Year: 1871




p. m. As soon as she was made fast, peo-
pie began 10 go on board. Being an ex-
ira boat however, and the fact of her de-
parture not being so widely known as
that of the regular hour boats there was,
fortunately, not an extraordinary rush of
passengers 1t is impossible to say pre-.
ciseiy what number were on board. The
ticket-taker stated that he had taken a
few over 200 tickets, and Captain Vree-
land, who was not aware of this fact at
the time he made the statement, said that
there was about $50 persons on board
when the disaster occurred. All of those
who were on the boat crowded naturally
but unconsciously to the one fatal spot on
board. The day was sultry, and for the
sake of the breeze from the bay every
body sought the end Of the vessel farthest
from the dock. Directly beneath them
was the boiler in the hold of the vessel,
extending forward to the point where the
chimney appeared Every one can imag.
inc the appearance of the men, women
and children, eager TO escape for an hour
from the heat and noxious vapurs of the
city to inhale. the invigorating breezes
that sweep over the noble hay, and the
fresh, pure air that is found in the glades
and on the hills of Staten Island. l. had
very much the appearance of every such
cOncourse of people Almost every ma
tionality and grade of society was repre-
sented, but the poorer classes snatching a
brief respite from toll, and the Irish race,
predominated. There were, however, in
the crowd some Americans, a few Ger
mans, French and Italians, and few who
seemed from their appearance to be lifted
by fortune out of the ranks of labor And
they acted as such assemblages always act
on such occasions Seated upon the
benches around the rails, or upon stools
and chairs, were families and parties or CO.
teries OF aquaintances talking upon tho cur
rent topics of the day. Children played
upon the decks, and anxious mothers
guarded them with Jealous care from the
danger of falling overheard. Babes cooed
with delight rs the cool winds kissed them,
and mothers anticipated with joy the new.
er life which this little iaunt was to bring
their darlings AT this moment death
leaped up from the hold of the boat, and
that pleasant scene was changed to one OF
the most ghastly in human annals


All being in readiness, the hour for de.
parture arrived, the assistant pilot, James
MCGEE, went into the pilot-house farthest
from the dock, and Captain Vreeland into
the one ncarestit. The latter delayed Civ.
ing the word to cast off until he could see
the incoming boat appear in the bay be-
low. That short delay was of inestima.
BILE value. Terrible as was the loss of life,
awful as was the impending calamity in
every aspect, it would have been much
worse had the boat been loosened from her
moorings and got out into the bay. While
? Captain Vreeland was thus waiting, and
just about l = o'clock, the engineer tried
the water and found it above the stop
cock. The government steam-gauge on
h. hoo ,~.l n.,I I,a IL .N
seven pounds, and she was carrying that
amount, as she was blowing off steam AT
this moment the fireman, Carresan, heard
peculiar Kissing sound, as if made by the
escape of steam from the forward end OF
the boiler. He listened for a moment it
was an ominous sound, full of peril. No
such noise could be heard from that pOr-
ton of the boiler consistent with saft ty.
He started forward to investigate the mat
ter, and had taken but few steps when
he encountered dense volume of steam.
AT that instant something struck him in
the face and he became insensible.


The pen is paralyzed in attempting to
describe the sceno that followed instantly
upon that terrible incident in the hold of
the boat, of which the fireman then had
exclusive knowledge. The boiler exploded
with terrific power--the whole end of the





was torn to tatters; fragments went up
ward and outward. But that mass of hu-
manly! Who can picture-who dare
even to think of it? Lifted into the air,
hurled into the water, buried in the Debris
OF the wreck, bruised, mangled, scaldeG,
roasted; men, women, children, babes,
werS ming led in a mass of indescribable
horror. Unutterable agony was crowded
into that Instant OF time Scores of human
beings were cast upward with such force
that woman whose white dress made
her promiaent object was lifted above
the tower on the adj lcent South Ferry
house, distance of about thirty feet, and
a babe was thrown upward until it seemed
but doll Scores we're cast into the water
disappeared beneath its surface. Score
were flung down into the wreck and
buried in the Debris The shrek of agony
that came simultaneously from hundreds
of lips, mingled with the deafening crash
of timbers, and with that most appalling
of earthly sounds, the shrek of horse ia
terror and pain, for one of these animals,
attached to a carriage in which were seve
raj persons, was enveloped in the deadly
folds of steam, and tumbled into the crater
made by the explosion Scores OF people
were upon the edge Of the disaster only,
and escaped with only slight scalds and
bruises by rushing forward and jumping
from the upper deck on which nearly all
the passengers were gathered, to the main
deck, and then Fastening ashore.


. The instant after the explosion the aw-
full extent of the disaster was fully real
lied. The seventy-five feet of the boat
furthest from the dock was total wreck.
The main deck over the boiler, composed
of thick plank, was torn from its place as
mi loH NHyith
fragments Of the upper framework of the
vessel, all of which was totally destroyed,
was cast down into the exposed hold, the
sides of which remained intact as the hull
was uninjured and piled in indescribable
confusion above the boiler, which re-
mained below, except a fragment weighing
about seVenty-ive pounds, which was
thrown upon the dock. In this mass of
broken timbers were over hundred per-
sons scalded, mangled, and presented a
more hideous spectacle than ever did the
blOOdiest battlefield in human history.
Shrieks and cries of anguish, which came
from those wounded, were enough to
appal the most callous of mankind. But
huAdreds who had witnessed he explosion
hurried instantly to the succor of the in
jured, and in moment the mangled and
scalded forms were being borne from the
wreck to the New Street Police Station
House, and into adjacent houses, and es.
pecially into the Eastern Hotel. Thou
sands were speedily gathered at the scene,
and every conner was willing helper in
the work of succoring the distressed.


The engineer of the Westfield is Henry
Robinson, a colored man, who has been
thirteen years in the employ of the Ferry
Company, and is stated by the Superin
tendent, Captain James w. Braisted, to be
a very competent and trustworthy person.


He says that until within about three
minutes of the time of the explosion
which he fixed as :27 p. m.-he was on
the dock, and, noticing that the time was
anout up, he went on board the boat, and
was approaching the bow when the ex-
plosion took place. AS he was going for