, 1873-02-27
A RIVER TRAGEDY.
burning OF the Henry 4. Jones'
Twenty Lives Lost-Scc2cs In Gal"

Burning OF the Henry A. Jones'
Twenty. Lives Lost-SccEacs In Gall
weston Hay.
Galveston {fs'. Isl corrs!ponde"es Of the seo 1o's
The burning Of the steamer Henry A..Jones,
while On her way from Houston to this clty,
which event occurred about S o'clock yesterday
morning in Galveston Bay, has cast over Cal
weston = gloom which, happily, is not frequently
superinduceel by the recurrence OF such dlsas-
ters, Tie painful loss Of life, including in the
1iet some OF cur most popular boatmen, mas
made this calamity q memorable one IN our Day
and river annals. Twenty lives were lost aud
twenty-nine were Based. The Jones was one OF
the boats of the Direct Navigation Company, and
was used to carry freight between tn3s cI.y
ba1es 1s Of cotton. u laIge humber of hides, and
had in addition barge loaded with good III LOW.
While the immediate cause Of the tire Appears 20
be q mystery. owing to the drowning Of the n1ss
engineer. Of the steamer, who alone kne" the
origin Of the con8agzation, it is nevertheless
evident, according to the statement OF the Sec
ond engineer, who was saved, that the conhhon
in which the cotton WAS delivered and the 1nan,
ner in which it vas packed On the Dot iurmsnea @
ample food fur the flames When Inc nfe "as onc"
The locality Of the accident Was at Red Fish
Bar. point some distance up the bay. From
the STATEMENTS OF the survivors it seems tnas
about ten minutes to B. N. yesterday morning
m explosion was heard by tbs pilot proceeding
from the engine~room. The sound "as
parity like that of the escape OF steam
and partly resebled the - a'ssnargs th gseco1d
engineer, who vas awakened By the report, that
| this sound WAS caused BY the bursting Of the
| union Joint of the syphon-pump which tbs hrst
| engineer Was endeavoring to work Ii order to
quench the fire, already making hesdway. TN
Condition when the boat left Houston, SO much
| eo in fact, that efforts had been made to put It
in some sort OF available order BY packing it with
q piece Of old gun-paeking, and, for want o. o. .
wrench By Teen fo1 Soa 11setie
| pose, useless ~ means Of e1tingu'shing the
| fire+ The cotton with which the boat Was
| loaded was also SO stored as to asalst u the
fnghtfully rapid spread OF The flames. Il ~; M
difficulty that the engineer could reach the gauges
| when he wished to test them, and was IN rag
ged condition, the heads Of many of the ns1ee ne'
ing entirely torn out. This, then. "as me sl1na
| lion OF affairs when the alarm was given. The
ron{ority Of the officers and crew we're asleep
and With the first intuation Of the fire came the
terrible consciousness that not moment vas t.
be lost if any hoped to escape. s1nHltaneousl.
onds before the sound Of the explosion was heart
bT the pilot, the flames, catching the raggee
masses Of cotton, swept with almost incredible
rapidity fore and aft. From one end tothe othel
tie tie trail woodwork OF the steamer With Al
obliterating swiftness- With the e1ceptio1
IT few who Jumped into the wate
and were afterwards picked up. al thos
who woro saved owed the preser7at1on Of thet
lives to the presence Of the barge, into "aici
they 1eaped Witn the frenzy Of despair The
barge was SOON after cut away from the bu1ninl
steamer, leaving those whom the fame ha*
caught on board, or who were struggling N t9
water, to such chances rs fata might have i
| store for them. But for this barge, and th
propinquity OF another. steamer, 1t IL very prot
| aable that scarcely ono Of the large equlpaS
would have survived to tell the tale. 4 down
; ward steamer, the Charles Fowler, was on he
fercest. Her Captain surmised from the sl:r
the Fowler was twenty 1nilea distant from th
| Jonos--what Was the truth He made del
! perate effort to reach tho doomed steamer
: time to save the 1irea Of those on bosrd
her. Crowding on all steam, he accomplshe
: the distance in one hour and twenty~seve
: | minutes; but the succor came in tin
! only to rescue one man who Was clns1pg TO Il
: wheel Of the Jones and take aboard the keep
Of the lighthouse at Bed Fish Bar, and anoth
r man whom he had raacucd with his skin. Or
of the theories regarding the probable cause
|, | tie fire was that the fre-w.u gave way, and TIL
the fall Of the bricks produced the SOUND LEA
d by the pilot Among the Lat OF those dr9wn' On
cr burned are the chef clerk, Capt. ~ VIII. rlc
= Murphy, Gret engineer. In addition to t4es
Q the cooper OF the Jones and eight white and II
r colored deck-hands, cooks, caDln,ooys; &C., We
n majority Of tho other officers, and seven Thl
and thirteen colored deck-hands. Iho end1I
q | Of Capt. Price was = very pathetic one.
was seen to jump overheard IN the effort
e avoid the death that threatened With the aa1nt
:. Fer some time ho chung to plank which "
n held Us two other men Suddenly be was = hon
a | to crv out, "God have mercy on my "l1e q
~ child" md immediately attcrward sank fr1
i tic sight Of those in the barge; Il Is probal
that greater number might Lave been sas
. but for what appears to hare boer, Il reports