The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1871-02-04
LOSS OF NEARnY ONE
gsa- HUNDRED LIVES.
IEen and Women Eurled into the
River in midnight Dark
ness to. Find Watery
Graves.

The steamboat disasters on the Missis-
sippi river during the present season have
exceeded in number and in loss of life, those
of any previous year during the past decade.
Another, even more serious than any that
has preceded it for a heightened period, oc-
Cured near the head of Island 40, about
fifteen miles above Memphis, shortly after
| o'clock, last Saturday morning, says the
| Memphis Avalanche, which resulted in the
entire destruction of the splendid steamer
w. r. Arthur, and the loss of eighty-seven
lives. The W. r. Arthur, one of the finest
and best appointed steamers on the river,
belonging to the St Louis and New Orleans
Packet Company, left Memphis after II
O. clock on Friday night, en- route to Louis
vile, having on board about forty. FIVE cabin
passengers, fifteen of whom were ladies,
forty deck passengers, twenty officers, ten
cabin boys, three chambermaids, and a deck
crew of about fifty hands. The cargo cons
sisted of one thousand and seyenty-two bales
of cotton and about thousand tons of gen
eral merchandise, consisting chiefly of su-
gar, molasses, and coffee. Captain Harry
W. Brolaski, well-known river man of
great experience, was in command of the
| ill-fated steamer
The night was cold, rainy and disagreed
BILE, with sleet and flakes of snow. Few
stars were to be seen in the armament, and
the night may be described as pitch dark,
when the Arthur left the landing She
was, however, a staunch boat, and every
one on board had confidence in her superb
| ority as a river craft, and shortly after the
vessel turned her head up stream, all, or
nearly all, of the passengers retired to their
berths In the dead hour of night an hour
after midnight, when the lights had been
turned down and the majority of those. on
! board were enjoying sound sleep, they
were suddenly startled from their slumbers
| by low, ominous sound, followed by a
crashing report as if a park Of artillery had
| been simultaneously discharged. a violent
conclusion succeeded the report and the
vessel quivered from stem to stern, and
seemed as if all the timbers had parted
asunder Many were thrown out Of their
! berths on to the floor, while the roofs of
staterooms came crashing in upon the occu-
pants. In an instant the widest excite
ment prevailed, the lights had been extin-
! guished and all was dark as Erebus. Men,
women and children rushed out of their
berths and staterooms in their night clothes,
all realizing that some dreadful catastrophe
had taken place. In an instant their worst
fears were realized. One of the boilers had
burst and the forward part of the boat was
on fire. The scene was frightful beyond de-
I scription. The boiler which had exploded
was hurled aft, through the lower deck, and
landed on the stern. The texas, pilot house,
hurricane deck and forward cabin, were lit
orally shattered to pieces, and the entire
forward portion of the steamer rendered a
total wreck Many of the deck passengers
and deck hands were hurled into the air by
the force of the explosien,or scalded to death
by the steam as it rushed out of the boiler.
To add to the terror of the catastrophe, dense
volumes cf smoke began to roll aft along the
decks of the i'll fated craft and the terrible
alarm went forth, from mouth to mouth
''The steamer is on fire"
As the lurid flames began to dart forth
many were completely paralyzed, whiIe
others knelt down and prayed to the grea
Jehovah to succor them in their hour o.
need. Men who had braved death in a hun
dred forms stood appalled,, while wives and
little children clung to them and cried aiouG
for help. Preparations were made on every
side by those who had crowded into the Ia
dies cabin for safety to commit themselves
to the dark waters of the Mississippi, a.
many seemed to prefer the risk of drowning
to encountering the terrors ofthe fire king.
Cries of ''help' came from every side, bu
no help was near, and the scene presented
-as described by those who we're actors II
, twas appalling in the extreme. All wa
dark; the rain was descending in torrents
: mingled with sleet, which froze as it fell
The lights. had all been extinguished; tn
fires IN the stoves put out by tie steam an
water from the exploded boilers, and tn
! poor unfortunate people were huddled TO
gether il their night clothes in the afte