The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-05-01


The stsanse 6ulnna ~ blown up, .
the eth slt., ssar Nsnphis. She hsd
On board nearly Two thosand sxehasepa |
Union prisoasn and ssv6sal huadred a.
villains. Tho ersatsr portion q de- lost
their lives. We End The following sps-
cials in the Chicago Tribaas ooapsrnisg |
The affair
The Bsllstin publishes ssatsnsat b |
w. D. Sass, q. 8. 0eastof iron Arkaa-
sas, which 70 - follows:
On the morning Of the 9Th, aboat
o'clock, / was awakened By . peasibls |
tremor OF ahudder passing over the best,
but heard no explosion. Not anticipating
such terrible consequences, arose and
deliberately Creased. just before flush
ing dressing became aware Of : large
volume Of steam driving through the
cabin BY the wind. l opened the door
OF nv stateroom. and in an instant real
lied the horror Of the fact that the boiler
had exploded, killing and scalding many;
that the pilot house and at least one third
, of the cabin roof had fallen to the boiler
! deck, and the boat was on FIRE, with
fresh breezs carrying the flames with
. lightning like rapidity through the bal
. ance of the cabin towards the ladies' ga
loon. stepped back to avoid the heat.
|, and denuded myself Of my dress. except
j. my pants and vest, and rushed to the rear
n of the boat, which was in the channel,
q. and much nearer the Tennessee than the
Arkansas side. l looked over towards
the Tennessee side, With the view OF leap
a ing, but found it sea of heads, so close
together, that it was impossible to jump
without killing one or more.
determined to try the Arkansas shore.
which vas about thres-quariers of . mile
he distant. / passed over several bodies OF
on dead men killed and tramped in the mad
n. rush which must have occurred sometime
). prior to my advent on that part Of the
boat. found the same sea Of heads OF
10 this side, but found that the flames had
" driven them from the vicinity OF thu
or wheel-house. Prior to my leap | saw
All several husbands fasten life preservers Il
:. their wives and children and throw then
- overheard into the struggling mass below
n's / struck out for the Arkansas shore, ant
Try reached log lodged in fifteen feet o
he water, among overlooked cotton WOO
in. lands, at ten minutes to o'clock by M
watch, which had not ceased to run
After four hours of exposure, was res
cueJ BY the steamer Silver Spray. Th
boat contained 9,l75 souls The densit
with which they we're packed had ava
ter kened my curiosity. and looked oveI
,oe with the clerk, his certificates and book
% before retiring. This humber include
:: eighty five hands employed on the boa'
'oo There were some females, besides . fe'
md children. The bulk Of the passenger
were returned prisoners from Anderson
vile, which place they left on the lit
ory Of last February. Among them were h
IN, remnant 1t that point Of prisoners car
:. tured ct Chickamauga and Gsttysburl
90. They numbered altogether l,963 men "a
OF So officers. A large number Of hors.
md were on the boat which pro idential
ore fell unresissing victims to the flames
,ha Had they broken loose the fate Of Il
:, swimmers would have been determine
'ne AS near - can be ascertained witho,
Just other data than observation. between tn
and three hundred reached the BAN
while about ~ equal number fbated dow
Re- the stream on doors and furniture.
dense mass. estimated 1t about 500, toe
refuge on the bow Of the boat. while Il
'os flames were driven aft BY the wind.
few moments afterward the wheel-house
ub- loosened by conclusion and Hamee, fl
,ere off outward and the boat turned stern Z
stream, reversing the flames. The large
part of this number then must have pc
>, ished, As they had no material at hand
wy throw over to sustain themselves except
few bales Of hsy, which were Immediate
seized on the turning Of the boat. Gal
ling planks were thrown overheard. hat su,
own at once upder their living freight Al
red rose too far out of reach. A yawl DO
was landed bottom up from the hurrica
pme deck upon the heads Of those below a
= Of afforded support for few in that cont
ton. The whole time before the be
'e' was an entire sheet of fame, could q
was have exceeded twenty minutes. I y
des- not more than one third of the distan
trr. to shore when observed the fact. III
| tahoouSiS tSPsCSNutCu ucuEiI Gt6Ty C40
10 the Union, even Texas, and the Z
rom lsmity will be as widely felt as battle
that no inconsiderable proportions.
ion; The following is the Memphis Bull
ON tins account of the disaster to the steal
the er Sultana
"Capt. Mason arrived from New O
leans last night, the 26,h. with abo
ath- 1900 people on board, 1864 Of who
he we're exchanged Federal prisoners fro
and Vicksburg, the balance being refuge
snd regular passengers from vario
ave points down the river. Proceeding
tive ward st. Louis, she left the coal p
REQ. about one o'clock n the morning. :,
i've. had made some ten miles when an exn]
III; sion Of one Of her boilers took place L
boat, with its mass of living freight, to
an' FIRE in the vicinity Of the engine. ard
'ns short time she was burnt to the v ate
edge, and now lies on sand bar ne
Fn0lamnn,a T.aod;nr ~:th ~~.l:. 81: