The Sweetwater enterprise. (Sweetwater, Tenn.) 1869-187?, 1872-04-18
STEAMBOAT HORROR.
Total Destruction of the Oceanus.
Seventy PerSous Killed or Drowned.
narrowing Details.

narrowing DellliS.
a FJEFtc4 hbm Cairo, ILL.,, gives de-
tails Of the total destruction Of the
; ogcauus, ON the llth WsSN Thstis-
pltch says;
The steamer Ocepuus from Red River
to st. LINUS, when near Brooks Point,
thirty miles ulr6yr Cairo, nt,4 o'clock Il,
NJ, exploded hey boiler, blowing the mp
per works almost entirely away, immc-
7 diutely after which the wreck took line,
burning the water edge, Pilot Thonp-
son, Of the steamboat Lumsden. lying
a few miles below, ON seeing the light
from the burning deck, IN mned u yiwl
and ppaceddng pplthGriyer to ascertain
the cause, found IL small party of survi-
vers on the island, but passed on TO re-
lieye those on the wreck. Ten or twelve
were clinging to the wheel, hut tie
wheel dropped before ho reached them,
and all but four were lost. He found Il
deck passenger, name unknown, near
the shore, badly scalded, who died be-
fore his arrival at Cairo The Steamer
Belle ST. Louis, bound up, took nearly
all tho SURVIVORS, tgrE' fsfsgg Eg
Mr.. Thompson rescued pilot Harris,
who subsequently went to st. Louis ON
the Marble City. The latter states that
Virgins, their Red river pilot was
drowned Harry Tripp tie ipilqt ON
watch and also Capt. Reedor were bur
riedfn tho DEBTS and heard calling dcs-
pqiringly for help but the fire bad glin7
ed such Roadway That they couldno he
reached and were burned. Fisher, the
carpenter Of the Inflated steamer, reach
ed here on the Shrcvc; he was not serl-
ously hurt. He states that Second En-
gineer AlqN Kennedy was terribly seal
dcd, was helpless and blind. Fisher
put him on II stage plank with others.
The stage soon capsized drowning sew
ernl including Kennedy. Geo. keithlev,
first engineer, is supposed to be lost.
Henry Worsham, first clerk was not seen
after the explosion. He expected to so
through from Cairo by rail, but was seen
on the boat after leaving hure. ChGs, Wor-
sham, second clerk, Jules Dempewoli,
steward, and Charley hurry, cabin hoy,
were found dead, loating in the %sr,yer,
all with life preseyers on, dnd were
brought here by the steanier Shrcyc. 1t
is Supposed they chilled to death. There
were five lady passengers, all supposed
to bB host. The bodies Of four la1ics
were seen floating past WNtsou's land
ing to-day, bat were no recovered.
thinks pilot Harris and himself
are the only cmplo.yeesoLthc boat saved,
though the Belle st, Louis may have
picked up some. The officers Of the
Shreye state there were about 30 cabin
and 35 deck passengers, making with
the crew nearly l00souks, about 81 OtN
whom ore supposed to- be lost siIh"
greater portion Of the survivors Leine
on the Belle st.. Douis, no names Of pas
sengcrs on reliable estimate Of the los
can he. obtained except from her. Mr.,
Fisher describes the effects Of the cX-
plosiop rs terrific beyond conception,
the whole upper works being lifted bod
lily and falling in the boat and water
completely shattered. He saved him
selfliy securing a plank aud .iontiugI
until rcscucdb by ii yawl ofthc Lumsdcn.
He was i'll bed at the time, aud though
covered with debris, was only slightly
bruised.
The steamer Grand Tower, Just ~
rived, reports first engineer and mate
saved, also, IS other persons on the
Belle st. Louis. The second engineer
was saved, but died otlis Injuries.