Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-12-16
LOSS OF THE ]. N. WHITE.
FURTHER DETAILS OF THE TERRI
BILE DISASTER
The Number of Dead VIII Amount to
About Forty-Graphic Description of
tho Catastrophe by the Survivors
Scenes Never To Be Forgotten-List Of
the Dead So Far as Known.

Scenes Never To Be Forgotten-List Of
the Dead So Far as Known.
New ORLEANS, Dee IL Thu number of !
lives lost by the burning Of the steamer John |
NJ White is variously estimated at from |
twenty to sixty, and it looks as though the |
death list will certainly reach forty. The |
fire originated near the boilers and spread |
with such rapidly that the flames ell yeloped |
the boat before warning OF their danger could |
he given the passengers and crew. Tine of I
the mates was the first to see the fire from
the river bank and by the time he rea ched |
the cabin the smoke was so dense that he |
could only aw ken the occupants of a few OF !
The staterooElS in front and escape with the |
rest of the officers 10 a place OF safety. All
the books and papers in the clerks oaiHe |
were DESTROYED Capt. Muse was sick in his |
room at the time, and was notified juss III /
time to save his life.
4 Steve Callahan. the third clerk of the boat, |
had lust retired to his room and was partly |
undresSei when he heard the alsr IN of fire. !
de Immediately ran out, halt undressed as
he was, and there met c. Walsh Floyd, q
steamboatrnaa, who had been in command |
of the steamer W. S. Hayes, just before she
laid up short time ago. He was passeD |
ger on the White, and said to Callahan: |
Let Us rouse the passengers" and the two |
men ran through The cabin knocking at the
syata-roOm doors. There was no time to do |
anything but hammer on the doors and cry |
fire" Having passed entirely through the /
cabin they started to seek safety for them
selves. Floyd advised going on to the hurri-
1 Al.
river, but Callahan urged return through
the cabin ami departure from the boat by the |
gang plank The decision was reached in an /
instant ami in less time than it takes to tell it
they We're on their way through the cabin. |
Scarcely had they started, however, when
smoke burst through the cabin floor, quickly
followed by flames They were surrounded
in a second. The smoke was sitting and the I
heat was INTENSE. Callahan became almost
unconscious, but managed to stagger out of
the furI ace To tie guards and TO secure a I
life prescrver. The air revived him, and adj |
juSting the life preseryer he jumped into |
the river and succeeded in reaching shore /
Floyd was never seen after Callahan parted |
with him iii the cabin. He is supposed to
have been overcome by the smoke, to have
fallen to the floor, and thus persisted. He
sacrificed bis life to save those of other peo-
pie
The terrified passengers quickly got out,
nearly all OF them in their night garments.
Among them was gentleman, name I'M
known, but recognized as superintendent of
the Nldalia Southern railroad He had his
wife and two children, girls of 8 and IL
years, with him. He called them around
him and bade them follow him. BY this
time the flames had reached the cabin,
through which thick smoke was rolling. The
panic-strcken passengers quickly made for
an entrance, some to the stern and Others to
the front. The man referred TO Was among
thos3 who went to the stern. Upon reaching
the deck he grasPed his two childrez, one at
a time aud threw them into the river Be
fore he and his wife could follow the flames
had reached them and they were burned to
death The two pilots on watch, John Stout
and Bob Smith, We're in the pilot house and
were compelled TO jump in,o the river,
where they were picked up. They bad n
narrow escape from death.
Col s l.. james of this city is one of the
survivors, He managed to get ashore, and
had to walk two miles without coat, hat,
or shoes in the chilly winds before he could
reach railroad station. He was taken to
his home on arrival, where he lies in criti-
cal condition He said that the sight of the
burning steamer was horrifying and
could not be described He positively de
carei that there must have been sixty per
sons lost, because out OF slxty-tive III the
cabin, he could only see himself and four
others, among whom was C. H Brown, state
engineer; E. Denery, barber; Fred Gray,
porter, and j. Collins, deck Waterman.
DaGery, another survivor, said he would
never forget the sight he beheld at the st.
Morris plantation when the White was en-
veioped in flames. He was sure one child
had been rescued and brought into ST. Nor
ris plantation.
Capt. Henry c. Brown, state engineer, es-
Inmates the loss of life ct thirty-six Mr.
Brown says: Wash Lloyd, formerly u clerk
on the VIII S. Hayes. ran through the cabin
calling up the passengers, and nobly lost his
life trying to save others. Capt. Muse, the
commander of the White, had been ill all
DAY and was in bed when the fire broke out
The chief ms.te was in charge of the steamer.
! had about ten feet start OF the fire, and,
although l ran rapidly forward, when
reached the hank the fire was within
twenty-five feet Of me. had on my under
clothing did not sea a soul in the cabin rs
ran through The cabin was in full blaze
al he time and the flames were rapidly eat
ing their way to the hurricane deck"
jhe death list SO fer as known up to mid
night Tuesday. IS rs follows: " hite-Mr.
SDatfcrd. superintendent of the Natchez u
Vldalia railroad, wifeand child; Capt. Wash
F,cvj. of the VIII S Hayes; Mrs. Agnes Nc
Caleb OF West Feliciana; two women, names
net known: two white men from the west in
che~ge of the beuf gras Two white men
William Daley, of Nebraska, and Mr. 0her
cham, OF keutucky-are believed to be lost
CoIore3-I.Avi Robinson, captain Of the
watch; Dick Randolph, fireman; Oscar Ian
dry, pastry cook: Lewis Martin, second
cook: Albert Brown, cabin boy; John Par
ker, cabin-boy; Perry Williams, cabin boy
Amos Morse, porter; Edward Jackson,
cabir-boy; Penny Walker, chambermaid;
Martha Washington. chambermaid; Duncan
Fourth. cook. Four cooret women, two OF
them having small babies in their arms, and
mother and her son and two negro preach
ers also perishsd
Among the saved are these: John Sahl,
pilot, singhtly injured and left at Bourgeois;
Hortense Smith, of Racine, Wis, slightly in
iured and left at Bourgeois; Mr.. Carew,
Ottawa, HIS; Mrs. Carew, Ottawa, Ills;
Capt Mus, of the steamer; Alexander Nc
Way, clerk; o. Bell, clerk; john Callahan,
clerk: John Stewart, pilot Bob Smith, a
pilot; William McGreevy, chief engineer;
Tom Barry, an engineer; T. G. Pallasier, an
engineer; Steven Janey, an engineer; John
Grant, mate; Tom TrimbelI, mate; Tom
Miller, Waterman; Andy Pierce, q sailor;
Pat Ryan, steward; - Muner, steward,
Col s l.. james, of st. Louis, passenger;
L. Denery. barber; John Branard, pas
-.nser; Capt Henry C. Brown. stat engin-
re, Mr.. and Mrs. Carew, of Ottawa, Ills,
we're taken to the Bourgeois plantation. Mr..
Csr.w Is suffering somewhat fro IN exposure
III lie water Bourgeois is oil the line Of
t,lecrnI,iiir communication.
= correspondent went to the wreck OF
the White Tuesday morning. The steamer
was mass of smoliering ruins and many
tales Of suffering, distress. and death were
toll St Mauricc's Landing, where The