The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1865-05-16
THE SULTANA DISASTER.
Further particuIars-I Incidents
"A PIucky Michigan Sergeant.
From the Memphis Bulletin. April %.

! INCIDENTS OF THE CALAMITY,
AS nearly as can be ascertained,
there were about $500 persons on
board the Sultana when the accident
occurred, and thus far. 1856 have been
found alive. This would leave the loss
of life about l 500 persons. 1t is prob
able that a number of other persons
will be found to have escaped death by
this explosion. s.i,A
One of the rescued from tie Sultana
disaster states that the soldieIs on
board of her were from every State in
the Union. Many of them had been
two or three years in Southern prisons,
where from Feb. "a, 1854, to March
26, 1855, there were 1864 deaths
from i'll usage and starvation. 1.s
Among the lost is n Mrs. s. w.
Hardin, Jr. She had been recently
married, and with her husband, who
is member of firm OF Cushman,
Hardin d Co. of Chicago, was return
ing home from wedding tour. They
remained on the wreck till compelled
by the flames to jump overheard, the
cabin fell with crash, and simultane-
ously several hundred persons sprang
into the river, causing confusion by
which husband and wife became sepa-
rated Mr.. Hardin made every effort
to find his wife, but was unsuccessful.
He was subsequently, found in an ex-
hausted condition, and is almost dis
tracted. He was formerly Adjutant of
the SD lllinqis infantry. He lost eve-
rything, 5o.s .ge sla -
One woman, whose husband was an
officer on gunboat, was on board
with her sister, her husband and her
child. She was rescued but left alone
in the world, as husband, child and
sister were lost. The officers and
crew Of the gunboat Essex made up
a thousand dollars for the poor wo-
man.
Overton Hospital received about fif-
ty patients from the Inflated steamer;
the greater part of them suffering from
severe scalds and burns. One man
had his head, face, and body, almost
denuded of cuticle from steam. An
other was suffering from coneussion of
the brain, as well as being badly scald-
ed and burned. Many were badly con-
fused, and few were cut and rlacerat-
ed from being hit with fragments of
the wreck. All were more or less in
iured from their long immersion in the
cold water, and were only saved by
the prompt and iudicious medical at
tention given them. , -.,
A PLUCKY MICHIGAN SERGEANT.
A Sergeant in some Michigan regi'
mcnt, Immediately after the explosion,
stripped off his clothes and Jumped
in to swim ashore. Three miles below
he reached tree, and being well nigh
exhausted, he stopped and managed to
climb the tree and perch himself se-
curely on a branch that swayed to and
fro with his weight. 1t was 8 or 10
o'clock in the morning when he was
taken offby yawl from the steamer
Pocahontas. When found he was
whisking his body vigorously. with a
bush to keep off the mosquitoes, and
and Buffalo gnats, which had covered
him with bloody punctures. jolly un.
der the most discouraging circumstan-:
ces, he, in allusion to his own suffer
ings and the size of his insect torment;
ors, sung out as the boat approached to
rescue him, "Bully boys-here's your
mules-I couldn't have stood it FIVE
minutes lonGer-Lord, amt the mos.
quitoes big" "a9 sH .i'r,
TIE GALLANT BosToNA.
The explosion was not heard on
board the Bostona, and when that
steamer rounded the pont the first init
nation of the disaster was the d!scov-
cry of the Sultana on fire. Capt John
Il. Watson at once appreciated the ter
riblc state of affairs, and reaching the
wrotches who were struggling III the
water, he had ak or board the Bostona
use the utmost efforts to rescue the un'
fortunates. They threw overheard. the
wooden staging, bales of hay, and ey-
cry thing that might save lives. The
Bostona was placed in some peril by
the efforts, of her gallant officers to
reach those who were drowning. The
yavl was used to pick up many of
those who were in danger. In some
cases three and four persons wereres-
cued from bales of hay to- which they
clung. Some foated q long way on
boxes, shutters and boards, before they
were picked up. In several cases un-
fortunates were found chilled TO death,
but floating in the water with pieces Of
wood under their arms. Three men
were taken from trees to which they
they smam and upon which they had
climed. Several men were found stiff,
cold and dead ON planks. Their long
imrisonment had so weakened them
that the shore OF this terrible, occur
renee and their immersion for hours in
the cold river proved fatal. The Bos-
tona saved over two hundred lives.
A BRAVE SOLDIER.
One soldier who was on board at
tempted to save the lives Of two little
girls, seven and nine years Of age. He
had plank and thus was enabled to
sustain himself and the children until
they foated nearly opposite the foot Of
Jefferson street, when a rope was
thrown to him from the Bostons.2 = In
attempting to catch the rope the child.
rem slipped from his, exhausted arms.
The brave heart that had. struggled so
manfuly thought no more Of seizing
the rope, but made desperate efforts,
by diving, to recover the children, who
were hurried out of reach by the swift
and trcacherous current. When the
soldier found that his efforts were vain,
he was too much exhausted to, make
further efforts to save himself, and was
sinking without a struggle when a boat
IL =. Ill loo, can't ont ,,ict cd him r1r,