The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-02-29
4 RIVER DISASTER.
Loss of the Mary Bell.
Interesting Particulars.

When the news reached the city on Sunday
evening that the large and elegant steamer
Mary Bell had burned to the waters edge
while moored to the wharf ct Vicksburg,
there was considerable excitement manifested
owing not only to the general sympathy felt
for the owners and shippers who had suffered
so severe loss, but from the fact that it was
reported that the boat being crowded with
passengers en- route to New Orleans for the
purpose of participating in the festivities Of
the Carnival, great number Of them were
certainly lost.
The telegraph Office was for some time
crowded with anxious. friends of the passen.
gers on the boat, and it was not until definite
information was received that no lives had
been lost that the excitement subsided. The
boat reached the wharf at Vicksburg about
noon, and the fire broke out ct 2 o'clock in
the afternoon, and in very short time the
beautiful floating palace was nothing more
than charred wreck upon the waters, where
only q short time before it had foated so
proudly, thing of beauty and an object Of
generous pride to its friends. The freight
consisted Of little over 5000 bales of cotton,
5000 sacks of cotton seed and lot of oil cake.
morning by MIR. Jesse r. Bell, Of the firm of
Bell and Menge:
VIcKsBuRG. Feb. 27.-To j. X. Bell, care
Bell & Menge, New Orleans: The Mary Bell
burned this evening at the landing, with five
thousand bales of cotton. No lives were lost.
The boat and cargo total loss. Will be down
Tuesday. ALT. GR1ssoM.
V1cKsBuRa, Feb. 27.-To j. K. Bell, care
Bell & Menge, New Orleans: The Mary Bell
burned here at 2 O'Clock. Fifty.one hundred
bales Of cotton and two hundred passengers
on board. No lives lost J. F. HICKS.
The boat was owned by Capt ]. F. Hicks,
ALI. Grissom and r. Sinnott, and was insured
for SIS 900, principally in Western compa-
mics. She was valued at $50, 1000, but was
really worth much more.
amounted to about $500, 600. The list Of con-
signees having been destroyed, it is impossi-
BILE at this time to give the names of the I'M
derwriters and the losses sustained by them
respectively.
The Factors and Traders Insurance Com
pany had re-insured its liability on the cargo
to the extent of $780, 900, $4,000 of which
was effected in companies of other States. The
nett loss sustained by this company therefore,
will not probably exceed $4,000. The
Of the Factors and Traders To-
surance Company, deserve credit for the pru-
dence evinced by them in re-insuring to the
extent they did
As description of this elegant floating
append q paragraph published in the Bull.
LET1N when the boat first appeared at our
wharf:
The extreme length is 325 feet, breadth Sc
feet, floor so feet, depth of hold II feet. Add
to this sheer of six feet from amidship, fore
aud aft, and guard Of 18 feet all around.
then some idea Of the proportions Of the
gigantic vessel may be formed. The bottom
and bnuckle planks are five inches thick and
from fifty to seventy feet long, In no other
shipyard in this country, perhaps, could
these immense timbers be handled.
No one can look at this magnificent boat
withou. feeling impressed with its superior
strength and safety. The tonnage is esti-
mated at $500 tons, storage capacity 10000
bales cotton. Dfaught-aft four feet, forward
three feet. Thus it will be seen two points of
great interest have been attained-a light
draught Of water and great carrying capacity.
Another departure by the owners Of the Mary
Bell is in the boilers They have battery Of
eight steel boilers, having three times the
tensile strength Of iron, thus insuring entire
immunity from explosion. The engines are
81 inches in diameter with 9 feet stroke.
Wheels SO feet in diameter, 164 feet bucket.
And thus has disappeared one Of the most
elegant river palaces that ever piled the waters
Of the Mississippi. Such ; loss is . very
serious one1 just at this time, and We sympa-
thize deeply with the unfortunate gentlemen
who had embarked il the venture, and who
won the greatest applause for their energy
and enterprise We trust they will not be
discouraged by this loss, but will soon re-
place their elegant steamer by another Of
which they will have equal reason to feel
proud.
7. II. B. A.-Floor managers will sppear in