The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-01-27
HORRORS!
a Month of Floods, Fires, ENpiosions
Shipwreck and Frig idIty.

the whole wear is to ne like II, those who
survive the other horrors will be tempted
to turn suicides We have had earth
quakes, storms, floods, shipwrecks, fires
lexplos.ons, murders, suicides, unseasona
bic warmth and intense frigldity, 80 tina,
there only needs the addition of war, pes
Itience and famine to complete the list OF
conceivable human calamlties. On the I'd
a fatboat sunk on one of the North Caro-
lima rivers, drowning eighteen convicts
and similar accident IN Germany
drowned thirty persons, while by the
floods in Germany and Hungary about
the same time, no less than 1000 persons
persisted, and thousands were rendered
homeless and destitute. On the 9th the
fine steamer City of Brussels, of the In.
man line, was sunk in the harbor at Liv.
erpool and twelve lives lost, and on the 9th
the snip British Empire was burned at sea
and sixteen persisted. On the next day,
by the explosion of a mine at Cou'erville,
IN this state, ten were killed On the 10Th
occurred the dreadful disaster in Milwau-
kee, occasionei by the burning Of the
Newhall House, by which at least eighty
persons needlessly persisted. -Four days
later still more terrible calamity occur.
red IN the burning OF the circus at Berdit
chef, IN Poland, when 26S persons were
roasted 10 the flames. On the 10Th a gun
powder factory IN Mulder, In Holland,
exploded with terrible force, unrootlng al
most every house in the village, breaking
glass eight miles away in Amsterdam, and
killing forty persons. Within less than
| 100 mills of where this terrific explosion
occurred the steamship WGsland, on its
way from New York to Antwerp, ran
ashore, causing the death of persons and
the loss of the vessel. On the Goth fright
tul accident occurred on the Sierra Neva-
da Mountain range, where Southern Pa
citic overland tram Of seven coaches and
baggage cars ran backward down steep
incline without the locomotive, and all but
two fell over the cmbankment. Twenty
PERSONS were killed outright and nearly as
many more severely injured. Some OF
the passengers me; with miraculous es-
capes.
On the same Gay occurred the terrible dis
aster To the steamer Cimbria IN the North
Sea. This steamer, in the Hamburg
American line, sailed from Hamburg on
Friday evening, with 1886 passengers, mos
ly emigranls, and crew of 92 men. just
outside the mouth of the Elbe the steamer
was run into by the English steamer Sui
tan, and inside of Is minutes went TO the
bottom. The Clmbrla was struck forty
feet from her bow. Af er making the
breach, the Sultan scraped along the Cim-
bria, and completely rolled up her iron
plates, showing that the blow must have
been tremendous one. Most Of the boats
of the Cimbria went down with her; 1G Of
those on board. however, were saved by
clinging to the rigging, and two boate man.
aged to get away with about As persons on
board. These are all OF the AT persons
on the ill-iated vessel that are known to
be saved. The victims were nearly ell
Germans, on their way TO this country,
who had saved up enough from their
scanty earnings to seek home IN the New
World and try 10 bitter their fortunes
On the 2lst occurred terrible powder
explosion at Point Clement, near San
Francisco, California. The destruction IN.
voved the mixing house and giant pow,
der works, and was attended by the death
of one white man, the foreman, named
Conk, and about thirty Chinese, who were
blown to atoms. About eight tons OF pow
der exploded. and all houses within u ra-
dus Of hall mile were completely shat
tered. T'h,s: mile away had their doors
and windows crushed 10. No attempt was
made to check the fire caused by the ex-
plosiOn, on account Of the danger, and the
entire plan, was destroyed, involving Il loss
of 100000.
On the 22d, at Elhton, Md, at O'Clock
in the morning, the town was startled by
a loud report, caused by the explosion of
one of the rotary boilers at Mr. George W.
Chids' paper mill, on the Little Elk, three
miles from Rlktou, used for steamiDg the
straw TO make the paper on which the
Public Ldger Is printed. Patrick McCor,
mick and John T. Garrett were instantly
killed and seven other employees were
wounded. The Ledger mills are composed
of cluster of eight old buildings, most
of which are adjoining each other. Those
in which the boilers we're located and the
adjoining ones were blown to pieces and
the debris scattered over the ground for a
distance of 200 yards. Jasper Beene, who
was in one of the boilers cleaning II at
the time, Was blown with it into the mill
race, where he craw!ed out, only having
suffered few rifling brui ses. Robert
DiDsmore was blown through the air sbou,
300 yards, and, falling on pile of boards,
struck his head, which caused conclusion
of the brain. Another workman, named