Year: 1874




: livering a rain OF sparks upon the
vessels-two pistol shots rang out,
and both Captains lodged unhurt
and the packed mass of passengers
surged back and fell apart while the
shlieks of women and children scared
above the intolerable din


And then there was a booming
roar, q laundering crash, and the
riddled Amaranth dropped loose
from her hold and drifted helplessly
away.


Instantly the fire doors of the
Boreas were thrown open, and the
men began dashing buckets Of water
in the furnaces-for it would have
been death and destruction to stop
the engines with such head of steam
on.


As soon as possible the Boreas
dropped down to the floating wreck
and took off the dead, the wounded
and unhurt-at least all that could
be got at, for the whole forward half
OF the boat was shapeless ruin, with
the great chimneys lying crossed on
the top of it, and underneath were d
dozen victims imprisoned alive and
wailing for help. While men with
axes worked with might and main to
free these poor fellows, the Boareas'
boats went about, picking up strag-
glers from the river,


And now a new horror presented
itself. The wreck took fire from the
dismantled furnacesl Never did
men work with heartier will than
did those stalwart braves with the
axes. But it was of no use. The fire
ate its way steadily, despising the
bucket brigade that fought it. 1t
scorched the clothes, it singed the
hair of the axemen-it drove them
back foot by foot--inch by inch-they
wavered, struck a final blow in the
teeth of the enemy, and surrendered.
And as they fell back they heard
prisoned voices saying:


"Don't leave us! Don't desert usl
Don't, don't do itp'


And one poor fellow said:


81 am Henry Worley, striker of
the Amaranth. My mother lives in
St. Louis. Tell her lie for poor
devils sake, please. Say I was
killed in an instant and never knew
what hurt me-though God knows
I've neither scratch nor bruise this
moment! It's hard to burn up in a
coop like this with the whole wide
world so near. Good bye, boys
we've all got to come to it at last,
anyway


The Boreas stood away out of dan
ger, and the ruined steamer went
drifting down the stream an island of
wreatling and Ginning flame that
vomited clouds of smoke from time
to time, and glared more fercely and
sent the luminous tongues higher and
higher after each emission. A shrek
at intervals told of captive that had
met his doom. The wreck lodged
upon sand-bar, and when the Bo-
reas turned the next point on her up
ward journey, it was still burning
with scarcely abated fury.


When the boys came down into
the main saloon of the Boreas they
SOW a pitiful sight, and heard a world
of pitiful sounds. Eleven poor crea-
lures lay dead, and forty more lay
moaning, or pleading or screaming,
while a score of Good Samaritans
moved among them doing what they
could to relieve their sufGerings; bath
ing their skinless faces and bodies
with linseed oil and lime-water, and
covering the places with bulging
masses of raw cotton that gave to
every face and form dreadful and
inhuman aspect.


A little wee French midshipman of
IA lay fearfully injured, but never
uttered sound till a physician of
Memphis was about to dress his
hurts.


"Can I get well? You need not be
afraid to tell me-"


"No-I-I am afraid you cannot. "


"Then do not waste your time
with me-help those that can get
we'll"


"But--"


"Help those that can get wclll Tt
is not for me to be o girl. / carry
the blood Of eleven generations of
soldiers in my veins"


The physician himself a man who
had seen service in tho navy in his
time-touched his hat to this little
hero and passed on.


The head engineered the Amaranth,
a grand specimen of physical man
hood, struggled to his feet ghastly
spectacle, and strobe toward his broth
er, the second engineer, who was un-
hurt. He said;


"You were on watch, You were
boss. You would not listen to me
when / begged you to reduce your
steam. Take that!-take that to my
wife, and tell her it comes from me
by the hand Of my murderer! Take
it!-and take my curse with it to bis
ter your heart hundred years-and
may you live SO longp


And he tore a ring from his finger,
stripping flesh and skin with it, threw
it down, and fell deadl


But these things must not be dwelt
upon. The Boreas landed her dread
full cargo at the next large town and
delivered it over to q multitude Of ca
ger hands and warm Southern hearts
"a cargo amounting by this time to
thirty-nlne wounded persons, and
twenty-five dead bodies. And with
these she delivered a list Of ninety-six
missing persons that had drowned or
Otherwise perished at the scene Of
this terrible disaster.


A jury Of inquest was impanneled,
and after due deiberation and inqui-
~, they returned the inevitable YER
dict, which has been 80 familiar to
our cars all the days Of our lives