The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-08-30
Relatives and Friends Greeted the
ExcursiOnists Upon City of
Chester's Arrival.
PASSENGERS WERE CHEERFUL.
Cargo of Lumber and Peanuts
Washed Away From Sunken
Steamer-All the Personal
Baggage Was Saved.

vivors OF the sunken steamer City Of Clifton
awaited the arrival of the City of Chester
yesterday morning at the wharfs of the st.
| Louis and Tennessee River Packet Com
pany. The Chester had on board the pas
| sengers of the Clifton. which struck a snag
| and sunk Off Landing Seventy-Six. about
| 100 miles below St Louis Wednesday after
noon, few miles from the wreck of the
/ City of Paducah.
/ The cheerful appearance Of the safely re-
| turned excursionists relieved the anxious
| watchers. and the tale of the wreck imme-
| diately became the topic OF interest in near
| ly fifty st. Louis homes. No one was pros
| trated from the effects of the experience.
| All walked of the Chester and soon were
| in the midst of admring friends at their
| homes
The story of the sinking of the Clifton
gathered from the accounts of the passen-
| gers who were seen for The Republic Is
, that the steamer was making COED head
way up stream for st. Louis after a trip or
eight days along the Tennessee River. She
struck the obstruction in the main channel
without warning. vibration that ran
through her timberS was the only percepti-
Bile shock Then the terrible fear that
comes from the distinct settling of a vessel
in water seized the passengers.
Some Of them were sleeping at the mo-
ment Of the shock. They were awakened
and Joined their friends on the second deck.
where most of the passengers were assem-
bled to enjoy the river scenery. Captain X.
w Mccoy master of the steamer. relieved
the dread by appearing at once. and in a
speech informing every one on board OF the
exact situation. The boat was on the bot
tom of the river and there was nothing else
to do, he said. but wait for rescue. rms
came a few hours later when the CITY OF
. nd
removed the human part of her cargo. she
arrived in the city at IL o'clock yesterday
morning with all OF the Citizens passenger
list.
Passengers' baggage Saved.
All of the luggage aboard the steamer,
which belonged to the passengers. was
saved without damage. as the staterooms
ON the second deck did not go below the
water. 1t was transferred to the Chester
Nearly 10000 pounds of lumber and 10000
mounds OF peanuts which she was convey
ing TO st Louis were lost The insurance
ON the boat and its contents is expected to
cover all losses.
ct have told about the wreck a hundred
times since nv arrival this morning." said
Miss Fannie FTori of No. 1873 Cora avenue.
who was a passenger on the Clifton. with
Miss Eugenia Chevralot Of No. 4ll5 Pleas
ant street. 'I was sittin. on the main
deck with friends at the moment that the
boat struck the snag. 1t was hard enough
to cause me to topple from my seat on
the deck. Several mothers with their chill
dren frightened the little ones by scream-
ing The children caused fright among the
older passengers.
II remembered that Miss Chevralot was
asleep in our stateroom below and hastened
there to awaken her. She was sitting up
in the berth. rubbing her ewes. and asking
why had pushed her. / told her that the
boat was sinking. She grabbed a few
things and hurried on deck. where Captain
Mccoy was assuring the passengers that
everything was all right We spent the rest
of the time in eating verv good dinner
and making fun of the situation. until the
arrival of the Chester
Doctor Louis Rassieur. assistant superin-
tendent OF the City Hospital. and Doctor
Roland Hill OF No. 4449 Delmar avenue We're
convenient passengers Their services were
needed to revive several ladies. who prompt
" tainted when the boat struck. Doctor
Rassieur said that every one on the deck
was badly scared when the PROV encoun-
tered the snag. The boat shook from end
to end. and began to settle In the water
rapidly.
THE belief that we were in deep water"
said the physician caused most of the
alarm. but Just as soon the captain told
US that it could not sink any lower. every
one got over the nervousness and proceeded
to make the most of the situation.
shock Caused Nervousness.
Miss Sarah Hammond of No. 46i0 West
Belle place. and her companion. Mrs. Ida
Music of No. AIS Farlin avenue were sitting
in the extreme prov Of the steamer when
her nose butted into the hidden obstruction.
They were thrown from their advanced po-
sition back on the deck. The jar was n
disagreeable sensation for Miss Hammond
and she was feeling its effects when a visit
was made to her home. The young lady had
taken to her room.
Mrs. F. L. Wetzel of No. 5ss7 Ridge ave-
nue. and her three children We're on the
boat. The children were greatly frightened
by the accident. and the mother had a diff
ficult time In comforting them. Frederick
W. Loffhagen and his two daughters Of
No. III Morgan street were passengers.
The young ladies behaved with admirable
presence of mind. They ran below to their
staterooms and carried everything OF value
to the deck
Other passengers on the boat were Miss
Maggie Sullivan Of No. 1000 North Twenty
fifth street. Mrs. J. II. Price and child OF
Belleville; Aikan Walsh of the law firm Of
Altheimer & Young, St. Louis. Mr.. Walsh
was accompanied by his wife and child, and
the daughters of Senator Killam of Lin
coin County Missouri, all OF whom were
making the round trip from Paducah- Miss
Mae c. Atkinson of OFallon. ILL.,, was al
other passenger. Miss Killane. Miss Mamie
Koch. Mrs. Montgomery and three
children. Z. F. Hayes and wife. Misses
Mary and NJ Elockner. Misses l.. and NJ.
Hicks and George Fitch of Galve. Ill.
Doctor Rassieur Relates Incit,ents.
Doctor Louis Rass!eur tells some amusing
incidents. He was asleep when the boat
struck the snag. but was awakened by the
accident He ran at once to the deck.
Il didn't know whether we were going to
be drowned or not, and apparently nobody
else did. l remember talking with another
passenger as to the possibility of SWIM
ming ashore. We decided that We couldn't
make it and were puzzling our wits to think
up a better mode of escape, when the cap
tain told us that there was no further dan
ger.
One man had two cases of beer with
him. When the boat struck and seemed to
be sinking he became anxious about that
beer, and ran down to the cabin to get 1t.
He carried up both cases in successive
trips When it was apparent that nobody
was in immediate danger, he insisted on
everybody drinking of his beer to quiet tn
nerves. as he put it,
"One negro. a guitar player. was on the
upper deck when the boat struck. There
was a large alongside. but the deck of
this was fully 30 feet below the Clifton's
upper deck. The negro recklessly made
the Jump. however. 1t seemed as IL he
should have broken both legs, but the only
thing to suffer was the GUITAR