Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-08-04

was greatly scared at his condition
and believed himself on the point o
death. In the next ward lay the body
of man who had received a compound
comminuted fracture of the left lee
without any further external Injury
He was dead but how he had died the
doctors are at present unable to deter
mine. In the next ward a most affect
ing sight was seen. Mr.. William H. H
Prall the custom-house officer, who at
tempted to commit suicide on Friday
evening. by shooting himself, lay at the
point of death. His two daughters
stood by the side of the bed overcome
by grief The surgeons and reporters
crowded round the bed of the dying
man, under the impression that he was
one of the victims Of the catastrophe
The poor girls begged Of them to keeI
back and let them see their father to his
last moment, unmolested by strangers
In few moments Mr.. Prall breathed
his last, amid the confusion, din and
hustle consequent on the fearful acci
dent. His body was Immediately re
moved. On the upper story were the
women and children, and here the most
hard-hearted men could hardly restrain
from weeping. In one corner were two
German ladies, named Schirmer and
Meyers. They were mother and daugh.
ter. The mother was apparently unin-
iured. The younger lady had received
severe cut on the left cheek and a
slight burn on the face. When asked
how she felt she said " 1t was nothing"
but pointed to a pallet by her side, say
ing simply, / suffer there" Lying on
the pallet were two fine children, a boy
and girl, aged respectively six and
eight years They were scalded badly
about the face and eyes. One of
them was sleeping under the influence
of an opiate, but the other seemed
to suffer intense pain, and filled
the room with his cries. Passing on a
little further through the ward, a
young woman was seen sitting in an
armchair, and apparently suffering
great pain. A surgeon approached her
with the intention of affording her some
relief. Externally she had only slight
scald on the hand, but she complained
of an intense pain in the chest. 1t was
found that she had been scalded inter
nally by the inhalation of steam, and
that nothing could be done for her,
Near this woman lay another married
woman swathed from head to foot in
cotton and oil. She entirely forgot her
own sufferings in her anxiety for her
children. On the next bed to her lay a
fine boy, about two years old, badly
scalded, but still likely to recover. The
poor mother was inconsolable; all the
more so as another child of hers, four
years of age, was missing, and she did
not know what had become of it. She
had been knocked insensible, and, on
recovering consciousness, found herself
lying on the pier, without her children.
Eventually she found one of them, but
she is ignorant as to the fate of the
other. Among the other cases in the
womens ward were children ranging
from six months to six years of age,
suffering in different ways from the eff
fects of the accident. Several of them
were fatally injured, and lay motion
less and apparently senseless. One
little innocent, not more than year
old, who had been rescued from the
wreck with only slight burn, was
growing in the arms of nurse, having
become really intoxicated from drinking
a little opium and brandy, which had
been administered with view to allevi-
ating its suffering. The mother of this
child is supposed to have been drowned
On the landing outside this ward lay
a woman waiting to be removed by the
ambulance to Bellevue Hospital. She
called for a drink, and the attentive
nurse brought her some brandy diluted
with water. The poor, suffering crea-
ture said: !" No brandy for me-water,
cold water" In the basement of the
lay the dead bodies in their COZ
fins, and some sufferers about to be re-
moved to Bellevue Hospital. The floor
was strewn with straw and plentifully
Uttered with wadding, which had fallen
from the bodies of the unfortunate suf-
ferers while being removed to Bellevue
Hospital.
1t must be said that the surgeons Of
the Park Hospital, as well as the volun-
teer surgeons, performed their duty with
the greatest devotion Dr. Amabile,
the ambulance surgeon, had his uniform |
entirely covered with blood and filth,
but he expressed his pride as a profes-
;ional man at bearing such marks of
honor.
TO THE FIRST PRECINCT sTATIoN-HOUsE.
As the reporter rushed down Broad
way toward the South Ferry, he met a
carriage with ghastly wounded body
inside, supported between two men, then
/ small wagon with a woman stretched
ipon its floor, apparently dead; then
irst one, and then ANOTHER of the great
Fire Department wagons, filed with
lorrid freight; torn and muddy bundles
If clothes, with here and there a bloody
read raised above the level of the mass
o mark it as humanity. Following the
rack of one of these wagons which
urned down Pearl street. and forsaking
he stream of people who were rushing
ike mad down Broadway, the reporter
7alked through Pearl into New street to
he First Precinct Station-house, where
he wagon stopped A vast crowd filled
he street, jamming up on to the steps Of
he houses on the opposite side, and
laundering on the ratings and windows
a front of the station. The peculiarity .
{ this vast assemblage was perfect still
ess. There was no conversation, and I
he only sounds were the hoarse shouts
nd orders of the police and fremen, '
-ho sought to drive the crowd back from I
ne passage-way by which the bodies
ere carried in. Unrepelled, the re-
orter passed into the front room of the =
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