The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-08-23

ropes at the stern being slflf "a. Ihe
tho boat being packed With 70 ~ and
persons it fell with such force fl.1 sans
stern was pulled out, the in,,tatss . .lse
cipitated into the river. tlres pre-
lost and the boat rendered ~ were
I further service. Some Of fhe ~. lof
disengagcd the small bat md NV s:s
good work with itsirl saving III IVY NY
Of those strngglingin the water 1s yves
A young lady, resident - ..:
city, was lost under circu,nstan .n,s
that reflect but little credit -nna,, .es
gentleman who was accolnns III ss;.s .
| her. 1t seems that when IA .|a. .g
was given he sought her and proffsrs4
her his aid, but, according to bin ouas
1 statement,when the flames approas ~
and her clothing took fire he lefs ~.
to her fate and saved himseH
swimming to shore. He was ei;1
frightened out of his senses 81 ha ss
too selfish to risk himself in fhe 49, I'D
with such a burden. Shame On s;sss
Il man! -
Among those ON board wa
hero whose name ought to Il
mortalized in song, to whose msll
there should be erected monrH ~
of enduring stone inscribed Win m.
story of his noble deeds. His .i;ss
was black. He belonged to -
which, to some minds, il fofSS
cursed. But. whatever the colr
his skin, whatever the race to WII;%
he belonged, / am proud to acknori
edge him my brother, to give hfnlA
place in my esteem far above 80
men whose complexion is fairer.W -
blood is of more aristocratic ori1Is
Black as ebony, rude in his manneSl
| unlettered and uncouth as he yvss
| nevertheless he was hero. Scar
| the awful death that awaited SO filaa<
| of those on board the fated vessel r.
hesitated not a moment as to VIZ
should do. Selling lady he sl,r,a1Il1
into the water with her, and 49,
strong of arm and steady of nefve
struck out boldly for the shore bes1
ing his precious burden. On reachine.
shallow water be placed her ON L.
feet, and immediately returned "a
vicinity of the burning steamer.
water surrounding which was BY Iii
time filed with struggling, shriekinr
| and dying men, women and childre
Here he seized another lady and aeAi
swan toward the shore, saving anol
life. This he repeated several TIM
but finally he was clutclled by seTel11
drowning persons, any Of whom ~
would have gladly rescued from q
watery grave, and having become
somewhat exhausted from lis no
loDged and tiresome exertions he
was dragged beneath the wares and
he and they all went down together
never to rise again. Greater lore
hath no man than this
The Wawaset was great far0fiss'
here. Though not a large vessel she|
was considered one Of the most
stauneh and properly equipped ste4m-
ers that belonged at our wharves. She
was designed more especially for
carrying excursions and had been
used principally for that purpose.
She has, perhaps, carried more excnr-
sionlsts than any other vessel on the
Potomac. She was manned by a
competent crew, Captain Woods, her
commander, being an experienced
river man. It's impossible to my
upon whom rests the responsibility
for this fearful sacrifice of human life.
The origin of the fire is not known.
Numberless stories relating to the
origin of the fire and the responsible
lty for the catastrophe are afioat, but
it would be foolishness to place re-
lance upon any of them, and it would
doubtless do injustice TO innocent
parties to give them greater circufa-
ton. An investigation is now in pros
gress before officials selected by Sec
rotary Richardson, and it is the in.
tention to make it thorough. With
out passing judgment op any man let
us await the result Of this investiga@
ton. 1t seems that there must be
blame somewhere. That such an IN.
usual loss of life should occur on so
still stream as the Potomac, on q
Ns' tAhA oO AC<Sf ti1C StlOkV oCChIo
to require explanation.
The testimony taken yesterday
showed that Captain j. r. Woods had
never taken out license as master
and that his license as pilot expired
last month. The mate, Mr.. Rober.
W. Gravatt, never had a license. The
vessel was inspected little over four
months ago and found to be in excel
lent condition: Tier certificate, how
ever, authorized her to carry but fifty
passengers. AT the time she was lost
she had on board at least a hundred
and fifty,
William jackson, coloied, was
hanged Yesterday, between and 2
O'Clock, at Alexandra, Va, for the
murder of his mistress, Mary Fletcher,
IN February, 1872. He made speech
OF several minutes length protesting
his innocence. Quite rain was fall
ing at the time, but this did not pre-
vent number of spectators from
coming to witness the execution.
ALERT.