The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1864-1911, 1865-05-10
The Grestcst Accident orthe Age.

Beyond I'll doubt, the late blowing up Of
the steamer Sullsna on the Mitsis; ippi, at
tended, as it was, with a loss 0f |, 400 lives,
is one Of the greatest accidents recon ded in
the annals of time. Nothing Of the kind
can be compared to it. save lie burning of
the Catholic Cathedral in Valparaiso. Chill,
year or two SINCE The magnitude of tine
horror Is perfectly shocking and astounding
The most Of our river and ocean accidents
fade into in,ignfcance by the side OF this
overwhelming waste of life, terrible and cal
amitous as many Of them have been.
When the dispatch was first received, we
indulgcd the hope that there mil hit be some
mistake, for the number lost was perfectly
lnconceivable, iudging hy past experience.
1t is an accident that will carry mourning
and desolation into thou. ands OF families in
the West, over whom already the clouds of
mi fortune have dntkly gathered. Among
all the terrible and saddehihe enisodes Of
| the war, there is none to exceed this scald-
ing, burning, and drowning Of near 800
victims, hencath the turbid waters. OF the
! Mississippi. The bloody tragedy that has
been going on tnr the last four years has
| had no darker scene of woe than this terri
fc and eliminating accident.
The scenes Of di tress and suffering that
occurred on board the doomed steamer,
packed so closely with its precious living
freight, can hardly be estimated as they de-
serve. Humanity revolts from the contem-
platon. There were TWO thousand of our
unfortunate but gallant sons, who have been
languishing for months ind years in the
prisons of the South Atleneth the light of
home beamed brightly upon them, and the
period OF their sorrows seemed to draw near
Its end. The prisondoors were opened, and,
with beating and anxious hearts, thovsaDLs
OF the late inmates turned their faces home
ward GailY the steamer hoated upon the
purd Que n Of X v.rs. and, a> fs as ste; N
could carry them, they weIe borne toward
that North where existed all their affections
and fond Tccollcctuns. As the di stance be-
fore them became less and less, the visions
Of home became brighter and brighter
They thought ofthcir wives and children, Of
their brothers and sisters, of their fathers
and mothers, whom they were soon to clasp
in fond embrace, after long and horrible
absence. They were returning from the
war, never to go again, and ip fond ex pee
fancy they thought of The greetings Of old
and anxious friends, who, perchancc, had
given them up for lost.
TLcy had passed safely through al danger,
through the peiils of the battlefield the cx-,
posures Of the camp, and the suffelnes of
the prison. Unconscious of peril, they
hasked in a complete sense Of security: the
first time for years Alas alas in one fa.
tai moment the boat was rocked from stem
TO stern, and an explosion was heard that
sounded the death-knell Of thousands. As,
if steam was not enough for the horrors of
the scenc--as il a shower of broken legs and
arms, and hcadlesstr was not sufficientJ
ly infernal-fre was added and that most
terrible and consuming of all the elements
soon licked up what tie steam bad spared,
and drove it beneath the engulfng waves.
Oh, the horrors OF that scene Who can
portray them? The frcnzied rush of the
frantic multitude backward and forward;
the groahs. the cries of anguish, the,terrible
splash, all lit up By the glare Of the burning
boat What scene for Pandemoham -
In few minutes all was over The fear
Iul struggle Of a mighty crowd ceased, and
only a charred wreck sufGced to tell Of the
proud steamer. with its two thousand pas.
.engers, that short time before was steam.
ng rapidly against the swift current of the
Mississippi The blood Of the Survivors Of
his terrible accident will ever curdle in re-
collection of it,-Cm. Eng.