The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-04-19

Steamboat Horror-The Oceanus
Exploded Her Boilers Near Cairo
Loss Of Life---Fearful Scenes
The following account of the disaster
which occurred near Cairo, OH Thursday
of last week, is taken from the Missouri
Democrat:
Thursday afternoon intense excite
ment was created by the rumor that the
steamer Oceanus had exploded her boil,
ers neal Cairo, and that Of the hundred
persons on board only thirty had escaped.
As the dispatches from the scene became
more graphic, the interest increased, and,
when it was announced that tho Bell 81.
Louis was in sight with many OF the
dead and wounded aboard, the Levee be-
came alive with an almost frantic mass
| of humanity, all eager to know who had
| been lost and who saved. Aside from
| the natural interest awakened by the
| horrible nature of the accident, the an
guish of many was increased by the TACT
that fathers, brothers and sons were
among the officers and crew Of the lll-fa-
| ted steamer.
As the boat neared the wharf: and be-
| fore she had made fast, the struggling
| crowd broke for her side and clambered
mn regardless of the commands Of the
| boat and Of the policemen. Men, wo-
men and children rushed in among the
wounded seeking for friends and rela
| tiyes. and turning eagerly to every one
who volunteered information. The cries
| of those who had found their dead and
| the utter wretchedness of those who we're
| unable to obtain information were pIti-
full in the extreme. All day long q
| stream of uneasy inquirers poured
through the passages of the boat, many
returning a second. and a third time to
hear repeated the story of one OF the
most heart-rending accidents that has &C.
Cured for years. Near the entrance to
the wharfboat was posted a list OF dead.
missing and saved. rs far az could be
learned. and around it was a crowd
of interested readers.
The Belle St. Louis brought up thirty
four dead and living. r.3iF,
From the many stories Of the saved,
the following particulars Of the explosion
| and the. subsequent and indescribable
scenes of terror are cleaned. With a
fair list of passengers, v~ariously estima-
ted nj from twenty to forty-the former,
perhaps. being the n,earcr-the Oceanus
reached the foot Of Jackets Bend at
about &c o'clock Thursday morning, and.
| without striking anything, was blown al
most to atoms by the explosion OF her
boilers. The passengers were all asleep.
and awoke to find themselyes-sOme IN
the air, some wounded and covered by
debris. and some in the water. One OF
the boilers was blown backward as far az
the cylinders. and the forward part of
the boat was scattered far and near.
| Those of the passengers who We're able
| TO move. made for the rear Of the boat,
and as it immediately caught fire, they
began jumping into the water in their
| night clothes. The officers distributed
such life preservers as could be found.
| and threw overheard everything that
could be made available for the support
| Of the frantic passengers. \ single boat
remained, and that was so injured as to
| be almost useless. There We're but two
women on board-one a Mrs: Constable.
a trapeze performer. and the other a
cl,ambermaid. Mrs. Wallace, both of
whom we're doubtless drowned
Capt. Alfred Recder. who had
| command of the Occanus, was undonbt-
| edly burned to death. Mr.. Fisher. the
carpenter. hcanl his voice in the cabin
crying. "a, my God. help, help, and
used every cndeavOr to reach HIM, with.
out succcss. His cries grew weaker and
| weaker. until the neat anu rfaIHcs dfo'e
every soul from the wreck. The first
| engineer saws he il sure he saw not only
| ~t',ptajn Reeder in the water, but also
| Mr.. Henry .worsham and son, the first
| and second class clerks. Many of the
passengers and the crew had nearly reach
cd the shore. when overcome by cxliau.-
tion they gave up all hope aud were
| drowned. Tine or two. in trying t. climb
the bank, slipped and fell backward into
the water and were lost. The boat
struck a bar a short distance below
where the explosion occurred, and the
cabin foatcl down the river. on fire.
On board the unfortunate steamer
were two cages, one containing four per
forming lions and the other three half
grown cubs. in charge of Frank Slcight.
They had been loaned by James Robin
son to &. ". NOyes circus. and were be-
ing brought to this city from Texas
Frank Williams asked Sleight if he
could not do anything for the animals, as
their piteous cries were awful To hear. and
when the latter said he WAS too badly
wounded to 60 tn them, Williams got the
keys to the cages. but the heat WIS too
great To permit him to reach them, and
they were burned to meath.
The walls of anguish both on the boat
and in the water were the only sounds
one could hear. One poor fellow had
held on to a plank until he WAS exhaust
ed, and cried litcous!y, IF any one can
help me. for Gods sake do or l shall
drown Finally, like many others, he
let go, and with a last cry sunk beneath
the water.
..