The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-01-03
TERRIBLE DISASTER ON OHIO
RIVER NEAR HUNTINGTON
LAST NIGHT.
TIRED OUT CREW WAS HURLED
INTO ETERNITY BY BLOWING
UP OF BOILERS.
(By Publishers Press.)


The towboat Defender. one of the
largest of the fleet which plies up and
down the Ohio river, to and from
Pittsburg. blew up shortly before
midnight last night. and tie majority
of her crew, variously estimated from
IS to 40, was blown into eternity. 1t
was one of the most horrible disas-
ters, from loss of life. of the past
twenty years of river history.
The Defender, which was owned by
the Monongahela River Consolidated
Coal and Coke Company of Pittsburg.
was returning to Pittsburg from Gin
cinnati where she had left tow of
four barges of coal. She had been ex-
periencing hard weather the entire
way from Cincinnati, owing to the
fact that the river is filled with ice.
AS result of this she had all Steam
on, and her prov at that was barely
able to cut it's way through the foes.
Most of the crew had gone to their
hunks, tired out by the days hard
work. Suddenly. with roar like the
bursting of thousands of large shells.
the whole boat went up into the air,
and in a moment what had been one
of the prides of the Ohio. was nothing
but blazing pile of worthless tim
ber, the funeral pyre of over score
of men. Her boilers, strained to their
utmost, had exploded.
The scene following the explosion,
beggars description.
In the ice floated half a dozen of the
crew, burned and horribly lacerated
by the force of the explosion, but
still clinging to the timber, momen-
tarily losing their hold on the icy
planks. That any escaped is little
short of miraculous.
None of those left on the ill-fated
towboat escaped. 1t was impossible
Immediately after the explosion the
whole frame of the boat, such of it as
was left, caught fire, and blazed fu-
riously. All of the crew who had
escaped immediate death must have
perished miserably in the blaze which
followed. The report of the explosion
awakened the inhabitants of the city
and soon every available craft was
en- route for the scene to aid in the
rescue. The steamer Chevalier was
lying at the local wharf, with steam
half up, and sne was the first to reach
the side of the wrecked Defender. On
her way she picked up half a dozen
of those who had been blown into the
river, and hastened them to the shore
where they were placed in private
houses and cared for by local ply
dition and none has as yet been able
toi give any details of the disaster.
The Defender was in charge of Cap
tain James Woodward, of Pittsburg.
He was in his pilot house when the
explosion occurred and was hurled
into the river. He was later picked
up dead from the cold, but apparent
ly otherwise uninjured. The only
dead body as yet recovered and iden-
tilted is that of Thomas Duffy. of
Pittsburg, a fireman on board the De-
fender. Another dead body picked
up is that of another fireman, whose
name is not known, but who is known
" nave llfS0 III SOEISoPOiLS, 4 SuhSyl-
vania. about twenty-five miles from
Pittsburg.
One woman, name unknown, who
was passenger on the steamer is
said to have been among those whose
charred remains row lie in the hull
of the Defender
The full rumber of those who lost
their lives cannot be obtained until
Captain Woodward RECEIVERS sufi-
eiently to give the names of his crew.
and of any passengers he may have
had on boar
Among those known to have es-
escaped is Joseph Moore. of Oakland.
Pennsylvania, cook.
One of the river men whose home
is in small house boat wintering on
the Huntington river front, was one
OF the first to reach the side of the
Defender. He tells thrilling story
OF the disaster.
81 was just about turning in,g he
says :. and had put on my heavy coat
to go out and take squfnt at the