Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-07-13
How it Feels TO be Blown Up-A
@ Michigan Local Editors Expert
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Most of our readers will doubtless re-
member the explosion of the steamer
Magnolia, on the Ohio river, some ten
miles above Cincinnati, in March last.
Mention was made ut the time of the
supposed fatal injuries received by
Charles B. Lewis (..Em Quad") ex-local
of the LEASING Democrat. who was on
his way to accept. situation on the
MagsUi0e (Kentucky) Bulletin. Being
now, after lapse of more than three
months, partially able to resume his du-
ties he this, writes up an account of his
accident for fae Jacksonian: IS 7adsaG
"When l bought my ticket, asked
the clerk if the Magnolia was considered
safe boat. he looked at me with a
half-sneering, half -pitying expression,
and replied by inqniring If I had ever
travelled much. ch-ss-s'sszsss= s=zseaso
"Well, no-not above the average
"'Then you'll learn something, by
and by he continued. ai
al did. Was seated in the cabin, be.
tween an ex-Colonel of Georgia regi-
ment and Cincinnati pork dealer, and
we were all talking over the, impeach-
ment matter. My fellow passengers soon
became heated and-angry. They were
cursing Congress and the President
across my head--each one as he felt
and j was looking for a muss. Their
angry talk soon collected crowd. /
had just gotup from my chair to keep
clear of the coming fracas, when i heard
yell of agony, and before you could
hade counted three, up through the cab
in, and almost under our feet, came
huge, Jagged mass of iron. - . . % =.
For an instant thereafter I was con-
scious Of everything going on. I saw
the cabin roof lifted up, heard the angry
hiss of steam, the crashing of timbers,
and a cry from the injured and frighten-
ed passengers that will never be forgot
ten. Then / was lifted from my feet; I
feltsan intense pain in the back of my
Iheadg and a biting, stinging sensation
over my entire body. Sixteen days af-
terward j awoke in tine Commercial Hos
pital, at Cincinnati. / knew that was
badly hurt, but could not remember how
or when was injured. 2h1a- 5i7
As afterwards ascertained, was
Blown out of the cabin into the river.
When the explosion occurred, the
steamer was just rounding the bend
above California, hugging pretty close
to the Ohio shore to avoid the heavy
current. must have taken jump of
at least two hundred feet, as was pick
ed up close to the bank. The survivors
were conveyed down to the city on a
tug. and here comes the only joke I can
discover in the whole affair.", ,,5.s.arI
Z, From some cause or other, my face
was turned to as deep a black as me-
gro, ever wore, and / was accordingly
treated as one. A dead cart was sent
down from the hospital, and side by
side with two wounded darkeys, lying
on mattress, was taken up. The
mistake was not discovered until the
surgeons commenced shaving the hair
off to get at my broken skull. 1 was
supposed, for the first two days, to be a
deck hand, but telegram from my wife
to the editor of the Inquirer, who came
and hunted me up, soon set the matter
right.
On awakening in the hospital, in
quired how badly was hurt. The only
answer i received was to "keep STILL"
Considering that L could move neither
hand nor foot, Ilregarded this advice as
entirelythrown away. But it did not
take me long to find out that, first, there .
was an uncomfortable "air hole',' in the
back of my head second, the sight 1
entirely gone from the left optic
and the skin peeled off my face and .
ears $ third, that I had been "steamed," /
or rather cooked, from head to heel, in
,luding both arms; and lastly, that the
doctor had just pulled me through Sc
we're attack of pneumonia. Remained
IN the hospital29 days, and then con-
,luded to go home. and not yet been
lble to leave my bed, accompanied by
nv hrofher-in-laW. q. III. Rulison. Eso.