The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-10-04
A STEAMBOAT HORROR.
TWENTY ONE PERSONS BURNED
TO DEATH ON TIE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER BELOW ViCKSBURG.
Tragic end or,he Robert e Lee

New ORLEANS, Sept. 30.-The
steamer Robert n. Lee was destroyed
10y fire thlrgy-five mics below Vlcks
burg early this morning. So far as
can be learned twenty one persons
were lost The persons known to
have persisted are Us follows:
CaOui passeugers-Mr. Pointer, OF
Maysviiie, Ky Mr. Mcclellan, Of
New Orleans Miss Adams, music
reacher, oii her way to Baton Rouge;
an infant OF Mrs. Searle, of Vicks-
burg, and two colored women.
Steamer hands-t'rank Jones, fire.
man; Ophelia Jones and Martha
Webo, second and third chamber
maids; Thomas Collins and Irwin
Duncan, ca0in boys; Samuel Brown,
roustabout James Kardo, carpen-
ter Wi lam Westmaker, second
engineer; two cooks and two assist
ants.
HOW THE STEAMER BURNED.
The Lee LEFT Vicksburg yesterday
evening for New Orleans with five
hundred O,iles OF cotton and large
list OF passengers. She had lett New
Orleans on the up trip last Tuesday,
after having been oyerhauled and
repAinted. A crowd OF people had
been at the Nicksburg wharf during
the evening to look at the steamer,
and fully hundred persons had
waited TO see her start ON the down
trip, the first in five months. The
boat pulled out inio the stream, with
lights lbazing from every window,
and as she gathered headway and
started down the river the crowd on
shore gave her a hearty cheer.
Within half hour the lights fad ed
from the windows one by one and
soon ali on board were asleep, except
those on duty in the engine rooms
and at the Wheel An hour passed
and the great steamer was rushing
down the river with her old-tlme
speed. The clock in the pilot-house
showed the hour of half-past thre t
when the dark outlines OF Point
Pleasant loomed up through the
darkness. Just opposite the point
the pilot saw little gleam upon the
water, close by the steamers side,
but he paid 20 attention, thinking
1t was a falling spark. \ moment
later he detected the odor of burning
cotton. Before he could open the
door to look outside a fireman rush
ed to the hurricane deck, shouting
Fire :" Almost simultaneous with
his appearance a sheet of flame shot
up into the air and disappeared
Before the crew could respond to the
alarm, and before the torce-pumps
could beset running, the cotton bales
were abiaze, the fire having spread
with incredible swiftness over the
newly painted wood work to all parts
of the boat.
\ RACE WITH DEATH.
The flames spread so rapidly that
all thoughts OF saving the steamer
were abandoned. The chief hope
was safety. The pilot sprang back
into the wheel house and rang for
full speed. The engineers opened
the throttles wide. Then began a
race with death. The great wheels
dashed the water in sheets over the
decks, aud their roar as they whirled
around, with the rattleof everstrain-
ed machinery, could be heard III the
cabin and on shore, even about the
roar of the flames. The vessel trem-
bled anu shook window panes fell
out in the struggle of wheels and
engines. The shouts of men, the
I screams Of women, the cries OF chill
dren and the roar ofthe flames made
scene Of the most heart-rending
confusion. Men jumped overheard
to escape the fire; women became
insane with fright and rushed into
the burning state rooms only to per-
ish.
In the midst OF all the confusion
and the shrieks of the passengers the
pilot held the steamer straight for
the Yucatan plantation and never
relinqiShed his hold upon the wheel
until the shore was reached. As
many as could save themselves jun
ped into the water and swan ashore.
In a short time the steamer was a
mass of ruins. The steamer J. VI.
White passed the wreck about 6 a.
m and took the remaining passen-
gers and crew to Vicksburg. 5. c.
Rawlings and Robert Smith, pilots,
were both burned and otherwise
hurt.
\ Runaway Locomotive.