Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1864-11-10

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Ysstaaav Afternoon, q ten minutes 70
theoo O'6ook. occurred The most heart rsnd-
inn onooo11y WAfsh t,ae svsf sAosaed the
peup1o Of our community. The boiler Of
~ Juhn Ramsey exploded while that best
~ ooninG ITO this poet, killing I'VE or SIX
pers6us, ard seriously wounding about :
dozen more.
NJ nrnesy waa . stcrn-wAesl freight
boat owned By the La Crosse Packet Compa-
~ (payjdsoo Iine) and was at the time Of
Is accident towing two bargss loaded with
fteiehtznpo LnOFosao - St. Paul. She
had arrived within about half mile below
the lsvec when the explosion occurred, at
point jAst opposite The Rotary saw mill
The Al6GAiy vas coming into port At the
same time, also towing couple Of barges OF
freight. - The Rumsey lirst neared the lat.
tetesscful MILES below the city, and grad
ually gained on her, and when the explosion
occurred the two boats were side by side,
the Rumsey having the channel, and the
Albany running between her and the other
shore.
The force Of the explosion was terrific
Houses two miles distant were sensibly sha.
ken, and the jarring ofthc windows in many
buildings caused people to run out into the
street to see what Lad occurred, supposing
that gunpowder accident had happened
near BY.
The boiler Of the Rumscy seemed, as we'll
- those who saw the explosion conld de-
scribe Il, to fly upwards, carrying the cabin
with it. tearing it into pieces, and sending
tho pilot house many feet into the air. All
was . complete and instantaneous wreck,
and nothing remained Of the boat but
heap Of rubbish. Even the hull seemed
torn apart smidshirs, and at once commence
ed - settle, while the FIRE kindled from the
furnaces soon consumed all that remained
above water.
The Albany 1t once stopped and render
cd what assistance could be given, and, af-
ter picking up all the dead and wounded
that could be found, came into port, where
she Was boarded by large crowd that had
by this time collected, and were shocked by
tho terrible scene exhibited. Dead bodies
lay strewed around, their blood and brains
scattered, in some cases, over the the boxes
Of merchandise in the barges, while the
groans Of the wounded were heard from
every side. The bodies and the persons in
jured were ut once removed to the hospital.
The Albany was badly injured by the ex
plosion. The side Of her cabin next 10 the
Rumsey was blown in, and not whole glass
or piece Of crockcry was left on the boat
Her ratings and other fixtures were crush.
ed to splintcrs, and the whole boat covered
with debris Of the explosion, pieces Of iron,
brick end wood, IS well as drcnchcd with
muddy water. Scarcely man on her es-
capel injury to some extent, and many had
narrow escapes.
But the damage done to the property
sinks into ins.gnificancc beside the heart
rending loss Of life occasioncd by the explo-
sion, and the painful injuries Of the wound
cd. As near as could he ascertaincd at dark
last evening, when our reporter left the
scene, six persons were known to be killed. |
and several missing" some Of whom. it is
feared, Gre killed. Ten or more persons
were badly injured including Capt Mat
w. Harris, Of the Rumsey, whose residence
is At Pennington, Iowa.
Several on board the Albany were badly
bruised, but able still to attend to their du- !
ties
The Rumscy is total wreck. Even her
hull seems torn apart. II lies a charred
hulk--across the channel in about six feet
water. The Rumsey was four years old, |
and valued at about $4,000. She was |
staunch and effective boat, and had been
used - passenger packet part Of this |
season. ~ w.
Eoutrr CAss IN G. s. Clnculr Couar.-I
The cass Of James May vs.. Geo. L. Daycn-
port Louis Q. Dessaint, John r. Cook and |
Others, Of Davenport, Iowa, was called up |
in court on Monday
This n n caae thsf hsa hoan NJ, tho Jool,