The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-03
THE BURNING OF TIE sToH4.xiLE.
Fuil Particulars OF the catastrephe-
s:atcment OF the .rI;Srihic
Sces,cs-Enctdcnts,t sc.

!. The full accounts furnished by the tcsgiams
published in TIE NEWS OF Friday last l$,ve but
few OF the main facts Of tile late fearful Spias.r0
pho on the Mississippi River TO record. Tlia causes
which prevented an cXtinguishincnt OF tl,riiamcs,
tile appalling scenes inseparable from sil such
dire calamitics, and The hair-brcadth cscGlcs and
death struggles OF the passengers, rs furnished by
Western exchanges are, however, OF painful ln-
tcrest. The 81. Louis Republican gathcrs!ts facts
from survivors who returned to tnat Gig by the
Belle Memphis, ana from the columns of1hat pa.
per the following extracts are made: -
DEPARTURE OF TIE DoAr--c
The Stonewall left ST. Louis ut six o'clock on
Tuesday evening, with thirty-iive oabinY pusscfl-
gers, one hundred and sixty live deck passengers,
cabin crew, ana freight o2 livc thousand barrels
OF -four five hundred sacks OF oats, oneAundrcd
and fifty bales OF hay, large quantity 9f bacon
voS, onts evening 9ss ae soRSwa @'sS
ana twenty miles below ST. Louis.
TIE FIRST ALARM.
Here the cry OF 't1rc', was given by ihc OF the
deck passengers, who shouted to GeoiEs W. Full
had set In an, the alarm came with terrible si,r.
ntucancc The boat was Ut n point where the
rive river is one In., and half miles wide VIII. much
means OF escape except what ightDysr)talncd
by running tile vessel agains: the ba3E Fulton
tlon Of the boat burning. SO shiuil wRS tile fire
that It could have been eX,ingushed Wiz, one or
@ two buck buckets Of water II they had, bcenat hand
but these were not there.
SPREAD or TIE FLAMBs.
The hay was piled up to The boiler deck and the
flames spread With great riLpiiity, extending from
bale to bale of hay, communicating next TO the
dry woodwork OF the boat, and 1t WA seen at a
glance that the Stoncwall was doomed. Tie
majority OF the deck passengers were at the time
o to wsS
pending destruction ensucl among thsn. Fulton
left his engines, and, unaidcd, cxccpt'Sy one or
dcvouring clement. He got the section hose and
went over to the donkey engine to attain It, Ills
wfre sns %is IHe
stream forward. Fulton found that he could not
advance aft one step and lie gave 1t up y despair.
Previous TO this he had shouted through The
speaking trumpet to Fulkerson, the pilot, to land
the boat as soon as possible. The boat was round
ing towards the Missouri bank when itgroundcd
on Il reef called Tea Table bar, and remained I'M
movable some two hundred yards from The shore,
with deep water intervening. In nye minutes
after the alarm the flames had extended over all
the Mt portion and considerable part of the for
ward portion OF the boat. Tile deck passengers
was covered With shrieking and dretlfully az
frighted mass OF humanity. To co(Spctc the
general constcrnaiion, the mules dastad among
the people, trampng on and crushi1S them 10
death. ~
PASSENGERS LEAF INTO THE RIVER.
While this scene was transpirIng on the main
They lad just set down 10 supper when, n terrible
turmoil arose, and they learned Mt onee that the
SSny aoSe S tS @ 5Ha5 o Ss
fate which Threatened them. Below AT and for.
ward there was furnace Of untold 1ercencss,
nnu on each siuc there was n wnste or waters,
which, indeed, offered preferable flte TO the
other Tic cabin passengers choose to accept
the risk OF miltIcr fntc, and they Jumped FROM
the boiler deck into the watcry chaslTS between
land and land, below. The deck passengers also
leaped into the river, as they became, more and
In I'm tan ,trul lou
from the first alarm, the Stonewall was,enveloped
IN flames from stem to stcrpofrou7 main deck to
ali who could had tiIesboat e ann Smis were sI%e
srr strngghg g Tor ilie IN the rapid few
@ere IS
EProRrs TO ESCAPE.
While the deck passeugcrSbud crew were hud.
died together on the forecastlc, Is, p. Watson tho
carpenter or tile boat, endeayored to get some
OF them to assist him In putting tile stage plank
overheard. ltwould have fioated, II was believed,
gers were struck helpless by the prospect OF the
horrible fate staring them I'm the face and failed
to launch the plank. Fifteen feet OF IL was push.
ed over the Side About twenty persons got OH
II, some were pushed on, and about sixteen man.
aged to cling TO 1t until they were taken Or In q
engineer, stayed at his post until he was driven
from @ N IL by the flames, and jumped ovcrboar l..
he @ started @ TO swim towards the land. but found
could make no progress, and so SWAN into the
wheei.house. He chung here In fancied security
the wheel commenced to revolve. Il made three
revolutions, and lie was caught by 1t and con-
slderably bruised.
BUT ONE SKIP AVAILABLE.
There was only one skiir available to take pms.
sengcrs from the burning wreck. II made sevc.
raj trips from the boat TO the land. Besides be-
Ing the means OF escape for those OH tho stage
plank, 1t was used to take Fulton from his peril.
lous position. lie was tho last brought away; af-
ter that no one escaped from the boat. II was
burned to dea and raor ha9 Il ta asSs somc
with such dreadful fate In the cabin. How
many, WIN never be known. II can only he
noneu That they Oil succeeded In jumping into the
river and gotto shore. Tile coal o-fortunuteIy
not large quantity-and the bacon burned very
ter's edge In about one hour and q half after the
fire was discovered. But long before this there
was no living soul In 1t.
TERRIBLE SCENE.
The scene was terrible onc-onc never to be
forgotten by the survivors. The lamentations
Broans and slrlcSs or dying men and women,
mingled with the noise Of the cracking timbers,
and, to intensity the horror OF the moment, burn.
Ing spnrs, tenders and beams, fell over Into the
water, where nearly two hundred human beings
were trying to save themselves from the Jaws OF
AID FRoM THE SHORE.
There were numbers OF people on the shore
who had nocked from the houses in the neighbor-
give any assistance except What a few could
render wltM the tiny eklif before mentioned
They saw many an unfortunate passenger taking
get hold or q spar or piece OF timber drlftcd from
the wreck, they eagerly sought to give helping
hand to some poor fellow rs he ncarcd the Shore
The people did all they possibly could to mitigate
tho horrors OF the night, and ut different points
OF the river, for mile below, assisted persons to
get on shore. The number SO saved, 1t Is regret
ted, was hut small.
STATEMENT OF Mr.. l.. a. PnELrs.
II. a. Phelps, Esq, Of Shreveport, I.n., statcs
that there were large number OF aborcrs aboard
aS deck passengers who were en- route TO labor
on Southern railroad. When Mr.. Phelps first
heard the alarm and saw the Indications OF fire.
II was In the rear OF the ladies' cabin. lie ran up
to the Texas and communicated the alarm to Cap
tain j. @. Doty, OF Rapides Parish, Louisiana and
whcn he returned immediately 10 The cabin tho
flames Ind madc fearful hcRtlway, and the en-
cltement and confusion was unparalleled. lie ut
once threw of his coat and boots, put OH q lIlc-
prcservcr and leaped into the river irom the boil
or deck. At this time tho boat, he thinks was not
more than two hundred yards from tho Missouri
shore, and when he jumped over his fee. touched
bottom, but on going u few steps the water became
deeper ana lie Ind 10 g. i'm. Three times between
the boat md the shore ic tried TO touch bottom,
anu the third time came near going down. For.
time favored him, however, and he reached the
shore more dead than alive. An old farmer, who
among others n nf oh 4, Iv q