, 1878-06-21
RecOllections Of 8 Disaster.

/ 1854 or 1888, ana Information mas Dtcn
/ offered as to the date, but it does not sat.
| i>iy the interest that the question creates
/ The writer hereof WAS a resident ot C.n-
ciunati at the time of the Nosrlle expo.
sion, and narrowly escaped the fate which
betel the victims OF that disaster. The
NoSeie was built in Letherbury's yard
( in Fulton, and was launched carly IN the
spring of 1883, we believe, for We have
not at this moment the data. which We
/ have slowed away somewhere, that will
! fix the date exactly. The vessel was
partly owned by Capt. Perrin, who was
appointed its commander. The HOstllc
wes one among the first "crack boats,
which were built to take the places Of the
NediGtor, Algonquin, Noaongaheia, Fair
pLdN etc, and WAS intended to beat the
Pike, Ben Franklin, and Other sharp. bow.
ed big sidewheel steamers that were carry
ing off all the trade Tor Southern ports.
1t was the custom of the fast boats, at
that day, to run over mile or two above
the city, when they were to start on "A
Southern trip; then turn, and coming
back again, pass the wharf under full
press Of steam, with 'scape pipes turned
into the wheelhouse, so that the YES els
had the appearance of fairly flying by
without the aid of steam; and it had u
very fine effect. On such occasions the
wharf was literally crowded with specta-
tors. The first trip Of the Moselle was to
be signalzed by an excursion to New Or
leans. In addition to the regular list Of
passengers, IA considerable number of
persons had been invited by Capt. Perrin,
as his personal guests, to make the trip
Tie writer hereof wal one Of the ia
vored number, but he was unable to avail
himself of the courtesy. After the ves-
sci had taken on her freight, and her city
passengers and guests bad got aboard at
the landing, the AOSeLle steamed up to
Fulton, for the purpose of taking on sew.
eral German families, who were bound
for Texas. The emigrants were taken
aboard, and the vessel was swinging
around with the current, for the purpose
of passing down by the wharf, under a
marvellous pressure of steam, intended to
eclipse any previous effort of the kind,
when suddenly the boilers exploded, in.
volving in the catastrophe the crowd
who were thronging the decks, and burn
ing and scalding TO death large number
of the light-hearted tourists, who were
thus suddenly wrapped in terrible disas-
ter. The only persons who escaped scald-
ing, and were not more or less injured by
the explosion, were ladies, children, and
few gentlemen, who were fortunately in
the ladies' cabin. The decks above and
below were strewn with the victims, and
considerable number Of persons were
rescued from the river, having jumped
into the water to escape from the scalding
steam.
Capt. Perrin's body was found among
the timbers Of new vessel, afterward
named the Monsoon, which was building
on the same stocks from which the i'll
fsted Mo8elIe had but recently been
launched. The vessel was frightful
wreck from stem to stern; and she slowly
floated down the river to the Water
Works, where che sunk close to the shore,
Immediately in the rear of that building;
and the wreck of the vessel lay at that
point all season, and was visited by
thousands of curious people, many Of
whom procured pieces of the ill-fated
boat, until she was Clipped up into frag-
ments, and carried away piecemeal.
-, Many elderly citizens, young persons
at the time, will remember the conster-
nation the report of the explosion created
throughout the city, and over the whole
country. The wharf, between Main street
and Broadway, on the evening of that
terrible day, was crowded with people
who were awaiting the appearance of the
MoseIle, and cheer her with her joyous
human freight, as she steamed by the
wharf, but they were not gratified. With
in a quarter of an hour after the cxplo-
sion, the frightful intelligence was re.
ceived by the waiting multitude, and
thousands of persons rushed cast up
Front street, Fastening to the scene of
disaster Within half an hour the terri
ble Intelligence had been spread over the
entire city, and the inhabitants were fair
ly horror stricken The newspaper read
er of to-day, who is surfeited with horrors
every morning at the breakfast table, can
not realize the intense excitement which
moved tho whole country as the terrible
news of the NoselIs explosion was spread
broadcast. And it was topic Of terror
for years afterward.
The funeral of most of the victims of
the AoseIIc explosion was pablic, and
thousands of persons joined the pro-
cession in vehicles and on foot. 1t was
by odds the most extended funeral ever
witnessed in Cincinnati. Owing to the
displacement Of the documents giving q
detailed account of the notable event, we
are now unable to give the rames of the
victimO whose awful deaths were thus
commemorated. 1t will be rcmembe
by many elderly readers of the Gazette
that large fragments of the collapsed
boiler Of the MoselLe-one of which was
sent whirling across the Ohio, while an.
other was taken from Cannery on the
hillside, through whose roof it was sent
crushing-were for years objects of deep