Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-05-29
TssE LANSING DISASTER.

O00 11ANDA&Y08 UHSAS u "a -
lnQ uess on she body sflKenry Cor-
Siss-Probable Cause OF
slae HI pleslU0.
A Cerones's inquest "a ths ssdy Of Hsss
r. C,stsu,. q Dsbss~A ~as hsh at nsop.
ton eo ~ sssa. M. Jobs q. Bromley,
eusss - - shs LAssisg. - Anissd.w with
other Witnesses, aad savs On siabssats opis.
ieo = . ~ iunsdian esuss - Ne sspls>
sion fhs following psssOns csapossa ths
jury: Fssncis Bla,k, Foreman; ChAfiss h.
Willie, rra Crswfsrd, David wsigandt, Ed
win Brewster, John Nahonsy, Bsnjsoin
Heavlin, Abel Prepst, James Smith, VIM.
w. Propst, Orvil 8. Adams and Samuel
Cronptou.
Mr.. James Smith vas The .Rrst witness
sworn and be testified 70 finding the body
on the sand hi, 80 steps fsea shsrs. brought
ii ashore. delivered il to the justice; had NO
knowledge whose body il was.
Capt. H. N. Hughes testified that Mr..
Henry Curtiss, Of Dabuqus, was passenges
On the Lansing. Of which he was Captain .at
tho time Of the explosion, and he believ ed
the body to be that Of NJ. Curtiss.
VIM. j. McNabney vs. acquainted with
Mr. Henry custiss. and positively identified
the BODY.
James Conway was deck haad on the
bsal, had been acquainted with Ne. Curtiss
4 o. 8 years, and positively identified
the body.
+. Oannsl, wss kats Of the Laasiss;-
had seen Ne. Csrtiss, and had no doubs -
the identy ofths bsdy.
De. Chas. II. Clerks examined Che tedy,
found both legs and right thigh ftactursd'
also Lad fracture Of skull, su0ciens 70
cause instant death.
Francis Black, Foreman Of the Jury ,msds
the following n,enorandum, viz:
Bedy Of . man found In the river at uamp-
teo, On 9Th Of Nsy, 1867, middle ags;-
black hair and long blsck beard had sn
dark ribbed paats aad vest, dask frock coes,
calf boots, white Gotten hose, white shirt,
weel draWers and uudesshirt whits linen
handksrchisf naked &C." gold hunting
eass watch; nemorandum bosk with name
Il n. Cuseiss, Dsbuqus, Iowa, inside Of
eevss; pipe end tebaecoo email box wecd
sule, asd . small pocket book containing ie
geld g silver 81 esnss pestal ssrrsrcy
- 30, National bank notes and gresnbecks
t34; total $45.47. Also one Boena Vista
Couety, Iowa, order for $500, payable to
Homer A. Smith, or bearer, and sigued n.
8. Jamisen, clerk, endorsed - follows -
"Preseoted Jan. ., 1876. Oliver Moore.
Treas" Also one Dubuque skating park
season ticket to II. Curtiss.
(Signed) FsANcs BLACK, Foreman.
Capt. George W. Girdon, one Of the U. s.
Inspectors, was sworn, but declined to les
tify.
John y. Bromley Twas engineer Of the
steamboat Lansing. at the time Of the ex>
plesion Of her boilers, On tho 18Th inst.
The boilers had been in use about four
years, aud were inspected in September,
1866. The inspectors permit allowed me
to carry 1879 lbs. Of steam pressure to the
inch. At the time Of the explosion, or
shortly before, had 1856 lbs. By the register,
but the register indicated more steam than
she had, from 10 to Is lbs. more 10 the
inch Tried the water guages about five
minutes before the explosion they seemed
70 indicate the usual quantity Of water.
The cause Of The explosion, in my judg
msnt. was that, the beat being bow on the
shore and fast to tree, with her stsrn in
the water. caused the wafer to run back
towards the after part Of ,hs boilers, and
being held up in this positiou By the wind,
sparring out At tho stern, caused the for
ward part Of the fire lines to be above water
AID heating very hot; then stsr;ing up the
Doctor, when the water struck the heated
part produced SO much steam tinstantans-
ously a. to explode the boilers.
At the time she Was carrying l35 lbs.
steam hung . light wrench. y to 8 lbs.
weight, upon The line attached TO the lever
Of the safety valve mot to get more steam,
but to stop her foaming. Foaming is
caused, sometimes, BY dirty boilers, and
sometimes by too much draft. The boilers
had been cleaned out the day previous to
the explosion. We had been working full
draft Of steam for ens- half to shres.fourths
Of an hour.
This was I'll the testimony given.
The verdict Of the jury, emitting formal>
tiles. was ~ follows:
The said Henry Curtiss came to his death
BY the explosion Of the boilers Of the steam
boat Lansing, at Hampton, on the 18th
instant.
The jury ere Of opinion, from ths evi-
dencs before them, thse the cause Of The ex.
plosion Of the boilers Of said steamboat
Lansing was, sudden pressure Of steam,
caused in part BY the untrim position Of
the boat; lack Of water in the forward
part Of the boilers and an oversight, On
the part Of the Engineer, in hanging .
wrench upon the lever Of the safety valve,
near the time Of the explosion.
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