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

Givens "Held Tier Nose Asln the Bank
and Thus Saved Many Lives--CrueI worh
OF tho Hlames-Indescribat Agony-A
RotrstaboHt's Series OF Escapes.
NEW ORLEANS, Dec g7.-Chisf Engineer
J. w. Hanley, of the steamboas John II.
Hanna, which gns burned at Plaquemino,
has reported at the Office Of the.company
which owned ths boat He says that this
fire started in tlbe cotton, just aft the boil.
ers. The second engineer was ON wCtch. ans
Immediately gave an alarm, but so fast did
the flames spread tlnt In three minuoes the
boat was ablaa frona stem to stern.
Mr. Hanley places She number of livs lost
at from twenty 10 twenty-five The people
Of Plaquemine, he sayN treated the passen-
gers and crew with great kindness, and
furnished them literally with food and cloth
ing. Another estimate places the numberOf
lives lost at five whites and sixteen negr1es
The story OF the burning of the steamboat.
makes Jim Givens heros When the steam
boat touched the bank and boupled away,
and Pilot Jolles left the wheel aud sprung
overheard, Givens quickly realized that Tire
salvation Of all on board depended upon ths
Hanna being brought back % the bank
AT this time the. pilothouse was surrounded
BY the flames The brave fellow sprung to.
tho wheel, brought tho steamboats, head
ngain 30 the bank, and in.order to laeop her
there locked the wheel in the proper position.
The fire swept over tho. pilothousa and he
was imprisoned by the flames.
1t was high time TO think of his own life
now that he had rendered possible the saving
of scores of others To escape il was neces-
sary to push through the wall Of FIRE sur
rounding him Givens made u dash for the
side Of the steamboat, and, although fright
fully burned, succeeded In reaching It.
Although a moving mnss of fire he did not
lose his presence Of mind, but jumped into
the river and struggled 70 the bank, where
he was pulled ashore by willing hands,
cruelty burned and exhausted from his
Efforts No man ever performed a moro
heroic act than was that Of Jim Givens
Givens died at 1890 o'clock last night His
4 eyes were melted from their sockets and bis
nose was almost burned away. The flesh
/ from his left side, arm and leg was burned
away leaving large portions OF the ribs aud
other bones bare The unfortunate fellow
was suffering indescribable agony. He was
conscious at times, but when his mind wan
dered he went through his frightful expert
ence on the boat and suffered over again the
]
mother wera with him
Capt Holmes was more fortunate than
Jim Givena His death was an awful ono,
but it came quickly. One Of the passengers
describes his death as follows.
Capt Holmes remained at his post until
there was no chance Of his saving the life OF
another passenger He then leaped into the
water and swan ashore. Tho 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. IL was an awful mo-
ment for those OF us ashore, who made every
effort to rescue him with skiffs and with
ropes from the shore One man went out to
him and put a box between him and the
flames 10 protect him from tho increasing
heat He said to this man:
Never mind me, I'll be deAd In 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 colored roustabOut. had O
series of remarkable escapes. Welsh made
his way through the flames TO the bow
where he met two others OF the crew. They
extemporized raft Mate Bryant spranl
ON it and LETT Welsh and the Others 70 seeh
other means Of escape. They threw n bale
of cotton overheard and the men sprang on
II and II floated of Some distance from tht
burning boat the colored cabin boy swan {,
the bale aud, seizing it violently, threw i
over and all three were floundering in tn
water Welsh's companion was drowned
but he and the boy regained the bale AS i
touched the levee the boy sprang for ant
5 reached the bank, forcing the bale off, an,
poor Welsh began TO float directly into tn
flames.
The heat became SO intense that Wells
left the bale and swan 70 a stage plank o
which Dick, the mess room tender, wa
floating down to them. This plank wa
! caught by an eddy and swung into the blal
1 ing vessel Welsh cried out 10 Dick to le
GO but he was too frightened to do so, an
perished in the hameS The stage plan
fioated down the stream, and Welsh finall
: reached the bank
Capt. Louis C. Rawlings, one Of the pilot
: had just been aroused 70 go ON duty whe
= the fire was discovered. He was dressin
when he heard the alarm and at once pushe
forward About forty persons were on h
forecastle awaiting the moment when Il
Z boat would touch the bank.
"Just as she struck a stump and bounde
!, back Capt Rawlins said II jumped of G
: the starboard side and swan out into Il
u stream, so as to get out Of the radius Of Il
, heat How long was in the wnter cannS
say. / had about giyea up when l WI
pulled out exhausted and insensible. A
were quiet and not the least bit frightene.
seemingly. The stage was let down ON Il
!, starboard side, but failed by ten feet
- reach the bank II it had reached all woul
a. have been saved. The alarm was given
Y ample time for every one to be up and on
!" The second mate rushed through the texa
and made enough noise 70 arouse the dea
:, Just how long the boat was burning can
~ say, but it must have been over very quicki
u u for there was nothing loft Of the Hanna VIII,
VI / reached the shore.
"When Jolles started the boat for the bar
~ Capt. Holmes was forward helping TO get Il
% stage down, but IL was 50 hot he was fore
> TO jump from the deck. believe the d
u was caused by the careless throwing away
"a a cigarette by one OF the negroes"
Mrs Boss Rich Find.
PITTsBuRG, Dec 27-Mrs Annie Bo.
A