The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-12-19
IFron, the Louisville courier-JOurnsi. l5.hl

lrroD tno LouisNiie CourfcrJournal, loh
The bodies remaining for identification are
ranged ALONGSIDE each other in neat. plain collins
on the river Hank, and are in q remarkable state
of preservatien. They have much the appearance
Of mummies ,|and being frozen BY the intense cold
be better preserved. Parties are arriving hourly
70 identify their friends, but many GO away with
sinking hea, IS, for the charred and disfgured
fep There no sIothipS ON the bodies uS U' The
legs Of SONG and the arms of others are burned
of and parts Of the bodies and heads are burned
away. The tongues Of all the corpses protrude
from the mouths, and the distorted features are
The body Of Mr.. spiegleberg, of this city, was
recognized fyom his great SIZE. He was q very
large man, and weighed 227 pounds.
The underwriters ere busy at the wreck, with
boats and MIN, making investigation, but as yet
nothing has appeared to show that the disaster
was caused by the criminal neglect of any one.
The night on which II occurred was very dark,
and ii is beloved that the wind blew the smoke
so TO temporarily obscure the signal lights Of
one Of the steamers and that, therefore. the boats
did not see fach other in time to avoid the col
lision.
The NALL bat company has done everything in
ts power e restore the bodies of the lost TO their
friends eendjrg for diving bells and for crews to
drag the rivtt. During the cold weather dragging
has necessarily been suspended, the cold irons
freezing the! hands of the men engaged 10 the
work.tCotssspondsncs Cincinnati Commercial.
row Of Ssven decent collins are placed on
the beach. bie of them contains two bodies
no, only fhs1 fragments of two bodies there is
nothing but fragments in any of the solemn array
of caskets. Nn those coffus are deposited the
blackened toSgos Of seven unidentified men. four
unidentified vomen, aud one unidentified female
child Of ten "a eleven years Of age. The lids of
the coffins Tbich cover the female remains are
partially fctewed down. Those over the males
are loose, ia whoever dsres look on death in its
most Rrisly Ilise, may lift the seven lids, one
after the other 10 sickening succession. In every
case the feefsof the bodies are burned off, Some
lack legs dgi arms. None have recognizable
feature left save the CHASTITY double rows Of
teeth. and ft:m them the enamel is gone. The
IRE burned IL faces and scalps; sometimes made
ashes Of the8 skull left few charred rags of
flesh where cere had been arms, and Knots Of
roasted muRsjo where there had been legs.
In all ipstsnces the fists have been clenched
Ike the tetth, and the forearms doubled up
against the fresst-in one case SO tightly that
though the 1ssh Is but partially roasted off, the
bones are .wrenched loose at the elbow, and
CLEAN like ivory in q setting Of bitumnous rags.
In few sheltered spots on the bodies the flesh Is
ecorched rehs and veiny, bat elsewhere they are
black ~ II the baked flesh, the naked tendons and
charred bonss had been coated with rusty tar.
One of the ntlles was evidently man Of splendid
mold ard vig}r. IL is supposed that this body,
which even she savagery of that dreadful fire
could not whSlly mutilate, 10 that Of the Rev. Mr..
farvln, OF f%adelpnla. he was man OF n0ta-
bly, handsome form, and on such meager grounds
does the tasksof identification now rest.
There are 1T the wreck ten or fifteen meu who
are seeking Il recover the remains OF lost re;a
tves and frisfds. What narrowing erraud Is
theirs, to rush. snxiousy to the bank, whenever a
black. horrible thing is dragged from the river,
to judge by a elingipg button, shred Of apparel,
a tooth, scar, ring, a tuft Of hair. if il be
some one whom they have loved, whose beauty
and buoyant health they have admired saw
young lsraelite, from Pulaski, Tennes zee, whose
father came to Cincinnati to buy goods, and was
passenger on the United States on the fatal
night, conducted to the row Of collins to examine
whether the remains of his father lay there. he
was not over seventeen, quiet, mild youth. with
dark, sympathetic eye. The expression that
his face, when the first lid was raised, was indis-
cribably shocking.
MY God.n he brokeniy murmured, "do they
look soW he gazed at the others vacantly,
family shverng like Q man 10 the first assault Of
ague. The bodies all seemed alike-sll equally
and unspeakably mutiated--sll persisted forever
from distinguishsbe mortality, all shut out from
the satisfied grief Of kindred, and the last holy
tribute Of affection. The youth eat around the
landing the rest If the day like one in a stupor.
and when the down boat arrived departed without
o word TO anybod-.