The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-08-12

In the Busy Times Along the River but
Little Attention was Paid to the
Safety Of the Passengers.
The burning of the General slocum in
the East river has started the tongues
of old-time river men on the Mississip-
pi and is navigabIe tributaries, and the
stories they tell are backed by the
wrecks on a hundred sandbars and the
statistics of ninety-three years of steam
navigation. Down to the year 1873
six hundred and eighteen boats were
destroyed, and of these one hundred
and four were burned.
The average number of lives lost in
each disaster was in the neighborhood
of twenty-five exact number lost COZ
not be ascertained on the bank of the
stream at the time, because the books
of the vessel were destroyed. But up
ward of two thousand lives were lost
by the burning of steamers during the
thirty-seven years ending that marked
the beginning of river navigation in the
west.
During the year ended June 80, 1851,
thirty-three vessels were lost on Amer
lean rivers, with six hundred and TWEEN
ty-eight lives-a number equal TO ten
per cent. of the number of persons en-
ployed on the steamboats, on the riv-
ers. Explosions, fires and snags caused
these disasters.
The greatest destruction to life in a
river disaster was when the troopship
Sultana blew I'D in 1864 at st. Louis.
One thousand six hundred and forty
seven Union soldiers lost their lives in
this disaster. which has never been
paralleled.
There is no accurate record of steam
err disasters on American rivers. Cap
tain S. L. Fisher and James McCord
compiled a list from memory and data
it numbered sixty-nine disasters by
explosion and fire. And in this series,
coming down to 1871 9,S1S lives were
lost. But this was only partial list
that within the memory of two men
who had passed their lives on the river
as pilots and captains. ...-.-
The loss of life was not considered
closely in those days. Nor did the dis
asters to the boats bring caution.
owners estimated that boat would
pay for itself in little over a year,
would clean up a profit for two years,
and a little longer. and then be de-
stroyed by fire, snag or explosion.
The word caution was not known.
old-time chronicle said OF the disaster
to the Moselle, which blew up a mile
above Cincinnati on April % 1898. ''The
passengers We're generally regardless of
any danger that might exist, crowding
the boat for the sake of her beauty and
speed, and making safety only a secon-
dairy consideration.
This applied to all river navigation in
the Mississippi valley at that time.
Weights were hung on the safety
valves pilots kept the engines going at
full speed, and only the crash of plank
ing. the bursting out of huge volumes
OF smoke or the boiling UP Of steam,
thrusting up decks, cargo and human
ity, brought the boats to stand-still,
if a race was on or the time limit ur-
gent. s.s%~... L.. i
Prior to 1S49, 1856 vessels were built
for river navigation, Seven hundred
and thirty-six of these were destroyed
over forty-four per cent. The prop
erty loss was s5,64s,791 on boats and
$12, 500 ,529 on cargo-a total of $iS.342,-
800 In property given up, In addition to
the two thousand lives, in order to
make time or show ..,. ..'
In the history os the world there Is
nothing more remarkable than the
facts showing the temperament Of the
people along the Mississippi river dur
ing the ante-bellum days. To this day
some Of the old-tine spirit survives,
and within half a dozen years chances
have been taken almost equal in daring
to those Of the old-time river shippers.
Racing is still INDUCED in, and the
safety valves are still subject to the old
cry, Hang a niger on the safety
valve"
Only twenty-six boats have been
burned on the Mississippi down to 1S4S.
One of the worst Of the river disasters
caused by fire was that Of the steamer
City of Pittsburg, in the Ohio just
|above Cairo. seventy-eight lives are
said to have been lost in this fire.
When the Moselle blew up, the steam
err had just landed in order to take on
some passengers. The shutting off of
the steam started the boilers. All four
blew w at once and the whole Of the
vessel forward of the sidewheels was
thrust up and out.
The forward upper decks were
crowded with people watching and
making of the landing. The boilers
were Immediately under them, and the
explosion hurled them into the air. The
pilot house and a man supposed to be
the pilot were thrown to the opposite
shore, quarter of a mile away
A man was thrown high into the air,
and came down on roof with such
force that he broke through, and the
body was removed from its place with
difficulty. Many were blown to pieces,
and fragments of nineteen bodies were
buried in one grave.
"Eighty-one were known to have
been killed, f1fty-one were missing, and
thirteen badly wounded. The miss
ing were not always counted in, for
some were merely travellers who went
on their way without reporting.
Twenty three boats were burned on
May 10, 1S49, in the "harbor" Of st.
Louis. They were tied along the levee,