The Cairo evening bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1868-1870, 1869-10-29
TREMENDOUS LOSS OF LIFE.
Thirty.flvc out OfThree Hundred
and Twenty Of the Passengers
and Crew Survtve.I
Scenes a11cl incidents
MURDER AND DISCRETION.

red by the buring Of the Stonewall
is without q parallel In the long list Of
disasters that marks and mars the navi.
cation Of our Western waters. The re.
cent land horror Of Avonda even, falls
behind II both in destruction OF life and
In the intensity Of agony and suffering
endured by Its victims. This time 1t has
not been the result OF defective boilers,
or csrelessness OF officers; but the very
simplicity o! the cause Of the accident
which hurried so many souls to untimely
graves quintuples the horror Of the cal.
amity. The public need not crave for
victim for the instrument persisted with
his work.
PASSENGERS AND CREw-LoSr AND SAVED
Whes the S,onewall left st. Louis on
Tuesday evening last for New Orleans,
she carried out with her no less, moder-
ately estimated, than three hundred and
twenty persons. or these, fifty were
cabin passengers, including about fifteen
ladies, and a small number OF children;
one hundred and forty deck passengers
,reckmed higher by some) IN route for
Little Rock, where they were to engage
as laborers on one Of the railroad enter.
prse now progressing in that section;
and he crew, including ca ptain. clerks,
pilot, engineers, cabin force. deck hands,
rousabout,, etc, numbering In the az.
sreeate at least eighty. This estimate is
made by = surviving member OF the
crew, and is, we believe, from the cor,
robDratlng testimony Of other survivors,
very fair one. The exact number lost,
ana their. identity, are, as In all similar
case. utterly impossible to ever learn.
Not moro than thirty-fve OF this mum.
Der survive; and ofthe fifteen ladies, all
bui three are missing. or the eighty
who constituted the crew, but four are
nov alive; Of the one hundred and forty
deck passengers but twenty were saved;
ofthe thirty or thirty-flve male caban
passengers, At least twenty-six OF twenty
ss'en perished; OF the thirty. hye Who
succeeded In reaching the bank, two
died from intense cold and exposure.
THE NIGHT AND PLACE OF THE DISASTER
Wednesday evening was unusually
cold and clustering for our October. A
heavy frost had set in; and the large
number Of deck passengers were huddled
together in knots, in Ms close proximity
&c the boilers as the engineers would per.
nit. Supper was just over rs the boat
ettered thatpart Of the river, resembling
In many features, q canyon, which ex-
tends from near Grand Tower to some
diitance below. Either side is lin, d
with walls Of rock, almost perpep diculsr,
reidering access TO the banks In all
places very difficult and In some I'm
possible. The peculiar formation Of the
bed and banks OF the river at that point
materially increases the rapidity OF the
current; aud the irregularity Of Its course
Is plainly marked at intervals Of every
few hundred yards, bordering on the
bsni, by numerous powerful eddies.
The and contiguous 10 the river Is not
available for agricultural purposes, and
il sInrsely settled, miles intervening
between the houses OF the few persons
who have settled there. The nearest
! house to the scene OF disaster was distant
at least one mile and half .
TIE ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.
1t WIS while making the passage OF
| this canyon, between seven and eight
O'CLOCK, that one ofthe deck passengers
| discovered the loss OF his valise. 1t had
been removed from the spot where he
| had let it. Beside all his clothes, he
| declared IL contained considerable
/ sum ~ money. BY some means lie
| procured candle, and lighting it, start.
| ed out in the search of his missing prop
/ erty An of the boilers WAS slowed away
"A large quantity of baled hay. With
! fatal caTelessness he began his rum
( maging among the bales Tor his valise
/ aud tAis did not cont niue long before
| the hay became ignited, and cries OF
"lire! fire!' resOunded everywhere
! throughout the boat.
THE SCENE THAT FOLLOWED.
| The concentrated effort of the pass
engers and crew To extinguish the fire
awaited nothing, In less than two min
ules il had made such Roadway, that the
disclosures ot any further effort 10 battle
against il, Was apparent. Self preserva-
! ton then was the ruling motive of the
hour one OF our iulormants describes
the SCENE AS awiully terrible. The shrieks
o. The frightened and the moans and
groaus of the suffering mingled with the
cnesuf children and the blasphemy of
men; on deck ,he horses stampeded
sousn, tue flames, crushing and bruising
All with whom they came in contact, nd
GIVING utlerauce 10 lhelr suffering ana