Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-03-30

duty.
The alarm of fire was FIRST given through
the engineers speaking trumpet, connect
ing with the pilot house. Mr. Robert
Kelly, engineer on duty, gave the alarm
to the pilot Mr.. Bryson Purcell, at the
very moment the latter had finished
blowing the alarm whistle to land at the
Anchor Line wharfboat. At this time
the GoldenlCity was about opposite the
foot of Linden street. Pilot Purcell headed
the steamer straight for the shore at once.
and she came. in just below the foot of
Beal street, directly among the coal flats
OF q. B. Bryan & Co., colliding with the
steam tug Oriole so heavily as to cause
that vessel to sink at her moorings, going
down so quick. that. the crew barely got off
with their. lives.
Captain Napoleon MoNeely, of the
Oriole, was injured in leaping from his
vessel:into the. coal of barge alongside,
and his engineer was also slightly hurt in
the same way. None. of the tugs crew
were lost, as has been rumored, and the
Oriole now lies with her pilothouse above
water near the foot of Beal street. Her
machinery.may be saved when the water
goes down, The boat was valued
at about 5000 and was not insured.
Mike 0'Connell, Pat Haley, Charles
Harvey Mike Malay, Pat Kinney, Nell
BloOmerI Levi Fisher, negro barber, safe,
but hands and legs scalded; R. Wea-
yer, porter of the boat, safe, but hands
burned David Young, second barber,
safe.
The two ohambermaids are said to be
lost Both are colored and names not
known.
Mr. Milams, fatboatmsn of Alton.
Ind, and Mr.. j. O. Conels, of Henderson,
Ky, also IA aatboatman, are said to be
lost
Bryant Trobaugh, Levenworth, Ind;
Ruhd Mayheld, Davies county, Ken.
lucky, W. Clark, Muhlenberg, Ky,
Allen Harp, Meade county, Kentucky;
John Davies and Tom Fox, Evansville,
Ind; james Davis and John Dunn, Ed
monson county, KY, are safe.
As the burning steamer touched the
coal barges Captain Mcintyre and his
brother, with Mr., Hill, the second mate,
made line fast to post on the wharf.
1t did not hold more than two minutes
but pulled up us soon as the burning boat
swung out into the river. The vessel, then
a mass of fame from stem 10 stern. drifted
down close along the shore until she burned
to the waters edge and sunk hundred
yards from the bank on the Tennessee
sidOr and three or four hundred yards be-
low the head Of Presidents Island. 1t was
not more than halfan hour, from the time
the alarm was first given, before the burn
ing wreck was at the bottom of the river
That portion of the deck crew who
were on the forward lower deck of boat
saved themselves by jumping ashore as
soon as the vessel touched the bank and
\ gave no assistance to the captain, clerk
and mates in making the lines fast. After
the vessel swung out and drifted down
nothing could be done toward saving the
people who remained on board.
The vestibule of the Peabody Hotel be-
came the general rendezvous of the res.
cued passengers and officers of the boat,
after the fearful disaster, and nearly every
one ofthem had narrow escapes.
Is. Purcell, Jr., son of the pilot and
steersman of the steamer, tells a graphic
story the mishap. He says; When the
whistle blew and some one glve the
alarm OF fire, he was in the office and
knowing the combustible nature of the
cargo, concluded no time was to be lost
ran down the cabin. kicking violently
at the doors and crying "Firel" He sue
ceeded in waking all the passengers in the
forward end of the boat, but was unable
to reach any except the first few rooms in
the ladies cabin, on account of the dense
smoke and fame He could only call ont
to them to go cut on the guards, as the
smoke in the cabin was by this time dense
enough to cut. When the steamer was
about to strike the tug Oriole, he saw three
negroes leap aboard of her, and second
after tug and all were swallowed up in the
rushing waters. Purcell then spran0
aboard the fiat and called for line, which
was thrown him. Other officers got an
other line, and the steamer was made fast
to the barge. One line burned and the
other broke, allowing the boat to drift out
into the stream.
First Pilot Purcell remained in the
pilothouse until almost envcloped by the
flames, and when his son called to him 10
leave, that the boat had struck, he leaned
from the pilothouse to the hurricane roof
a distance Of about ten feet. His ankle
was sprained, but otherwise he was un.
hurt.
Marion Purcell, second pilot, was
asleep in the texas when the fire alarm
sounded. He sprang from bed with his
clothes in his arms and jumped from the
hurricane roof to swinging stage, rolled
down it to the deck and so made his
escape.
Second Engineer Robert Kelley,
youth of nineteen years, was on watch at
the time, and remained like hero at his
post until the flames devoured him.
w, Q. Jewett, a young man belonging
to'Stowes circus, says: II was asleep in
in "a Of the main cabin, when l
heard the flames cracking beneath the
floor dumped out of my berth, and
found tho floor so hot that it was torture
to stand upon it, ] gathered up nv