The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-10-07
ANOTHER STEAMBOAT DISASTER.

II - .
BsnaIfig OF the sHeAIndr nj Il! Leo below
Nicksburg, Miss'-Great Destruction OF
Properly and Terrible Loss of Iife-An
Interdstine Recital Of thei Incidents of
--the-bs sastera-ssatemsrts- ef- s,sc~ Ca plain
and and osh'g pmqsrsTtItsFqic Action of the
Pilot, etc. etc.
VfCksaURa,i Miss, September soA
This mornings at three o'clock fire broke out
pnthe steamer r. Es Lee. while on'heutrip to
this city, iabout thirty miles below here, result
ing IN the total destruction OF the boat, with
terrible loss of life. The following is a list OF
persons known to be lost: Cabin passengers:
|. Mr. Pointer, Marysville, KY; Mrs. Mcclellan,
New Orleans; Miss Adams, mnsic-teacher, on
the way to Baton Rouge; an infant of Mrs.
Scale, OF Vicksburg;-two colored women.
Frank Jones', fireman.; Ophelia Jones and
Martha Webb, second and third chamber
ma DIS; Thomas fisher,igoe Murren, sdbt Cox,
Thomas Collins, Irwin Duncan, cabin boys;
Samuel Brown, roustabout; Ktif'dof Swanson,
carpenter; William Westerm alSer, second en-
Rineer; Tom Collins; all tlieecooks and help
except the pastry oookgol oiHbibaE3 as
The Lee had lust been oYerfdnled and newly
painted, and was on her first "trip this Season.
She left Xtcksburg syestertlayucegening for
New Orleans with 500 bales of cotton and Il
good list Of passengers. While OPPOSITE Point
Pleasant, at 3:30n m, she was discovered on
fire, and was Immediately headed for the
Loiufsianashore ana landed at Hiloatan PLAN
teti9n, thirty-ifye miles below ,yieksburg. In
a few minutes she was Completely en-
ivesoDedB in fiameso The. stetgmbhat j.
NJ, White passed the wreck, about six
a. M, and took the remaining passeIl-
gersnnd crow 10 VicksburgJ s. @. Rawlings and
Robert Smith, pilots, were both burned and
otherwise hurt. The fire, IL is suppo5ed. origi-
mated inthe pantry-room. SO rapidly did the
flames spread that il was impossible for pas
sengers or officers to save anything except
what they had on at the time. Captain w. S.
Cannon states that the steamer was owned by
the estate of his father. John w. Cannon and
her Commander, Captain William Campbell.
She was valued at 100000. The crew was COM
posed almost entirely Of men who had been on
the river twenty or thirty years. The boat,
besides supply-pumps, had n new flre-pump
with fourteen-inch cylinder and 700 feet of
hose. There were always three watchmen on
deck. f 81" ' .i '+ 'f'..-i.'
The Lee had on leaving here about Ais bales
of cotton. She took on some few more at
landings below and about sixty-five bales
from small cotton-seed boat, so that when
burned she had about 5l2 bales, also large
cargo of boots, shoes and dry goods reshipped
by the Vicksburg & Mississippi Railroad from
points north and east of Natchez and other
points below this city, 20, 600 feet of lumber, a
large quantity of doors, blinds, sash, ETC., to-
gether with a large lot of miscellaneous
freight She stopped to wood about twelve
miles below here at IL 80 this morning, and re-
manned some time. The last landing made be-
fore the fire was at Ashwood, about twenty
FIVE miles below this city. At the time the
alarm was given the boat was under way. She
was immediately headed for shore, and struck
the bank in three or four minutes. ID
whenever survivor was seen on the street
Immediately a large crowd would gather
round, eager to fearn whatever he knew of the
sad occurrence Numbers were seen with
heads and arms, bound up, some of them in
considerable pain, while others were not so
badly hurt. mo" ]"
Mr.. Ovice Bell, second clerk of the Lee, who
was up at the~time the accident occurred,
| stated: I" never saw anything burn so quick.
l was aft at the time, and when heard the
| alarm, knowing my partner, who sleeps sound
| ly, and other officers were in the to as and in
great danger, i rushed up to awaken them.
| The fire followed me so fast that by the time
had them all up my partner had his hair
sinRed in getting down stairs from the hurri-
csne roof, and was forced to climb over the
rail. The boat had Just been freshly painted,
and She went like gunpowder."
Mr.. Bell and passenger who was inter
viewed think the fire originated In the pastry
room of the cook-house, though don't see,"
said the former, what the fire was doing in
there so early, as the cooks are not called be-
Mrs, Dan Searls, with heroic presence of
mind and motherly devotion, Rrasped her
sleeping infant and, arranging life preserver
| in her state-roOm about her person, Jumped
boldly into the water BY disarrangement of
her hfe,Preseryer she was thrown upon her
back and lost her grasp upon her child.
The saved owe their lives to the admirable
courage of Pilot John Stout. He stood at the
wheel and gave hope to all by his firmness,
and as the steamer rounded at ucatan Land,
| Ing the flames were fast enveloping
the brave man in the pot-house, who,
despite the fire around him, with almost the
last hope of escape gone, remained at his post
until he gave word to the engineer that the
| boat had made the shore Not until this was
| done did he for one minute take his hand from
| the wheel He made his escape by the hurri-
cane roof down, the hog-chain to the lower
deck and from there ashore. Some think the
| lire was the work of an incendiary, while 9TH
ers believe 1t accidental. MI 0'.'f.I
Engineer Perkins first saw the flames issu-
ing from the pastry-room, in which there were
no lamps at the time. The steward, Henry
| Carrnahan, states no coal oil OF other COM
bustible material was ever kept in the kitch en-,
pantry HIry, or pastry-room' he thinks 1t was OF
Engineer Perkins, instantly after discover
headed for the Mississippi side de- and and plunged
with such force against the bank as to become
| firmly fastened. The passengers not cut OFF
| from the bow escaped to the shore. The
casualties occurred among those having berths
| aft Some of them, however, were rescued
after jumping overheard. Those who sue
| ceeded in getting ashore were many of them
| half-clad, some hatless, others shoeless, and
| others still with scarcely enough clothing to
| cover their nakedness.
! The steamer was insured for s5O.OOO Tho
! total loss by the burning of the Lee and cargo
is $4,000. The merchandise was fully in
Captain John Hall, clerk of the boat, said
| that no was in the office about three o'clock
when he heard the cry of fire below. He did
| not desire to create a pan C, because there
| We're several parties around him, but when
the cry was repeated in q manner which left
no doubt of the truth Of the cry, he ran to his
room to procure sachel in which to place