, 1873-08-13
enLoro, but ronninod In Tho wnnor to aoo

him to whore liH foot could touch BOTTOM, thor
\ got teeond ro1ol-box, nil1 won't nftor my
i father, WHO wap about exhausted, and took him
pilot, Nrr. Doswoll, md rnysolf, thon got atnal
bont to pick np. aaoh passongola na %o could. We
rescued 1froln,iho rud1er tlirco co!oroa women
and eo!orcd s',ild cannot gyo h',y ,dea az 70
Miss Heed a1hl man na1noa hir. Cook were m
drowned who jumped of tho forward. part OF tho
boat. Tho ongino stopped just boforo alo
atrt1ok, Int was under fair hoad OF ssoaln. Iho
small l,oata woro usoloeH, because we wore got
ting roatty to lntm paAHenEore and Ind tho ltttlo
boat down at tho Hido, with the block and tack1e
attaclol. There wore Two small boata aboard
tho bont
| aTATEafENr or TIE BTEwAnD.
Cbarlos TolBon, steward Of tho Wawa8ot, atatos
that, finding 1t getting. too hot for him. he
climbed oyer tho stern a.ld'alla down tho ruddor
slnft, catching hold OF tho curve In tho top part,
whore ho seated himself until tho fire. burned
him out, and ho struck out tho best ho could.
| Not knowing how to swim, he went to bottom
and gave kick towards shore; that llo sank
twice, whom somo one IL q boat caught hold of
him and pulled him III. During tho tlmo ho waa
| on tho r,idder somo ak women caught hold Of
tho Chain, and wore pulled off by others trying to
savo themselves that tho soroanlB and crios
70 80 ti% that II nearly ndo .dan @ hcrs fnnte
fall on his hoai, md tho snoko and ila1nos
forced him of, md whom llo got ashore ho was
| iueenstblo for somo timo.
| 8TATEMENT or MR.. 11KENNY.
Mr.. potor McKenny, tho bar-keeper, statos AZ
O'Clock hoard the cry OF Firo !" r1,Hllcd up oil
dock, and tllcn to the hurricane, dcck, and saw
| Hmoko and tlames loaping from tho engine-room
ming back towards tho stern, screaming and
shouting, but most Of tho passengers wore cool,
US nlso tic aook-hnnds ut thiR time tho hoso
had boen put IN service, and they did tho best
they could, and tho flro-oxtinguiahor was also
turned on, but tho AamoB woro too fast, and
buckets woro then takon, Honlo Of the pnaBen-
gore wording as well as tho crow. The boat was
| headed for tho shore rs BOON nB tho alarm was
sounded and Allo VIVA making her Wny rapidly
in; tho flames In tho meantime onvoloping
the whole aftor part Of tho vcssel. slio
rnn in to within $50 yards Of tho
shore, and many passengers 5umpod oyer W
time numbers had jumped overheard from to-
warls tho storm OF tho boat, wllero tho .water
was doopor (about . feot at the storm, and wcro
drowned. can vonch that tho Captain and
crow, as vol aa tho passongers, wore perfectly
hut the fire Bprcnl very quick, and spread rnp-
idly. Wood and 1noBt Of tho crow remained on
bnard until it was impossible for them to roman
when jumped overheard the stenm struck mo
and knocked mo sonsolcss, but bout picked mo
up and recovered. When wo rencllel shore
Homo Of tho passengers had boon taken on by
tho neighbors, who had boon attracted by tho
emoha from the burning boat, and wo wore all
treated kindly tlo people Offering every aasipt-
anco III their power.
STATEMENT OF ]. ". REED.
Was passenger on tho bo9t. Got On III
Washington for Curriomnn Tho fire, thnk
broke ont about ilvo Or ton minutes before II
o'clock. After tho excitement became general, I
advised tue passengers to koop cool, as tho boat
I know, would ground i'll low water Many
threw rlanks to tllcm. I dout think a single
person was drowned off tho forward deck aftor
tho boat struck. Capt. Wood was tho last man
that Lett tho boat 7 don't think n, thof9 waa Y =,
boat l don't think anything WIS loft 1indonc BY
the officers to save hyos aud tho boat. told
many of tic passengers, - For Goda sake. don't
jump overheard; wo will be aground in low
would not heed mo, but jumped cxcitedly into
the wator. I had n cousin WHO jumped over
| board before the boat stopped, who waa lost. It
many woull have been rnyoa. Tho ehrieka Of
l tho wonen and children woro enough to appal
| tho stoutebt heart.
! THE WAWAsET
is n totnl wreole. She lios in about twelve feot
Of water 1t high tide, with her bow stuck fast on
the gravel bottom, at about four or five fent low
tide. Tho WawaBot was 12o feet long, 26 feet
wislo, feet depth Of hold, and was 1880 tons,
cuHtom-llouso measurement. sho was fitted up
to suit both froiglit and pGssengors sho Was
bnt in 1865 Mt Wilmington. Doll for tho pur-
pose Of running fruit from Duck Creek and
Smyrna to Philadelphia, but wac chartered by
tho Government and brought to this river to bo
usod as a transport for troops.
Tho Ferry Company purchased Ter from tho
Government, mud she lad been llsed on tho line
betwocn this city aud Conc River FOR freight aud
paasengers. Last spring, slo WIS completely
oyerlaulod on the ways ut Baltimore, a saloon
cabin put on her upper dock oft, now furnished
aud newly upholstered and painted throughout,
milking her ono Of tho most convenient as we'll
as Atn,l',ch bouts oil tho river. Capt. Wood il an
nttf5f1 ia fu3 n mi
cors and mon aro old a1sd careful hands Mt stoan-
boating.
No one can give any information al to how tho
fire originated but a agreo that it started in tho
boiler-room below about tho machinery, md that
in two or three minutes Ill about nlidahips waB
on fire, tho 1lamos bursting through tho decks
aud gangway, thus cutting or all comnunica-
tion botwco,. the bow and aft parts Of tho bout
In loss thau twenty-five minutes from tho timo
tho fire broke out tho steamer waB destroyed.
An tho windows nnd doors woro all opeu. tho
draft waa ntoneo, mud the doomed boat was soon
shoot Of flames.
THE SCENE OF TERROR.
Mr. Robert NASH, tho Chief Engineer, states
that tho accne Of terror among the women aud
children exceeds anything he ever Witnessed in
his experience Of thirty years steamboat eng-
neering tlnt tho etuation was such that it was
utterly impossible to do ANYTHING to eavo them
moro than was done; that tho fear OF tho women
Of tho fro caMHo't them TO Jump poll-lnell! into
tho wator. To thinks several OF tho children
| HOUSEHOLD WRECK.
. Tho c,1lshing blow TINT wiped nearly q whole
family out Of existence III tho case of Officer
Hood, Of tho Metropolitan Police, appears to
| hRyo hcen eyell moro sweeping in its oifoctB
thnn frat reported. Mr. nced not only loses bis
wife, throo children, and nioce, Dottio Rood,
hut also I'LL annt, Miss Julia kelley, whose
nane appears elsewhere among tho yictina,
Tho Mrs iced who poriHllcd on tho Wawasot
was his second wife. to whom ho Ind boon mar-
ried only about year, md who at tho time Of
her death was noGr confinement.
/ AN AFFECTING INCIDENT.
| Among the victims was Mr. George Cook,
grocer, Seventh Rtroet Bouthwest, between u
anil Z. no had two lttlo children with him. aud
wlilo lso VAS struggling in tho water making a
fight for life, llo WIS econ holding his youngest
ciill to tho surface, crying. " Oh my tod, save
my ba!,y!" 1t wnB supposed tint tho older child
had aircatly pcrpllca There was report that
Mr.. Cook nns subsequently heeu aliyo on Hl,pro,
but thcro AnH been nothing received to confrsll
the r,snor, md it III probable thut o a1l4 his two
Ohildron oil pcrlhllel.
| 4ruv n 1IFfr