The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-12-17
THE WHITE DISASTER,
YERY sERIoUs ooMFLAINTs $
OF the Management of tho omOSrS of the
sssansF-oaly Two Heroes In tho
PaFty-sOms Very Marrow Escapes
Related by the Passenger,


CINCINNATI, Dec. 16.-A special from
New Orleans says: "Thsre is a general
disposition to critlclse the etIlcers Of the
steamer White for some Of the loss Of life
by the late horror, Tho papers are es.
pecislly severely critical, The Tina,
Democrat complains that with the excep-
tion Of the third clerk, Callahan, and the
saIlormau, Plerson, there was none Of the
exhibition Of herolsm on the part oi the
officers usual in cases Of that kind,
The PicuyUus comments On tho fact
that 80 many lives should have been los.
on vessel tied to the shore. II says
most ol tho officers and large portion Of
tho crew made good their escape; but the
passengers, except q few men in the for.
ward cabin, were mostly devoured by the
raging flames or were swallowed up In
the depths Of the great river.
The delay In giving g general alarm,
tho supreme confusion which reigled,
the absolute absence Of any adequate
precautions for saving life at such q time,
and the failure OF any sort OF general sys.
TEN to assist or provide for the ascspes Of
the helpless passengers make up q most
deplorable picture, On passenger ships
at sea there is a systematic provision TO
fight fire, but on the great steamboats, Of
the Mississippi river there haa beon no
distinguished advance upon ancient
methods, and caIastrophes like this write
In lurid characters the necesRlty for some
thing better In steamboat cor Aagra.ions
than to trust t9 the ga!lantry and berolsm
Of individuals,
SERIOUS CONFLICT.
There 10 q serious conflict as to when the
alarm was rouuded. The eaglnser says
that Tho bel was rung as SION as the 6re
WAS discovered, The carpenter, Dolson,
says that it was thought that the flames
could be extinguished by the pumps, and
not until II was found that this was i'm.
possible was the alarm given, Tho en-.
tire vessel wasin .mPs within three or
four minutes after the first alarm, 60 the
flames must have got considerable head.
way before the alarm was rvng. To tbiV
iatal delay tue loss OF lie was due. There
IL Otill a wide difference OF opinion as to
tho number Of lives lost. The Pic1yune
estimates 1t at thirty; the Times Democrat
at folty.two, and Captain Muse, the com.
mRnder OF the White, at only fifteen. II
will never be known, as there are no
books or records whstsver Of THO number
OF negro deck pSssengrFJ. A number OF
persona on the White at the time she was
burned reached here to-day on the Par.
goud among them Captain Muse, her
commander, and John Stout, her pilot.
Captain Muse was sick in this room, but
aWoke when he heard the alarm bell. lie
ran tu the Iroht OF the hoGt, 6uE found his
way cut OF by the lAmes. He caught
hold Of the hog.chains and swung himself
forward to the bank. He hesItated about
going back to the boat to save passengers,
but concluding that there was no chance
Of doing apght bEt lase his lie, aba1doned
the idea and organised Q relief party
from the shore. Captain MuEe takes
q very different view ol the loss OF life
from those hitherto given, and. declares
that there were only ftteen persons Loaf at
mcst. Tho only CALM p4sseuEets we're
Mr.. Stafford, wife and child, Miss Nc.
Caleb and Captain Wash Floyd. There
were besides these eight or ten deck pas.
sengers drowned Captain Muse thinks
there wore only fifteen cabin passengers,
but Clerk Mccoy estimates their number
much larger
TIE FILoT's MARROW EscAEE.
John Stout, the pilot, had q narrow ca.
cape. He was the hero Of the Robert E,
Lse disaster few yOan age, sticking to
the wheel amid the flames until he got the
boat to shors and saved all the passengers.
Stout slept Immediately beneath the pilot.
house. He was awakened by his partner,
Bob Smith, punching him and calling
out that the boat was on Gro. lie started
TO dress himself, but abandoned II, and,
| with Smith, ran 10 the texas. Thoy tried
TO get down stairs, but the flames pre-.
vented them. Bob Smith sprang into the
water from the upper deck, distance Of
over aiEty feet, and loated away. Stout
remained tor Q few minutes gezing al the
scene. While there q man rushed through
the flames bSrs.hesded, near where be
was standing, and jmmped overboard.
He turned several times on his face and
Iell fat on the water, the fall evidently
causing death, for the body tlosted
Of limp. He waited for It to 20
by, for he saw the great danger was from
the other people in the water. There
were fully sixty oi them struggling aud
grasping esph other and often pulling
down and drowning EACH other. While
he watched the struggle he noticed one
man, supposed 10 be Stafford, reach the
shore. He evidently saw some friend or
4 relative Ia the water, for he sprang again
from the bank and swan out toward O
!, struggling body, but went under before
he reached 1t. When the water was clear
Of people Stout gprang into It. He aut.
Tered intensely from the cold, hut was
picked up by o yawl.
HEROES on THE ACCIDENT.
Miss Lizzie Smith, one Of the cabin pas
Sengeru, had anauow escape and owes her
life to Andy Pleraon, the Bailornau he
and the ill.iated Captain Wash Floyd be-
ing the heroes Of the accident. Miss
Smith was caught between tho burning
bales Of cotton, which formed q circle
around her and threatened to rosRt her tC
death, nho clupg 10 ono OF the bales Ia
the last moment, and II seemed inevitable
that che must either be burned to death
or let 70 her hold and sink. When tht
yawl came up Plerpon tore away O side O
the blnElng cotton with his bare hand
snd arms, burning himself severely Ii do
ing W, and reaching out, matched tht
lady from the jaws Of living cremation
Besides being burned plerson was badly
hurt In getting the yawl out,
: Captain Floyd was ANOTHER hero oi thI
heif0F. Nearly all the passengers who's
lives wero sayed owe II 10 him. No no
tiCe had beeu given 10 the sleeping pas
: senRerO Of tho 9re, when Captain Floyd
| meeting the third CLERK, Callalsn, suEIel
ted thai tlAy undertake The task. Stat
engineer H. o. Brown, s. L. James, supoi
iptendent Of the State penitentiafy, 90,
q all ol the passengers gay they were AwRk
enod from tholr sound Blumbeta by FloyI
+, and Callahan, who knocked At every dooi
3 Callahan escaped with difficulty, bu