, 1863-09-16
UCTIYECONFLAGRA-
TION.
Four Large Steamers and Other PROP
er1y at st. Louis Burned.

fFlon tho Missouri Democrat, 14th.1
At abeut six o'clock last evening the mag.
+! 1thcent steamer Imperial, lying near tue foor
ct Walnut street, was discovered to be on
| IRE. Ihe alarm Was at once given, and the
seEerl ferrT boats having tlremen's appara-
With amazing celebrity, and quickly caught the
fine steamer Htawatha, lying north Thence
the devourirg element attacked the Post Boy,
which with The other two boats, soon fell q
hopeless PREY; Despite the acting Of The
terrymen and the city fremen, the steamer
Jessie +. Bell, stil1 north, took fire. Lying
| alone Mas the steamer Die Vernon, In fmm}.
nent danger, but She marTelously escaped.
Below, and near the Imperial we're several
boats, none of which Has burned.
When all vas Eafely on tire, the Imperial
Htaratha, Post Boy, and Jesle Z. Bell,
burned loose from their fastenlngs, left the
wharf and moved. of abreast Of each other
down the river. Within twenty minutes all
1he four boats were mass Of wild flames,
Lighting lhe river and country for miles. The
scene was awful and grand beyond descr1p-
tion. Happily the vessels had passed eufh-
ciently far from the 1evee to avoid firing
long line OF valuable steamers, and the boats
lying below Walnut street: The Imperial
far below the gas works. The other steamers
kept on their say till their lurid bulls dlsap.
peared in the distance.
{, The 1mpeIial, one OF the finest largezt, and
tastest sI 6oats on the Mississippi, belonged to
built b. Capt. E. y. Gould, in tha Spring Of
1858; at q cost Of ninety thousand dollars.
Recently she has been purchased by Captain
Bart Able, Capt. John Bottinger, and Capt.
Captain Symmes has since been her comand-
CT. che las been h5lcg up tor about two
weeks, in consequence q the low state Of the
water. She Will be recollected as the boat
that made the eelegratcd frat trip from Vicks-
hnry n RNYy hr3Gnnc md h.n l.%--
Gen. Grant, to demonstrate that tie uayipa.
tion Of tht Mississippi had been restored.
Though she has been In Government service,
she was not at the time Of her destruction
She Is insured for about $40, 600.
The Hi2Tatha, splendid boat, and Of th.
largest clnte. was built By Capt George y.
Willard, at Pittsburgh, in August, 1856. at
cest Of ISL 600. She was owned By her late
commander, Capt. Henry G. Carson, her
Clerk: John I +: Young. and others. She has
has made several tripa for the Government.
and lately made a successful trip to and from
New Orleans, for her psoprietors. Il i flur
or five months since she was employed bY the
Government. She was TO have left again for
&c" Orleans next Tuesday morni1g. o.
foot Of Olive street to load at tho wharf
where she afterwards was burned. Her in,u-
rance was about SIS, 900.
The Post Boy. q small but fast eide wheel
poa1, #Es Qu1t oy LET REcsenk onoefB, or ios-
April, 1859, at cost OF $4,000. La.terlYehe
has been in the ST. Louis md Memphis trade,
Capt. Edward Spencer, her commander, re-
TUNED With her from Helena last Saturday,
and was to have commenced another trip
surtd for nearly her full value.
The Jesse T. Bel, q large stcra-whees boat,
was built In January, 1885, at cost Of $22.-
GOO, was owned BY Richard Robinson, of Gin
cinnah, and others, and is thought to haYe
been well insured.
None OF the above named boats had freight
on board.
While the fumes were raging ut the Leyee.
Very boat made fast to the Die Vernon, 1y-
Ing at the foot Of Chestnut street, to remove
tempted to take out the Jesse Z. Bsn. This
seems to hare been found impracttcable.
Below the Imperial fay the steamer J. G.
Swon, repairing for the New Orleans trade,
and owned by Mesers Jones, rsgram ,Layille,
and others. The ferry boat John Trendley
made fast to the sEon and took her out Of
danger at most opportune moment. The
Tiend1ey then fasteEed to the New Bon Ac- !
cord, and removed both her and the Swon
across the river
OF sevcrnl perrons seen to leap oyerbo,rd |
from tie J. Z. Bell, all but one certainly |
were aaved, while one is said to hare drown
ed. His name we did not learn. The three |
were picked up by persons In skiffa. |
When the chiefengineer and others On the |
Die Vernon heard of the fire, the engineer |
went on board of the coal-toNing boat Jo-
seph Gartside, saw fire In the farnace. and |
raise eteam TO take her out mud SO saye some
Of the boats, but the officer IN charge ordered
him to leave the vessel.
Several minor and one or two considerable |
explosions occurred during the contlagrntlon,
creating CONSERVATION among the Immense
Trl11f{trHnR Tint had hahr nftron&ad IN fna
1eyec. Panic stricken thousands rushed from |
the leree and did not pause till they had reach
cd Fourth or Fifth street, communicating
their fears to hundreds Of others. 1t WIS ru:
mo1ed that some awful magazine Of powder
WhK to e1plodc-but none did.
4 well knonn young man, named Frank
Martin, living at Eighteenth street and Wash
tngton avenue, '' tsher.b0y" on the Mis-
eisslrpi, WAS IN his tkif outside aud abreast
Of the Imperial at the orl5ia Of the fire:
Incredible, il cozrobo1ated from other
port:
While crossing the river, and near the In
frnne1:,s, : a. sboat slx p. m-, he noticed on the
the sta1board bunk, man applying torch
apparently spp to something in tie hIehcs; hunk.
3as. nnoer r the cabin deck. The lad at once
as Sas sn 0t als voice "Tnc steam
attention from persons on the Die Vernon'
lying blocks distances above. Among oth'
ers, a coloTed uan, named Pull1am. On fhat
boat, heard the boy, aided In giving the alarm.
and eaw him comirg to shore. After seeing
the tncendia1y apply the torch, the boy saT
him run along on the boat an give three taps
On The bell al6o saw that he ran and began
carrying trunks cut Of tho cabin, mad that he |
was apparently colored man. Other per-
IONS saw this man running up from the lower
deck. |
When the ). Z. Bell left the wh.rf, one
man remained On board, who could not get to |
picked up By Martin.