oont DI.msIcr.

On Monday evening, the 29lh ult., at
sbout 8 O'clock, two steamers cau,e in
collision, near Aurora, on the Ohio. aud
resulted ia tbe loss of rorty lives. sinking
both boats 70 water to the hurricane deck,
rendering il impossible TO save either Of
the cargoes.
The descending boat was the "Nathan-
cl Homes,t bound from Pittsburg for
St. Louis. with large number of "pike's
Peak" passengers aboard, and the David
Gibson" from New Orleans for Cincinnati,
was the ascending boat. The circum-
stances attending the collision, as we
lind them 10 the Cincinnati "Gazetle," >" are
as follows:
With theinformation now before us upon
this point, tits impossible To regard the
collision as the result of an unavoidable or
even ordinary accident. On the contrary,
this terrible occurrence, by which forty
two lives were lost, and property, to the
amount of near quarter Of "a n lion dol
lars, was deatroyed, is, we think, fairly
chargeable % culpable neglige nee on the
part of The officers of the Gibson. 1. was
stated, in the report given by us of the dis
aster. that The wheel of the Gibson, at the
time the accident occurred. was in charge
OF a striker,pr young man learning the
busin fiiis, we are informed, was a
mistake; but The individual in question,
though a licensed pilot, is represented a.
incompetent; and the reports seem to BE-
sufficiently conclusive to establish this
charge. The law requires the pilot of an
ascen'ing boat, when meeting descend
i,,.. - Il L
tween the two vessels is reduced below six
hundred yards, to blow the whistle, and
Indicate by a specified signal which side
OF the channel he proposes to take. This
is wise provision, and if carried out, il
would enable boats, when meeting each
other, to pass at a safe distance. But this
requirement appears To have been disre-
galded by the pilot of the Gibson, not only
AT the Time OF the collision, but previously
The latter WAS met at Gunpowder by the
Jacob Strader when she failed to give the
signal. The Strader blew her whistle,
and it was not until she was abreast of the
Gibson that a response was sounded. The
! Forest Queen met the Gibson at East Bend
when a similar occurrence took place
! The former whi>tled, hearing no sigma!
from the latter, and in this case she pilot
oi the Gibson did not even condescend tu
| blow the whistle at all. These facts, are
of themselves sufficient to prove criminal
! indifference OF incompe,ency on the part oi
the pilot. But this Is not the worst of it.
! 1t has been stated that when the collision
took place, the wind WAS blowing SO rs tu
carry the smoke from the chimnies of the
Gibson III a direction 10 obscure her lights
| This was plausible excuse; but unfor-
tunateiy, the assertion Is upset by state
ments of eye witnesses. Samuel q. Bolts,
! who observed the movements of the two
S sleamers from the shore. states that the
Holmes, which WAS the descending boat,
when six hundred yards from the Gibson,
viii, lied. fhe latter failing to respond,
! The Holmes whstlel n gain. but still there
was no response. Finally, and simulia-
neously wich the collision, an indistinci
signal was heard from the Gibson, by Mr.
Bolts. Here then we have three distinct
charges of negligence against the pilot o
| the Gibson, the last of which bears directly
upon the cause oi the terrible CALAMITY
and if this can be established by the in
vesLigation already commenced by the In
spectors, the guilty. party or parties SHOULD
be punished 10 the full extent of the law
parti-s we say, for if what Is reported with
reference to the officers of the boat ohe
than the pilot Irwin, is true, they are al
in n measure, responsible for the lives tina
have been lost, and should not be permit
ted to escape punishment. Let there, IL
all events. be IA full and searching investi
cation; so that the accused, If innocent q
the charges, may be honorably acquitted
or, if guilty. that they may be made a,
example of. 1t is certainly time that eff
cieut measures We're adopted. to proven
the EN- ployment of reckless or incompeten
men, on our steamboatS.