St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1882-07-22

FOurth-Of-')utS Excursion AfflHeHt Oh
the Ohio-Thc Steamer Scioto sunk by
Collision with Another H"at-cver
Fifty Persons Drowned.
MINGO JUSCTIoS, O.. July 4.
The steamer Scioto. with about so pasSen-
gers, colled with the John Lomiis in the mid
die of the river tonight. sinking the Sc.0to i'll
fifteen feet Of wa CT, only the pjlot-h use be-
ing Wis bic.
One of the survivors says tn" Scinto
conitg up the riV,r VII Ter Il fun head of
steam, and when about half mile from
Mingo Junction the John lomas was
sighted coming down. The pilot Of the
Scioto whistlrd for the channel. but
owing to misrlnd 'rSt&n!ing bt tn boats
took the same side. the I.omts striking the
''cicto and sinking her in fifteen feet of water
in three minutes from the time of the collision.
The scenes the Scioto We're hcart-rending,
and the life struggles were frightful to behold.
The Tomas only slightly disabled and
went to work at one to save thos" on board
the unfortunate" S:ioto. This task was rem
dcrcd easier 10y III bright onl ght and no
doubt many lives were saved from his reason
WHEELING. w. Va. July ).
The scene at the wreck Of the Scoto to-day
almost beggarS description. The anguish of
those looking for lost ones was added to the
walls and SObs of those bending over the imam
innate forms of dead loved ones recovered
from tn" water The Associated Press report
er arrived at the scene at noon. at which
time only nine bodies had been rccov-
cred. Both banks of the river We're lined
with people, making crowd of perhaps
1000 persons. The work of dragging in the
vicinity for bodies is still going on.
William Mulholland, of WcllSvill =, O., under
whose auspices the excursion on the Inflated
Scioto was given. said that the boat took on
about zoo passengers ut East Liverpool and 23J
at Wcsville. The boat was very mach crowd
ed. and refused t. stop ut other points where
tickets had been sold. Taking his statements
with others, it is safr II say that five hundred
souls were on board ut the time Of the col
lision.
Captain Smith. of Martins Ferry, who was
on the John Tomas, SAYS that. when some dis
lance from the >cioto, he noticed tn boats
were going to come together, and made his
preparations f.. the shock Both steamers
had on full head of steam, the l.umas going
down stream at the rate OF httcca miles per
hour and the ascending Sci0to at the rate OF
twelve miles. 1t seems to be the prevailing
opinion that the collision resulted from a mis-.
understanding confusion of signals.
Several bodies are known to be in the wreck
The steamer Welcome, of this city lett for the
scene of the accident this afternoon to render
steamer.
PIT'TSB.rRGH. Pa. July ).
Tho Tomas appears to have sigma, cd first. ac-
cOrding to regulations. with one blast. to pass
the left. In IL few minutes the Sc"to re-
spondcd with two, and made for the middle OF
the river. The Lomas then gave two whistles,
but the boats kept coming closer and closer
together. Orders were given to back the EN-
gines, but it wHs too late to do any good.
'b,h boa re 1rr,n I, q
crash the Tomas striking the Scioto on the
| larboard or left-hand side, just about the ash
| box, tearing into her guards, and making
large hole in ID hnll, through which She began
agsnes. the ed rnson , on board was terrible.
/ The mum Der OF we.nozn mo children board
| was especially large, and as the boat began to
settle at once the scene was heartrendng-
parents looking for their children and vice
versa husbands for their wives and wives for
their husbands, and prayers and cries filled
the air. The officers, to their credit, tried to
keep the people cool, with the usual result in
such cases-nobody paid much attention to
them. The boat began going down at once.
and in three minutes there was five feet OF
water in the cabin. Those on the lower deck
mot less than fifty in NUMBER began jumping
into the river and the example was conta-
gious. Many followed them like flock of
Sheep while others more cool made their way
to the hurricane roof, where there safety
as long as it would hold up under
the weight. There were a dozen or
fifteen men lying drunk on the lower deck,
and all were doubtless hurried into eternity
without warning. The river seemed black with
human beings and debris of all kinds, and it
will be days at least before the full extent OF
the disaster is known. There were three boats
on the Scioto, and they were at once lowered;
In the excitement the first was ONercroWdcd
and swampeI, but it is believed that none of
the inmates were lost. The other wo boats
were managed better, and did good work IN
much damaged By the accident, and. after land
ing her crowd on the West Virginia shore, re-
turned to the help of those on the hurricane
deck of the SCiotO.
STEUBENvILLE, o.. July ).
Following is a correct list of the missing:
Wood Bailey. John Thomlinson. Wilson Paul
| John Christy, Eugene Farmer, George G.
Thompson Lincoln Wright, Benjamin Stebbins,
| Lincoln Beardmore, Stephen Kent, Michael
| Emmerling, Mrs. Michael Enm ring, David
Freed, Charles Leith, Charles Swearingen, Cis
Thompson, NJ E. Estine and wife, Willie
! Parell, Jacob Gibson and wife, James New
| Liverpool; Arthur E. Hoagland, MIR Hunter
! &. B. Armstrong, William Ewing, Edward
| Thomas, Willie Booth Charles Davidson, Lew
| is Harper, John Stevenson, E. p. Smith and
| two children of Wctsvile; two Bro>ser boys,
of Steubenville: Cornelius Plumer, Washing
/ ton. Pa Total. 40
Bodies Recovered: Evan P. Burke: Harry
| D. Beardmore. Miss Belle Brannon, Miss Mol
Charles Sprague, sallc I>iddy. Stewart Pipes,
| Joseph Conner, Lincoln Bcardmora. Harry
| Donnclly, Edward Duffy, Edward Smith. To-
! tai, l..
|