American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1862-11-14
THE D.sAsrEx AT JACKSON.

The Mfssissippian Oh tue csh
as full particulars of the incident'-as II
was possible to obtain. Its list Of those
fLnown tn have been killed numbers thirty.
fate unknown. sixteen. Most o. them
were women and girls. That journal
says:
About half-past three O'Clock on
I Wednesday afternoon, our city was Inc
!, scene of one of the most appalling dis
asters that it was ever our misfortune 10
witness, the results of which are heart
| rending. At the above hour. one OF the
buildings. about three squares back oil
the Bowman House. used by the ord
nance officers for the manufacture OF
ammunition, exploded with an awful
crash that shook every house IN the city,
and caused the greatest alarm and
excitement In an instant astonish-
ment and horror was depicted in every
face. and soon hundreds were running
| in breathless haste to the locality of the
sad occurrence. A scene here met the
| eye that caused the stoutest heart to
quail s! The two~story brick building
! used as laboratory was blown to the
smallest atoms, and the debris were scaY-
tered for several hundred yards around.
All the men and women employed ia the
building at the time bad been hurled into
instantaneous destruction. Shoeklngly
lmangled bodies of both sexes lay around
| in the most frightful and horrible posi-
tons, besides blackened and disigured SO
as to almost defy identy as human beings !!
One man had a leg torn off aud his
brains literally blown out. The bodyof
4 poor girl vas hanging by one footto The
limb of tree she was evidently dead.
but her clothes ere still burning. Other
bodies were blown 10 The distance of from
/ fly to one hui dred and fifty yards. and
presented a mutillsted and most shocking
appearance. The packages of powder
and shell were yet continually exploding
as the fire Of the burning ruins reached
them, and many who attempted to 60
nearer, in order to render assistance, if
were thus warned to desist until
the danger was over.
The FIRE engine was promptly on the
ground, but could not do much owing to.
the want of water.
In short time many of the friends
and relatives of the unfortunate victims
were on the spot. and scenes of the most
affecting heartrending character took
place as the awful fatality was known.
Several surgeons and humane gentle
men. endeavored to find some who had
not been killed outright, but the only one
we saw who seemed to have any chance
of recovery was a sentinel-his thigh
was broken and he was otherwise wound
ed. He was carefully placed on cot
and borne off by friends Another sen
incl about one hundred yards or smore i
from The explosion. was hit in the face
by fiyipg brick. and but Slightly in
iurea James Carnes. carpenter. was
also slightly hurt in the side. These
three are the only ones outside the build I
ing who were hurt.
The officers In charge of the arsenal +
are. we learn, Colonel p. Stockton. Cap
tain W. Tanses. Lieutenant r. S. Kin
ney and Captain III. Fisher. : Colonel +
Stockton had. fortunately, just been called {
away. Captain Tames and Captain
Fisher were luckily not in the immediate f
vicinity of the explosion. and Lieutenant
Kinney was providentially absent. sick
n bis room. At the time of the explo-
sion. the laboratory bad only a few
rounds of fixed ammunition, and
about two hundred pounds Of powder. so
hat the pecuniary loss is quite incon-
siderable. The cause that led to this
ragcal occurrence. must. like others of
similar nature, remain MYSTERY. 1t is
most positively known that there was no
ire WITHIN several hundred feet of the !
laboratory, and no satisfactory account
AN ever be given of the cause Of this
ireful calamity. The officers men
ioned. are well known to be skillful, ex-
and cautious. and the employ
es had often been warned of the danger
US character of the material they worked {
two out of twenty~one young
Tomen are known to have been saved
wenty- nine bodies, through the humane j
xertions of the mayor and his attend t
nts. have been gathered together for s
nriai. Some of them have not been b
scognized. SO severely have their fea +
Tres and bodies been distorted The o
Their buildings of the arsenal were Gems f
araiiveiy uninjnred. but some of the Il
wellings 10 the immediate vicinity were D
,n-iderably damaged. Their occupants o
ad wonderful escape. and were terror. {,
rick u for hours after the occurrence. Il
. hile our commnni fnourns over the {,
ID reality Of the frighlfnl destruction of
e. We are all seriously reminded oil the {.
reat uncertainty of human affairs We Il
ust that We may never again have to &c
late such agonizing details of the loss
human beings. The unparalleled fact
the greater portion of the victims be
helpless women. is dreadful indeed. :,
ID serves to make this the most truly !.
record we ever penned - =
wing to the confusion and excitement =
the city. we we're unable sooner to
ve our readers anything like definite
ltement ct this sad and lnment2b!e 8
air. Ia
eGa- The New Orleans Picayune says to
It one hundred and fifteen bales of cotton "a
re sold at aucfiOn in that an tho