Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-24
RIVER DISASTER.
Kate Adams, Running from Mem
phis to Arkansas City, Burned.
IWenty-Four People Drowned, Includ-
ing Men of Both Colors and Sew
eral COlOred Women.
The Steamer, the Finest and Fastest Of Her
Type, Valued at $4,000, Total Loss.
$4,000 in Money Burned
A TOTAL LOSS. -

--NSS'
MEMfHIs, Tenn, Dec. 29.zirhe ele-.
CANT passenger steamer ; Kate Adams,
running aga semi-weeklF between Menu
phis and arkansas City, burned this
morning near * Ass3.9smasres;' Miss, forty
miles south of this city. She was en-
route to Memphis, and. had about 200
people aboard, including her deck and
cabin crew of eighty, and twenty-five
cabin and sixty deck passengers and
twenty-five colored cabin. passengers.
The fire, which caught il. some cotton
near the forward end Of Ma boilers, was
discovered about O'Clock. The pas
sengers were at breakfast, and syhefa the
alarm was given they all ~ -
RUSHED FOR THE FORWARD DECK. a
The steamer ut the time was about 400
yards from the Mississippi side of f31a-
river and her bow was at once headI for
the shore. Pilot Joe Barton wa,s&6n-the
watch and remained herOicaIly ahshfs post
until she was safely landed. Harry Bert,
second clerk who was seated aS.the table
when the alarm was given, had brought
all the ladies and children forward and
assisted them. Captain Mark R Cheek,
who was on the hurricane deck, remained
there, giving his commands until the
stage plank was safely lowered. The fire
by this time had spread all through the
cabin, and he was compelled TO retreat to
the rear, and he climbed over the rails
and
DESCENDED TO THE CABIN.
Here he found Chief Clerk W. C.
Banker, who had made an effort to save
the money and papers of the steamer
IL, -
grab the money, but was cut off from the
bow and forced back into the cabin. AS
he was cropping his way aft he stumbled
and fell over some chairs and lost all the
valuables he had secured, and it was
with great difficulty he succeeded in
reaching the rear through the binding
smoke and flames which filled the cabin.
Captain Cheek seized u life-preseryer
and placing 1t on Clerk Banker
helped him overheard into the water.
He tioated down about three miles before
he was rescued by parties who had
walked ashore and followed him down
the river. Captain Cheek assisted sever
al others in securing life preservers and
when 1t was no longer possible for him
to remain without being burned, he too
JUMPED INTO THE RIVER
and swan ashore. There were about
twenty-five cabin passengers. On the
lower deck, however, a fearful panic
seized the crew and deck passengers.
Those who were cut off from escape from
the bow were compelled to jump over
board to save their lives. The stern
of the burning steamer had swung out
into the river, and in the effort to launch
Il yawl it was capsized by the crowd
which filed it, and many of its oecu-
pants were drowned. They were mostly
colOred men, but there were three or
four women i'll the crowd.
LIST OF LOST.
The lost, so far as can be learned, are
as follows:
GEORGE CORBETT third clerk, aged 80,
who had launched the yawl and was try
ing to save the cOlOred women on the
lower deck. He leaves wife who resides
in st. Louis.
JOE PORTER.
ANDREW REEs.
MONROE JACKSON.
JIM NELSON.
SENATOR COLEMAN.
billiard HORTON, of the colored
cabin crew and
LEE FINLEY and
FRANK WELLS, colored rOustabout.
In addition about fifteen deck passen-
gers ,1Our OF WnO1n were Wnl1e men also
drowned. In this list of unknown were
three colored women and two children.
They were coming to Memphis to spend
the holidays. The whites had been work.
ing on the levees and their names and
destination are unknown. The burning
steamer drifted away after lying at the
bank for twenty minutes and foated
down the river, her hull sinking at the
head of Peters island, four miles below
Commerce.
THE KATE ADAMS
was owned by the Memphis and Vicks-
burg Packet Company, of which Major
John d. Adams of Little Rock is presi-
dent. She was the finest and fastest
steamer of her type and her owners this
summer spent $40 900 in repairing her.
She was valued at SIS 900; insured for
233 $50. This would have been the COM
pletion of her six hundred and second
trip in the Memphis and Arkansas City
trade. Her officers were: Mark R.
Cheek, captain; w. G. Banker, Harry
Best, George Corbett and William Dona-
hue, clerks; Billy Hodges and Joseph
Barton, pilots. Her cargo consisted Of
l16I bales of cotton, 1900 sacks of cotton
seed, eighty-seven bags Of seed aad