The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1892-04-07
GOLDEN RULE" BURNED.
The Beautiful Ohio River Steamer De-
strOyed by Fire at Cincinnati.
A AcARELEss DECK HAND
Sets Fire to the Boat-Five Lives are
Known TO be Lost and Many
Persons StiIl Missing.


CINCINNATI, o., April 1--At 5
O'Clock this evening a fire broke
out on the steamer Golden Rule,
lying at the foot Of Main street. Be
tween the Golden Rule and the shore
was the steamer Fleetwood, with
steam up and ready to pull out for
up the river. The Golden Rule was
booked to leave at 5 o'clock for New
Orleans, and had fifty or more pas
sengers on board. A panic ensued.
A dozen or more jumped into the
river, while the others escaped by
the jumping from the Golden Rule
to the Fleetwood, thence to safety
on shore. Had not the Fleetwood
been where it was the loss of life
would have been appalling. The
fire originated on the lower deck Of
the Golden Rule by one of the deck
hands setting lamp on barrel Of
varnish. In flash the flames com
municated to the varnish, and from
thence TO the lighter freight. In
twenty minutes the whole
structure was enveloped in
one mass of fire. The boat was
Immediately released from the
wharf. The Big Sandy, wharfboat,
was also released, but the fire de-
partment, which was summoned as
hastily as possible, could do moth
ing. Soon the boat broke loose
from its moorings and started to
drift down the stream. By the
time it had proceeded $50 feet it was
burned to the waters edge. As
soon as the fire was discovered all
the other boats at the landing were
cut loose and steered out into the
current. The value of the Golden
Rule alone was $25, 900. The car
go was worth $50, 600 The wharf
boat was valued at $40, 900.
There was but one person whose
life is positively known to be lost.
That person is Miss Nellie Maloney,
who was seen to fall into the river
and drown
1t was / o'clock this morning be-
fore it became inferentially certain
that Frank I. Riley, second mate,
was lost. He cannot be found by
his wife and other friends, and he
was believed to be working in the
hold, in command of several men,
when the fire started. Buck Warner
was laborer on the boat, and as
his family in the city neither have
seen him nor heard from him, they
have at last given way to fear that
he was burned up in the boat. Mrs.
O'Leary, cook, is believed to have
been lost. All search for her on
both sides of the river have failed
to discover any trace of her, and she
is counted among the lost. Billy
Madison was the stevedore, and was
at work on the boat. His wife and
her friends in the city have failed to
hear of him, and he has been given
up as lost. Mack Homan, another
stevedore, has been sought and not
found, though it is not so clearly
made out that he is lost as it has
been in the case Of the other four.
Assuming all these as lost the list
this morning is as follows:
Miss Nettie Maloney, Frank I
Riley, second mate; Buck Warner,
stevedore; Billie Madison, steve
dore; Mack Homan, stevedore.
All the above are of Cincinnati
There are rumors that there were
from six to fifteen deckhands and
roustabouts working in the hold at
the time the explosion fred the
boat. One roustabout, who escaped
from the hold, reports nine
men were in it when he escaped
First Mate Barney Connel last saw
the second mate, Riley, on the
boiler deck when the fire started
near the hatch, and thinks he may
have gone down to save the
men at work below. There are
stories by spectators of seeing
the woman jump overheard and
struggling in the water. All sorts
Of wild tales are afoat. Some who
were reported lost last night have
been found alive, but none of these
are included in the list of the five
dead given in this dispatch.