Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-07-18
A Steamer Blown up in the Chicng0
River and Il Number of
Lives Lost.
Thirty-E Eight Persons ON Board and
Only Two Known to be
Uninjured.
1t is Supposed that Gas in the
,. Hold Caught Fire and
Exploded.
The Number Killed Unknown.

CHICAGO, July ia frlghtful explo-
sion occurred tonight on the steamer
Tioga, of the largest vessels on the
great lakes. Thirty-eight people we're
aboard the steamer at the time. When
the work of rescuing the survivors, which
commenced almost instantly, was we'll
under way, only two persons could be
found who escaped unhurt. Then to
make matters worse fire broke out on
the wrecked vessel, and huge volumes of
flame and smoke impeded the search for
the dead and dying. The bursting Of
the steamers boilers was the cause of
the catastrophe. 1t was in Chicago
river at the foot of Washington street
that it occurred. Most of the victims
were Chicagoans, stevedores who were
unloading the vessel. Only three of the
Tioga's crew were reported
on the list. The fire proved
a stubborn one, and made it i,npos-
slble to verify the report that
the boilers had exploded. Capt. A. A.
Phelps of the Tioga says: 81 found after
a careful search that all but three were
accounted for and safe. Those three
were from Butfalo-Engineer George
Hahn, Lookout G. Levelly and Dock
Hand VIM. Cuthburt. Besides the three
missing who belonged to the crew. there
must have been from twelve to fifteen
other men killed and probably a half
dozen additional were wounded. These
were laborers in the hold who were do
ing the unloading. Eight colored men
are positively stated to have been below,
and six or seven others were at the
matches aiding their fellow stevedores.
The explosion occurred in the hold, not
in the machinery or boilers, as near as I
could ascertain, but was probably caused
by some combustible freight stored
there"
REsCUING EAD
Up to 1920 p. Ii. nine dead bodies had
been taken from the wreck, and five
or more wounded have beeh conveyed to
the hospitals. The fire having been ex-
tinguished by an inrushing of the river,
the victims were made more accessible,
and the steamer finally settled to the
muddy bottom of the river. The stream
is not a deep one, and the steamers
decks were still several feet above the
surface of the inky river. About $4,000,
it is estimated, would cover the damage
to the vessel and cargo. This amount is
believed to be fully insured. --latest re-
ports placed E. F~itzgibbons, a waiter from
Buffalo as among the killed. Engineer
Haig wal yet alive, but with no chance
of survival. Frank Burns, a steam filter,
reported missing and probably dead.
The injured included three white men,
David McNeal of Buffalo, Thos. Collins
and James O'Dcnnell. All were seri-
ously burned and mangled, bus will re-
cover. The additional names of colored
stevedores supposed to have been killed
as follows: w. Duller, H. Weatherspoon,
John Boff, Jacob Churl, Alexander
Smith, J. Braxton aud Chas. Foster.
The boilers seemed intact. The cargo
consisted of kerosene, gasoline and cot
ton. The inference drawn is that leak
ing kerosene saturated the cotton and
generated noxious fumes. When the
lanterns were taken into the hold to ena-
hle the stevedores to work, the lights, in
stead of being an aid to the t%oilers,
proved their destruction.