Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-04-30
r NJ til New York : in
LOSSES BY FIRE.
.HREE STEAMBOATS, BURNED
AND MANY LIVES LO 81.
Terrible Gi astcr at New 0Eleaia'
Hundreds of PCrsoms AdrIft in
kiaZinE Vessels Al I'M m G
Overheard 10 Escape Burn-
inS-Large s-Oss az E.tfe.

NLw ORLEANS. April 23.-This af-
ternoon, at AIS O'Clock. time wht
the ievee is usually most crowded, q
ire broke out in ji.e blacks NTH shop
II the steamboat John Kyle, then ly-
ing at t, foot Of Gravler street, WITH
steamers Charles Bodman aud Expor-
ter. Almost before an alarm could be
gwen tue Whole boat was III flames.
few lady passengers and Others were
rescued before she was pulled out Ito
the stream. The fire almost immtd i-
ttely caught tbs Bodman, whose pas
sengers and people were on board, and
nearly as soon as the fire was discovered
The lines of the boats we're cut loose
from the shore and a steam tug pulled
them out into the etrraiD. Ihe dH!
was unusually clear, with strong
.iu.i blowing. A. soon as tbs boats
cleared the eddy, about 200 yards from
the shore. they were struck with tht
full force of the wind, and Were al
most instan'aueou7iy wrapped IL
flames, driving the helpless passengers
ntO The river The scene from the
crowded leyee was heartreUdiug il t.It
Extreme.
From the Bodman, men, women ana
children. shrleking aud crying TO!
urlp, were seen to Jump 'nto the rlvel
aud drown, viii q. the spectators Oh
shore were poweriesS to help the NJ
The Exporter did not catch fire uHtI
GA, i'll the river, and her forecastle
was at the time crowded with peoD!',
the number being estimats d hy Wit
,eeses If the catastrophe at from lo'
G tstsf At 81 ;
7gelt down upon them they W fs' S''eE
70 lump overheard like startled Il ch
# sheep, where number wee re-
eued IN sklffs and tugs, wh'ch hssl put
ont 10 their assisiauc", but the g., a
mai, rl'y ware drowned.
Albert l!yuck, the "a:chmap Of tt!
BUdman, who was srved VIE - Ga:
tain, report. about tween yfiVe o.
thirty women aud child an as h.
Ipuu that b, at. and the same prep !
:;,,u v"Ie esE mat d hy spectators t.
have been amuuS the lfoilt crow
lpun the Exporters f"recastie. l.
t7Iirtv minutes after 'he fire broke on
the Kyle was floating down Il can.
burned 10 the waters edge, htd tht
wrecks of the halls IF the other t"'
boats had dr;ftfd over to the AigleI.
shore, where they still shoulder.
About twenty OF the rescued, among
whom are several ladies, were pro
vid,d for upon the steamboat Louis
Vile, and Just az your corT- poudeB;
eft the Ievee two more ladies' yer
land~d from a skiff Some of the res
cued are badly burned. Both the
Bod1nan and Exporter arrived on!
iaat H., 1t, the latter with an excurslo-
party Oh board, amoug which WIS The
family of her owner, Capt Reese, ot
Pittsburg.
Fortunately, most of the passengers
we're mp III town when the fire occuT-
red, but Mrs. Reese and her daughter,
with another lady, rtmainedou bead:
of these two were saved 10y skill, bnf
Mrs Reese Is supposed TO have heeL
lost. Captain Shlnkie, Of the Bod
man, also lost his son, fourteen year
Of age.
The Kyle was worth about $50. Geo,
and was insured for about S3U.0hU IL
Pittsburg Offices The Bodman va
valued at about $;fS, 600; Insured II
Pitt-burg' The calamity has cast i
gloom over the city, and the conduct
ofthose upon the tug-boats Is ;, mrwha
severely criticised by several OF tn,
eye-witnesses, who charge the II w.t.
being more interested III saving Uthe'
ste, mboats JGau III saving lives. Ii this.
however, much must be allowed foF
prevailing excitement. The c,a5uait,,
was 40 swift and horrible as to
almost paralyze any efforts,
Ii via be very difficult to asc<5 taII
the lanes CT ali the lost. Among.
.i,p (ar tn lie
shore. who went aboard the burning
boats to assist in putting ont the Ire.
Ere they could return they found
themselves out IN the stream en> etup5d
in flames. Oue ease of herOism Io r-
ported. Two women who sprang
overheard eUcctt ded iii grasplng
ring bolt upon the hull o1 the Tx
porter, where, partly sheltered by the
guards Of the boat, they chung !oI
about fifteen minutes III iull view Of
all on shore Ia the smean while thre'
* IFS made repeated but III. IL ctual at
t.rnpt5 TO reach The 10. being t. CT time
driven back by the intense heat IF th'
flames. just as tire hundreds Ct
breathless spectators were upon
the point of abandoning hope,
a long Iea9 -colortd skiff with Z
single ROVER approached and dashed
in TO their side. La few minutes i
in safety, having succecdto
in reecuing both from watery graves
This gallant action Was rewarded with
a spontaneous cheer from the crowd
lining the river bank. Tie latest est
mates reduce the loss to about fifty
souls The burning hull Of the Ex-
porter il now being tOwed down iii,
river by a tug bout,
Capt. Hutchinson, of the Kyle, re-
ports all saved upon his boat, though
himself, the clerk, and one or twt.
others are badly burned. He says
that III less than three minutes from
the time of discovering the fire
his boat vas one sheet of flame from
stem to stern. 10 adopt an expresaion
used by an old darkey W tness of IT,.
sad affair, 'They all harmed like
brOOm-cOrN."
1t low appears that all the three
beats were tied to the sama ring-boit
upon the ievee, and hat on endeavor
ing to cut the Kyle's noorings NJ
-hree were unfortunately severed at
The same time, Tie river makes
rapid eddy at that sptr, and they a
'IC'i III 'Ab'i SuS AoS5ShICi, CdL5 S'iID-
the fire to one another.
The tug-boats, Ella Wood, Nellie, and
Dome, and another, were in the i'll
Mediate neighoorhood. The two for
ner, it IS said, lost both time and OPP
3or unity for saving life, in a vain en-
leaver to extinguish the fires by
hrowing water upon the burning
)oats.
NARRATIVE OF AN EYEWITNESS.
Another eyewitness to the cataztro
,he, an old merchant. says he arrived
the place just as the boats drifted |
mt. The fOrecastles of the B0dman
nd Exporter were then crowded witt |
,eop e. who just at that moment
eemed for the first time to realiz |
heir danger and become panic-stricil-
n. In a Short time, he sad, he |
aw over one hundred people |
in the water; some jumpt d |
yer with their t'u'.ks. others VT.
'arrel and pieces of freight The skiff- |
f which some half hozen had been at |
ract od to the Spot imme6iatoIv daS;,