, 1866-03-02


min find, who, when be Kicked this soldier
should havceccn shown what virtue there
|; in y + air Of heavy boots.. The soldier maaf
his troubles known to tha good citizens O.
Champaign, who raised money enough TO 5enc
him houe TO his frieuds.-43ate Journal.
THE DISASTER TO THE STEAMER
WIN. 3. CARTER
A Thrilling Account from Passenger
on the Weasel.
From the New York Times, s',h
We have received the following private let
ter. which gives highly interesting account
Of the dlsaster to the steamer W. K. Carter
- SuxxkRs FonEsT. Feb. IS, 1855
On the night Of the I'd Inst, al half-past two,
found myself Wide awake, having retired al
l3 O'Clock, after 4 long conversation W1th AZ
was awake also. We converssa about half an
honr, when Hart observed that It Was imPos-
sible for him to sleep, that he Intended to
dress and go out to smoke con
cluded 70 MAKE ono more effort 70
sleep. This was about three o'clock tn
seated himself by the stove, Xhere he N&1nd
two acquaintances up smoking. ue was
there when the boilers burst, and by 4 des-
perate effort, succeeded In reaching the
door, the guards, the deck, and after
valnly erdeay0rtng to mako use Of the
platforms or cotton bales, was forced by
the rapid approach Of the flames to pull off his
boots and jump into the river, where he found
a mattress atfoat, and OF which he ayailed
himself. His hands had already been So
much injured that he could not hold on by
them without suffering much pain, 50 he
carefully crawled On top Of the bed and ad-
justed himself upon It,. 50 well poised that he
went down stream without the necessity Of
mnch exerticu- He was picked up about one
mile below the spot where the accident hap
pened, BY boat that came to the rescue. but
was robbed Of everything by the WEeckers or
pe.sons who first took him On board the
steamboat. He saw and conVersed with sey-
cral persons on the Boat, before jumping into
the water and never for moment lost hts wits
until benumbed in the water tn the middle Of
the river The two men seated by the stove
with him were blown to atoms. and those
who jumped overheard when be did, perished
IN the wafer, with one exception. Hurt showed
great presence OF mind. II Is simply miracle
that be was not at first blown 10 pieces Sec
ond, that he WIS not scaldt d to death by steam;
thlTd, that lie was not Killed BY the bolts, bars,
stovc-pipes aud p1anks hurled through the
! once upon the boilers and into tho flames !;
! fifth, that he did not drown In the water !;
SIKH, that he did not freeze in ten minutes
AL these he escaped, and be alone may say,
except Mr- Smith, the first clerk, for all the
boat In front Of the whcel-honses was mass
! of srlinters and then mass Of flames in tho
twinkle Of m cye- Hart left me. as told
/ you, about one hour heforc the calamity, re-
solved to 90 to sleep IL our state-roonl, which
was the first forward Of the whee1housc.
soon fell asleep, and the first thing that
awakened me was desperate effort to get
| sion. and at once the doors Of my room were
| thrown open, the air-wiudows md the p1anks
| in the floor, and tho hot steam pountd in md
wus about to su1ocate me when rushed for
the cabin, but felt the steam growing hot
ter and thicker. I then made for the guards,
| and got out Of breath in the narrow way be-
tween my room and tho wheel house, but
\ made desperate luDse and found my
self getting air, but I could sec nothing,
SO dense was the steam- I could hear
screams, Iwo men rushed against me and
cried ont "jump, jump" They came near
and with one foot held on to the bont- The
two men leaped forward, aud Us they did SO,
q gust OF wind blew the steam and smoke
aside, and saw that they had jumped iato
the crater where many others were yainly
struggling. but being rapidly burned u death.
They had jumped right on the red;hot boil
ers, and not Oft the boat into the water.
conld not keep my footing on the boat, bein.
on the edge OF the planks pear the, Hhcel-
house, could not recover my position as tho
rope seized was not very tight, SO had to
20 down, aud BY Desperate leap I
swung to the le!t Of the 6re-the awful
erater-and fell into the debris Of the
hoat; but I had no sooner touched
than a very large man cried out, "Is that
Jon, General God bless you !" and pulled me
towards the side OF the boat. Tie flames
forced me to take to the water. I Jumped on
q few planks, and then seized cotton bale,
bnt found It very nnwieldy aud wholly at the
mercy Of the strong current. I then saw
suuken boat with four scalded men in II;
made for 1t and threw some bran-bass out,
baled out the water and got plank, and after
an hours work reached The ehsre- Our boat
sunk, bnt We got hold Of roots, aud persons
came along and helped rs up On the bank. It
was like the explosion Of miuc. or stroke
Of hshtnins;--so sudden, So Instantaneous, 80
destructive There were certainly two hun
dred and Rfty souls on nbonrd-1hirty-f five were
sared-but Of these more than half were ter
ribly kcalded or burned Hart being the least
injured and myself, Of all who we're Ut all hurt,
We were saved by providentnl interposition
or accident, and not by individual effort or
agency. The boat that came to the rescuc
picked up few still atloat in the middle OF
the river, and then came for those on shore.
The water was SO cold that it burned like
IRE. I looked out for Hart the moment I I
vent aboard. Gen. Furguson told me he
had been picked up. l found him wrapped
up in blanket, wholly unconscious and in
sensible, and In a tigid state. I SAW he was
only frozen, for his heart was still beating. !
vent to work. gave him glass-full Of brandy
(So. '6'') and camphor, put bottles of hot
water to bis feet, md got several stroug men
to rubbing him. In one hour he came to him.
self, and We sat up and chatted until we
reached this place. Hart was up and dressed;
l had nothing on but small flannel UNDER
shirt. Neither Hart uor. saved aupthing;
clNthes, money, watches. every thing was lost.
Al Of our old friends and acquaintaueea On
Doaru we're lost-not one was saved No per-
son could help another, owing to the explosion
blowing everything apart and into pieces,
the scalling steam, the Intense smoke and
darkness, and the wonderful rapidity with
which the flames swallowed I'D everybody
and everything. Aud then the water was
so chilling and benumbins, md tho current so
done ]
I never Witnessed such a s1eht. When |
swinging BY the rope, and looking down into |
the deyouring crater OF flames, Thought the /
spectacle surpassed my description Of Hades |
had ever read or seen the cries Of despera-
tlon. Of despair. Of horror, were heart-reuding.
Gen; Gano was tile person who jumped by |
efaWled over them to the side Of the boat. |
Els hands and legs are awfuhy burned, but
he was savetl- think he Will die; bnt saw
nothing, as his friends all live near Lexington
AL the people In the front Of the boat woke
up On the boilers Or In the flames. If they ever |
woke-eyen those In the pilot house. But / |
will not dwell any longer on this picture. I |
dal couples, mothers and children, wires and |
husbands, went down or werc stricken with |
Inst ant death-who, few hours before, were |
full of gaicty and hope. hayenever seen any, |
thing SO awful. Il was, indeed, a sublime hor- !
TDr.