St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-04-19
A RIVER TRAGEDY.

+! A RIVER IRAUED4s
/ Burning of the Steamer Rebe cca EYering
ham on the Chattahoochee Kiver-A Long
List of Dead and ,Wounded-Heroic Action
of the Pilot and HIS Son-Three Hundred
| and Fifty Bales of Cotton Burned.
EUFALA, ALA, Aprfl4.
The steamer Rebecca Everingham,
plying between Columbus, Ca, and Apal-
achicola, Fla, burned to the waters edge
at Fitzgerald Landing, four miles above
Florence, Ca, and twenty-eight miles
above Eufala, at four O'Clock yesterday
morning. She was loaded with 800 bales
gers. The fire is supposed to have occur.
red by the falling of particle of carbon
from the electric light. The boat was in
mid-stream when the alarm was given,
and was quickly enyeloped in smoke anC
flame, lighting up the sky for miles
around The cry of fire was the sigma!
for terrible panic, and officers of the
boat describe the scene as of the widest
character Men and women rushed hithel
and thither in their night garments i'm.
ploring aid. The boat was headed fo1
land by the pilot, but before landing
was effected nearly everYi part was sur.
rounded by fire. Within thirty minutes
after, the bank was touched and the few
that it was possible to save landed. The
boat burned down to the hull, and sever.
ing the mooring drifted into the stream
and sank half a mile below.
Among those known to have been lost
are:
w. L. Kennedy, Eufaula.
Mrs. Ayant, Cuthbert, Ga.
Miss Simpson, sister of Mrs. Avant,
Ft. Gaines, Ga.
Julia Adams, co1ored, chamber-maid.
Dolph Thomas, deck hand
Randall Singer, deck hand
A. Z. Stephen, colored, deck hand.
Robert Griffin, coIored, stevedore.
\ colored woman and child, names not
known, are missing.
j. IL. Hightowe, Eufaula, is missing.
Two other white men, passengers,
names not ascertained, were fatally
burned.
E. B. Williams, La Grange, was fatally
burned
Captain George Whiteside and Second
Engineer j. 7. Carey We're seriously
burned
Two wagon and two batteau loads Of
survivors aId effects reached Eufaula at
p. M, among whom was the pilot, G.
Fl. Lapham, to whose heroism and that
of his young son they who did escape are
indebted for their lives. When the pilot
saw the danger they were in he did not
wait for the boat to make a landing to
make fast, but ordered his son overheard
with rope. He swan ashore and made
fast, and then swan back and heroically
went to work to save life. The noble
pilot was the last to desert the deck and
then only after saving the life of two
women.
Pilot Lapham gave the gloomy report
that it was impossible at present to ar
rive at the number that may have per-
ished, as the names given above received
from him, and the small number seen
alive after the disaster, made it apparent
that the roll of missing is larger, and
among these may be others burned and
drowned. @#
One lady saved herself by jumping
from the cabin to the deck below, twenty.
five feet, on the opposite side from the
flames, and another by clinging to the
wheel. One of the passengers,
Mr.. j. B. Yates, had presentiment of dis
aster and spokeof it the preceding night.
So strongly impressed was he that, when
retiring, he refused to disrobe, but slept
in rubber coat with his valise at hand
and sleeping negyously. When the alarm
sounded he reached for his gripsack and
looked for the shore with no thought OF
safety to others
ono officers lost or seriously injured
The Everingham had q cargo of $50 bales
Of cotton, valued at $4,000 OF this
number pa bales belonged to H. L. Hull
{ Company, Edfaula, and was covered
with insurance. The balance was not in
sured. The steamer Everingham was
built about two years ago. She was the
newest and handsomest craft on the
Jhattahoochee River and belonged to the
Central Railroad; valued at about $780,
100; probably insured.
The almost nude lady and gentlemen
passengers were provided as we'll as pos
'ible with raiment at Fitzgerald's Land
ng, and, together with officers in COM
nand of the heroic Pilot i4apham, spent
he afternoon in the city and left by the
hight train for their respective homes,
he officers going to Columbus, Ga. This
5 the most shocking river disaster for