The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1868-12-11

from the pilot house for the decks.
] Was just on the stairway beyond
the texas when the shock came.
hurried right or, and rushed to my
state room, which was in the second
tier, broke open the door, seized nv
overcost. and put. Just as | Woe
runniag ont saw msn. who occu-
pied stateToom No IS, break through
his door. He rushed right out against
the low balustrade, which you will
remember runs iu front OF the second
.ier rooms, fell over it, down into
,he saloon below. | went down to
! ;iin 81 once. ard | believe that he
ives dead | then ran down the star
board gangway TO the lower deck
As ! was going down | saw q man in
a iiL fall into the river; | think tbs;
/ be must have been drowned. At :his
liine the bow of tie America was
touching the side Of the United
States, but Ncb. Jenkins, who had
stuck all the time by his wheelhouse,
fearful, | suppose, of her burning,
turned her head away little, but u
moment afterward, desiring to save
the passengers of the States, he again
brought her up TO the burning vcs-
sci.
Well, | went out TO the forecastle,
and there | saw the chambermaid OF
the United States jump from the
upper cain to the forecastle. 1t must
have been thirty feet at least. Her
breath WAS knocked out, but when
she was picked mp she didn't seem
much hurt, and is now as lively as a
cricket. The Uuited States was in
flames in no time. She no sooner
struck, it seemed to me, than the
flames enyelOped her completely
These that escaped from her were,
in some instances, without any cloth
ing. | saw two ladies' without any
garments at all, even their night
clothing being burned.
Wien we got off We heard the bells
in Warsaw ringing, aud a great
crowd assembled, hut Of course they
could do us no good. But the peo-
pie at Rahl's Point treated us mighty
kindly. l spent the night at Father
Gill's. as they call him. Ten men
were in the house with me, and he
furnished us all with clothing, and
wouldn't charge us cent. The rest
spent the night at different points,
most of them at houses below Father
ellis.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN WADE.
We next saw Capt. Wade, of the
United States.
He stated that it was abOut quar-
ter past eleven when the boats col
lided. The night was q dark one,
but not foggy. The America went
into us On the larboard side, near
the baggage room. Only our guards
were cut, and few OF the top tim
bers of the hull. Immediately the
flames were rising up above the top
of the hurricane roof, on which l
was standing. The States backed
toward the Indiana shore, and then
her head swung out into the stream.
She went down in a few minutes,
and is now lying short distance
from the shore, burned tC the wa
teI's edge. The America blew two
whistles, which were answered by
one from the States, or it was all
that could be heard on account of
the high wind.
wHTTrEN OF TIE AMERICA,
says that he was in the pilot house
Just before the collision. The Amer
ica gave two whistles, bat he heard
no response from the States. Nor
did the pilot. The America signal
oG again, blowing twice for the Indi-
ana side. The United States gave 8
single whistle in response, which
was the wrong reply.
STATEMENT CT AN EYEWITNESS.
The following letter We received
yesterday from resident Of Ken.
tacky:
Warsaw, Ky, Dec. ..
Your correspondent last night
witnessed the most terrible and de /
sIruetive steamboat disaster that
ever occurred, within his knowledge,
on the Ohio river, or On sny OF the
waters of the United States. AT
about II o'clock p. NJ, yesterday
{ 4th inst, the steamer United States,
from Cincinnati, and the America,
from Louisville, collided about one
ulile above this place. At the mo-
ment of collision both steamers took
fire on their bows, from the bursting
OF some barrels of combustible fluids
coal oil and whisky-which was
instantly ignited in some way. The
fumes spread rapidly till the confla-
grstion could be seen for many miles
around. In the meantime, both steam
els made for the Indiana shore,
which was successfully reached by
the America, but not by the United
States The latter sunk TO the depth
OF OF about ten feet, at distsnce of
about one hundred feet from land.
Here both steamers were burned to
the waters edge, all the freight be
ing lost. The very river seemed to
be on fire for many hundred feet
the oil thrown upon the wa
ter having taken fire, perhaps, pre-
venting many OF the passengers and
crew from jumping overheard and
u aking their way to the shore. Thus
doubtless, greater number of lives
were lost On the burning boats than
otherwise would have been.
THE LOST OF THE STATES.
The following is the list of those
lost 80 far IS ascertained:
Daniel Anderson Richard Mar
shall, colored, second steward; John {
Fennell, of Coyington, KY, steward; !
James Fennell, of Covington, KY, !
Dsrkeeper; Willis Laffeiin, colored i
Elijah Forst, colored ; Charles Har- q
ris, Louisville, Ky; Mrs. c. NJ.
Hayes, Nashville; Thos. Scruggs, I
Louisville, Ky; Charles Smith, I
Madison, Indiana; James Johns, n
bird clerk; the assistant barkeeper 0
Is also reported lost. VIM. johnson, 9
icck sweeper, (white) John Mosss., D
0wensville, Ohio; Samuel Smith,
assistant engineer VIM. a
4. Greens LOganspOrt, Ind: Elijah @
fOrd, porter; Mrs r. A. Jones and u
ler daughter Eva; Mr. Bigley, coal u
nan; john +. Burns, j. NJ. Lewdow- III