New-York tribune., 1880-06-29

IT, left the re-room not five minutes DeioIe .,rae
Fs broke av Tsf Il: Ss Goals would
been thrown ont OF the furnace door for twenty
feet, but there would have oeen ,d SSr,,e Sns.
nSiss nssssa noSinS GsH5e sill '0u saw fame.
There are only two Of the crew that think were y
lost though am not snre Iaey yncR are waitsr
haven't seen Ben Kirke since, and I'm airsiu nj
gene. No; I haven't any idea hew many people
were lost in all, and as say can't TELL no" my
p Topez of No. ~ Pearl-st was one of the pas
sengers of the Seawanhaka, who after r naI4 sw nt
reached the shore OF Wards Island IN greatly ex
hansted condition. He.was Immediately conveyed
to the Hospital and cared for Later IN tne to
ing he able to give the following accOuh' VI '0
I'VE left Peck Slip at 4:15 PIN. with a mode,
ratey full boat can't undertake 20 d there se
took on board between, 20 and 1oO ,n more
passengers. We steamed along quietly ohougn, nn,E
enjoying the fine breeze and Tatchlng Ine
clouds never for moment thinking or an acci9im.
or fire. had walked forward as we came 10 5e het-
gate to look ahead, and was upon the lower uecA. E
Happening to turn sSe sSw 1Gs1
heard no explosion. 1t seemed to start arounu III
the boiler Almost immediately the Stib
IL. Nv an exertion climbed to the upper deek. cf
The flames were making rapid headway, ~ Inis u,.s
time and being good swlmneT forId thpt ' had
task before me. The current was very poWe,ada
and 1t was with the greatest difficulty that maoe
W" n;d thew lower any Ife-boats ~ was asded
eff they had any on board, they did not nave
time to lower them" ~ ,a On
al cannot say, for did not have time TO look lot
one."
"How did the crew act Z" II.
"The only officer I saw was the captain. :, ne
did his work nobly. He steered in the pilot
horse after he vas 96T0 Oy Ss Sesd
Al fo.,- AItokxu mt
that he could not escape being burned to DEATH
Weeks. the engineer. was badly burned l under
Another passenger said that he got on board the
steamer at Thirty-fourth-st. on his way TO Glen
Cove. He remained on the lower deck and dla
Of off them % were @ on the upper decks All went we'll
he continued, until the boat reached He'll Gate;
There the first intimation OF danger l
FiSSvsS SSS Se escaping Of ssa% from an
pipe. Almost Immediately flames were seen burst
ing up in the forward part OF the boat lhereupoh
rushed up to ascertain tho extent of the fire. and
found. to my dismay. that the steamer
was swiftly being wrapped in oanrai nSmesi
the deck forward Of the wheels almost entirely
from view II became evident that the boatwas going
to be run ashore, and made up my mind TO rrmain
aboard until the last moment. The men, women lST
control, and cried loudly upon others TO help
them. man came me up t0Id 10 ,Tn me than ahq
beseeched me to save bis WE & tNp S mn n nsc
to reach the shore IN safety.
"The officers kept telling the people not to get
their keeping cool Bus the warnings of the officers
had no effect on the panic-stricken people;
did not get life-preserver did not sec any aud
the flames made such rapid progress that there was
not time to make search for one. Walking as far
forward nDOn the guard. rail I could, Jumped
off into tho water about twenty feet or more from
twice struclEeus for land. Before Jumping noticed
a qrea. many people 10 the water. fhose who
wore forward we're forced TO leap from TIE deck
first When ! reached the marshes l was able to
cling TO something until l gained enough
strength to get firmly on shore. As
Tar as could there were no
of There wagI't time for 1t. | finally got into a
rowboaf aud was FOwed to RandalPs Island"