The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-03
THE BURNING oErnE s1oN.7 VIII.
Fail Particulars OF .hc cnta. rpht -
Statement or the surviN ors-.T, S.st'c
Scsncs-Encidcnts, Sc.

The FIJI accounts furnished by the tcTsiams
published in THE ,iEws of Friday last. lt..vc bit
few OF the main ficls Of the late fearful sptasro
PIE on te Mississippi River to record. Tl;t causes
which prevented an "XiinsuShmcnt Of Il, .,iamcs,
III" appalling scenes inScparahlc from III such
dir calami.ics, AMI the hair-Ircadih ESCAPES anu
death struggles OF tho passengers, furnished by
Western exchanges, are, however. OF painful IN
tcrcst. The 81. Loais Republican gathers It's facts
from survivors who returned 10 that Gig hy the
lcllc Memphis, ami from the columns OF Tint r:.
per the following extracts arc made:
DEPARTURE OF TuE Dotr--S
The Stoncwall left ST. Louis al six O'Clock oil
Tuesday evening, with ihirty-iive cabir- iasscii-
gers, one hundred ana siNty-iive deck passengers
seventeen officers, thirty eight deck crew, twenty
cabin crew, and Il freight OF five thousand barrels
OF -four. five hundred sacks of oats, OneiuntIcd
nn'l iiIty bales oi hay II large quantity 81 bacon
aud purE, some petroleum. and one huu,:.c,, and
lifty mules. ~ IL q,,rirr past six o'Slnck Oh
"Wednesday evening ihr Soncwaii renci:rd II
point opposite, Ncelcy's Landing, onc'E,.ndrcd
ana twenty miles hc.ow St. Louis.
THE riKsT ALARM.
Here the cry o! fire" was given by tac Of the
deck passengers, who shouted to Gcorgs W. Ful-
ton, The first engineer, then ON duty. Dar!ness
niicancc. Che boat was " II point ,s'.crc the
river Is one and Il Ilaf miles wide, with much
That was ~ oscnn sombnshc on beard NJ With no
by running the vessel a::aia tic bali. Fulton
rushed ont ana saw a bale Of iay in tue AFT per-
tion OF the boat burning. So shial! WI, the fire
that il could have bcch cNtinguslIcd Will one pl.
two buckets Of water IL they has, been ut hand
bui tEosc were not there.
srREAD or THE FLAMES.
The hay was piled up To The boiler deck AMI The
flamcs spread with great rlpitlity extending from
bale tO hale OF hay, communicating nc!:t 10 the
dry woOdworE of The boat, and Il Tas seen at a
glance that the StOncwGll was doomed. Tie
majority 0f the deck passengers were ut tho time
cnnNrcgalcI ni' ANA panic which rendered
them towercss To do anything to prevent The i'm
pcndihg destruction ensuci among th,m. Fulton
left His engines, anu, unaidcd except 5y one or
Two pcrsons cssayed to prevent the spread Of the
dcvouring element. lie got the section hose and
went over to the donkey engine TO attain IT, Ills
efforts were, however, frultlcss. Tho people hud
become iiantic, anu moved rapidly In dense
stream forward. Fulton found that lie could not
advance aft one step and he gave It up ~ despair
Previous Id this he had shouted through ihc
speaking trumpet to Fulkcrsoa, the pilot, To land
the boat as soon as possible The boat WAS round.
ing towards thr Missouri hank when Il grounded
on reel called Tea Table har, and remained inn
movable some TWO hundred yards from the Shore
Win deep water Intervening. In five minutes
after the alarm, The iiamcs had extended over all
ward portion or the boat. Tie deck passengers
rushed toward the forccasilr, every inch of which
was covered with shricling anti dre;dfully ar.
frghted mass of humanity. TO cot.plcic tile
general CONSERVATION, the mules dasl'ad among
the people, iranipiing on aud crushing them 10
death. =
PASSENGERS LEAF INTO TIE RIVER
While this scene was tramspring OF the main
deck, villa; were the cabin passrugcrs doing y
They Had just set down 10 supper when Il terrible
turmoil arose, and they learned n once that the
bnat was OH fire. In that awful moment they
vainly looked hr loopholc o cscaif sOm the
Wnru there was furnace of untold ficrccncss,
and "n each side there was II waste OF waters,
which, indeed, offered preferable fute TO the
other. The cabin passengers choose to accept
the risk OF iniilcr fa;c, and they jumped from
The boiler deck into the watcry cilaslr-, between
land and land, below. The deck passengers also
leaned kniu the river. they m IN nd
more holly pressed by the Ilnmcs. III t,n minutes
from the first alarm, the Stoncwall was envelopeL
sdS '5S s:S Rsip %sfh ie 's
We're i Ee aSsf hs
EFFoRTs TO ESCAPE.
While the deck passengcrsand crew were hud-
ulcu together on the IOrccaStlc, l., i. Watson tho
carpenter OF the hOat. endeavored TO get some
ol them To assist him in putting the stagc plank
one hundred persons To the land but the passrn :.
gers were struck helpless by the prospect of the
horrible fate staring them In the face. and failed
10 'auticn tlie plank. Fifteen feet OF IL WIS push
cd over the side About twenty persons got on
II. some were pushed on, and about sixteen man.
sGifr which was sent from the Shore Fulton tho
engineer, stayed at his post until he was driven
from II by the flames, and jumped overheard.
lhe inuies so numerous III the water that lie
could make no progress, and so swan into the
hHCpl'HOuSt. " ftc CHUNG mere III Iunclpu security
until the lines holding the levers burned OF ana
the wheel commenced to revolvc. II made three
reToiutions, ana lie was caught by IL and con-
si'lerably bruised.
nut ONE SKIP AVAILABLE
There was only one skin available 10 take pns.
scngcrs from the burning wreck II made scvc.
raj trips from the hOat To the land. Besides be-
ing the means Of escape for those on tbc stavc
blank, IL was used 10 take Fulton from his peril.
lo'is position lie WAS the last brought away; nj.
lcr tn:lt no one escaped from The hUut. Ii was
n In, s1,.. ti
bufnc io death, anu rumor had il that sonic f.ict
with such dreadful fate in the cabin. How
many viii never he known. II can only he
hoped that they all succeeded In juniping into the
river ana got 10 shore. Tic coal Oil-furtunutcly
mol large qrnniity-nnd the bacon burned very
fiercciy. Tie St0newa WIS burned 10 the wa
tcrs edge In about one nour and half aftcy The
IRE MAS discovered. Bat long before thls there
was no living soul in it.
TERRIBLE SCENE.
The scene was a terrible onc--onc never TO he
forgotten by TIE Survivors. Tile lamentations,
sroans ana srlcks OF dying men and wo,nen H.
mingled with The noise Of the cracking tlnbers,
ing slmrs, tenders AMI beams, fell over into the
water, where nearly two hundred human beings
were trying to save themselves from the JAWS OF
AID FROM THg SHORE.
There were numbers Of people on the shore
WHO had iockch from the houses i'll tile uejrhhor
lioou OF lhe landing, hut they were unable 10
give any assistance except what a few could
render with tie tiny skin before mentioned.
They saw many an unfortunate passenger taking
MS last leap, and, Us some WHO had managed 10
get hold OF q spar or piece Of timber driftcl from
tnc wreck, they eagerly sought TO give a helping
mn nnnd to some poor fellow ny he ncared the shore
INC people did all they possibly could to mitigate
tIe hOrrors or the night, and ut different points
oi Inc river for q mile below, assisted pcrs0ns to
get on shore. The number So saved il is regret
ted, was hut small.
STATEMENT OF ER. Il. a. PHELPS
II. A. Phelps, Esq, or Slrcycport La stotcs
tnlt tiiere were large number Of aborcr5 aboard
aS deck passengers, who were en- rUUte 10 labor
on Southern railroad. When Mr.. Phclps first
ncara !hc alarm and saw the Indications of fire
IL was Ill the rear Of The ladies' cabin. lie ran u
10 me Ie%as and communicated the alarm to Cap.
laili J g. Doty, of tapldcS Parish. Louisiana and
when lie returned immediately to The cabin the
names i'ad made fearful hcGilway, and tie on
cleintit ana confusion was unparalleled. lie M
once threw or his coat AMI boots, put OH Il life
prcservcr AMI lcarcd into tiic river nom the boil
or deck. AT this time the hoat, he thinks was not
more t'ian TWO hundred yards from The Missouri
shore, and when he Jumped over his feet touched
h'toHi, but on going fc1 steps the water lccamc
deeper alid lie had 10 swim. Three times between
INC boat ana the shore lie tried 10 touch b0ttOl,
anu me th.Tl Time came near going down. For
t;lhe favored him. however, and he reached the
shore more dead than alive. An old G,rincr who
among others had been attracted there hy tI,p