The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-08
THE LOSS OF THE LESSEE TAYLOR.
INTERVIEW wlTH CAPT. QUATRFs-
yEAtix FULL PARTICULARS
or THE DISASTER.
rhe uereic Cend.ct Of . Yeuns Lady.


The Hereic Csndact Of a Young Lady.
The Lessie Taylor, one OF The finest stern
wheelers afioat. Is now q total losss From
Capt. Quatreva,,x, first clerk of the boat, we
learn the following particulars Of the disaster
6ApT. puATREvAuxs STATEMENT.
eve left Washington on Saturday, Feb.
q at 3 o'clock p. M, with a cargo u 2e7
bales Of cotton, 1000 sacks cotton seed, 159
bogsieads Of sugar, Is head of cattle and a
lot Of s,indries. We had 20 passengers, among
whom were five ladies.
tour dechhands numbered about 90 We
were coming down under fair pressure Ut
steam, everything looked safe, and almost all
had retired 10 their berths. / was tired and
sleeping spHndlv, when / was d Weakened by
loud thuinpings at my cabin door, and heard
somebody cry Out:
GER UP, THE BOAT ts sfEHtNa.'
Az had not undressed ei, going TO bed, / Inn
was To secure the valuable letters In the oftlce.
! succeeded in saving all except three In
trusted TO zig from Port Barry. / lust oil tiny
clothes. and yal,,ables and had no time to
save The books and papers Ut the boat as the
Moor on which stood was all'eady flooded
slte of the water ] had already Witnessed a
steamboat disaster, but never such q scene as
this Dnss
''The passengers were frenzial; some seam
pareH. hali-dressed, TO the hurricane roof.
others plunged into the liyef. and held on ~
cotton bales The cattle were bellowing; men
screaming and r,lltittg wildly, hall crazy
with terror: ladies' were crying for help, and
the water WAS coming up rapidly
witrH A tHhRtBtff RUSHING NOISE.
i 's1t was a aaure qut pe,tf. No one tried to
save q fellow creature; some Jumped over
lyzed through fear; and eaiiiiet imagine how,
lii that indescribable noise. confusion. and
panic only six persons were Lost, and These
darkhanus. All tho passengers were saved.
but they lost their trunks and everything en-
The ladies had retired To Che hurricane roof,
and the yawl being put down, they were
rpwed to the shore Without accident. | reached
the land by swimming and holding on to q
bale Of cotton. When looked back saw our
ao1rG DOWN. Down,
hqighty feet pf water. and III ter, minutes abe
had totally Disappeared, not even the Smoke
stacks being visible The accident, as after
wards learned, happened In this way. The
Lessie Taylor was rounding toward Grover q
bend, a landing about Ave miles above Bayou
Couftahleati, and had just come out OF very
stfong eddy, when the outside current caught
her with irresistible fury and bore her side
ways toward, the shore. The boat struck q
large tree which projected from the bank
about twenty feet. and on d level with the
water. #4 "@.# -T
50 STRONG AND SUDDEN
was the shock that the hull was almost com
pletely torn open from atnidshp forward
The boat then reeled out toward the river,
and the captain ordered our pilot to try ell
possible means to head for shore. This was
done. She touched the bank for u second,
then fpreded and begun sinking. She first
sank stern downward; afterwafd she graau-
ally settled, going down BY. degrees Till the
hurricane roof was flush with the level Of the
river. At this point 1t was fortunate that the
sacks Of cotton seed
PACKED CHOSE AMInsHtP,
acted as q buoy and upheld for some min
utes the sinking boat. otherwise all
the ladies' would have been drowned. as ittooh
Anine time tD get the yawl down. On shore
we all gathered together, wet, miserable. half
dressed, but deeply thankful to tho merciful
Providence that had permitted ,is to come out
safe from this unexpected disaster.
'',rhe ladies were sent TO cabin, about three
miles UP, and we men ~
I'll uAMpED I'M THE WOODS ng.
until Monday evening, when the Bertha picked
us up on her down trip. All tho officers, except
myself. aH had to 70 to the rity, preferred to
$50 bales had already been saved up to Mon
day night. 1t Ia worth stating that some
years ago
THE tRAD1EH JOHNSON
struck that saine tree which caused the loss of
o,trboat, but at that time the tree was standing,
and since then the bank eaved In and 1t fell In
THE river. where 1t remains yet, scarcely hurt
by the shock with our poor "Iessie.'
stias NEWELL. I
one Of our passengers, showed remarkable
coolness and bravery throughout this terrible
scene. When abe saw the water rushing over
the cabin floor sbe took her aged father by the
hand and FASTENED with him to the hurricane
roof There she told him. Father we must
jump In the river" He aasented. and hand
In hand they plunged In the tIrbid stream
Bat. unable tn stem tho current, she grew faint
entteated her father to save himself and leave
her to reach the shore alone, Ii possible
she refused, but she tore herself away
from him and sank with his name on her lips.
Agonized the poor father tried in vain to save
her, and was picked up half drowned.
THE HEROIC YOUNG WOMAN,
however, came again to Tho surface and clung
TO a cotton bale. After being tossed for TWEEN
ty minutes IN the water she was rescued,
nearly dead.
"rhe brave Miss Newell liz now in the city,
having reached here on the Bertha with the
other ladies.
Sour captain and the other officers will be in
New Orleans tomorrow night
It is needless to add that the Lessie Taylor
and her cargo, except, perhaps, the cotton
bales are totally lost.
MEETING or THE PLANTERS AssO.
CITATION.