The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-27
SURVIVORS TO GOAH=
 MEEAE0RATE THE SuL TAAJA SEMI CEN [ fs AEsY

Members of the Survivors, of the suItana. Disaster Association, now but a handful in numbers. will comnem- crate today the sami-eentenary of the worst and most pftifuI tragedy in the
 history of American river staaEnboaf- ing. The Father of Waters has been the scene of many eatastrophes since steam craft began to ply upon its bo-# som a century ago, but the Sultana calamity of April 26. 1865. was the most terrible Of all.
 The passengers on board the Sut- tana were Union soldiers who. follow ing the close of the civil Ewalr, had been released from the Confederate military prison at AndeFsonvi1Ie, Ga Of the nearly 50, ,000 men confined in that grim place during the war; a quarter of them had died of illness and privation. When at last the gates were thrown open and the prisoners, ragged, unkempt and hungry, march ed forth, they were loaded into box cars to begin the first stage of their hon1eWaFd journey. A steamboat on the Tombighee carried them part of the way, and from Meridian to Vieks- burg they had to march overland. Many of them died along the way. and the survivors were a worn and weary lot when at last the Mississip- E pi was reached.
 After the horrors of war. the pri- vations and suffering of prison life. and the rigors of the weary journey to Vfcksburg, the men were not dis posed to complain when they were herded upon the Sultanas until 1,886 human beings were packed within the narrow confines of the old three deelxed eotton4c 4carrying boat. Ruoyed up by the visions of home, and loved
 ones. and square meals. they gave a rousing. jubilant cheer when the steamboat left Vicksburg and. with black clouds pouring from her tower ing snnokestacks headed northWard up the river.
 The SuItana, old. dirty, ill-smeIling. 1 vile beyond belief loaded with 1iu-
 man freight far beyond her capacity. yet seemed a very haven of refuge 1 to the men from Andersonvll1e, fer | to them she meant home. sweet home. From Vicksburg to Memphis the trip
 was made without incident. Capt. l Mason, the commanders of the Sul- l tana, was plainly i'll at ease at the
 overcrowddng of his vessel but it was not his fault, and he did his best.
 The 1eaIxys boilers of the Sultana had
 been repaired before the boat left 1 Vieksburg, but subsequent events proved that the job was i'll done. Oh the night of the 26th of April,
 when the SuItana was steanling north
 of Memphis, between the Tennessee and Arkansas shores, the disaster I came, without warning. The boilers | eAPiOQ00s ana nu101GIS oA7 Ile S4eep-
 ing soldiers were killed outright, and
 others horribly injured.i Tke vessel
 was wrecked and it was plain. that
 she could not long remain above wa ter Capt. Mason was uninJured but
 stuck to his vessel, and remained on I the blazing hurricane deck until it | sank beneath the waters. Hundreds of men jumped overheard. and al- l though the water was icy cold and l there was a strong current, 765 of 1 them managed to hold put until after 1 floating past the lights of Memphis, they were picked up by the Grosbeak, 1 9. United States naval boat
 l Of the 1ss66 persons on board the