, 1876-03-11
THE UMATlnEa DISASTER.
Further PartienIars os gIsc' Terrible TX.
piOni0n by one who Witnessed If

piOni0n by one Who Witnessed n.
Mr. w r. Bsssett, one Of The sprvsvors
employed by the government 10 sssis, in the
Improvement Of the Upper Columbia, return
ed IRON Unatilla last Saturday. lie was
near the upper Umatilla rapids when the ex-
Plusion occurred On board ihe >e>r. and Was
',n eyewitness Of The fearful di,.s : il which
thirteen persons were hu-lsd IN An j,,-..p.
lnto e.erni'y, aud three ruor, ar les injured
To lar. BaSsvtt We are indrb,-5 ,or ~. 49,
lowing particulars Of the cslarairo,.s ,x.,,o-
sIou
WHAT HE SAW Og IT
One Of Nr Ba.seIt's du,i : ,-,s o., ,.,,s,,,,,
the rocks which.were situated n, -. -,
ana Nus enable The nen employed 10 remove
'o7'fn'iious and 5ilst With the ar,sre-t aa-
vantage. he 4lso casually iu-pee,,,, in ,,z-.gn
The work Goue Ia tehalf uf the ggy-rp,uenr
Last " dnesaGy moruiug-the d.v an yyt,..b
The eyp.9-Ion occGrred-2Ir. B,-.-rr i,fr
tma'l.l- quite early IL. The r,r,n.e of
measuring rome Of the rocks 10 h.. LI,.,,i
and HAe"l-e 20 Inspect syrn. al The v.r,
already accomplished. Frum Cm,iilIa mn IN
the uFP.r rapids, where the rn-u yyer,. en,,.,,-
ed. Is abUut i've n,Ii-s- TIN. dis-auc. va,
Travelled by Mr. B4SssJt on hurs-bark lie
/ Reached the rapids quite early in forenoon,
aud alter completing ms work started 10 re-
turn 10 Gmaj.l!a. Ihe scow Nas anchored
near the middle oi the river. and n small
boat Was used IL Conveying Mr.. B.--,tt to
and IT0m the shore He !eIJ tas scow on ,h,,
inorI Ing OF the Ia,aI disaster about $50
o clock, and Was taken ashur, la Il skIiT. man
ned by two Iocn-.iisjrr and ouuaks. Reach
Ing the shore IN safety, Mr.. B4s-efu mounted
his borse and started back 20 Cm-ulla. Ieav-
lns AesSrs. Mister ana Snuoks AZ the lardu,.,
putting aboard some gas pipes, Hour and 9th
er articles whivh we're to BE- conveyed 20 the
se0w.
Mr. Bissett h-.d gained ;he urT-r bank
ard Was travelling RAPIDLY toward town.
When atOu5 thu-= quarters Of = E.lls distant
from the seow be reached high, clear spot
commanding 4 fine view OF the river tor
long way, up and down. He was riding
ahead ann happan=d 10 be lvoking 1T the
scOw, Is he was 'aEin5 IN, with Ou5 sweep
u MS eye, the broad rxpGrso Of rlver and
landsc"ue, when suddenly the air above the
. boat wa- darkenei with u thick. black cloud
of smoke. Through the smoke lie could in
distinctly discern what appeared 10 J,, p:ecs=
ot plank, shattered timber, uaug,rd pJriiuuS
OF human bo1ieS, being hur.-I TO Il great
height The iiea o! an explosion h..sted
through hls mind, aal Nr. Bi-~ett instantly
reineG IL his horse, and turacd his flc,, to-
war1 tie -cow- just Us he turned The IT,
port ot the explosions rruched HIM 1t was
louGrr than any clap of Of thunder he ever
heari-sjunmuE and tealering hlm Tor AN
instant. Scarcely had - seconds elapsed be-
tore the deus, cloud OF smoke began slowly
to float upward, leay.ug clear space be
tween lis lower edge ami the snTface Of the
water. This en4ulei h.m 20 see the frag-
ul,nrs Of lhe wreci. winch, bv that time, be-
gan Ia ram dOXn iUr considerable time
aIouud where the scow had been moored.
Comprehrniiug TIE ieuriui situation OF nj
iaIgs, and kBv"'in; tuut assistance would be
required to save tncso who were wounded,
Ar. B.->e't ,urneG his hurSe's head towards
the point where he had just lest Mister and
$50 k with the skitf. It seru.s that these
Ineu had nearly complicated loading the skiti,
ana were about to puSh of Tor the Sow,
/ Wh,n the explosion &C CURED. They immecI-
a-ciy threw out what was IN the -kiT aud
started for the sc-ue II the disaster, Foviu,c
/ rirh might a,.a ,,.4ia. Brsr-~ Ba-~ett had
procc,h,d f.r he Saw the sk.E making tor
. lhs. wreck, and knowing Jha' II would b..
u-r.,sS Tor him 10 20 aUy further, s'Cpped.
! Ev tbs -Im- the smuke liad all ci-a-tG away
and portion uf the hail Of IL, scJw could
! b. -ayu lotDu. down on he cErT,nf, and also
large quantities. ot the debr;- from 'aa w:ro.S.
EoT saue moments DO sign q! human life WIS
visible. and Z --etJ ccuclu udsl that every
-r,.I BOARD th. ~-ov bad r-r ti~ t.rc. But
~ !..lc b. Was j.. king eagerly in ,hr GirscIou
81 ,h- ~c.ue, IA observed one u.au struggling
ga in- water and Immediately alter s.,, hi;;,
elmo up ua tta wreck Juss then bn saw
another Iuau claI.ite- on 10 the wreck, an4
an ir.-;uu. Ils.r a ta.rl, whom tn wa others
assisted ~.
Meantime, 1iis',r and S20oks were urging
;helr ba,- ,ogwafi towtrd ,as wreck go sya-
. 7 ail I:,a as>isr.nu- IN ;hcir power, - tie
,aom-nr the exuio-ioa ocsur-.d, Tie SOW
lruh. from her uUurIuE AMI wAs borne Gown
rallalv bv The Powerful curTear- About
rIcir minutes after the explosion. and u hiie
H. sl,.f Was making iU- tic wrark, the blast
vl..ah had been placed under water, wen; OF.
Up T., hat tim, Das~ett had been under the
impression That tho cxylu>.Ou had occurred,
trCin ,br tact thaf The Sow had hy some M
accountable circumstance guc over the place
wLer. the water blast was l5were1 gu3 ihat
whrn il went oif. the boat wa~ blown mp.
But v h-u h. saw the water b1S-. Ec knew
that he giant powder winch wl7 Kept on
toari II. scau had exploded rom some cause.
SITUATION oP aFFARs.
The Sow on which the explosion orcarrel
w,.~ 90 ieet .uur ana 20 VIDE. Abou1 the
center of the boat, cabin, probably - feet
long. had been constructed Iae cabin ez-
tended the iull width OF the saos, and con
sti:uted the eating and sleeping apartment
Of the men. The gisnG pow der ,..ed IN max
ip, tn. blasts. also the percussion caps, fG~-,
etc. wer. stored for sale krrpIug III the cab
IN. Over tic stern OF the boat, p!s-'tprIa
Vas bti!r. extending y OF ID fees uut over
the water. On this platform the men stood
IN working the dulis, and when preparing
and covering the Hast IlIee strong hawsers
vsr. attached to tLe bow Of the bost- One
haWssr ex-ended directly forward Of the bow
and was firmly anchored some d.s'.nca
higher I'D the s5ream. Two o.her strong
ro- p were attached 70 the bow on each side
and fastened out rume distance eUch Way
Thcs- ropes were for he P":Po~s OF h2le'n6
the scuw STEADY against the swift current,
and pyeyenriug II from shi ting IrOm SIDE 10
side. and Likewise 10 enable the men 10 draw
tn boat up and down a. occasion rendered
r,ca,sarT. When the rock had beeu P-r:9r'.-
tad with the drills at "a ovr;alu Tout, the
tl.sr urs9ared, lowered, and the tUss lguIted,
the scow WAS alnayS drawn some di''auos
I'D S,rea1s-suiHcienl. lar 10 DC out @! dan
.,tr's reach-uuJIl the charge exploded. Ih.s
v..- always done by means OF clpStzn.
srsund which the central hawser MAS wound
After The blast went OF The ssow wuai be