Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1872-04-25
OUR WESTERN LETTER.
LAFAYETTE, Ind, April Is, 1872.

The steamboat Oceanicus, which piled
between New Orleans and Saint Louis
arrived off Cairo on Thursday last about
four O'Clock, A. NJ, and while her eighty
passengers and the majority of her crew
were sleeping in their berths, both of her
boilers exploded. The crash was terrific;
the force Of her explosion lifted the whole
upper works of the steamer into the air
and then they came crashing down upon
her hull; the frightened and half naked
travellers were either crushed and man
gled by the falling timbers or were scalded
by the escaping steam. AS the books and
papers Of the steamer are lost, no knowl.
edge is possessed of the number or names
of those killed. 1t is supposed that the
list will number fifty or sixty, excluding
those saved in dying or wounded condi-
ton. The steamer was one of the largest
of her class and only a few years old.
Since the burning Of the Stonewall Jack
son on the lower Mississippi no disaster,
so terrible in detail, has occurred on west
ern rivers.
The Illinois liberal Republicans have at
last ma lie their announcement. Last
week they issued a call to their brethren
in the party to rally to the support of the
Missouri platform. The call is signed by
men, eminent since the formation of the
Republican party. Ex-State treasurer
kimball, Gustave X K)erner, ex-Secretary
of State. aud later minister to Madrid. J.
K. Dubois, late editor of the Chicago Re-
pub 2can and several other names well
known aud respected in State politics.
In Michigan a call has also been issued
and is sIgued by men Of the same respecta-
bility as thns. Of Illinois. Indeed the
great majority of those Republican polti
clans north Of the Ohio who have taken
active part in this scheme, are men who
have largely aided in building up our party.
Names, familiar as household W rrds in the
eariy DAYS Of 1856 and there ab0uts, to
anti slavery and free soil people are at
tached to these State ctlls. They helped
bui'd ore party, and now they start afresh.
Ore e he heaviest rain storms with
we have experienced f,r years past over
the entir OHIO valley from Illino's to the
Alleshenit last week. The Ohio rnse in
20 hours thirty. five f ct and in the noun
taius the pnnnGahela anl Allegheny
rivrrs rose rom three feet to twenty-fy re
feet in the SIM. period. The immense
c val bare 4 cts which are tied uP at Pitts
burg and along the Ohio and . tributa
lies ia the coal region s'arttd down the
river with tie rise of water Brfnre they
reached their ports Cincinnati, and Louis
vile. over one million bushels and sixty
FIVE barges were lost. Indiana is rapidly
developing III. INN MS coal beds within
the State. The Block coal region com
pris, an area of forty miles wide ny one
hundred long, while excellent bitumiul0us
varieties have lately been discovered.
These discoveries have resulted in the
establishment Of large manufactures in
our several cities and have given impetus
t. the Building of rail ways intersectin5 IL
all directions the ''hla,k diamond" fields.
The coal famine this winter which the
west has suffered ID by low water in
the Ohio river and lack of railway capac-
ity to meet the needs Of the coal demand,
has also assisted in this development.
In future letter will give to your read
ers more detailed account Of the inter
ests and capacities of this State.
BURLEIGH,