Year: 1871

however most OF the scaiding cases were not very
dangerous The Immediately fatal injuries were
mostly caused by direct violence.


Statement Of "a Passenger.


highly intelligent gentleman, with whom one
reporter had an interview subsequent to the acct
DENT made the following statement:-"A friend OF
mine on Saturday invited me to accompany him on
an excursion Staten Island on Sunday afternoon.
/ agreed to his proposal and we started from his
residence on Madison avenue, abo1t twelve O'Clock.
reaching the ferry just as the boat soon to be the
theatre of such frightful calamity, was about to
start. Scarcely had we sci foot on the deck before
we were startled by the noise OF the explosion fol.
lowed by crash that plainly spoke of


RUIN AND DESTRUCTION.


My first impulse was to rush back upon the
BRIDGE but moments reflection sufiiced to con-
vince me that the danger, whatever might have
been its cause, was now past, and accordingly
went forward to endeavor to ascertain the nature
and extent OF the disaster. Never shall l forget
the scene which encountered my horrfed gaze.
around me lay men, women and children, dead and
dying, wretched creatures, wrthing and groaning
IN agony, whose whole thoughts had a brief mo-
ment before been occupied with anticpations OF
pleasure. Many had evidently been killed
outright. been swept from time into eter-
nifty without being conscious of the tran
stion, while, on the contrary, not a few
breathed their last struggling hOpelessy amid the
deDris OF the wrecked boat. The appearance pre-
sented by the boat after the explosion was the rea-
lizatOn Of ruin absolute and complete. Every
plank was splintered and broken into thousand
pieces, bars OF solid iron lay around bent and
twisted as II they were composed OF parchment.
Here lay poor wretch, battered out of all resem-
b ance to humanity, and there horse, in whose


GLAZING EYEBALLs


uufro fonr fn dataO tha cir NJ iOht
terror aud amazement The chimney stack had


fallen forward and lay across the wrecked portion OF


the boat. At first 1t feared that the terrors OF
fire would be added to the other horrors of tho
scene. but happily this apprehension was groundess
In an incredibly brief time the fire brigade made
their appearance on the scene and nose was at
once directed upon that portion OF the boat from
which a cOnfagratiOn was apprehended The fire.
men then joined their efforts to those OF the police
In the work Of eXtrcating the dead and wounded
from the fallen debris. Among the first bodies
discovered was that of an infant who was riding
in carriage with his mother The carriage
had been driven by the force Of the explosion atop
OF some pipes connecting with the boiler, and IN
such way tnat tue poor child was actually roasted
to DEATH The mother when eXtrcated was still
alive, but injured seriously that her recovery is
considered impossible. One circumstance was not
little remarkable. While the passengers who es.
capped unscathed


sHRIEKED SCREAMED


and exhibited every possible demonstration Of
agony and terror, those who were wounded bore
their sulerngs with an amount Of fOrtt-
tude, not to say stoicism, that was actu.
ally astonishing. / saw one man whose
head was bleeding from several places
and wuose body was dreadiuly scalded, who uttered
not grOan and whose whole soul appeared to be
engrossed by anxiety for the safety OF nephew who
was with him on the boat. Even children who must
have been fufering the most acute agony bore up IN
a manner that was little short OF miraculous.
In the midst OF the tragedy there were not
wanting some incidents which, under circumstances
less awful would he calculated to create amusement.
One Individual evidently haing from the Emerald
Isle when rescued from the water and placed on
terra Trina bounded away with the utmost agility,
yelling out,


'I'a DROwNDHED I'M DROwNDHEDr ~


Several persons tried to assure him that he was
now safe, but he couldn't see it


Statement of Bowling Green Resident.
l left my residence ats Bowling Green few
minutes before half-past one yesterday for the pur
pose OF proceeding to Staten Island 10y the steamer
Westded, which was to leave the dock at Whitehall
street at half-past one O'Clock. paid my fare and
got inside the ferryhouse just in time the boat





much annoyed at having missed the boat. having
| had an engagement on Statan Island for two
O'Clock, aud just l was regrettug what consid.
cred to have been my i'll LUCK heard terrible eX-
| posion, followed by smoke and stnam, which hid
everything from view. There were five or six 9th
ers standing on the platform with myself ut the
time and the force of the explosion Knocked two OF
tnem and myself completely over. l saw the
boat moving OF, and just as she got on
fha v.
ploded. The shouts and screams Of those
on board were horrible to contemplate.
1 never heard such fearful yells, such unearthly
screams or such imploring calls for help as fell
my ears at that moment and hope in God shall
never witness such scene again. When realized
my position felt that Providence had kept me
back from that boat, and ], with thankful heart,
praised and thanked the Almighty for saving me
from the awful doom which befel so many of
my fellow beings who were on board the
ill-rated steamer After the smoke and steam
had cleared away saw that the fore part Of the ves
sci was a complete wreck. The after part was not
much injured, and those who were aft escaped A
part OF the roof OF the ferrv house was blown OF,
and men were Immediately set TO work to pull Off
the falling and fallen timbers with ropes. saw
men, women and children thrown at least thirty
feet up into The air. the majority Of whom fell into the
water, IL was pitiru and hear;rendlng to see them
struggling in the water calling loudly for assistance
I saw an immense number of people, young and Old,
Jump overheard to escape the burning steam, pre-
eTlng to meet death by drowning than TO suffer the
longer torments of death by scalding. Many Of
those were drowned but good many were plckod
up and saved, while others succeeded IN reaching
the platform themselves. At the moment OF the ex-
plosion there were about dozen people in
the ferryhouse. We made q rush to get
on the boat to rescue the people. We
worked with Will in removing the dead and
wounded from the boat to the grassplot ON the
Battery. About dozen police were soon in attend
ance, and gave every assistance ia removing the
wounded. They brought out the dead bodies OF
several infants, from TWO months to two years old.
The hremen next arrived and went to work with
their axes and pulled away a lot OF
the ruins to give greater facility for the
removal OF the bodies. An unfortunate