The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-12-03
THE COTTON VALLEY.
Further Particulars Concerning the Dis
aster Near Rringirr Point.

Yesterday further senrchwas made by our re-
porter for further details Of tho sinking Of the
i'll fated steamboat Cotton Valley.
Capt. NJ II. Kouns WINS visited Mt his resi-
dence on Josephine sir.e,s botwoen st Charles
and Prytnnin streets Iie had not gotten over
the effects Of the excitement and suffering NJ
had undergone tho morning before He waa
suffering from n distressing cough. which Of
times made him feel rs If hs lungs were per.
fectly raw. He was also suffering from bis foot
that had boon injured while he was in tho water
on tho morning Of tho accident. 1t being
crushed by floating freight
The captain. although far from being we'll and
| III good spirits, fslt thankful that hs was once
moro by the 5fde Of his Wife and little ones, who
had escaped u fnte which In that Terrible hour
appeared inevitable
| During % conversation between himself and
| tho reporter he said that he had not made any
statement since the ono mado to tho ressesepta-
tive Of the DEMO- RAT the purport - which
was published In yesterday mornings DEMO
GRAFT.
| Ho said TINT tho evening edition of tho Now
| Orleans Iicdvnne madG statement purporing
TO come from Capt w. II. Kouns, but that was
not his name, aud TINT no had not made the
reporter Of that pnper u statement and thHt tho
whole thing was unauthorized 80 far MS no was
He said the reporter Of tho Pcnyine called on
him for ~ statement. but he declined to make
one. for tho reason that much had been said
about tho sir king Of his boat. and MS he WA
| unable to lbs in the city in time TO give full
| statement Of tho facts ns tbey occurred. and
have Thorn appear with the others. he con
| cluded not To say anything until the cnae came
| bofor" tho proper tribunal, which would 3hke
| place on Tuesday
| coming from tim vyaa tho Innpuaps of Cant 4
g.. swain. ono Of tho pilots Of Tho boat.
| Mr. =. T. GWartney, tho chief clerk Of tho Got
| ton Valley. was in bed Mt the time Of tho acct
| dent. but was reused by the shock
On going on deck no discovered that tho boat
wa. sinking rapidly. He returned to the Office,
and securing ms many valuable papers as pos
stble, he then wont on tho roof and finding that
| the Valley had sunk to her guards wont astern.
rs the boat was going down and jumped into
tho river. Ho seized n lnrge box that was pass
Ing by ut tho time. secured 1t and floated on IT
/ two miles down the river. where tho wind blew
him ashore ana he was picked no by some
negro mon and taken aboard the Charles Nor
gan.
Tho river was full Of human beings but owing
TO the darkness 1t was impossible for him to
SEQ what became Of them.
CAPT SWAIN.
AZ the DEMOCRAT stated yesterday Capt A. G.
Swain occupies Il high position M pilot on tue
river. He furnished us with rather desuItory
statement. being tired and almost sick from his
lato experiences on tho Mississippi Neverthe-
We reproduce. M follows
i came on watch ut - o'clock. above Bonnet
Carre Church Nothing occurred worthy Of
special ment ION until we met wi h the accident
At HtmptOnS Point, three miles below where
the accident occurred. crossed the river and
tance for up stream boats While turning
Bringier Point saw n steamboat crossing
The wind WAS blowing pretty strong off the
starb0ard shore at this time. 1t was raining and
dark. but not 80 dark as to prevent my seeing
the shore and the proper course for up stream
boats 70 run. When first seen the Morgan was
some eight or nine hundred yards distant.
blew one whistle to go to the starboard. She
answered one whistle. which was signal for all
right-it was understood. At this time We were
about two hundred feet from the right hand
shore going up. la about two minutes the
Morgan blew three whistles. | rang the bells
10 stop, not knowing what was the matter but
soon saw that she was heading for US and
bound to strike us. | believe that she mistook
our fireiights for sugar lights on the hanks and
that was the cause of tho disaster. 1t was i'm
possible for us to then get out OF their way. In
another instant she struck us Just forward Of
the larboard cylinder timber. which caused US
TO sink In about five minutes.
When the signal whistle was blown on the
Cotton Valley to meet the coming DO II. and an
swered by her and also when hit by the Nor
gan. the Cotton Valley was in the regular up