Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-01-02
MANY LIVES LOST.


| Waters Edge Twenty~ono p.rson,
Perlsh-~a'assengers K.nc, the shor.
Onty t" Stick Fast In tho Soft Mn.
l. Where. Unable to Exrticate Yhem
se1ves. They Are Rnas cd to Death b,
! the Heat from the Raging Flames
L"ss of tho Steamer Lief ErIclsnp. IN
washington Territory, wa!h Six o,
Seven Lives.
| NE" ORLEANS, Dec. N--The steaynboa
John II Hanna, from the Onnch ia river
with large number Of passnnccrs ani q
cargo VI 5000 bales of cotton on board,
VS. burned M 'nlay night ncur P,aoue.
mino, LII. Conflicting reports have ,y.on
rocelVod reg riding the loss Of lifo The
H"st accounts said thnt only fourteen Of
Inc loo persons on board were known to
| nave been saved. The latest report from
the f'cdTltHa's correspondent, however.
places the LOGS ut Ave whites and Eixt.en
! colorett%
Capita j. s. Holmes, master OF tho boat.
ohmuel Po~cll chief clerk sob Smith u p,lot
1rcm Smilhiand, La; NJ ko OMEN, night
"atchman; Joo Crane. cabin watchpah. MIN
roe ID ggs, trst cook; Jack Duff, second cook:
Joe ilhr'e CABIN BOY; jim Watson, sccond
bhAef; JOIN Grafton, r:4rpcnter: John Bnr}og
rohs'"nont; Jim Dltenk (colorct), oLs1uDout:
- OK Blank tcolored), lness-roum tender; child
OF Prise la Waite (colorot).
Among those who were badly Injured
are.
Dan Carroll steward Jim ONojl, deck
hand, john Gibbons, sAl!,rman: Ions ~ f,lrh
roustaDout; john Jackson, Thomas l,nrr,w
hlahH 81 The crew and pAssengurs were
asleep when the fire broke out ind it,,
spread with inups.ribulle rarid1t}. The
otealls OF tue suif.rings and death OF
some OF the passengers arc narrowing in
lilo eXtrcne The boat had reached =
point asuort distance ,.b0vo the town wh.r
d negro roujtioout ucar Ito bOilor-r1<,1!
ran out to t.o dccz nud shouted that the
ooat was On fire. Ohm Cl..cu y stoAcr,
ran hastily TO tho cngine-roon arc payf>
the al 'rm. Engineer Mrrriuan a, once
81 undcd tho alarm by blowing the steam
whistle and "ingiug the bells. Ia
an instant, certainly in much
shorter time than il talins to explain
II, the names shot through lne cabin and
over Inc sides OF the cotton cnyo,Ouinp
'ne entire bout IN tire. Clerk Pow ell was
upstairs at the time aud when he saw the
names he horoically ran through the smoke
which filled the cabin ana triod to arouse
The sleep ng people. He kicked at tnt.
doors, and in a short time almost
every body was awake. Frantic people
ran TO different exits to mako their escure
but the boat was plird high with cotton
a"u Inc assagc ways were filled with
smoke. Mauy dropped before thew were
aolc TO get to the forward part OF the boat.
and were dead when tnc steamer went
GOWN. AS soon AS the dire WAS discover 81
Engineer MerriTlu set tho steam }uml,s
TX ng and triet to battle with the
hames BIT the fire swept through the aout
l'ke Fla2t on u era ri" AVID the cncinc-
70 IN WAS soon in tiuul'a. Then to add
'urther to the const .rnation. u stcam- pipe
burst and filled the place with scalding
steam Engineer Mer, imam wa, forced to
ahand"n mis- post and he and the stokcrs
and others ran to the sides OF tho boat in
order to save their lives.
AS soon as the smoke aud flames began
10 start up the sides Of the boat CAPTAIN
Joi!cs. the pilot, swung the .1hee, around
and heaoed the boat for the shore. A
fnll head Of Steam was on at the
me aud the boat was aoou run into the
uaik' Before she was, however she was
doulu "a. All Of nor timber was then furi-
ously burning. When she s4ruck the bank
she hounded away aga n and swung
around, drifting down as size burned.
linen Captain Jolles jumped ont over the
cotton bales and spri.g.n into the river
swan ashore
The siynt was a werd QUE viewed from
inc bank, and the town vas arouse i.
F.o"tiNg cotton, charred timber AL other
uecrls hl'c1 the river, ana many
people We're struggling desperately il
the water fer their livcs. Some of them
We're SO badly burned or SO thoEoughl,, !
exhausted that they struggled but u few
'NuWcnt~ and sunk to rise no NJ re- AS !
the turning boat struck The bank of the |
RIVER the crew and passengers who had |
been able TO reach the forward emu Of the |
oo"t sprung ASHORE some Of them with !
hcorched fees and Jru scd Emu.> and I
many OF them with scarcely any covering. |
Brave Captain Holnles, a resident of |
New Orleans, met with Almost nyyfui !
death. He remained Mt his post of duty /
Til every chance to s;ve the lives Ct his !
passengers WAS gone. Then he attemptoI !
ID SWIM ashore, but + happened to be !
Doggy, and he was sccn to make frautlc
IN earors to cxtricAt. himself Without
avail. INC burning boat WAS fast Nearing
him and while he was on his knees ia the
fnuu he put his hands up to protect lis
nack lrom the intense heat. 1t was an
aWfu! moment for those on shore,
who were making every endeavur to
relieve him with skilrs and with ropes
rom tho bank. One man went out
10 him and placed a box between him
Ana nc la'GcS to protect him from the in
heat tie said: "Ncver mind
me. III DO dead in a few rninUtrs, any
way" lie was finally fr'c,l from his ter
BIO situation by tying IL rope around his
odt and dragging aim on shore, but alas,
90 late. E3 died about half an houraftcr
% ne res, ueI.
The body Of Chief Clerk rowrl! was in a
perfect state Of preservation. There were
a MARKS OF any kind upon it. lie had on
4 hic-prcscrVnr which was partly Iurue,l
u Is supp aed lta & cd of sur ,cat!on. A
'hort time previous TO thu. alarm Of fire
POWELL was convcrsinS with Willie Fl g
5lhs, bar keeper, nb )ut tho burning Of the
ate Adams, an acconnt of which Nir.jas
lat Just fin shed reading.
The death of John Grafton, curpenter.
vas Il sad one. lilo was in tho upper por-
''on OF she boat, struggling to get near the
DOW, Tho tlamos were TWISTING and sweep
nG all about him. He tried MOLLY, but
1e dropped and burned to death before
eyes of The people, who we're not able
- render him any lelp.
The second bar-Aeepcr OF tho boat said
Ar. Powell was standing near him when
hey bb,h jumped into the water Powell
Who could nots swim, climbed on a uoat
ng cotton bake, but two deck
lands jumred on the bale, turn