Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-01-03
THIRTY LIVES LOST.
Another River Boat Burned, and 30
Lives Lost.


The Miss 81 ppi steamboat John H. Han
ma burned on Christmas day, and the calam-
ity resulted In the loss Of fully 30 lives aud
the destruction OF $500 bales of cotton
which she carried She was a small but
fine boat of 81 tons burthen, hailing from
Louisville, KY, ana in conmand of Capt.
j. S. Holmes The fire started the night
before while many Of the passengers were
in the ca DIN playing cards and watching in
the advent of Christmas. The boat was
just above Plaquemine La, when roust-
about raised the cry Of fire At the same
moment the bales of cotton near the boiler
were on fire, and the flames licked over the
boat in less time than it takes 10 tell it. The
whole boat was ablaze in less than five
minutes. The officers were COOL The en-
gineer set the steam pumps going and tried
TO fight the flames with the assistance OF
his tiremen, while the clerk, Sam, Il. Pow
ell, ran upstairs at once, and by kicking on
the stateroom doors and bursting them
open, awakened the sleeping occupants of
the berths.
In an instant all was confusion. Capt.
Jolles, tho pilot, ordered on full head of
steam and drove the boat hard into the
bank Of the river. She was then blazing
furnace, and her timbers were so weakened
by the fire that the shock did little more
than to break them apart and let her drift
down stream.
As she reached the bank the crew and
D.
thoroughly awakened, jumped over the cot
ton and into the river. Many of them sank
in the river or floated down with the cur.
rent and were drowned, while there were
some so badly burned that they were too
weak TO struggle for themselves when they
struck the water The captain met an aw
full death. He remained at his post of duty
till every chance TO save lives was gone.
Then he leaped into the river to swim for
the shore, but it happened to be DOGGY, and
he was seen to make frantic endeavors to
extricate himself withdrawal. The burn
ing boat was fast nearing him, and while
he was on his hands and knees in the mud
he put up his hands to protect his back
from the intense heat. One man went out
to him and placed box between him and
the flames TO protect him from the increas-
ing heat. He said, "Never mind me; I'll
be dead in few minutes any way" He
was finally freed by tying rope around
his body and dragging him on shore. He
died about half an hour after being rescued
Clerk Powell made an effort to save the
boats books and money before he left the
boat, and after he had done all possible to
save lives, he was caught like the captain
in the Doggy bank and was found dead in
the river He had been suffocated by the
smoke of the burning cotton while trying
to make land. He was not burned or in
jured and had in his pocket 81 600 OF the
boats money.
Inc DOdJ COnlinutu W OuTu dlJcI SuC
swung away from the shore, and soon sank.
The burning bales of cotton fioated on the
water down past Plaquemine, making a
terribly weird scene in the opening hours
of Christmas morning The brilliant,
smoking procession of these blazing masses
lit up the river for hours, and by their
light, lent horror and terrible effect TO the
scene.
The origin of the fire is unknown. II was
| undoubtedly caused by some careless
| smoker throwing stogy or cigarette in
among the cotton, and thus igniting the
mass. The rapidity with which the blaze,
which must have smoldered some time be-
| fore, spread when it did break out can be
imagined when it is stated that the third
alarm whistle had not been given when the
| whole boat was in flames.
The people Of Plaquemine did all in their
power to help the injured and save life.
| The hotels were thrown open TO the sur
vivors, and they were clothed by the citi-
| zens, and the local doctors were all busy
| dressing burns and cuts received from the
| floating timbers.
The steamer Josie W., Of the same line,
had been laid up at Monroe, and her crew
were going home on the Hanna. Several OF
] those are known TO be among the lost.