The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-01-09
ANOTHER RIVER HORROR.
A OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Burned
at Placquemine, La.

at Placquemine, La.
Awful Loss Of Life Aboard the
Blazing John j. Hanna,
Another horrible steamboat accident COM
ing close upon the loss Of thirty-ave lives by
the burning of the steamer Kate Adams, oc-
Cured at Placluemine, La, when the steam:
or John II. Hanna was destroyed by fire and
many persons were either burned to death
or drowned. Just how many lives were
lost will probably never be known, as all the
books and papers of the boat are gone. 1t Is
said that there were fully one hundred
persons on the boat, including passengers and and
crew, and that no more than dozen nave
been accounted for. Another estimate placed
the number of the lost at thirty. -.
The Hanna had left Monroe, Ark, Sunday
morning well laden with cotton. She picked
up freight all along the Ouachita, and when
she entered the Mississippi she carried over
2300 bales Of cotton. a.
The steamer was headed down the river,
going at her best gait, when the fire was dis
covered. A majority Of the passengers were
asleep, but quite number were in the dining
saloon eating, saying Merry Christmas 10
each other and making life as pleasant
as IS possible on a small and badly
crowded Mississippi River steamer. The
little party was in the best OF spirits
about l o'clock in the morning, when
the cry of Fire. fell upon its ears. A
colored roustabout who had been sleeping
near the boiler was awakened by heavy
smoke Before he was well aware he shouted
Fire" John Cullen, stoker, heard the cry
haA in tha diraafinn
the tier OF cotton piled up close to the boilers
was in blaze, aud that there was no time to
lose if any one on the boat was to escape.
In less time than it takes to narrate it, the
flames had forced their way aloft and were
licking up the light woodwork Of the main
saloon. A moment more and the entire buat
above the waters edge was wrapped in a
sheet of fame Samuel Powell, one of the
Hanna's clerks, was in the Office. Seeing
smoke-6lied cabin, pounding furiously at the
stateroom doors to arouse the slumberlng
passengers
Meanwhile Engineer Merriman stood at his
post, in spite of the Kissing flames which shot
into the engine room. He set the steam pumps
at work and attempted to fight the fire: de
had hardly done this when steampipe burst
and filed the room with scalding vapor.
Further delay was impossible, and accom-.
inainei with him, he dropped over the
steamers side into the water.
Pilot Jolles had swung the wheel around
and headed the steamer for the nearer shore.
Like mad thing she plunged along
under full head of steam, but be-
fore she reached the land every plank
was af1ame. As she struck the
land she bounded of again, swung round and
drifted slowly down the stream with her
ht1p1 ftxyc ct,riat
ing for relief from the hideous death which
clutched them
Passengers, in their night clothes, rushed
frantically through the burning cabin, seek
ing a means of egress. The usual exits were
blocked with huge masses of cotton, and
many dropped from suffocation before they
reached the forward deck.
When the fire broke out the Hanna was In
midstream, but would probably have reached
the shore in time to avoid the terrible loss OF
life had not her bow struck bar when
she was within fifteen yards Of the
bank. This checked her headway
and caused her stern to swing round.
When the boat was nearing the shore the
stage plank was ordered prepared for lower
ing to the bank This being done panic
stricken crowd rushed upon 1t. 1t gave way
under the great weight and broke. Between
twenty and thirty persons were preeipitated
The Captain and number OF the crew
and passengers had fought their way to the
bow of the boat with scorched faces
and bruised limbs. A majority sprang
from her when she was about
ten yards from shore, and the
moment the boat touched the rest sprang
ashore into the mud or water. The Hanna
rested there a few minutes aground, then
bounded away, and swung around, drifting
down and burning until she finally sunk in
the water
Although the crew had escaped from the
burning boat they were not wholly saved,
and both the Captain aud Bob Smith,
the famous Lilot of the Inflated Ed.
White met their death after get
ting ashore. They sprang into the
mud op the bank, and becoming fast there,
were slowly roasted to death by the intense
heat from the burning boat They buried
their faces and hands in the soft mud to pro-
tect themselves, and appealed to the people on
impossible The Captain was finally pro-
tected from the fire by means of a box, and
was dragged ashore with ropes. 1t was too
late, however. He had suffered too serious in
juries, and, although he received medical at
tendance at once, he died before he reached
Placluemine. -,
Tho people of Placquemine did all they
could to relieve the sutferlngs OF the Wounneo
and to care for the saved. Hotels and
private houses were thrown open, and
the unfortunate people were nursed and
clothed. No attempt was made to
save any of the papers, and everything,
including the clothes Of the crew and pas
sengers, was lost. When the body Of Clerk
Powell, who tried heroically to awaken those
in the cabin was found, $1,000 was discovered
in his pocket.
None of the survivors could say what was
the origin of the fire. The general i'm
preston is that some careless smoker
threw q cigarette among the cotton,
and thereby caused the disaster, Owing
to the GOODNESS of the water many OF
those who escaped the flames persisted
from cramps in the icy tide. Perhaps the
saddest cases were those of men who got so
tar toward safety as the banks OF the river.
were there mired in the mud, and bur3ed to
death while attempting to Chamber up the
muddy levee.
The Hanna was valued at SIS, 900; her car
20 at $4,000. Both are total loss The
cotton was so much tinder, and as the boat
was built 12 years ago, her timbers were in
fne condit:n, fr- nm 'anratinn
A NEW volcano is reported from Hulman-
Il -,