Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-07-03

tory tor steam boats, especially of the An
| chor Line persuasion. The splendid packet
! Capital City arrived about dark Monday
| night, from Vlcksburg, and moored to the
| elevator, where she was to have laid until
five o'clock yesterday evening, awaiting hel
hour of departure for st. Louis. At a few
| minutes after one O'Clock yesterday morning
fire was discovered in her freight room, neal
| the 'nigger" boiler, and the Waterman,
| Lewis Seeberger, states that it spread sc
| rapidly that he was unable to get the fire ma.
| chinery to work, and he did the next best
| thing wake up all on board that they might
| escape before the boat dritted from the eleva-
| tor. He gave the alarm, which
was taken up by the harbor tugs and
steamers in port, and also by the
city fire. bells, which was quickly responded
TO by the lire engines, and soon streams oil
water were pouring on the boat from the tugs
and hre-steamers, but ali to no purpose.
THE FIRE FIEND TRIUMPHANT.
The boat burned like paper, the fire COM
municating to the roof of the elevator, and
was famed into flames by stiff wind blow
ing from the westward. The boats cables
were cut, but the wind held her close to the
elevator In such manner as to render aid
from the tugs almost impossible. She was
finally pulled away from the elevator, but too
late The fire had gained such Roadway as
to be beyond human control. All hopes of
saving the boat were abandoned, and every
effort was directed to the elevator, in the
hope of saving a portion of the valuable
freight stored there for shipment or delivery
to Memphis merchants. A thousand barrels
o. cotton-seed oil were stored on the second
floor of the elevator: to which the fire soon
communicated. when the heat became so in
tense as to render approach from the shore
impossible, 1T becoming necessary to remove
the fire. steamers as far away as Main street,
where they had to take water from the cis-
terms and re-plugs.
THE FIGHT BETWEEN FIRE AND WATER.
The tugs, however, kept up the fight from
the river side until the oilbarrels began
bursting and emptying their flaming contents
on the surface of the river, driving everything
afoat entirely away from the scene The
surface of the river for a hundred feet out
and extending a quarter of mile down
stream was solid sheet of flame. Thus all
hopes of saving the elevator, or any por-
ton of its contents, had to be abandoned.
The hull of the Capitol City foated
away and was driven into shore
about Que hundred yards below the
of the tugs succeeded in saving the hull, by
keeping the flames down and confined to the
upper works, which were gradually burned.
Her boilers, machinery and chimneys fell
into the hold. When it was discovered that
the elevator had to be given up, crowd
these, Mr.. Wash Floyd, says he was one of a
party of dozen men, and the smoke so blinded
him that he only succeeded in making his es-
cape by wrapping handkerchief about his
head, and he believes that several of those
with him persisted in the building, but up to
this writing nothing has been discovered
about the debris of the elevator to justify his
opinion.
THE LOSS OF LIFE.
L !. IL - L.
persons have been discovered, but burned to
a condition beyond possibility of identified
ton. One is supposed to be cripple who
took passage at Point Lookout, Mississippi,
for st. Louis, and the other an old man
named Ewing, who with his wife were en-
route to their home at Colfax, Clinton county,
Indiana His wife was rescued by the Off
GERS of the boat, and the old man started off
the boat in company with her, but said he
had left something, and went back to meet
the horrible death as related. The fremen
and laborers are still at work on both the
boat and the elevator searching for dead
bodies, although it is not known whether
anyone else persisted or not. There were but
few passengers on the boat, but the
loss of her books and papers renders
it Impossible to ascertain the names.
STATEMENT OF THE wATcHMAN,
Mr.. Steeburger, regarding the disaster, is as
follows: When the fire broke out, it was
half-past one o'clock this morning, and at
the time | was at the forward steps, when |
saw light in rear of the boiler on the port
side; l went back and saw that the fire had
caught against the bulkhead there
overhead, which was burning; there
except in the negro boiler; about three min
utes before the fire had passed along the
boat, having been back to the wheelhouse,
and there was no sign of fire anywhere; at
the time passed the "nigger" boiler, l saw
the head engineer, Mr.. Quick, throw bucket
of water In to cool down the fire in the boiler;
| did not see him afterward; when | discov-
cred the light FIRST thought it was the en-
gineer at work en- top of the boil
er, and did not pay much attention to it;
however, | walked back to see what it was,
and was Mortified to discover the bulkhead on
fire; the blaze was quite big and beyond my
reach, and even if | had had a bucket of
water could not have put it out; as soon as
l saw l could not put out the fire, rushed up
stairs to awaken the passengers; SO far as
could see or know, all got off the boat on to
minutes was on fire also; | and the mate,
Henry Smith, went forward to be ready to
cut the boat loose, and waiting for orders to
do so; he asked if the boat was to be cut loose,
but somebody said: "No, do not cut her loose
yet-walt until every passenger gets ashore;"
y
given, the passengers having gotten off; we
then whacked her cables forward, and then
Captain Crane, her commander, told US
to sever the stern rope; this we did,
but it was not an easy task, for we were al
most blinded by the smoke and scorched by
the flames, which were pretty close to us.
had to back to the rope in order to keep
from being burnt. 1t was, think, twenty
minutes or more after the boat caught fire be-
fore we cut her stern rope, thereby allowing
due time for the escape of the passengers. l
was now in the elevator, the entire boat be-
ing wrapped in one great flame, except the
part aft of the wheelhouse. Great volumes
OF smoke were coming out of the splash holes,
and the chimneys had already fallen with
mighty crash, scattering cinders in every di-
rection and spreading the flames out in great
er fury. | could not see the chimneys when
they fell but could see millions of sparks
float above the great mountain of smoke.
THE MATES STATEMENT.
Henry Baumgardus, the mate, says thathe |
was on the elevator and saw the light of the
fire, which broke up along the bulkhead of
the boiler on the port side. He tried to put |
out the ire, but the flames darted across the |
boat, and he felt satisfied that she was |
doomed to destruction.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN M'NEELY.
who, with the tug Oriole, was the first to |
reach the burning boat, will be of interest. |
Captain M'Neely says that he was on watch |
and saw the fire before any alarm was |
sounded. His tug was then at Brown & |
Jones coal yard, above Wolf river,
and had steam up. Being at the |
wheel he rounded his boat and headed |
her for the elevator, which he reached |
In three minutes, but by which time the
flames had burst out about the boilers and on
both sides of the boat. He had already given
the alarm by sounding his whistle, and upon
reaching the elevator found it on fire inside
and outside. 81 am certain p" he saws ssthat