The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-04-07

CITY, en- route from New Orleans to Cincin.
natl, was burned at her wharf at 4 80 O'Clock
this morning.
The Golden City left New Orleans last
Saturday with a crew OF about sixty and
forty cabin passengers, including fifteen wo-
men and nine children When she was ap-
preaching the wharf here at 80 this morn
ing she was discovered to be on fire She
was Immediately beaded for shore and in
four minutes touched Beal street wharf -
The line thrown out parted. ard the burning
steamer then hoated with the swift current
down stream. Some OF the passengers had
already leaped Of. but many of them were
still confined in the burning mass, as it
drifted away.
oRIeIN OF THE FIRE.
The fire was started by a watchman. who
| accidentally set fire to lot of lutte which
was stored amidships The steamer had inst
whistled to land and the watchman went
among the deck passengers to notify them
! that they were approaching Memphis and
/ that those destined for the city must get
I ashore, when the bottom Of his lamp dropped
/ in some jute, and before the flames could be
I extinguisheG they had spread ali over the
I deck Of the vessel. Marion Purcell one Of
/ the pilots, was in the clerks office when the
/ alarm was first sounded, and he rushed thro'
/ the cabin, bursting open the state-room doors
/ and awakening the passengers. Sc rapidly
/ did the flames spread that within five min
I utes after the discovery Of the fire, which
I broke out amidships, the aft part Of the
! saved had to fee in their night clothes. Pat
/ Haley, one Of the firemen, ran up stairs to
/ notify the head engineer. but by the time he
/ had reached the hurricane deck the flames
/ had mounted almost to the pilot house, and
/ hewas driven back by the fire. He then rang
| the alarm bell, and seeing the boat was ap-
pTOacnnG the shore, ran down the forward
/ stairs and jumped Oh board the tug OrIole
/ just as the Golden City struck her.
ESCAPING FROM DEATH
hot ufrlrf ha
( aboard the steamer again and made his way
/ to the coal bardge lying alongside Two
Eegro deck hands and white deck passen-
/ ger were killed when the tug was struck as
| they were caught between the bow of the
/ boat and the side Of the tug. There were
/ about ten men on the fan tail OF the boat
/ who must have been drowned, as when Ha-
/ ley leaped into the river he saw three men
4 go overheard and drown and the others, he
/ thinks, must have shared the same fate
/ Bryce Purcell, the pilot, made his escape BY
/ climbing over thefront part Of the pilot house
/ the nre then being in the rear. Felix Leh-
/ man, who was a passenger, says there was
/ merry party aboard and nearly all the pas
/ sengers remained up until midnight They
1 had one or two gentlemen aboard who PLAYED
/ the piano, and they furnished the passengers
/ with music and singing. He was awakened
! by having his state-rOom burst in. and heard
! the cry of fire. Selling his clothes he ran
! forward. and reached the barge lust In time
/ as the next minute the vessel hOated down
/ the stream.
CIRCUS ANIMALS LOST.
Stoves Circus, which was taken on boqrd
/ at N1dalia, La, and six cages OF animals
and birds, together with the ticket and band
wagons, tents and horses, were lost. J. g.
/ CrOne, owner Of side show to the circus. Is
/ supposed to have perished. His room mate,
/ II. y. Ackerman, says he dragged him out
/ of bed to the foot of the stairs through the
/ smoke and is satisfied that he never arose
/ from where he left him.
/ J. J. Glenroy one Of the saved, resides In
Philadelphia, He has for two years been
! keeper of the animals in Stoves menagerie
! He states that he was asleep under one of
] the animal cages on the forward part of the
/ lower deck when the cry Of fire was given.
I He leaped forth, looked about, but saw no
( fire then he looked again. and saw that the
/ entire centre of the boat was a mass Of
flames.
! As soon as the boat touched the coal fleet
! be Jumped ashore. He saw the officers of
the steamer at work making the hawsers
fast, then he saw the lines give way and the
! steamer swing out and drift down. A cage
/ containing a lion sank down in the middle as
! the flames enveioped 1t. He heard no cry
! from any of the animals as they were being
! burned alive. The six cages contained a
lion, tiger, two leopards, an Albino deer,
| monkeys and birds. OF four horses belong
| ing to the circus, aboard the steamer, three
were saved, but one, the celebrated trick
horse 'Seiim,' was lost
It is impossible to gather a complete list Of
the lost, as the books of the steamer were
lost AS far as can be ascertained there
were tventy-three ladies on board the III
fated steamer.
THE LIST OF THE LOST.
The following is list of the lost, as cor
rected up to midnight DR.. Monahan and
wife, Jackson, o.. Mrs. Creary, WintOn
Place, near Cincinnati; Miss Luella Creary,
Winton Place w. II. Stowe and wife. Hen
derson, Ky; Ollie Wood and wife, Hender-
son, Ky. Mrs. Anna Smith, Massachusetts, ;
Mrs. Helen PerciYal, Hawesville, Ky. Mrs.
L. z. Kouns and three children; Miss Camp
bell, a relative Of Mrs. KOuns; Rob't Kelly,
second engineer; Mary Boyd and Amanda
Atchison, chambermaids ]. G. CrOne, owner
OF the side show to Stoves Circus three of
tho deck crew (colored) and negro boy ser
want;
The owners of the Golden City are Cap
tain J. d. Hepler, Sterling c. Mcintyre and
w. T. Mcintyre, all of Cincinnati. The
! vessel was valued at $40, 600 and insured for
! $50, 600. She was built in 1876.
Wash Smith, the colOred captain Of the
watch, was sent 20 Jail on Thursday on a
warrant charging him with murder through
carelessness in causing tie fire on the steam
er
/ THRILLING STORY OF A LADY WHOSE MOTHER
PERIsHED IN THE FLAMES
MEMPHIS, TENN, March 31-Miss Ionia
Malsn, Of Hawesville, Ky, one of the three
/ lady passengers saved from the burned
steamer, tells the following story of her ex-
Z peIltHCC ouc WAS gong from new VI
leans to her home in Hawesville, in company
with her mother, Mrs II. NJ. Percival and
her nephew, VIM. Mckinley, a lad of fifteen
years. There had been merry party in the
cabin and she and her mother retired after
IL o'clock. Some time after they had fallen
asleep they were awakened by Mckinley,
I who rushed into their state room, and said
that the boat was on fire. She and hel
mother got up and, without waiting to dress
themselves, went out into the cabin, which
was full of smoke They walked hurriedy
forward, her mother being little behind
On arriving at the front guard of the boat
she saw that her mother was not with them,
and she attempted to run back after her, bal
was prevented by Mckinley, vhe said thai
she was only going to her own destruction
as the cabin was then mass of flame and
I smoke. ooh, thought she was with u.s. .
moaned Miss Malsin, tossing wildly on hei
couch. 81 wanted to go back to her, but he
would not let me-" She said her nephew
pulled her out on the guards and lowered
her down to Charles Ross, jr., passenger
who was standing on a coal barge He
caught her in his arms and took her ashore.
The steamer Fulton, which conveyed Cap
tain Mcintyre and party to the wreck of tn {
Golden City this morning, bas just returned
A diver went down, but could do nothing. -
The wreck lies in twenty-five feet of water
with the hull up stream, and the current /:
so swift that all efforts to go through the
cabin by the diver proved fruitless. Nc
more dead bodies have been recovered since
the one mentioned yesterday, whish has beer
identified as that of Mrs. Anna Smith, OF
Springfield, Mass, who had been visiting
relatives in New Orleans.
|
CONCORD GRAPE VINES.