The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1868-04-16


had moderated somewhat; there was
little or no sea on. Every one on
board was in good spirits, and no
one had the least approhensions of
danger being so near at hand. We
lett Kenosha in about half an hour,
some passengers having gone ashore,
and Others got on board. When we
started from Sheboygan, supper was
ready. All who could get seats sat
down, but the table had to be set
three times before all were accommo-
dated. l think there were about 125
persons on board, including the crew.
Of these, one hundred were passen-
gers. We reached Racine at 4 o.
clock in the morning; landed some
freight, but took no passengers on
board. had stateroom No. %, in
the forward cabin, and retired about
IL o'clock. We remained at Racine
some fifteen or twenty minutes, and
left. This ! learned from my friend
Henneberry. About half past six
o'clock this morning, when about
eight miles south of Waukegan, l
was aroused by q loud cry. l cod
not at first tell what it was. ! thot
probably it was the crew fighting
down below. There were loud
knocks and indistinct cries. l got
up and looked out of the state-room
door to see what was the matter. l
saw the crew and passengers rush.
ing forward through the cabin. The
tables were all set ready for break
fast. l dressed and rushed out. l
then heard some one cry "fire, fire !"
1t was the Waterman, who ran thro
tho cabin to arouse the sleepers.-
Everything was in confusion. The
passengers were rushing forward, the
ladies and children crying and weep.
ing. They all seemed powerless to
aid themselves or others. The men
rushed around frantically. looking
for some means to save themselves.
The little children chung to their
mothers, crying and impeding their
progress toward the bow. The wo-
men implored the men 10 save them;
some fell on their knees and prayed
to God to save them. By this time
the flames had gained considerable
Roadway, and threatened with de-
struction the entire vessel. looked
toward the stern and saw the after
cabin full of smoke and flames shoot
ing upward in different parts OF it,
The excitement and confusion became
terrible. The passengers, in their
hurry to escape from their state
rooms, had forgotten to dress them
selves and were running around en-
dishabille, interfering with the few
who had sufficient presence Of mind
to attempt to stay the progress Of
the flames. The flames were all the
time increasing, and in five minutes
the whole upper portion of the boat
was at the mercy of the fiery ele-
ment, with the exception of the pi-
lot house and that portion of the
deck forward, which had as yet not
been reached by the flames. The
lower decks had, up to this time, es-
capped, but were full of smoke. Some
Of those on board endeavored to get
below, but were driven back owing
to the smoke almost suffocating
them. Miss Sprague had complained
Of being sick from the rolling of the
vessel and had retired early. 1t is
my belief she was suffocated by the
smoke, as did not see her among
those who rushed. forward to escape
from the flames. She was probably
asleep and had not been awakened,
as the flames had extended to that
portion of the cabin before the
Waterman had time..to knock at her
door. The fire broke out very near
her state>room. As soon as l saw
there was probability of the vessel
being lost, l went to my stateroom
and put my hand under the bunk to
see ii there were any life preservers.
found two and took them on deck.
The flames soon reached where l
was, and / went down on the lower
deck-forward-to see what chance
there was there to escape. The crew
were hallowing to get out horse
q valuable one which we had taken
on at Milwaukee. They hoped they
would be able to save themselves by
clinging to the animal. did not
stop to see whether they got the
horse out, on account Of there being
so much smoke, | left there and
went on the upper deck again and
helped stave in portion oft, which
kept the flames back for q short time,
The second mate, Leander Packard
and I worked as much as we could
breaking off stanchions and planks
and everything that would add fuel
to the flames, but were driven
back by the intense heat. We
worked away, Notwithstanding, fol
some time longer, further forward
but were at length compelled to de-
sist. When I commenced to helF
the second mate pulled offmy over
coat and laid it down on the deck
When / ceased put one of the lite
perservers on, and my overcoat ovel
that. A man, seeing had two life
perservers asked me for one, and
gave it to him. l thought my over
coat would be great benefit to nj
while staid on the boat, as the vino
was blowing very hard from the east
and it was very chilly. l thought
and rightly too, that il would pro-
tect me from the cold weather.
There was q heavy sea on at THU
time, and it was increasing. stare
among the crowd q few minutes
and looking around, saw the Capt
in his shirt sleeves, apparently dumb
He gave no orders that heard, *
! utterly was he taken back. He seem
ed to be very calm-in fact, was thu
only one on board who had entire
presence of mind. lie had no cal
on, and stood there looaing ut thu
crowd as if riveted 10 the deck.
then made for the bow Of the boat
and got as far forward as possible
At this juncture the passengers near
eat the flames began to Jump from