San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-03-23
The Burning of the Steamer City
of Chester.

MEMPHIS, March AT half-past 2
O'Clock this morning the alarm of fire
was sounded at the wharf, it being dis
covered that the Anchor Line packet
City of Chester was in flames. She ar
rived at the Anchor Line Elevator about
~ O'Clock, where she was to have dis.
charged her freight, preparatory to re-
turning to St. Louis at o'clock this
evening. Captain Ziegler, her COM
mander, states that as soon as the boat
was made fast, feeling little unwell he
retired to his bed, leaving the boat in
charge of Tom Hill, the first mate.
The fires in the furnaces were all extin-
guished, and all was apparently right
at thst hour. The Waterman in the
elevator states that he visited The outer
guards of the elevator, against which
the Chester lay, about five minutes be-
fore the alarm was sounded, and he saw
nc, signs of fire. Those who first discov-
cred the fire state that the flames burst
out from under the boiler deck
on the port side, nearly the
entire length of the boat, as if
she had been set on fire in a number
of places, or by a coal oil train, and that
the upper works of the boat burned as
rapidly as if she had been built Of paper.
Captain Ziegler, who was awakened by
the alarm sounded by his own bell,
states that the flames spread SO rapidly
that he saw no chance of saving any
thing or any body, and he gathered his
clothing in his hands and made his es-
cape to the elevator, where. he caused
the elevator pumps to be turned on the
burning boat, but they had no effect
whatever in checking the flames. See
ing the elevator which was crowded
with freight was in imminent. danger of
destruction, he ordered her lines to be
cut, when the Chester floated away from
the elevator into mid stream, a solid
sheet of flames from stem to stern, pre-
senting picture of grandeur, yet horri-
BILE in the fact that at that time it was
not known whether any one but the
Captain had escaped. Rumors of the
widest character were circulating
among the crowd drawn to the scene,
and the excitement was intense. Moth
ing reliable could be learned from any
body as to the number Of passen-
gers on board when she landed,
Captain Ziegler himself not being
able to give satisfactory answer. The
harbor tug Oriole soon had steam up
and her commander, Capt. Napoleon
McNeely, soon had a line fast to the
boat, towing her to the opposite shore,
where he hoped to beach her, so that
those who had not escaped could do SO.
While Juggling at the burning wreck,
however, he found out that many had
jumped into the water, and he set to
work rescuing them, succeeding in pick
ing up II persons who were nearly dead
from exhaustion, and who would cer-
tainly have found the watery grave they
preferred to the horrible death by burn
ing. The Chester was finally run ashore
at a point opposite Fort Pickering,
where the transfer boat General Pierson
lay along side of her throwing several
streams of water into the burning hull,
but without in the least abating the fire,
and the boat was entirely consumed to
the water-line. An explosion took place
about two hours after the fire first broke
out, which shook the buildings in the
city with the force of a severe earth
quake. This was caused by the explo-
sion of two kegs of powder stored
in the boats magazine. 1t is known
that three persons were lost by the
disaster-John p. Herman, the mail
agent, and son of Thomas Herman, the
passenger agent of this city; G. A. Eel
Ter, a barber of Memphis, who was re-
turning from st. Louis, and Brown, the
colored barber of the boat--the latter
having saved one of the chamber-maids,
and swan with her to askiff, on which the
woman was taken, but poor Brown was
knocked back into the water by a negro
rouster in the skiff, and he was drown
ed. Chief Clerk Dietrich barely es
capped with his life. When aroused by
the fire he secured the boat money
about S2,5OO-and jumped into the riv-
er, and, getting hold on the rudder
post, held on until nearly exhausted,
and being forced by the heat to take to
the water he lost the money, and was
only abIa IN keen from drowning nv aid