Richland beacon., 1876-03-04
Destruction Of the Mary Bell.
Tssa! .E0sS AbO,,t $500. 1850
Insurance .SG5,03O.

Tvrksbrr. Sentinel F-h. -
The mammoth stranrr Mary Bell
landed bore Yesterday al II NJ, with
l63 cabin passengers, cXcursIonlotS
Tor Mard. Gras, 1920 bales Of Gotten
and about l4,O0y sacks of co,ton seed.
She took Oh about 80 cabin Passengers
here and backed down 10 he cotton
ward 10 take on 200 bales vi cotton.
After about l,0U0 halrs hal been
taken aboard, at half past two O'Clock
r NJ. fire was discovered shooting up
rom the rear of the from steps. The
DANES spread rapidly, anl soon
snvelopcd the font paf, .. tie JJat.
Fortunately great number Of the
pa-,tuyrrS were on shore N tic Il ne,
or the loss Of life would have been
fearful. II is beloved that every one
on board escaped clihough The boat
WIS cnvr!op,d in n.Acs N fifteen
mi u;cs A Re. the fire was discovered,
the Passengers lest al ihcir baggage,
an | he boat il Is thoI5ht VII. Lc a
roinl loss. Tie origin &. i!.c fire is
mystery, in, * supposed TO he the
" Tx e an inc. n'Ila;y. The Nary
Bell is one If NJ finest steamers that
ever hrated on the Mississippi river,
her hull WAC built by the Towards al
Mound City, and she was completed
at St. Louis. Her hull was $50 feet
long, Sc feet beam and IL feet hold
She cost about $4,000, and was
insured for $4,000. Tcr-Six'rcnths
OF her was owned by Ralph Hickl,
son Of Capt. J +. Hick-, aud the
balance by the clerk, Mr.. All. Girls
som, and Richard Sinnot, Of New
/ Orleans. She left st. Louis on her
first trip October 10th, 1915. since
that time she has been a perfect sue
cess, this being her tenth trip. She
carried into New Orleans on one trip
over 10000 bales of cotton aud seed,
the largest load ever carried into the
Crescent City 10y any steamboat. She
had the best paving trip aboard when
The accident tOUk place that she ever
had. When the fire broke out, the
Parisot linc steamer Ta!laha,ch!c was
lying alongside, loaded with cotton
which was being transferred t, The
Mary Bell, it was thought for soue
tine that this boat could not escape
and when he chimney Of the burning
boat fell it crushed portion of III.
front part of her boiler deck, and SON,
Of the crew bad narrow escape, sh.
was cut loose, and with the aS,i>tanc,
Of the tug Biglry was towcd bcyont
the reach of the conilagration. 1t wa.
fortunate thai the Tallahatcbie wa.
there, as it enabled great many o
the passengers 10 escape from th,
burning boat. In front Of the burn
ing boa. was the Big Suudower, o
The PariSot line, which WAS move,
beyond reach Of flames without nny
injury. The fire department arrived
soon after the flames broke cut, bu
he boat burned So rapidly that lherI
was no hope of saving her, they bav'
full charge of the wreck and viii pro
baby save about 1000 bales OF cotton
IN badly damaged condition. Abon
9P NJ. they succeeded in scuttlin!
the hull, the stern swung out from th,
bank and sunk in deep water, the bow
is up against tie bark and abov,
water, this will probably save tn,
best portion of the hull. On the bacI
part Of the Inflated steamer was u 10
o! beef cattle; some young men in
skill made an effort 10 cut them on,
but were driven of by the flame
before they could complete ,hei
object. they succeeded, however il
saving few, the others were all o,
lire when the wheel-hoxse tumble,
into the river, few more got iuto tn
river but 50 brdly burned that the,
could not make to shore The ,ota
loss will probably amount to owe
100000. Mayor OLeary succeede,
IN making arrangements with III
: Eicksburg l. Meridian Railroad for
special train which left here with tn