The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-25

who was nervous about the overcrowd-
ing OF the boat and said he would give
all the interest he had In her II the
veterans were safe ut Cairo.
, About 3 o'clock In the morning a
!, feeling of suffocation brought Lleuten.
! ant ELLIOTT back TO consciousness after
several hours Of heavy sleep. He
knew something was wrong, for there
was an oppressive heat in the cabin
and the lights were yelled and dim.
Stumbling forward he saw that the
floor had dropped down at the front"
and made an inclined plane to the
lower deck. The cot he had "pre-
emptcd" was gone with its occupant
who had displaced him. Many Of the
sleepcrs were already dead, killed by
the explosion Of the Sultana's boilers.
Yet at that awful moment not II shrek,
not a sound Of any kind was heard by
Lieutenant ELLIOTT. What had hap.
pcncd he did not know. He seemed
to DO moving and wondering as II III
}, the grip Of Il nightmare. Gaining the
hurricane deck. he saw that the smoke
stacks were down. Tho Sultana was
headed toward the Tennessee shore. and
men. twenty and thirty at time, were
jumping into the black waters of the
river "Such screams I never heard"
he says.
Climbing over the side and letting
himself down to the lower deck, ELL
OFT, who was Il good swimmer. dived
of. He found the water colder than
Greenland's Icy mountains and v
strong current running. A man cling
ing to the floating wheelhouse steps
invited him To share it. Two others
| Joined them and down the stream they
iioated abreast of the burning Sui.
tana. THE mer who were afraid to
take TO the water could be seen." he
says, "clinging to the sides Of the
boat until they were singed OF like
hies." A man bobbng up and down
went by In swirl of the current.
Don't touch me-" he said, II am on a
barrel" lie was sitting astrde and
hanging on for dear life. One man on
the wheelhouse steps let so and sank.
He had been doing a good deal Of
praying"
Past the gaslights Of Memphis the
survivor noated, chilled to the mar
row and gradually losing conscious
ness. All would have persisted If
boat from the "tinclad" Grosbeak,
L. $. ~, had not picked them up.
EIIIoTr's senses left him as he was
pulled on board without stitch OF
clothing on him. Rowcd To the
Grosbeak and revived by whiskey. Il
| imagine he says. that II l had gone
| over Ia the other country and had
been permitted to sit down with ABRA
HAM. Isaac and JAcoB In the land Of
Beulnh could not have felt any hap
pier than | did sitting naked by the
furnace" There Is a comical picture
of the Lieutenant modestly but in
vain trying to escape a Sister Of
Charity who pursued him with n suit
Of red flannel underwear when the
"tinclad' tied up at the wharf at
Memphis.
Captain MASON died like hero. Civ
ing orders to the last and going down
with the blazing hurricane deck Ac.
cording to a report made by Brigadier-
General W. HOFFMAN. which Is ap.
pended, there We're 1866 soldiers on
board when the explosion occurred, II
whom 1,10l. including nineteen oili-
GERS, lost their lives. Only eighteen OF
100 cabin IA ssengers and crew were ne.
counted for. a co;rt of iquiry that
sat ri Memphis took "a good deal OF
testimony. and reviewing 1t HOFFMAN,
Commssary- General of Prisoners. re-
corded the opinion that "the shipment
of 50 large number of troops Il 1861
on one boat was. under the circum.
stances, unnecessary. unjustifable and
Il great outrage upon the troops" lie
recommended that certain subordinate
officers Of the quartcrma ster's and the
transportation department be held ac.
countable."
Major-Gencral NAPOLEON ]. T. DANA
in another report placed the RESPONSE. |
bility upon two of the officers named |
by General HOFFMAN, hut if they were
court martialled and punished II does !
not appear in this monograph. The
responsibility was probably divided.
and it Is certain that there was a good |
deal of unavoidable confusion in col. |
lecting and embarking the relea >cd
prisoners. Ii was brought out that |
u leak in one Of the boilers WAS re.
paired at Nicksburg; the explosion
proved that the work was botchcd. In
the files of the War Department all |
the testimony reviewed by General
HOFFMAN should be accessible If any
further light is needed by the Sur
vivors of the Sultana Disaster Associa-
ton" who must be very few now.
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