The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-06-30
A FEARFUL FIRE.
THE STEAMER sEWANAAKA BURNED,
Fully FIFTY Lives Lost..The Cause Of
the Fire UnLnown--A Number of
the Passengers, Badly Burned,
Brought tn New Hork-Pnr.
ticuiRrs of the Aw-
ruI Catastrophe

College Point, l.. l., june 29.-Following
are later deals of tho burning OF the
sound steamer, SewanahlSa, yesterday
A passenger says there were three hundred
and tltty passengers on board. All went we'll
until the steamer had passed He'll Gate, whom
the fire alarm rang out and the flames we're
discovered bursting through the pilot house,
The officers and crew assured
the passengers there was no danger, and tho
boat was headed for Randall's island. She
grounded on bar two hundred feet from
tho shore, Those of tho passengers unpro-
vided with life.preservers wero saved by
clinging to the guards, paddles and other
portions of tho steamer. The body of
Abe Skidmore, member of an old Long Island
family, has been rescued and brought TO the
Coleman house, in this city. This informant
expresses himself that about three hundred
lives were lost.
THE ILL-FArED PASSENGERS.
New York, June 29.--About forty of the
Inflated passengers of the Sewanahka, more
or less burned, were received by the men,
bers of the Eastern Boulevard club and
taken to the club house, opposite tho scene of
the disaster, at midnight Twelve bodies,
nine adults, one child and two babes, were
brought to the morgue Mt Bellevue hospital.
Among the passengers was j. w. English, of
the New York Sun. He was saved Captain
Smith is confined at the hospital on Randall's
Island, suffering from severe burns on the
face and arms. He made an effort to beach
the vessel, but the flames spread so rapidly
that il was impossible to do so.
NUMBER OF LIVES LOST.
The number of lives lost cannot BIO learned,
rs the steamer was merely a daily transport
and keptno register. 1t is not likely that
more than fifty were lost
A FIREMANs STATEMENT.
Charles Abeel, fireman of tho boat,
makes the following statement: 1--WE made
Our landing at the foot of Thirty-third street
at 4;30 O'clock, and II was about fifteen
minutes later when we reached Little He'll
Gate. was sitting in the wing on the port
gang-way after having started tho bilge
pump, when | heard noise, and looking
around | saw ire pouring out of tho fire
L
into the fire room, but tho flames were toe
much for me, We were Just opposite
Randall's Island,and running forward yelled
to the captain, who WAS ut the wheel, to head
for shore, but he shouted back ho could not
then ran into tho cabin. forward and urgeC
the steward and passengers to save them
selves. They did not suspect that the vesse
was on fire, as no smoke or flame was blown
in that direction. AT that time the wood
work of the vessel about her centre WA
burning like finder and the flames were max
ing their way toward both ends Of the boat
There we're probably about 800 on board
The men were jumping from the hurricane
deck into the water, and large number o
terrified children and women were huddlet
near the stern Of the boat. l climbed
over the rail near the bow, and severa
men almost jumped upon mo befor
) took to the water to saw myself.
found life preserser floating near me, am
was going TO put 1t on. when man clutchet
it, and knowing could swim and thinking
he could not, lot him have it, and swan 70
Wards Island, which reached, and helpe
to man boat, and assisted in picking up tn
: passengers in the water. The Sewanahk
was finally beached on RandalPs Island, bu
she soon burned to the waters edge. Capital
Charles p. Smith was at the whet
and stuck 10 his post to tn
last. His face and body wer
) badly burned. Small boats came to the 70:
cue from every direction. The steamboa,
Granite, bound tor Hartford, the Deco, Min
nehsrnuk, and Sylvan Glen, had boat
; manned and sent to our assistance. TIL
clothing of many of the children on boar
caught fire, and some of them were severel
burned. A lamp, which CARED in my han
{ into the tank room, which is back of the fir
room, and separated by q board partition
where changed my clothes, brought bac
into the fire room and set down. l am sur
: the fire could not hav
originated from the lamp, O
: it would neither explode nor burn without
wick. | could put some of the oil in sau
Ger and it would not burn If you put
M atch to it, therefore feel certain il coul
4 not have caused the fire and Icsnnot imagin
what did. Engineer Weeks put on flu
head of steam, | am told, in response to
signal from the captain, and then climbed u
among the machinery and was seen on tn
upper deck trying to raise valve, so that tn
o steam could escape and an explosion could
T avoided. We never carry over "a pounds
d steam"
Felix Acugeine, correspondent Of Frenc
papers, living at BAL West Twenty
/. eighth street, found his sister to
day in the hospital at Willet
Point confirmed lunatic. She had been o
|, board the steamer Sewsnahka with Mr.
I Acugene. Her condition WI
' such to-day that she could nc
. tell anything about her sister-in.law. MI
!. Acugeine took blank death certi6cate,so .
: he could recover the body of his wife if h
. found 1t.