The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1880-08-18
DISASTER on RED RIVER.
THE STEAMBOAT BONNIE LEE EAPLoDEs
HER BOILER.

.truction of the Bonnie Lee, which oc-
Cured on tie night of Monday, the
9Th inst:
The sternYheel steamboat Bonnie
Lee, which left the wharf iii this city,
on Saturday evening last, bound for
Shreveport, on Monday night exploded
her boiler while proceeding up he'd
River and Immediately after sunk.
Mr.. VIM. Dillon, one of the clerks OF
tile ILL., fated steamer, reached the city
Yesterday on the Thompson Dean, hav-
ing proceeded in yawl to Iunica, ana
from him the following particulars OF
the disaster were obtained by a Demo-
crat reporter:
The explosion occurred at about y
o'clock Monday night while the boat
was on her way up Red River, and was
off Lone Moore point. about sixty-tiVe
miles from the mouth of the stream.
There was first a .jarring and shivering
of the vessel from bow to stern, as
if some obstruction in the river had
been struck, and the explosion imme-
diately followed. It's force was up
ward and towards the bow, and it car
ried away the cabin from the clerks
Office forward, and threw down the
chimneys; it at the same time wreck
ed the hull, and five minutes after the
accident the boat had sunk to her hur-
ricane deck.
The yawl-boats were launched as
soon as possible, and the passengers,
two gentlemen whose names Mr.. dis
Ion did not know, and four ladies, Mrs.
Parnell and daughter, Mrs. Bogel OF
Dallas, and Miss Nora A. Wood, If
Sherman, Texas, were carried safely
to the shore. From the wreck was ia
ken Mr.. Jesse Posey, the second clerk
of the boat. He was horribly mangled,
his legs being broken and torn, and
his head crushed. He died ten min
utes after he was placed on shore. His
body was brought down to this city by
the same boat on which Mr.. Dillon ar
rived.
A youth, Johnnie McDermott, ten
years Of age. the son Of the bar. keeper,
Barney McDermott, could not be found
after The explosion, and it is supposed
he was blown into the river, and if not
dead before striking the water was
drowned. Several of the crew were
also missing and are recorded as lost.
Mr.. Dillon did not know their names.
Captain K0uns in command, A. Pu-
.jol, the carpenter, Chas. Longshaw
and other members of the crew were
thrown into the river, bnt were picked
up by the yawls. Pujol was slightly
and LoDgshaw seriously injured. h
| Taylor Reynaud, the engineer on
duty at the time of the accident, es-
capped unhurt.
The canse of the accident is not pos
lively known, but it is attributed 70
the jar which the boat received Just
previous, it being believed that tile
sudden shock caused the boiler to
give way
From the records at the office of the
local board Of inspectors for this dis
trict the Democrat reporter ascertained
| that the boat had but one boiler. The
boiler WAS five years old, and was in.
spected and tested by the local board
nf inspectors in this district in October
last. 1t then stood a by arostatic pres
sure of 6 2G5 pounds to the square inch,
aud authority to CARR 1876 pounds OF
steam was given. 1t was u ten-fue
boiler, twenty two feet long,. and for.
ty-four inches in diameter. 1t was
made of quartec-inch iron, which had
stood tensile strain Of 1000 pounds,
1 1t was examined By Local Inspector
APPRECIATE during last week, aud in
obedience to his Instructions sllce,
which had "sagged" was replaced with
a new one.
/ This Bonnie Lee was built at Jefftr.
son, Indiana, in 1875; SHE was 3:2.5
tons burden, and was owned by Cap,
tain Noah Scovell. She was vaiued a,
| $4,000 and was insured fer $4,000
i he freight en- board-a fall Loads
total loss. The cousignees are no,
known, and will be ascer tained witt
difficulty, as the books and papers o
the boat were lost.
We also take from the same jour
nal, of a later date, the following
statement Of Captain C. S. Kouns
being, perhaps, more minute anc
detailed account of the terrible ca
tastrophe:
Captain G. S. Kouns. who was il
command Of the i'll fated steamer Bon
, ME Lee when she exploded her boiler
and sunk in Red River on Monda,
last, reached the city yesterday morn
ing, and during the day was seen by ,
Democrat reporter.
The statements of Captain Koun.
tailed with the account of the misha,
) Igiven by Clerk VIM. Dillon, which
was published in the Democrat, ex
cepting in one particular. Mr.. Dillor
thought the force of the explosion hai
been upward and forward, but the Cap
: tain was positive that it had beef
downward, and that the forepart o
the cabin was wrecked by falling afte
the supports beneath had been blowl
away, evidence, lie says, that tn,
steps leading to the cabin deck wer,
not broken, but simply slid forward
In regard to the death of Posey, Cap
. tain Kouns said that he did not thinl
the injuries received by the unfortu
nate and lamented clerk were the di
rect result of the explosion, but wer,
occasioned by the fall of the cabin ant
the officer in it, for he was found be-
meath and wedged in by broken ant
torn lumber. He went down with tn,
', cabin, and the descending beams ant
timbers crushed him. He spoke bu
twice after being taken from the wreck
Once lie said, "My poor child" and
then, looking up into Captain Kouns
face, "Curt, what will become o