Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-02-18
A STORY OF A HERO
As Good as lin BIudsOs- pilot Under.
wood Of the DonnaIIy.

Cincinnati Enquirer. i7th.l
Mr. William G. Underwood the
heroic pilot of the ill-fated steamer
A. G. Donnally, which burned to tbe
waters edge below Cairo last Fridav
evening, resides in our sister city Of
Newport, and reached his home on
Monmouth street, yesterday morning
During the day be was called on by an
Enquirer reporter, to whom he rave
the following statement of what he
knew about the burning of the boat
Said he, Shortly after eight O'Clock
FRIDAY evening, when the Donnally
was about seven miles below Cairo.
at Island No. |, an alarm of fire was
sounded, and | was ordered to land ths
boat. We were then in the middle of
the river, and / Immediately nulled
for the Kentucky shore. The night
was very dark, and ] could see butt
solitary star, and soon the darkness
was intensified by the dense smoke.
which rolled up around the pilot.
house and environed it like a black
cloud. stayed at the wheel as long
as | could without choking. and,
whlle at my post, ] could hear the
passengers crying most ~piteously.
Land hor! land her.! AS soon as
was certain that the boat had struck
the. shore, l pulled the starboard
englne-bell, andleft. As | came out of
the pilot-house'the smoke was SO thick
that 1 could hardlyseea footin front Of
me. | managed with difficulty to Get
over the texas to the wheel-honse and
thence down the back stems To the
ladies cabin. There l met my part
ner, William Attenborough, and two
chambermaids. The fire was then
spreading. fast, and had completely
cut on all passage to the bow of the
boat. | told my companions to get
lite-preservers, and / ran into 6e
cabin to get one for myself, but the
smoke drove me back. | made n
second attempt, but | was again foiled.
The chamberpaids were more forth.
nate, and had secured preservers. 7
told them to jump into the river. :
Qne OF them said, Great God
! am gone and then sprang
into the water. The other Sid
down the outside of the wbeeI. bonso
into the river. Both were picked nm
by yawl. Mr.. Attenborough Jumped
INTO the river and swan ashore,
waited until the wheel quit turning be-
fore l really began to study how / was
to got ashore. 1t had been a lono
time since | had been in the wafer
and l did not know how l could swim
1 was perfectly cool, and, after taxing
IN the situation, | saw a drift-pile
about a hundred feet of. I tbouobt
the current had been cut off by tbe
boat 5 bow, and so | took off nv shoes
and my ,oyercoat and sprang into the
river. had hardly got into the water
until l found the current very swift
and strong, and soon | felt that | was
going under. just as | was about To
sink the %watchman of the boat, who
was on shore, ran out to the edge of
the drift and contriyed to reach
me and pull me out of the water
on to the drift. To this man | am
indebted for my life. l had no sooner
gotten on shore than a crowd Of people
collected about me telling me Chat /
had saved their lives. and wanting to
know what they could do for me.
was SO cold and chilled that | could
scarcely speak, seeing which Mr..
Brice Purcell, the second clerk of the
boat, came forward and gave me his
overcoat and shoes. What | did for
the boat was merely my duty, and any
other pilot would have done the same
had he been in my place.,
Mr.. Underwood's modesty is only
equaled by his bravery, and we trust
that all admirers Of true manhood will
see that his pluck and devotion to
duty are properly recognized.