The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-29
A Weslleld Disaster Near Mobile
Fearful Steamboat Explosion and
Loss OF E.ife-Sfxty Persons Killed
cd

nnd NOundcd.
MOBILE, Ala, Aug. 2S.-The low-press-
ure steamer Ocean Wave exploded her
boiler at OK O'Clock Sunday afternoon, at
Point Clear wharf. About two hundred
excursionists were on board, fifty to sixty
of whom were killed aud wounded. A
portion OF The bodies were brought to this
city by the steamers Fountain and Annie
last night. The others will be brought to-
day. Efforts are being made to recover
the drowned. The cause Of the disaster
Is not asccrtaincd, but an investigation will
be made.
A creole family, consisting of seven per-
sons, had six killed. The captain, engineer,
and pilot were killed. Only three officers
escaped.
MOBILE, Ala, Aug. 2S.-The Mobile
Re1istcr kindly furnishes the following
particulars of the disaster to the steamer
Ocean Wave:
1.-The steamer-a low-pressure boat-leit
this city Sunday morning with about 2Oo
persons on board for an excursion TO IISn
river, about 90 miles from The city. On her
return she stopped ut Point Clear, reach
ing there at 5 P. NJ. The boat was made
fast, and the band and part of the passen-
gers went ashore.
After remaining half IN hour, the whistle
was blown, and the passengers had just
gotten OH board when the boiler exploded
with great force, followed by a rumbling
and Kissing sound. Fragments OF timber
and metal flew in every direction. The
forward part of the boat and the cabin was
carried completely away. The chimney
fell backwards, towards the rear Of the
boat, crushing in the upper cabin, and the
boat Immediately sunk with her bow sub
merged.
About sixty or seventy persons were
killed and injured by the explosion. So
far the bodies Of nineteen dead-eight Ia
dies among the number-haye been recov-
cred. 'Twenty-eight wounded have been
brought to this City-One of them q little
girl, who has since died.
The scene was appalling TO the eye, and
heartrending. Wilder scenes of grief have
seldom been Witnessed The frantic cries
of the survivors, rs they lamentcd for lost
wives, children, parents, and sisters, were
ACCOUNTING to all who had human sympa-
thies.
Many Of the passengers were little chill
dren, and many hats and honnets came
ashore to tell of the little victims beneath
the waves.
The captain, William Eaton, swan some
distance with both legs broken. A boat
started to his assistance, but he went down
before it reached him. The two pilots and
all the tircmen were killed; the engineer
and his wife severely injured. 1t is impoCs-
sihle, ut present, to estimate the loss. by
some it is supposed that at least thirty or
forty are still buried in the debris of the
wreck, or ut the bottom of the bay. A
diver has gone to the scene CT the disaster.
The accident has cast gloom over the
whole city, and universal sadness pre-
walls. The streets are crowded with ppo-
PIE, and the excitement and feeling Is in
tense.
The "Occan Wave" has been for some
time considered an unsafe boat. She has
always been an unlucky one. A criminal
responsibility rests somewhere, and it
should be visited upon those to whose
recklessness and incapacity it is attributa-
BILE. The system OF inspections every
where is loose, careless, and reckless: The
boiler was not so much exploded as 1t was
torn open with long scam. 1t was SO
rotten as to literally tear open. Had IL
been stronger, so as TO explode with greater
violence, the destruction would have been
greater. The explosion was upwards and
forwards.