The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-08-31

Have Been Killed, and Many Others
Were Badly Injured.
NEW YORK, Aug. 29
Several persons were killed and the river
steamer Riverdale sunk by boiler explo-
sion Tuesday afternoon. The boat which
ran between New York and Haverstraw, on
the Hudson, left her dock at the foot of
Harrison street, North River, at 4 o'clock,
and steamed rapidly up the stream She
was to have touched at the foot of 23d
street for more passengers, and her course
was laid about three hundred yards from
| the New York shore. When between
Twelfth and Thirteenth streets her boilers
exploded with terrific force, killing three
persons and wounding eight others. After
the explosion the boat drifted up to the
foot of Sixteenth street and there sank.
The explosion was seen by few riyermen
and tug crews who were watching the boat
when the accident occurred.
There was a loud report, the smoke
stack, pilot-house and the body of man
were seen flying through the air, and then
clouds of escaping steam hid the wreck
from view. People along the shore went
to the steamer in row-boats and tugs, and
the police were instantly informed of the
accident. The Office of charities and cor
rections was notified by telephone, and all
! the city ambulances were sent to the foot
| of Sixteenth street. The widest and
most exaggerated reports were circu-
lated and the number of killed and
wounded was placed at upwards of one
| hundred. The river front in the vicinity
where the explosion occurred was thronged
with people, and while but few of the scores
said to have been killed were brought
ashore, it was averred that dozens had been
drowned. There were about fifty passen-
gers on the Riyerdale when she left the
Harrison street landing, and majority Of
them were on the after-deck.
AS soon as the explosion occurred a scene
of the widest confusion followed. The
Captain, j. P. Smith, who was uninjured,
rushed to the after part of the boat and told
the half frantic passengers that if they would
only keep quiet for few moments they
would all be rescued. The steamer was
observed to. be settling forward and it was
evident that hole had been torn in her
bottom and that she would sink. The gang
plank was run out into the river and half a
dozen men jumped upon it, sinking it below
the surface of the water. They were quickly
transferred to the numerous row boats,
which by this time had reached the wreck
The tug Zophar Mills was one of the first
boats to run alongside the Riyerdale and she
took on board the greater number Of the
passengers.
The body of a man, apparently about
seventy years of age, was found crushed be-
tween the rail and pile of debris on the
uay6 daoI 10 haH fIxrh in
stantly killed. The body was not identi-
fed.
The body of an elderly lady, subsequently
identified as Mrs Charles Sisson, of New
York, was also taken from the forward
| deck.
| Fireman Charles Dymes was hurled by
the force of the explosion through the side
of the boat and out into the water. He was
| horribly scalded, and when picked up his
| skin peeled in shreds from his head, neck
and arms. He was conscious and his suffer
| ingS were intense. He was taken to the
New York Hospital and it is believed he
will die.
Pilot Nelson Magee was hurled thirty
feet from the pilot-house into the river, and
when he was picked up it was found that
both his legs were broken.
| John Salair, the mate, stood almost di-
rectly over the boiler when it exploded. He
was thrown into the river and sustained a
simple fracture of the thigh.
Howard Gardner, of williamsburg, who
was ON his way to Yonkers to conduct re-
yival meeting, was badly scalded, and it is
feared that he will not recover.
William H. Henry, aged eighteen, an
oiler, was scalded, but his injuries are not
| serious.
Thomas Saul, of Brooklyn, a passenger,
was scalded about the neck and feet, but it
is thought he will recover.
Edward Tallman, the engineer, was Sc
verely, but not fatally, scalded.
The following is a list of the killed:
Mrs. Charles Sisson, aged sixty-eight years,
| Tarrytown; Thomas Gregg, sixty years, 500
| Water street; an unknown man; Mr. Charles
Sisson, who was on the boat with his wife, is
missing, and is undoubtedly dead.
| The injured are:
| Nelson Magee Haverstraw, pilot; Edward
| Tallman, engineer; Henry Mosher, Peekskill.
| porter; John Salair, mate; William H. Henry,
| Oiler; Thomas Saul, Brooklyn; Howard Gard
| ner, YonkerS; James Clark, Sc Goerch street;
| w. B. Chapman, Yonkers; Dennis Egan, 1853
West Twelfth street.; George A. Dymes, fire.
man, Haverstraw; James Tobin, Yonkers;
/ Israel Lazarus, ~ Mott street.
| The dead were taken to the morgue and
injured to ST. Vincent's and the New York
| hospitals.
The engineer was about entering the en-
| gine-room to slow up, as another steamboat
| was at their landing, when an ominOus rum
BILE was heard proceeding from the boiler,
and in a moment the terrible explosion oc-
Cured, blowing out the entire inside Of the
vessel and leaving only the helpless, sink
ing hull. The force of the explosion was
downward, apparently, the rapidity with
| which the vessel sank showing that the bot
tom had been blown out The river was
| streWn with wreckage-c doors, beams,
boards and furniture floating about and
| proving the force of the explosion.
Accounts of the manner of the explosion
| differ. Those on the boat agree that it was
sudden and entirely without warning. A
| policeman, who had been boiler-maker,
| and who was standing at the foot of Bloom
| field street, declares that his attention was
| attracted by the sound of escaping steam.
Looking out on the river he saw the River
dale going up stream, partly enveloped in
steam, that escaped with loud roar from
her side. He saw people rush from the
| lower to the upper deck and make ready to
throw themselves in the river. The next
moment the explosion came.
The steam yachts of Jay Gould and E. S.
OdllICy WcIo ~ NY db til0 lOOt Ul lWeHly-
third street. Both Gould and Jaffrey had
| just gone ashore when the accident oc-
Cured. Upon hearing the explosion they
Immediately turned about and, putting out
to the scene of the wreck in their gigs,
ordered their yachts to follow without de-
lay. Both engaged in the work of giving
aid wherever needed with great zeal. When
their yachts appeared all who were in sight
in the water had been picked up.
/ "A stately and handsome man regis
tered at California watering place Us
an English lord, With him were his
wife and two daughters They took the
best rooms in the hotel, ordered extra
delicacies in food and the finest wines,
and in every way common to such re-
sorts spent money without stint. II
was soon discovered that their claim tc
aristocracy was fraudulent, and they
| departed as soon as the exposure caused
cessation of social exaltation. Blu!
they paid all their bills, gave the moni-
ais generous fees. and betrayed no othel
reason for the deception than desire
to he lionizad - GbicnGO Times