Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-03-16
A STEAMER LOST.
Crashes Into the Pier OF a Bridge
in Cincinnati.
Five Persons Known to Have Lost Their
I LIves-One Man Is MIssinE-Dctaiis
of the Disaster, which Oc-
ours In Fog.

er Longfellow, of the Memphis e. Gin
cinnati Packet company left its land
ing at the foot of Main street and start
ed for New Orleans At o'clock she
struck the south pier of the c. &c o.
railroad bridge and sank in 40 feet of |
water. Five persons were drowned |
and one man is missing. He was un-
doubtedly drowned. The victims were |
as follows:
The dead-David Aldridge, passenger Rome,
N. Y; Capt. j. Lawrence Carter, first clerk, |
Newport, KY; Gus Chauvet, barkeeper. Gin |
cinnati; Mrs w. j. Aull, passenger, Dayton, |
O.; James Miller, colored porter, Cincinnati.
Missing and believed to be lost-W j. Aull, |
passenger, Dayton, o.
The real cause of the accident, it is !
said, was the fact that the boat, like
the ill-fated steamer State of
Missouri, was SO unwieldy that |
she became unmanageable and
the pilots were powerless to control
her. The boat was to have left here
for New Orleans Thursday night, but
was prevented from doing so on ac-
count of the dense fog. River men
say the fog was even greater Friday
morning, and the boat should never
have left.
1t was decided, however, by the own
ers, the White Collar line, to send the
boat out, and the towboat Hercules
Carrel was sent out to aid her in pass
ing below the bridges. The Car
rel was secured to the stern of the
Longfellow, and both boats passed
down the river to point about fifty
yards above the Chesapeake & Ohio
bridge, where the Longfellow be-
came entirely unmanageable. The
shrill blasts of the whistles on both the
Carrel and the Longfellow were the |
first warnings of danger, and the doors
of the staterooms were hurriedly
thrown open, while the passengers
gathered together on the front part
of the cabin deck. The fog was
so dense that they could see nothing,
and few of them were aware of the
actual danger. The officers were cool
and collected, and retained their pres
ence of mind for the most part, even in
the face OF the imminent danger.
The crew was summoned on the
front of the boiler deck and prepara-
tions We're made for removing the pas
sengers, many of whom We're la
dies, to .the Carrel, which was still
moored alongside. All this occupied
but fraction of the time between
the moment when it was first seen
that the boat would strike and the
actual collision. The sound when
the boat struck could be heard for
several squares along the river front,
and sounded as if the walls of a great
building had fallen. A moment later
the river was black with floating wreck
age and freight.
AS soon as the accident occurred the
Carrel pressed to the Longfellow's as
sistance, and as rapidly as possible the
iatter's passengers We're transferred to
the Carrel's deck. Hardly bad the last
one saved focked to the uninjured
steamer when the Longfellow parted
amidships and disappeared in the
muddy Stream, prov first.
During the hasty transfer of souls
from the sinking vessel to the rescuing
one James Miller, colored porter. be-
came more frightened than the rest
and jumped. Just as he did so the
boats came together and, miscalculat-
ing the distance, the unfortunate negro
was caught between them and his
body ground in two. A moment later
both portions of the man fell into the
river a2d disappeared.
! David Aldridge, the invalid who was
the first TO be reported missing and
who is tie superintendent of the poor at
Rome, y. V, proba bly, met his fate while
going back to the Longfellow after
seeing his wife safely to the Carrel
Re had let his overcoat and satchel in
his stateroom and in going back for it
got caught as the boat went down.
After the boat went to pieces the
cabin and parts of the hull tioated on
down the river. Tugs chased them
and succeeded in landing them at diff
ferent points down the river. In the
wreckage the body of Mrs. Aull was
found.
The steamer Longfellow was one
of the largest, best-known and hand
soonest packets ON the Ohio river. She
was stern-wheeler, and up to about
two years ago was known as the U. p.
Schenck. At that time she was
purchased by her present owners,
the White Collar Line company, and
the name was changed to the Longfel-
low. She was freighted almost entire
ly with reaping and moving machines
for the southern markets. The consign-
ment consisted of more than 800 ma
chimes and was billed to Vicksburg,
Bazoo City and New Orleans. 1T is
doubtless the largest shipment of har-
'vesting machinery ever made ut one
time out of Cincinnati, and shows that
whe south is preparing for period of
prosperity. An interesting fact con-
nected with the shipment is that the
goods were actually sold and are not
being shipped down there on eXhibi-
ton.
Fighting the Income Tax Law.
WASHINGTON, March 9.-Arguments
in the income tax cases Were continued