St. Landry democrat., 1882-08-19
ANOTHER STEAMBOAT DISASTER.
Fourteen Persons Killed and Forfy-six In
jured by Boiler Explosion on the Mis-
sissippi River.

Fourteen Persons Killed and F"rty-six In
jured by IL Boiler Explosion on the Mis-
sissippi River.
ONE of the most friyhtful calamific> IN the
annals of Mississippi River steamhoatinG oc-
CURED at Hickman, Ky, Aug. :. shortly at
ter three o'clock in the aft ,rnoon the
steamer Gold Dust, of the st. Louis and
NicksDurg Anchor Line pulled from the
wharf and when about three Loaf lengths
from shore her boilers exploded. tearing OH
the who,c upper works and setting the YES
sci on fire. The greatest panic and CONFUSION
Immediately prevailed. Nearly all o. the
crew. most of whom We're colored, deserted
their posts several of them lcaping INTO the
river. The citizens Of Hickman rendered all
the aid in their power. In Il short time Il
number of stitf- were run out to til" doomed
vessel and ropes were made fast. by the
hardest kind of work the boat was landed IN
an eddy above the town. about 400 yards from
the elevator. below which point the explosion
occurred Before the boat was made fast the
flames had spread rapidly, and it was evident
that an attempt to save her would be impos-
sble. The citizens rescued all the passengers
and officers who could be reached. In Il short
time the Gold Dust burned to the waters edge
and the hull careened and sunk in the eddy.
Tw enty four of the wounded were taken to
HolcOmb's drugstore, and number OF 9TH
ers were distributed about privat" residences,
the citizens doing all in their power to relieve
their sutferinSs. The City of Alton, another
steamer belonging to the Anchor Line, ar
rived at Hickman an hour or two after the
disaster and took on board all the wounded
that were able to be moved, and some OF the
bodies of those who persisted in the accident
Seventeen wounded were left at Hickman
twelve of whom are almost sure to die. sum
ming up the dead andinjnred, the case stands
thirty one dead and missing, and forty six
wounded. The mortality growing out of the
accident will undoubtedly reach fifty.
Regarding the probable cause of the explo-
sion but little, if anything. can be ascertained.
John Bowers, first engineer, states that at the
time of the explosion he had started to the
locker to get a wrench to blow Off the mud
valve, feeling sure of more water in the boil
ers than was necessary for safety. Capt.
Ed Gray, who was the pilot on watch, states
that he heard two distinct explosions, show
ing, was afterward proved, that two
boilers gave way. The pilot-house was lifted
up and partially overturned, leaving him en-
tirely unframed. The absence of broken
limbs among the injured appears especially
noticeable
Henry Dietrich first clerk of the Gold Dust,
when asked to detail his experience lmme-
diately after the explosion, replied that he
could say very little of his own knowledge,
as he knew nothing until he awoke to con-
seriousness at the hotel, whittier he had been
removed from the burning boat by some of
the crew. "When revived, finding that my
injuries were not serious, returned to the
boat This was about an half hour after the
explosion and she was being carried out by
the eddy at the time, envcloped in flames.
There was no one in the water, as all
had been rescued very soon after the explo-
sion occurred. The fact that it was
election day caused large numbers
of people to be in town, and the alarm
once given every one rushed to the scene OF
the disaster and worked hard and nobly in
rescuing the passengers and crew and ale
Waiting the sufferings of the wounded. When
the boilers burst the wind drove the boat to
the shore, where it was tied, and this enabled
every one who had retained presence of mind
enough to remain on the boat and not jump
into the water to walk ashore. In the con-
fusion and excitement few had jumped into
the river, and these were quickly rescued by
skifs, number of which were at the spot
ready to go to the rescue of the drown
ing. The boat got looo7e from is moorings
by some means, probably b. the burning OF
the rope and the upper works having been
burnt the hull was carried away from the
shore and sunk about 100 yards distant We
had about fifteen men and five lady passen-
gers on board, as near AS l can Judge but
can't be certain, as the books were all lost;
and one OF these ladies, Miss HiIa Smith,
from Pennsylvania went in search Of her hat,
and adjusted it on her head deliberately be-
fore leaving the boat. She and her four COM
panions are noble ladies, and exhibited the
greatest fortitude and kindness of heart.
They are noble women, and may God bless
them. The people of Hickman, too, are de-
serving of all praise. for they acted both he
roically and generously. There WIS nothing
that could be done for the sufferers that they
left undone."
Capt John T. McCord. while not dangerous
" injured, has several severe burns on the
hands, which will lay him up for some time
to come He was asleep in his room at the
time, and was awakened by being thrown in
to the debris, the explosion being directly
beneath him.
The names of those killed. as far as can be
ascertained, are: VIM A. 1ngraham, third
clerk; John Lytle, second pantryman; Will
| liam Traverse, bookkeeper; Peter Winter.
second porter; Jim Jerry, captain of the
watch: Walter Howard, rou Stabout; Charles
Williams barber; Jas. Say, roustabout, and
P. r. Coleman and Manuel Victor, deck pas
sengers.
| Following is a list of the survivors on the
| City of Alton: j. g. McCord captain, hurt; S.
Price, mate, hurt; Lem Gray pilot, hurt;
Washington Morris, decker, hurt; NJ. Grear.
of Friars Point. wounded; Stichman, unhurt;
Tom Beck, deck sweeper, unhurt; Pat Fitz-
| gerald, hurt; John ONiel deck hand. badly
! hurt; S. Gray. unhnrt; Ed. Gray, unhnrt !.
Headly Smith, unhurt; Bell Meyer deck hand,
unhurt Jim Monahan, second mate, unhurti
John Brown, unhurt; Neel Galty, unhurt; Lee
| Hyrosman, striker, unhurt; Dad Durham,
| hurt; Chris ONeal. unhurt; Harry DIETRICH.
unhurt; Henry DIETRICH, Sr., hurt, Miss IL.
| Smith. passenger, unhurt; Miss Liby Morgan
unhurt; Jas. Cotfey. unhurt; Ella Cofey. I'M