Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-11-05

leyee Jumped up from the table and hurried
to the river. Finding that one span of
the bridge was gone and the War
Eagle was floating hopelessly down
the river, he ran to the Ploughboy with the
intention of saving the people who might fall
in the. river, but found she had no steam. The
steamer Penguin had twenty pounds of steam
up, and Capt. Hutchinson began at once pre-
pairing to send her down to the War Eagle.
In very short time forty pounds of steam
was gotten up, and the boat
started down to the wreck.
Finding that the w. D. Smith had reached the
scene and was holding in the stern of the dis
abled boat, fiat was brought down and the
baggage brought to the city. The
War Eagle is now settled in
about seventeen feet of water
on the forward side and nine feet on the star
board side, with her head down stream. I
cannot say as yet how badly she
is damaged. She is badly broken
in two places, especially where
she struck the piers. don't think she is
badly broken aft, though leaking, and one
wheel is entirely gone. think the hull is
not badly damaged, and the cabin is not in
injured. The engines are also
in good shape. A fiat is now
along side, and q portion of the cargo will be
saved in good order, probably one-third. Com
modore Davidson will be up on the Gem City
Sunday. Particulars of the damage and in
surance cannot be given for some time.
CAPT. JERRY WOOD,
who was in command of the War Eagle, said
eddy just above the bridge, and the current
whirled her around against the bridge.
She came down to the bridge all right,
but got too far over in the eddy, and strong
effort was being made to back her out. The
boat struck the bridge with terrific force,
breaking the larboard wheel and throwing
one span of the bridge into the river. Her hull
struck the pier and cut hole large enough to
let the water rush in very rapidly. / was on
the hurricane deck while she was swinging
around, and the passengers rushed frantically
toward the bridge trying to jump off the
boat I did all could to keep the passengers
cool and to hold them on board, as I knew
that after passing the bridge, even If she did
sink she would not 60 down out
of sight, and the boat was the safest place to
be. understood that two of these parties
had jumped into the river but do
not know of anyone being drowned.
We foated down the current to
point below the elevator and then with the
aid of one wheel, and line carried to the
shore by men in a skiff, made fast and sent
the passengers ashore. l think large
portion of the cargo will be saved.
The barley and flour may be damaged some
what by water. The boat was not loaded to
her full capacity. She ought to carry 900
tons and we had not much more than 700
tons aboard She was drawing about five
feet of water.
The War Eagle had been laid for some time
and her upper seams were too open to permit
heavy loading. The officers and crew did all
they could TO save the boat and keep the peo-
Pile on board until safe landing could he eff
fected.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE BOAT.
CHICAGO, Nov, 4.-The War Eagle, which
is reported to have been destroyed at KeOkuk
by striking the bridge, is young boat, hay
ing been built only about three years ago.
She was the fastest boat on the upper river,
as well as the finest, her companion,
the Golden Eagle, having been burned
below Louisiana, Mo-, within a
year. These two boats were built expressly
for passenger traffic between st. Paul and st.
Louis and made their trips in incredibly short
time. They were models of steamboat archi-
lecture, beautifully equipped and were the
pride of the corporation which put
them afioat, the Keokuk- Northern line.