Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-08-31
FEARFUL CALAMITY.

St6utiN uoaou or more tugs steamed
out to the place where She sank
There were over
ONE HUNDRED PASSENGERS ABOARD
when she left the foot of Harrison
street. Some were hurled into the
air by the explosion and then fell
from heights into the water. 9th
ers were compelled TO jump into
the water 10 escape the SiSSing and
Scalding steam which had filled all
parts OF the boat or 10 avoid gong
down with her. The cause Of the cN-
plosion was the bursting of the boiler
amid ships. 1t tore through the YES
sci sending a mass of flying wood
work. The pilot house snapped oil
like pipe stem and toppled over into
the water 1t is believed
OVER FIFTY LIVES WE'RE LOST.
Some were blown at once into the
water and were sucked into the whirl
pool caused by the sinking of the YES
sci. Scores were picked up, who were
swimming about III the river, by the
tugs and row boats which put out 70
assist them.
Among the killed are:
Mrs SsSon, of Tarrytowu
/ An unknown man.
/ An unknown boy.
Thomas Gregg, of New Work
John CreNet, fireman
Among the injured arc:
0rville Gardner, 'hc evangelist, of NanAerS
taken 20 the hospital.
John Kelley. deck hand, arms broken
John Moran, deck hand, legs and side crushed
! Thomas j. Saul scaldcd.
| W. H. Jennings, face and hands burned
John Sailor, mate Of vessel, left thigh crushed
John CITES, OF New York, passenger, terribly
! SCalded injuries fatal
George Drives, fireman of boat terribly seal,ird
Edward Tallmau,
! RUSHING TO ASSISTANCE
\ company of hremen and engi
neers near by were called out to assist
the sufferers, as were also squad Of
policemen Poor Drives was got
ashore among the first. He writhed
i'll agony and his flesh was literally
boiled and peeled off in hideous
masses. His suiterings almost un-
manned those who saw him.
Among the sufferers picked up and
! brought ashore was Il woman whose
leg was broken by the explosion be
fore she was hurled into the water.
The sights and scenes witnessed in
bringing to the shore the wounded,
manned, boiled and scalded victims
and sending them to the city hospital,
were sufficient to make the stouteSt
heart quail.
OF passengers aboard the Riverdale,
some were blown up with the explo
sion, but from the best accounts OBJ
tainablc the number was small, as
there were few iii the cabins ut the
time No exact idea can at present be
! gained as to the number of passengers
on board or the number of lives lost.
Accounts of the number of passen
gers vary from 80 to POO, and of killed
from 10 to 80. Other accounts place
the number of killed as low as from
! to g. There is reason to believe that
many had n chance TO escape. The
hour at which the explosion occurred
was between 800 and 3:45. The en-
| gineer was about entering the engine
room to slow up, and another steam
boat was at their landing, when M
ominous rumble was heard proceeding
from the boiler, and terrific explosion
occurred, blowing up the entire inside
of the vessel and leaving only the
helpless, sinking hull The force Of
| the explosion was downward appa
rently. The rapidity with which the
vessel sank showing that the bottom
was blown out. Hardly a minute
elapsed between the explosion and the
sinking of the shattered hull in
q whirlpool into which the struggling
swimmers were drawn. The river
strewn with wreckage, cabins,
beams, boards and furniture was
floating about and proving the
force of the explosion. Tugs and
small boats put out in swarms from
the New York and Jersey shores and
1 began to work rescuing the drowning
passengers and crew. The number
saved shows how efficient their work
was. The accounts of the manner Of
the explosion differ. Those on board
agree it was sudden and entirely with
out warning. A policeman who had
been a boilermaker vas standingat the
foot of Bloomfield ST., states that his
attention attracted by the sound Of
escaping steam Looking out on the
river they saw the Riverdale going up
stream, partly enveloped in steam
| that escaped with a loud roar from
her side, and saw the people rush
/ from the lower To the upper deck and
make ready to throw themselves into
! the river. The next moment the ex-
| plosion came The Reliance, "a coal
| tar boat, was near the Rivcrdale when
she blew up, and Immediately began
/ the work of rescuing the drown
ing people. Her crew drew nearly
| forty from the water. Other steamers
and a tug hastened TO the scene and
quickly did they reach it. Few Of
those who escaped injury by the ex-
plosion had time To drown. The
steam yachts of Jay Gould and K. s.
Jaffery were lying at the foot Of 23d
street, both Gould and Jaffery
had just gone ashore when the acci-
dent occurred. Upon hearing the eS-
plosion they Immediately turned
about, and putting out to the scene Of
the wreck in their gigs, ordered their
yachts TO follow without delay, and
wherever needed with great
zeal when their yachts appeared
all who were in sight in the water had
been picked up. The rescued were
taken TO the city and put on board a
steamer for their destination. The
| injured and dead were taken to the
| foot of west 18th street, where the en-
tire ambulance force Of the city had
been assembled. An unsuccessful ef
| fort was made by the tugs to tow the
wreck of the hull to the Jersey shore
Tomorrow the wreck viii be raised
and towed to shore, where thorough
examination will be made. The Off
GERS of the steamer do not believe any
more bodies viii be found in it. But
there is no certainty that this belief
is well founded. The engin-
eer, Edward Tallman, who escaped
with bruises, said he could not explain
the cause of the accident by anything
whatever. The boilers were new four
wears ago. when the boat was entirely