The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-10-06
RIVER HORROR.
Burning of the Mississipps steam
err X. II. Lee.
Twenty-one Passengers Perish befors
the Boat Reached the SSare.

The famous steamer r. H. Lee was burned
OH the Mississippi river thirty miles south OF
vicksburg, causing the loss OF twenty-one
lives and the total destruction OF the boat
and freight. The Lee was valued at slS7, ooo,
and carried insurance amounting to sJo,ooo
Many acts of daring and heroisn were per
formed by employees of the fatal boat In
warning and assisting passengers to places
of safety. The story of the disaster If thus
told by the Captain, William Campbell;
"We left vicksburg about d o'clock on Fri
day evening with about 40 bales OF Gotten
on board, about thirty passengers and a crew
OF about ninety or 100, including officers
We first discovered the fire Just below
Brooks Landing, Miss, about thirty
miles below Vicksburg The fire was hrs
seen i'm the kitchen little after o'clock
Saturday morning. Pilot Stout, Engineer
Perkins the second mate, fitzpatrick, Clerks
Hall, Wells and Bell and myself were on
watch at the time. L shouted TO the
pilot TO land the boat rs quick as he could,
which he did We ran a line out, made the
boat fast and lowered the stage. All per-
SONS forward got ashore safely. Those aft
were cut off from the stage by the fire and
smoke and went TO the stern OF the boat 10
save themselves. Some were saved and
some were lost. The yawl was low
cred and picked up many persons in the
river who sprang overheard 10 escape the
flames All my men did their duty long
US the flames allowed them to- One lady
from Pittsburgh, going TO NatcheZ, saved
herself and seven children. She displayed
great presence OF mind, ana was cooler than
many man would have been under such
trying circumstances Our sailor man. a
Greek, and two of the tiremen behaved
splendidly with the yawl. Pilot Stout, q
brother of Mrs. Mannon, one of the
owners OF the boat, and Engineer
Perkins behaved nobly. Second Mate
Mike fitzpatrick ran the lines out and
lowered the stage, showing cColness and
heroism. All the cabin boys who were lost
gave up their lives in trying TO save those OF
others. Ovid Bell woke up all the persons
on the texas deck, not trying 20 save him
self until all We're awake. Mate Hines was
everywhere, displaying great energy. We
worked the engines as long a. the fire would
let us, and they did great deal of service
in holding the boat To the bank. The
hose was worked, but all TO no pur-
pose. Our OUTFIT was complete. We had 200
feet of hose, and the inspectors had been
very particular in seeing that we had "A full
outfit the day before we left New Orleans
last Tuesday The flames spread quicker
than can tell. When the shore was reached
the flames had already wrapped some por-
tons of the boat. In an hour the boat was
burned to the waters edge We gathered
we cOulu anu waited Tor tne dawn or
day. We saved nothing but a little
money out of the office. The books, papers,
United States mail, cargo and ali were
lost. At the time OF the fire our
cargo consisted of 5l2 bales of cotton, 20, 600
feet OF lumber, sundry freight and express
packages. The cargo, l think, was valued
at about $50 600 The boat was worth
100000, and was insured for $4,000 At
about o'clock in the morning the j. NJ.
White came along and took the whole
crew on board. l left the second mate
and two men in a yawl TO gather up
floating cotton and take care of the
wreck until | received further advices from
the insurance companies. l reached Vicks-
burg about 9 o'clock. The lady and her
children from Pittsburgh / placed on tug
and sent TO Natchez. NY mate was also in
structed TO hunt up the bodies of any of the
lost and offer rewards for their recovery.
The new Robert T.. Lee was built in 1876 by
the Towards, of Jacksonville, Ind. She
was considered one 81 the best boats ON the
river. She never met with any accident ex-
cept the breaking OF shaft last year"