Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-27
DEATHS OF TWO HEROES.
Capt. Holmes and Jim .Givens.
 of the John H. Hanna.
SOME THRILLING EXPERIENCES.

of the Flames-Indescribable Agony-A
 Roustabout's Series of Escspes.
 NEW ORLEANS, Dec 27.-Chief Engineer J. W. Hanley, of the steamboat John H. Hanna, which was burned at Plaquemine, has reported at the office of the company which owned the boat He says that the fire started in the cotton, just aft the boil CTS. The second engineer was on watch and immediately gave an alarm, but so fast did the flames spread that in three minutes the boat was ablaze from stem to stern.
 Mir. Hanley places the number of lives lost at from twenty to twenty-five The people of Plaquemine, he says, treated the passep- gers and crew with great kindness, and furnished them literally with food and cloth ing. Another estimate places the number of lives lost at five whites and sixteen negroes
 The story of the burning of the steamboat makes Jim Givens a hero. When the steam boat touched the bank and bounded away, and Pilot Jolles left the wheel and sprung overheard, Givens quickly realized that the salvation of all on board depended upon the Hanna being brought back to the bank.
 At this time the pilothouse was surrounded by the flames. The brave fellow sprung to the wheel, brought the steamboat's head again to the bank, and in order to keep her there locked the wheel in the proper position. The fire swept over the pilothouse land he was imprisoned by the flames.
 It was high time to think of his own life, now that he had rendered possible the saving of scores of others. To escape it was neces- sary to push through the wall of fire sur rounding him. Givens made dash for the side of the steamboat, and, although fright 1 fully burned, succeeded in reaching 1t.
 Although a moving mass of fire he did not lose his presence of mind, but jumped into the river and struggled to the bank, where he was pulled ashore by willing hands, cruelty burned and exhausted from his efforts No man ever performed more heroic act than was that of Jim Givens.
 Givens died at 0:30 o'clock last night His eyes were melted from their sockets and his nose was almost burned away. The flesh from his left side, arm and leg was burned away, leaving large portions of the ribs and other bones bare. The unfortunate fellow was suffering indescribable~Ngony. He was conscious at times, but when his mind wan dered he went through his frightful experi- ence on the boat and suffered over again the agony of the consuming fire. His wife and mother were with him.
 Capt Holmes was more fortunate than
 Jim Givens His death was an awful one, but it came quickly. One of the passengers describes his death as follows:
 
 there was no chance of his saving the life of another passenger. He then leaped into the water and swam ashore. The bank was boggy, and those of us who had landed saw
 him make frantic efforts to extricate him. self The burning boat was fast nearing
 him, and while he was on his knees in the
 mud he put up his hands to protect his back from the intense heat It was an awful mo- ment for those of us ashore who made every ] k .I~S x,I x,-;kA
 ropes from the shore. One man went out to
 him and put a box between him and the
 flames to protect him from the increasing heat. He said to this man:
 "'Never mind me, I'll be dead in a few minutes anyway He was finally freed from } his terrible situation by tying a rope around his body and dragging him from the mud, but he died in half an hour"
 Louis Welsh, a colered roustabout, had a series of remarkable escapes. Welsh made 1 his way through the flames to the bow l where he met two others of the crew. They 1 extemporized raft Mate Bryant sprang on 1t and left Welsh and the others to geek
 other means of escape They threw a bale of cotton overheard and the men sprang on l it and it hoated off. Some distance from the burning boat the colored cabin boy swan te the bale and, seizing it violently, threw il ? over, and all three were floundering in the water. Welsh's companion was drowned s but he and the boy regained the bale. As il . touched the levee the boy sprang for ant f- reached the bank, forcing the bale off, anc : poor Welsh began to float directly into tn, E flames
 Il The heat became so intense that Welsl n left the bale and swam to 6 stage plank oI ], which Dick, the mess room tender, wa F. floating down to them This plank wa 7 caught by an eddy and swung into the blaz
 ing vessel Welsh cried out to Dick to le !, go, but he was too frightened to do so, ant
 perished in the flames. The stage planl ': foated down the stream, and Welsh finall,
 reached the bank.
 al Capt. Louis c. Rawlings, one of the pilots '. had just been aroused to go on duty whel r the fire was discovered He was dreSsin ;s when he heard the alarm and at once pushe. T. forward. About forty persons were on tn ar forecastle awaiting the moment when tn ,d boat would touch the bank.
 If "Just as she struck stump and bounde m back" Capt. Rawlins said, "I jumped off O v the starboard side and swam out into tn n. stream, so as to get out of the radius of tn d heat How long was in the water I canno ;d say. had about given up when I wa ,0 pulled out exhausted and insensible A o were quiet and not the least bit frightened ,d seemingly. The stage was let down on tn ar starboard side, but failed by ten feet st reach the bank. If it had reached all woul n- have been saved The alarm was given to ample time for every one to be up and out " The second mate rushed through the texa fl. and made enough noise to arouse the deac nr Just how long the boat was burning I can If say, but it must have been over very quickly ar for there was nothing left of the Hanna whe
 reached the shore.
 "When Jolles started the boat for the ban
 Capt Holmes was forward helping to get tt ms hage down, but it was so hot he was force .s to jump from the deck. I believe the iii b was caused by the careless throwing away Il a cigarette by one of the negroes" fi- - Mrs. Boss Rich Find. F PrTTsBURG, Dec. 27.-Mrs Annie Bos n, aged 70 years, of Allegheny City, while run ,p maging over old papers in a trunk 8 few day iII ago. came across three deeds which call fc .l 1 over 400 acres of land in the heart of Phil