, 1875-05-06

Acchnnt OF the Sinking ~ the StfAmef
Sts Anlisn tn the Nlfssotsr1 River.
81. Loni& nio1e, ifay4.
Tho steamer St. Luke, bound from Lcavcn-
worth to 81. I.ouia, struck pier Of tho Bt,
Charles bridge Sunday night, and Bnnk In tho
Missouri lsiyer within l. few minutes afterwsfdA.
6ao left 1.cayenworth at 8 o'clock last Fridny
evening. and, taking advantage OF tho riaing
wAtor III tbe Missouri River, came down in good
etylc, making her ianalngs and promising swift
and temHncsatiyo trip. There was nothing 70
Indicate danger on tho contrary. everything
promised wol for there Was morn wator than
ordinarily In the river, ind there was less threat
ooed difficulty At tito bars and shoals.
Size arrived in sight Of tho 1t. Charles bridge
light at twenty minusca rast 10 en- Sunday night.
The light is white, md hangh Immediately bc-
tween tho piers, between which eho beaded.
Can't. Keith raya that when he went up on tho
last trip, tho current set etrnighk through tho
csntrc, but hs nhe noarca tho rtcth m Sundny
night, mud when nithln 600 yards. and too lato
to stop. 1t WAs discovered that thu curront had
changed, .snd was sotttnE to northwara. and
running hard npun the rockH near tho north
psor. Tho boat WAS then hcadsnR for the light,
and making wrtl TO l1rbohrl because Of the cur
rent. There was but one thing to do. Eysrv ounce
OF stteam was put on to carry, her through,
bit tho current swept her npon tho north pier,
nEd she struck upon tho ahlltmenr, catching Oh
her la1board juht forward Of tha engiues, and.
hanging there for fully two 1ntnutcs ca,ecned
70 htarboard, with The swift, water ruAA'ng
through the cruo1 rent In her side.
There woro altogether some forty or tifty poo
plo on tho boat, mud, arouned bY tho shock.
tlloy rushed cnt. terrified In the belief they
were lost; Ths, rushing steam+ the c!ans-
Of tho wboe!s, the pou.'dsns Of tho
| steamer On tue cold titi!css abntmcnt; tho
frantic rushing titber aud thitber Of tho rns-
aengers. alt combined TO scone OF horror be-
| ynnd description. For two minutes she hung
| tltorc Oh the ahntment. and then tue awft cur
rent tore hor away and carried hes on. Through
tho great rngged hoio in her sdo TIM water
poured. as Il to sock 4 rcsting-plAce, after fss
| long. wild labnsH. Slowly BeIo Hettled do1Tn, un-
| I'll o7er her deck tho angry current ran: slowly
down, until tho augry current had reached her
hnr1icanc-roof washing oSor 1t In triumphant
celebration OF it's victory.
As ths boat sunk, tteEe who remained hndued
together on tho aft part Of tho lHericaus deck.
Tie fires had bcen e1t,Dgu.sheu b. tho water a.
| most IA Hoon - tho boAt BtrucA, and after her
tlrnt eIEn.l Of distress, there ~ nothing 70 in
wore gono, Her smoke stackB fell ovcr lot side
with nu,ldon plasl,, and the slivering group
saw but little hopn in tho dnll, threatening n!Gh,
or IN tho srft-Iishng water that washed h5lllep-
| iy by tho crippled and dismahtlcd hulk. There
was then but little prospect for relief. With
stsry Angry sweii the boat rsiHcd and fell upon
the bat, and in their feaf the pasaengeru pie
turcd cruel death in ttoso for them. She might
|
| Tha boat sunk within fifteen minutes, on the
bar ju.t out tho mouth Of tue river aud about =
rn'los, f1om tho bridge, naar tho ,eof. usr DO"
| sho went down. Mrs. James Dinau and two Of
her children; Chr4s. Lanftez, peddler fdeck
| Casser8cEa}; ono Of tho lscinop, md two Iotis-
tors. wcro swept OF aud drowned 1amos Dinan
aud Two Of his children wcrc .hyed.
Tho St. Charles ferry 5-boas, Nebraska City No.
2, hove in stght between aud o'clock ip tue
morning and took oil the passengers, and then
hoye to unt'1 ? o'clock. picking up tho lighter
| The steamer waa laden With 100 newtpg-rna-
chitlcH, 100 toms Of tobacco aud .lcut. atiu leo
liead Of hogs, valued in all at $4,000. Whom she
struck, many Of tue hogs wsto watled over
| board. and thoae loft wero prematntc1y sca!dcd
by the bursting Of the stealn.piuo. Tho cries Of
| the ecnided aulmats. AZ they rushed up aud down
tho dock or plupgod overheard to conl OF, added
to tho confusion Of the accne and made tho bank
Thoro was ono nun saved from the wroot who
! thinks 1t v0uld hay0 becn much better for him
to haso drowned. liia namo Is Jaucs Dinan, and
10 worked formerly on tho Missouri. Kansas 4
gooda iu TWO truuka. and, IN company with h!s
wife Mary. aged 36. his two daughters, Mary
Jana and Margaret L., aged respettiyoIy Q and
trS een1 R@ns. assha e, aua H.
intending to try ht1 luck ia st. LouiB. When
tho accident occurred tho alock Of tho collision
| landed Dinan on pile Of lumber on tho 1lde OF
the boat, aftor which the boat begno to sink
his younCcst boy tn ILLS arns tlle other boy by
hts sido, and hlb wife and sTo daughters bel1nd
him. As the water rushed ill., i lifted tho boy out Of
p.ssd him saa wsea sa1s e as sS 10 It.
top he saw y raft aoating near. and after some
e1ortion ha made sure of . hold on it. There
was ono man h.uging on to tho raft ut the time
Din.n took hold q II, snd the strong current
/ tr1rAnH th6 raft 6tnrr fill a 4 N'r1nak
scene Of ths accident, tho raft dHfted
into an eddy near tho Rhore, at a plnce where
Dluaa chance to 1 phi i himscif % sshsoIo. ss
The other man failed to mako the bank, and
waa carried further down tho river. aud
has not yes bean beard from. When Dlnan
act wes to make h!s nay to farmhouse near
by, nheso he met sons colored mon, uhAngod
bus pants, aud. after eating a Little. stattad for
st. Charles afook. There ho found that hia wife
and all BID property Loaf. Nothing was snved
but The two boYs, and they eacarad "a by b
miracle. Three hundred and fl7e dollars in ready
cash went down with Diuan's wife.
The 81. Luke WAS built in g.. Lonis In 1868,
and wAa owned By tla Missouri River Packet
Company. In 1874 eho Was ltngthencd At \ cost
Of eono $10 900. tlerdimondlops wnfe: ats $40
foot in longth, ~ feat beam, s foct depth Of
measurement, was 45o tons. she waa vaiued At
$4,000, and insured III Cincinnati and pittsburg
ohieea for 4l7Uu0.
1t IL said that Vanderbilt sold out most Of hts
interest in Lake Shore after the panic. and sao-
rit!ced hl4 friends to SAVE h1nBclf. l1c, accord
Ing to sonle authorities, gtso hia friends
"points. following which they ruined them-
selves And savsd lin, though ho lost 31j G0D 600.
II Ia thought hss confederatos lost so 900 1t
least. Tic sufferers included hss own relatives.
Tho theory H. stlll mstntained that Gould
combination cxiete. which involves through lino
from Omaha 10 Nsw York and limo Of steamers
from Now York to Europa. Thuz, with Union
Pacific snd Pacific Mail, this aatuts operator
would control the main channel OF trsvel, traffic,
and transportation from Hong Kong and Yoko-
hama to Europe, more than half round the globo.
Docn any Que belIors that ha cau carry out
this scheme without breailug DOWN. Will hs
not bo like the lrishman who rnt green ApsctA-
cles on his horse 10 make him think that the
straw rot before him WAS fErnh-moma hay and
aoon found lilo animal drug "fu!t OF faith, y