18

JOHN FITCH.

yet practical men were content to leave the whole subject in the dominion of poetry and romance, until an obscure native of Connecticut, with the homely name of John Fitch, undertook to realize what had hitherto been considered one of the most extravagant dreams of fancy.

JOHN FITCH.

Fitch, with a stroke of melancholy sarcasm, terms it the greatest misfortune of his life, “to have conceived the idea that a vessel might be carried through the water by the force of steam.” Nevertheless, it appears from the manuscript records of his life, which he deposited in the Philadelphia Museum, that he was familiar with the aspect of misfortune from his very birth. He was born near East Windsor, Connecticut, in the year 1743, on the 21st of January, old style. His father, who was a farmer in good circumstances, appears to have been a person of a sordid and morose temper; and the best report his son can make of him is, that he always provided a sufficiency of pork, beans, codfish and potatoes for the use of his family. We should have been better pleased with him if he had furnished his son John with the usual facilities for the acquirement of useful knowledge. He appeared to think it quite sufficient for every useful purpose if the lad learned to read the Bible, and to give correct answers to all the questions in the catechism.

With such a parent as is here described, what difficulties and discouragements must have been encountered by a mind hungering and thirsting after knowledge! But, even at that early day, John's resolute spirit of inquiry was invincible. He obtained an old copy of Hodder's Arithmetic, and in the hours of relaxation from the labours of the

JOHN FITCH.

farm, succeeded, without assistance, in mastering all the difficulties of that elementary work. At this time he had not completed his eighth year. Some time after, when his father had repeatedly refused to supply him with a copy of Salmon's Geography, he contrived to earn the money required to buy one, by devoting the little time allowed him for recreation to the cultivation of a small potato-patch on a piece of unoccupied ground. By dint of such untiring exertion, young Fitch, in spite of all the disadvantages of his situation, contrived to obtain a moderate English education before he reached the years of maturity. In devising a mode of maintenance for his future life, he made an experimental sea voyage at the age of seventeen, but his tastes and habits did not much incline that way; and, soon after his return, he applied himself to learning the trade of clock making, having always had a predilection for machinery. The master artist who undertook to instruct Fitch in this branch of manufacture, kept him employed in domestic duties, such as rocking the cradle and attending to the cooking, by which occupations his knowledge of horology was not much advanced; and at the end of two years he left his instructor, very much dissatisfied with his acquirements. But there were other wooden clock makers in Connecticut, even at that early period, and John Fitch soon found one who did not connect the operations of the business with cooking and cradle rocking. On the contrary, this new employer resolved that his apprentice should learn clock making and nothing else, although a part of the business of the shop was the repairing of watches, with which process likewise John desired to become acquainted. Matters were so conducted that he was never permitted to see a watch taken to pieces or put together. But this churlish treatment was not the only inconvenience he was doomed to suffer; for, as he tells us in his manuscript narrative, although he possessed but a moderate appetite, he was never permitted to satisfy it except on one occasion, when, by nice management, he contrived to make "a good hearty meal on potatoes."

The reader will believe that John was not tempted to remain for an unreasonable length of time under the jurisdiction of this Connecticut clock-maker; in fact, he soon thought it most expedient to set up business for himself, and within the space of two years he managed to accumulate the sum of fifty pounds, "which to me, at that time, (says John,) appeared to be an inexhaustible treasure." It was soon exhausted, however, and his patience likewise, for having injudiciously married a young lady of acid disposition, named Miss Lucy Roberts, she "led him such a life," (to borrow the phraseology of John's manuscript,) that he was obliged to withdraw precipitately from his domestic altar, and take

20

JOHN FITCH.

refuge in the village of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Not meeting with
any encouragement there, he removed to Albany, N. Y., and from thence
again he wandered into New Jersey, where, becoming reduced in cir-
cumstances to a very low level, he performed the services of a day-
laborer on a farm. His feeble bodily condition unfitted him for this
duty, and he finally established himself at Trenton in the useful and
respectable, though not very lucrative business of button-making.

When the Revolution commenced, Fitch, of course, ranged himself
on the side of patriotism, and rendered most acceptable service to his
country by repairing arms for the continental troops. While the war
was in progress, duty carried him to the West, where he was taken
prisoner by the Indians, and remained in captivity for several months,
enduring many hardships, but finally managed to make his escape.
At the end of the war he returned to New Jersey.

It was about this time, (April, 1785,) when his thoughts were first
directed to the subject of steam conveyance; and he seems to have
afterwards considered it highly presumptuous for a man as poor as him-
self to engage in such a stupendous project. "If I had not the most
convincing proofs to the contrary, (says he,) I should certainly charge
myself with being *non compos mentis* at the time." He likewise assures
us in his manuscript autobiography, that when he first conceived the
idea of employing steam power for propelling vessels, he did not know
that such a thing as a steam-engine existed, although Mr. Watt had
erected one in England ten years before. Fitch believed the idea to
be original with himself, until his brother-in-law one day showed him
a drawing and description of the machine invented by Watt. He was
"amazingly chagrined," as he tells us, to find that his grand discovery
had been anticipated; but he comforted himself with the reflection,
that if steam could be made to turn a wheel on the land, there was
nothing to prevent it from becoming equally useful on the water. In
short, he was more than ever convinced that his plan of navigation by
steam was altogether practicable.

It is shown by the most irrefragable testimony that John Fitch was
the first man, in America at least, and probably in the world, who ever
carried this idea of applying steam power to the propulsion of vessels
to any determinate result. A certificate from Dr. Thornton of the
Patent Office at Washington, states that Fitch took out a patent for
the application of steam to navigation, in the year 1788, before which
time no similar patent had been issued in this country. The earliest
ascertained experiments of Mr. Fulton in steam navigation took place
about the year 1798, ten years after the date of John Fitch's patent.

JOHN FITCH.

21

Oliver Evans in 1804 propelled a mud-scow by steam on the Schuylkill river. Mr. Fulton's first experimental boat was built at Paris, in 1803. His first American steamboat was launched in the spring of 1807. Fitch brought his plan to the test of experiment on the Delaware river a short time after he took out his patent. The following description is given of the machinery as contrived by Fitch:—"The cylinder is horizontal, the steam working with equal force at both ends. The piston moves about three feet, and each vibration of it gives the axis forty revolutions. Each revolution of the axis moves twelve oars or paddles five and a half feet; they work perpendicularly and are represented by the strokes of a paddle of a canoe. As six of the paddles are raised from the water, six more are entered, and the two sets of paddles make their strokes of about eleven feet in each revolution. The crank of the axis acts upon the paddles about one-third of their length from the lower ends, to which part of the oar the whole force of the axis is applied. The engine is placed in the bottom of the boat, about one-third from the stern, and both the action and reaction turn the wheel the same way."

FITCH'S PHILADELPHIA BOAT—1786.

This description was written by the inventor himself, and was first published in the Philadelphia Columbian Magazine, vol. 1, for December, 1786.

Fitch's boat was tried, as previously stated, on the Delaware river, in front of Philadelphia. The boat was ordered under way at slack water, and, by the most accurate measurement, was found to go at the rate of eight miles per hour, or one mile in six minutes and a half. It afterwards went eighty miles in a day.

22

JOHN FITCH.

The Governor and Council of Pennsylvania expressed their satisfaction with the result of this experiment by presenting to the proprietors of the boat a superb silk flag, emblazoned with the arms of the State. But, after all this magnificent demonstration, the most glorious achievement of American ingenuity was permitted to fall into utter neglect.

Dr. Thornton states that the company which had been formed under the Fitch patents to give the plan a proper trial—now, when the trial had been made, and when all reasonable doubts respecting the practicability and utility of the invention should have vanished—refused to advance any more money. It seems that those noble spirited gentlemen, who constituted the first steamboat company ever organized, disbanded themselves because they were afraid to meet the “uneasing ridicule” which this project had excited. Not even the practical realization of the plan could prevent fools from laughing at it as an insane speculation; nor could the sight of a veritable steamboat, paddling along the Delaware, enable wise men to treat this idiotic merriment with contempt. The company was dissolved, the boat was laid up in the docks, and the whole matter was abandoned, and John Fitch was fated to descend to the tomb without seeing the great object of his life accomplished, or the importance and value of his invention duly appreciated by his countrymen.

Justice to the memory of John Fitch forbids the omission of one particular incident of his life, which establishes, beyond all cavil, his claim to the invention of the steamboat. Before the dissolution of the company just referred to, Aaron Vail, Esq., one of the members who was then the American consul at L'Orient, sent over a request for Mr. Fitch to visit France, in order to have the steamboat experiment tried in that country. Fitch went over, accordingly, but on his arrival, owing to a scarcity of shipwrights, and other causes incident to the French revolution, the enterprise failed, and Fitch returned to his own country, leaving his draughts and documents relating to his invention in the hands of Mr. Vail. These papers were exhibited by Mr. Vail to Robert Fulton, when that gentleman visited France several years afterwards, and Mr. Fulton took copies, notes and memoranda which enabled him subsequently (he being more fortunate than John Fitch in finding assistance and resources) to complete the great work of which so considerable a part had already been executed by the ill-starred Fitch.

To the very end of his life John Fitch had unwavering confidence in his neglected and despised contrivance. He struggled manfully to bring it once more into the scope of public observation, but the public,

JOHN FITCH.

when it had kindness enough to refrain from mockery, merely made an exclamation of sorrow and pity, like that of Ophelia—

“Oh, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!”

Once, when he had been explaining the benefits of steam navigation to a party of gentleman, who heard his glowing descriptions with significant smiles, one of his auditors remarked, after he had retired, “What a pity that the poor fellow is crazy!”

When the experimental boat had been finally laid up, as aforesaid, Fitch, in a letter to Mr. Rittenhouse, wrote, “It would be much easier to carry a first-rate man-of-war by steam than a boat, as we would not be cramped for room, nor would the weight of the machinery be felt. This, Sir, will be the mode of crossing the Atlantic in time, (there spoke a true prophet!) whether I bring it to perfection or not.”

Fitch returned from Europe to his own country, destitute and heartbroken. For two years he was obliged to depend for his daily bread on the kindness of a relation, Colonel George King, of Sharon, Connecticut. But having purchased some cheap lands in Kentucky, while he was surveying there in 1796, he now went thither to take possession of this little property in the wilderness. But even this gratification was not allowed him, for having been thrown into a fever by fatigue and exposure, he died two or three days after his arrival. According to his request, John Fitch was buried on the shores of the Ohio, where, (to use his own enthusiastic language,) “the song of the boatmen would enliven the stillness of his resting-place, and the music of the steam-engine sooth his spirit.” His manuscript journal contains the following prophetic exclamation:

“The day will come when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention, but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do any thing worthy of attention!”

The fate of this man is a melancholy exemplification of the treatment which the world often accords to its best benefactors. Further comment is not required.

“We can no more,—by rage, by shame suppress’d, Let tears and burning blushes speak the rest.”

ROBERT FULTON.

WHILE we accord to John Fitch the credit which is justly due to him as the true and original contriver of the steamboat, with equal justice we will make the acknowledgment, that the subject of the present sketch, by his firmness of purpose and energy of character, no less than by his brilliant genius and correct judgment, carried the enterprise through to a successful and glorious termination. Robert Fulton was born in the town of Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, (A. D. 1765). His father, a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, was in very moderate circumstances, which may explain the fact that Robert's early education was somewhat neglected. His earliest tastes inclined him to observe the operations of different mechanics, in whose shops he passed most of his leisure hours. Having a natural talent for the use of the pencil, he began, at the age of twelve years, to cultivate this gift, and before he had reached his fifteenth year, he became, in the estimation of his rural neighbors, quite an expert artist. Two years later he practised portrait and landscape painting in Philadelphia. Here he soon acquired money enough to purchase a small farm in Washington County, where he provided his widowed mother with a comfortable home, while he made preparations for a voyage to England, according to the advice of some of his friends, for the purpose of exhibiting some of his paintings to his countryman, Benjamin West. Mr. West, at this time, enjoyed the favor and patronage of the British government, and his reputation as one of the first painters of the age was already established. He received young Fulton with much kindness, gave him all possible encouragement, and offered him a home in his own house, where he remained for two years. At the end of that time Mr. Fulton travelled through different parts of England, and became acquainted with several distinguished men of science.

It is supposed that, at this period of his life, he began to devote his attention exclusively to mechanical inventions. In his 25th year, (A. D. 1793,) he was actively engaged in a project to improve inland

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26

ROBERT FULTON.

ROBERT FULTON.

navigation, and one year later he obtained from the British government a patent for a double inclined plane, to be used for transportation. We have no particular account of his transactions during several years following, though in 1794 he submitted to the British Society for the promotion of Arts and Commerce, an improvement in his invention of mills for sawing marble. His patents for two machines, one for spinning flax, and the other for making ropes, are dated 1795. In the next year he published at London his treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation. In this work he expresses his preference for small canals, and boats of light burden, and contends for the use of inclined planes instead of locks. His plans were highly approved by the British Board of Agriculture.

Mr. Fulton was now engaged in the profession of a civil engineer, and employed the pencil merely to execute plans and draughts of machinery in connection with his professional duties. He now visited France, for the purpose of introducing his canal improvements into that country. In the year 1797, he became acquainted with the celebrated Joel Barlow, who then resided at Paris. In the family of this distinguished American gentleman, Mr. Fulton took up his abode for several years, during which time he studied the French, Italian and German languages, and perfected himself in the high mathematics, chemistry and natural philosophy.

ROBERT FULTON.

In 1797 Messrs. Fulton and Barlow made experiments on the river Seine with a machine which the former had constructed on the torpedo principle, the object of which was to destroy an enemy's ships by submarine explosions. These experiments proved unsuccessful. But not at all discouraged by his first failure, Mr. Fulton pursued this object until his plan for propelling and steering a boat under water was brought to perfection. When this satisfactory result was attained, he applied to the French Directory for pecuniary assistance, but that body did not appreciate the invention. He then applied to the British government, but met with similar discouragement in that quarter. In the meantime, Buonaparte had placed himself at the head of public affairs in France, and he, not being one of the "old fogy" school, promptly responded to Mr. Fulton's application by appointing a commission to examine the new warlike machine. The examining committee having made a favorable report, Mr. Fulton was supplied by Napoleon with a sufficiency of funds to bring some of his plans to the test of experiment. He first made a trial of the "plunging boat" at Brest, in 1801. Notwithstanding many imperfections in the machinery, and other disadvantages incident to a first experiment, he demonstrated that, by means of this contrivance, a sufficiency of light and air could be obtained under water; that the boat could be made to descend to any depth, or rise to the surface with perfect facility, and that she would tack or veer as rapidly as any common sailing-boat. On the 7th of August, Mr. Fulton descended with a store of air compressed in a copper globe, and was thus enabled to remain under water nearly four hours and a half. He next attempted to put this invention to its proper use by blowing up English vessels cruising near the harbor of Brest; for this purpose he provided his plunging boat with a torpedo, or submarine bomb, and approaching a small British vessel within the distance of two hundred yards, he blew her to atoms. A similar attempt was made on an English seventy-four, which saved herself at the critical moment by an accidental change of position.

The advantages of submarine warfare were not fairly estimated in Europe, and Mr. Fulton, having become disgusted with the tardy action of several European governments in relation to this subject, returned to his own country, in 1806. He found the American government very propitious to his undertakings, and a grant of sufficient funds was made to enable him to put the capabilities of his torpedo to a fair trial. By means of one of these jewels of Bellona, he blew up, and totally annihilated, a large hulk brig, which had been prepared for the purpose in the harbor of New York. In 1810 Congress granted $5000 to meet

28

ROBERT FULTON.

the expenses of additional experiments with Fulton's explosive apparatus, and a committee was appointed to superintend these trials. The old sloop-of-war Argus, under the direction of Commodore Rogers, was prepared for defence against the torpedoes, and that skilful Commander did his best to make them ineffective. In these circumstances, Mr. Fulton did not succeed in his main design of blowing up the vessel, but he approached in his submarine boat near enough to cut off a fourteen inch cable attached to the Argus. He himself did not consider this experiment on the Argus a failure, attributing his want of success to various defects in the explosive machinery, for which it was easy to find remedies.

But the thoughts of Fulton now reverted to the subject of steam navigation, a subject on which he had bestowed considerable study during his residence in Paris. In this enterprise he possessed one grand advantage over all who had preceded him, being enabled to avail himself of the great improvements which Watt and others had made in steam machinery. But for certain adaptations of that machinery to the object required, he was obliged to depend on his own inventive powers, in the absence of all precedent to direct his course. The paddle-wheel now used in steamboats appears to have been originally devised by Mr. Fulton. It should have been mentioned, by the way, that Messrs. Fulton and Livingston made an actual experiment with steam propulsion in France, in 1803. This experiment, however, was on a very small scale, and the result being not quite satisfactory, and as other objects demanded Mr. Fulton's attention, this project was temporarily laid aside, nor was it resumed until some time after his return to this country.

Mr. Fulton took out his first patent for improvements in steam navigation on the 11th day of February, 1809, and on the 9th of February, 1811, he obtained supplementary patents for further improvements in his boats and machinery. The pecuniary means required for carrying out these great designs were supplied by Mr. Livingston, a gentleman of great wealth and equal liberality, who had assisted Mr. Fulton in his steamboat experiments at Paris, and never at any time withheld his aid when the enterprise required it. The legislature of New York having passed an Act which secured to Messrs. Fulton and Livingston the exclusive benefits of steam navigation on the waters of that State for the term of twenty years, the last-named gentleman caused a boat of about thirty tons to be built, but her dimensions being found insufficient, she was soon abandoned. In 1807 a steam-engine was ordered from the manufactory of Watt and Bolton, of Birmingham, England; it was

ROBERT FULTON.

29

constructed according to the specifications furnished by Mr. Fulton, who did not permit the manufacturers to know for what purpose it was intended. A suitable boat for the reception of this engine had been built at the ship-yard of Charles Brown, on the East river. The engine was put on board, and the boat was soon after moved by her machinery to the Jersey shore. This experimental trip was witnessed by a number of the principal citizens, including several men of science, whom Messrs. Fulton and Livingston had invited to be present on the occasion.

At this time it is difficult to believe that a great majority of the people of that day had no faith in this undertaking. The common belief was that the boat could not be made to move a foot from the wharf, and the crowd of spectators now assembled to behold the result very freely indulged in sarcastic remarks, aimed at what they were pleased to call the folly or insanity of the projectors. When, therefore, the boat actually left the shore, and began to plough her way through the still waters, the multitude for awhile stood gazing in mute astonishment, mingled with awe, at what they considered a miracle of art. But

CLERMONT—1807.

when the boat, having reached the centre of the river, turned her head down the stream, and began to rush forward with increased velocity, the whole concourse, as if moved by one spirit, uttered a deafening and prolonged shout of applause and congratulation. Who can imagine the feelings of Robert Fulton at that moment? The day of recompense had arrived; his toils, travels, severe studies and frequent disappointments were unrequited no longer. He knew then that he had achieved a triumph which the world would acknowledge in all time to come. Here then, for once, a public benefactor received while living the

30

ROBERT FULTON.

homage which his genius and his services to the cause of human progress had deserved.

This first boat, whose performance so electrified the spectators, was called the Clermont. When some errors in the construction of the machinery had been corrected, she made a trial trip to Albany, and performed that voyage of one hundred and fifty miles in about thirty hours against the wind. Soon after, the Clermont became a regular passage boat between New York and Albany. Certain Quixotic persons conceived about these times that "pendulum power" might be made to rival steam as a propelling force, and a boat was actually built on that principle. As many had foreseen, however, the momentum of the pendulum could not overcome the resistance of the water, and this boat remained as stationary as the dock itself.

The exclusive right to steam navigation on the rivers of New York, which the legislature had granted to Livingston and Fulton, was not duly respected, for several opposition boats were soon started. These were slightly varied from Fulton's mode of construction, in order to avoid an obvious infringement on his patent. Fulton and Livingston attempted to assert their rights by recourse to the law, and applied to the Circuit Court of the United States for an injunction; but this Court decided that it had no jurisdiction in the case. The application was renewed in the Chancery of the State, but after hearing the argument, the chancellor refused to grant an injunction. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the chancellor's decision, and ordered a perpetual injunction on the opposition boats.

In the year 1812, two steam ferry boats for crossing the Hudson river, and one for the East river, were built under Mr. Fulton's directions. Thenceforth steamboats began to increase and multiply, and improvements were gradually introduced by Mr. Fulton up to the time of his death. It has been remarked, in commendation of his progressive skill and judgment, that the last boat built by him was always the best, the swiftest, and most convenient.

About the beginning of the last war with England, Mr. Fulton exhibited to a committee of citizens of New York the model of a steam man-of-war, provided with a strong battery, furnaces for red hot shot, &c. Several distinguished naval commanders had already pointed out the advantages which must result from the employment of steam in propelling war vessels, and Mr. Fulton's plan was so well received, that in the spring of 1814 Congress passed a law authorizing the President to cause to be built, equipped and employed one or more floating batteries, for the defence of the ports and waters of the United States. In con-

ROBERT FULTON.

formity with this law, the steam frigate Fulton the First, was built at
New York, and on the 4th of July, 1815, she made her first trip to the
ocean and back, a distance of fifty-three miles, in eight hours and
twenty minutes. Henry Rutgers, Samuel L. Mitchell, Thomas Mor-
ris, and Oliver Walcott, Esqs., commissioners of the navy, were present.
Mr. Stoudinger, successor to Robert Fulton, was the engineer.

Before this vessel was completed, Robert Fulton had ceased to exist.
While superintending the works on board of the steam frigate, he ex-
posed himself too long on deck, on a wet and stormy day; an attack of
pleurisy followed, which terminated his valuable life on the 24th day
of February, 1815. Mr. Fulton was married, in the year 1806,
to Miss Harriet Livingston, a relative of chancellor Livingston, his
friend and associate in the steam navigation enterprise. He left four
children, one son, Robert Barlow Fulton, and three daughters. In
another department of this work we shall have occasion to speak of the
part Mr. Fulton took in the establishment of steam navigation on the
western waters.

## GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

ALL who are infected with that prevailing taste for romantic horrors, which distinguishes the fictitious literature of our day, may employ themselves agreeably in examining the records of early life on the western rivers. The most extravagant fiction which the morbidly excited imagination of a modern novellist has produced, could scarcely furnish parallels for the veritable exploits and wild adventures of some of those daring and reckless men who navigated the Ohio and Mississippi before the era of steamboat travel had commenced. The life of these primitive navigators so abounded with labors and perils, that the occupation of an ancient knight-errant might be called safe and delightful, by way of comparison. The dangers and embarrassments encountered by Tasso's hero in the enchanted forest, will appear in description to be quite insignificant when we compare them with the daily experience of the Mississippi or Ohio boatman, who flourished some forty or fifty years ago.

Before the panting of the steam-engine was heard on these waters, the only river conveyance for freight and passengers was a species of boat called a barge, or *bargee*, according to the French nomenclature. The length of this boat was from 75 to 100 feet; breadth of beam from 15 to 20 feet; capacity, from 60 to 100 tons. The receptacle for the freight was a large covered coffer, called the cargo-box, which occupied a considerable portion of the hulk. Near the stern was an apology for a cabin; a straightened apartment six or eight feet in length, in which the aristocracy of the boat, viz: the captain and *patroon*, or steersman, were generally quartered at night. The roof of the "cabin" was slightly elevated above the level of the deck, and on this eminence the helmsman was stationed to direct the movements of the boat. The barge was commonly provided with two masts, though some carried but one. The chief reliance of the boatmen was on a large square sail forward, which, when the wind was in the right direction, accelerated the progressive motion of the boat, and relieved the hands, who at other times were obliged to propel the barge by such laborious methods as we are about

EARLY

The Mississippi, impetuosity, and trust is such that its own banks to which it runs, are often in danger of its own fury, it sweeps along with a force which, in its current, and the usual result.

From this description, one may imagine the moment when it rises; many other occasions, that, as far as I know, are not known to the Mississippi. This was the case of the most remarkable resolution I ever saw executed by hard

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THE WESTERN WATERS.

to describe. But before we exhibit the process used in navigating these rivers at that period, the reader should be made acquainted with the peculiarities of the rivers themselves.

EARLY NAVIGATION ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

The Mississippi, in particular, is celebrated for its turbulence and impetuosity, and truly it deserves its reputation, for its violent demeanor is such that its own shores are unable to control it. It scorns the limitations to which other rivers are subject; and, sometimes, in its capricious fury, it sweeps away fields or forests, or any other obstacle to its headlong course. Sometimes, indeed, it succeeds in obstructing its own progress with a conglomerated mass of earth and trees carried down by its current, and then an inundation of the neighboring country is the usual result.

From this description it may appear that the navigation of such a stream by the methods formerly in use was no holiday amusement; especially when it became necessary to stem the torrent in ascending the river. "*Facilis est descensus*"—to go *down*—in this use, as on many other occasions, was comparatively light labour, but to *return*, that, as Virgil remarks, in reference to another subject, was the grand difficulty. This was a service which required men of iron frame and undaunted resolution. Several different modes of propelling the barges were used by hardy boatmen. The work required about fifty men to each boat. At times, all these "hands" were employed in rowing; which, however, against such a stream as that of the Mississippi, was generally a great waste of labor to very little purpose. When circumstances permitted, the navigators resorted to the use of the *cordelle*. This was a stout rope or hawser, one end of which was attached to the bows or foremast of the barge, and the other extremity carried along the

3

GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE

34

shore or beach on the shoulders of the whole boat's crew, who thus per-
formed the same duty that a horse does when towing a boat on a
modern canal. It very often happened that this mode of progression
was unavailable, as when the shores offered no convenient tow-path, or
were obstructed by trees. In these circumstances, the "warping" pro-
cess was adopted. The yawl was sent out with a coil of rope, which
was fastened to a tree on shore, or a "snag" in the river, and while
the hands on board were pulling up to this point, another coil was sent
out to be fastened to some object farther ahead, and so the warping
process was repeated. Again, it was expedient, at times, to use the
setting poles, one end of which being set in the bed of the river, a suf-
ficient purchase was obtained to enable the men to push forward the
boat with their shoulders. This latter mode of propulsion was used
chiefly on the Ohio; the bottom of the Mississippi was too yielding and
the current generally was too rapid and powerful to make the use of
the poles eligible in that river. By these changes from towing to
warping, from warping to poling, and from poling to rowing, we are in-
formed that the crews of the boats were "rested and refreshed;" and
as "variety is the spice of life," it is presumed that they found their
diversified labours altogether agreeable. By the way, it may puzzle
some of our indolent cotemporaries to guess how men could be found
who were willing to engage in this toilsome occupation, while any other
possible means of subsistence were within their reach. Well says the
proverb, that "there is no accounting for tastes;" but apart from this
consideration, it may be observed that the life of a western boatman
was not without its pleasures and enjoyments, as well as its pains and
perils. The men who entered this service were such jolly, roving blades
as could not be content with the dull hum-drum occupations of every-
day life—but such as required excitement and even the prospect of danger
to stir up their animal spirits.

The earliest history of the Mississippi is associated with narratives
of piracy and murder. Buccaneers infested the mouths of the river,
as its bays and creeks afforded places of concealment for themselves
and their ill-gotten wealth. These aquatic banditti flourished to some
extent, even after the war of 1814, and their last leader, Lafitte, is
renowned in tale, song, and history for his courage, cruelty and crimes.
His vessels were usually concealed in the land-locked bay of Barataria,
to the westward of the mouth of the river.

When these celebrated sea-robbers had been extirpated by the Ameri-
can government, and while the hunting grounds of western Virginia and
Kentucky were being gradually wrested from the Shawnee Indians, the

ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

population became more dense, and the Mississippi itself became the means of communication and barter with the more northern tribes. Another race of aquatics now succeeded, who, if history and tradition do not greatly wrong them, were not much more exemplary in their conduct than the pirates and buccaneers who preceded them. We refer to the Mississippi boatmen. The reader has been made acquainted with some of the difficulties with which they had to contend, while struggling for weeks or months, without intermission, against the impetuous current, but they were obliged, in addition to all this, to "fight their way," very often with the skulking Indians on the banks, or with the scarcely half-civilized white inhabitants of various districts contiguous to the shores of the river. The boatmen who ascended the Ohio were not unfrequently assailed by the savages, who, taking up the most favorable positions, either poured down the contents of their rifles on the boat as she passed, or, taking advantage of the dense fogs, boarded them in their canoes, and exterminated the crew of the barge without mercy. The crews of different boats likewise had their feuds or rivalships, and when these hostile barges happened to meet on the river, battles and bloodshed were the usual results.

Such a course of life was well calculated to make these boatmen lawless, desperate, and ferocious; but it appears that there was one bright spot on the dusky disc of their reputation. Their "redeeming virtue," as we are told, was scrupulous fidelity to their employers, the merchants, who entrusted them with valuable cargoes, without insurance, or any other guarantee except the receipt of the steersman, who possessed no other property than his interest in the boat. Nevertheless, this scrupulous integrity may appear to have been based on policy rather than principle, for the boatman's business depended solely on the confidence of the merchant in his honesty and fair dealing. It is reported, that numbers of wealthy travellers, who had occasion to take passage in these boats, never uttered any subsequent complaints of ill-treatment, unless these complaints were made to the catfish at the bottom of the river! Mysterious disappearances were of frequent occurrence at that time, and it required a stout heart to make a voyage down the Mississippi, if the voyager carried with him any property which might tempt the cupidity of these piratical boatmen.

The model hero of this tribe was the famous Mike Fink, who, if we mistake not, has figured on the pages of more than one popular romance of our day. The veritable Mike, without any fanciful embellishment, was a ruffian of surpassing strength and courage, his rifle was unerring, and his conscience was as easy and accommodating as a man in his line

GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE

of business could wish. He had not been regularly trained from youth
in the vocation of a boatman, but originally belonged to a company of
government spies, or scouts, whose duty it was to watch the motions of
the Indians on the frontiers. This peculiar service is thus described :—
At that time Pittsburgh was on the extreme verge of white population,
and the spies, who were constantly employed, generally extended their
reconnoissance forty or fifty miles to the west of this post. They went
out singly, lived in the Indian style, and perfectly assimilated them-
selves in habits, tastes and feelings to the red men of the forest. A
kind of border warfare was kept up, and the scout thought it as praise-
worthy to bring in the scalp of a Shawnee as the skin of a panther.
He would remain in the woods for weeks together, using parched corn
for bread, while for meat he depended on his rifle. At night he slept
in perfect comfort, rolled up in his blanket with nothing but a magnifi-
cent canopy of stars, or, as it might happen, with a drapery of clouds
over his head.

Mike Fink, after having pursued this delicious mode of life for some
time, appears to have got tired of his land service, and betook himself to
the water. He now engrafted several other occupations on that of the
boatman; for while he dealt liberally and honestly with his friends and
mercantile patrons, he put all the rest of mankind under contribution;
and, in fact, was known from Pittsburgh to New Orleans as a regular
freebooter.

An anecdote illustrative of his address and presence of mind is thus
related:—One day, while he was making a little excursion in the woods,
creeping along, according to his Indian habits, with the stealthy tread
of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck, browsing on a barren spot,
about three hundred yards distant. The temptation was too strong for
the old woodsman, and he resolved, although the place was right peril-
ous on account of Indian neighbours, to have a shot at all hazards.
Repriming his gun and picking his flint, he made his approaches in the
usual noiseless manner. At the moment he reached the spot from
which he meant to take his aim, he observed a large savage, intent upon
the same object, advancing from a direction a little different from his
own. Mike shrunk back behind a tree with the quickness of thought,
and keeping his eye fixed on the hunter, awaited the result with
patience. In a few moments the Indian halted within fifty paces, and
levelled his piece at the deer. In the meanwhile Mike presented his
rifle at the body of the savage, and as the smoke issued from the gun
of the latter, the bullet of Fink passed through the red man's breast.
He uttered a yell, and fell dead at the same instant with the deer.

ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

37

Mike reloaded his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes, to ascertain whether there were more enemies at hand. He then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was extinct, he turned his attention to the buck, and took from the carcase such choice pieces as he could conveniently carry off.

Mr. Fink's skill in the use of the rifle is exemplified in the following instance. While descending the Ohio in his boat, he once made a wager with a passenger that he would, from the mid-stream, with his rifle balls, cut off the tails of five pigs which were feeding on the banks. He executed this feat with such dexterity, that the unfortunate porkers were deprived of every vestige of their ornamental appendages, not a stump being left to indicate the position which said appendages had occupied.

The death of Mike Fink was melo-dramatic at least, if it wanted the dignified characteristics of tragedy. He had a friend, one of his barge companions, named Joe Stevens, on whom he had lavished his good offices, taught him the use of the rifle, and many other accomplishments suited to his situation in life. Mike likewise had a sweetheart, the daughter of one of the early settlers, who dwelt in a cottage or shanty on the bank of the river, and performed the duties of laundress for the boatmen, among whom she had many admirers. Fink for some time appeared to be the most acceptable of this young lady's numerous lovers, but he was aroused at last from dreams of bliss, as delusive as they were delicious, by the fatal discovery that his friend Joe Stevens had fully *realized* all that felicity which he himself had enjoyed only in visionary perspective. Burning with rage and jealousy, Mike contrived to hide his resentment while he awaited a fair opportunity for vengeance. That opportunity came at last. On a certain fine autumnal afternoon, the crew of Fink's boat were recreating themselves on shore with the rifle exercise, shooting at a mark, which was a very common divertisement among gentlemen of their profession. Fink's reputation as an accurate marksman was so well established that his companions frequently allowed him to fire at a tin cup placed on the head of one of their number, and the man who supported this target, having a perfect reliance on Mike's skill, never considered the valuable contents of his knowledge-box endangered in the least by this experiment. On the occasion now referred to, a stranger was present, and Fink, apparently with a desire to show off his exquisite accomplishment, proposed to shoot at the tin cup in the manner just described. The person whom he selected to bear the target was his rival in love, and the object of his fierce but hitherto concealed resentment, Joe Stevens, who was wholly unsuspicious of the deadly malice which lurked in Mike's bosom

GLIMPSES OF EARLY LIFE

Joe cheerfully consented to be the cup-bearer, and having assumed the glittering but perilous diadem, he placed himself at the proper distance, and requested Mike to "blaze away." Mike *did* blaze away with a vengeance, but instead of aiming at the cup, as the spectators supposed he would, he directed the piece a few inches lower, perforated the skull of the unlucky Stevens, and laid him dead on the spot. A brother of Stevens was present, and he, suspecting that the bloody deed had been premeditated by Fink, levelled his gun at the latter, and shot him dead likewise. And thus the eventful life of this illustrious personage was brought to a sudden termination.

Another river hero of great celebrity was James Girty. Western Pennsylvania has the honor of giving him birth; and some of his family, before his time, had acquired unenviable distinction. His two uncles, Simon and George, had adopted the Indian habits and costume, and were supposed to be the principal instigators of many of the atrocities committed by the savages on the frontier settlements. James Girty, the boatman, is represented to have been a natural prodigy. He was not constructed like ordinary men, for, instead of ribs, bountiful nature had provided him with a solid, bony casing on both sides, without any interstices through which a knife, dirk, or bullet could penetrate. He possessed, likewise, amazing muscular power, and courage in proportion, and his great boast was, that he had "never been whipt."

This man had been engaged in some of the most desperate adventures, and several times subjected himself to the severest penalties of the laws, but his customary good fortune saved him in all extremities. At one time, while he commanded a barge called the Black Snake, his boat's crew were fleeced, and some of them severely beaten by a strong party of gamblers at Natchez. The men refused to get the boat under weigh until they obtained vengeance; and Girty, in order to save time, agreed to accompany them to the dance-house, where the gamblers held their head-quarters, to assist in punishing the villains as they deserved. Several of the gamblers were killed, and others badly wounded in the affray which followed; Girty and some of the other ringleaders of his party were arrested, and afterwards tried for manslaughter; but the *lady* who kept the dance-house, and who appears to have been a particular friend and admirer of Girty, so managed it that the principal witnesses were not forthcoming at the trial. One witness only refused to absent himself at this lady's request, but she secured his silence by giving him a strong dose of arsenic a day or two before the trial came on. And so, as nobody appeared against Mr. Girty, he was "honorably acquitted."

ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

The river men were generally on the most friendly terms with the hordes of robbers who infested the neighboring country. In fact, these "land rats and water rats," as Shylock would call them, were allies and associates, assisting each other in a variety of nefarious undertakings. A beautiful and romantic spot, called Cave-in-rock, on the Ohio river, was the general place of rendezvous for freebooters and boatmen. Here they held their grand councils, divided their plunder, and formed plans for future depredations.

From the accounts here given, the reader may judge what was the state of human society on and about the western rivers fifty years ago. Travelling on those rivers, at that period, was not less dangerous than expensive and dilatory. Robberies and murders were the common incidents of westward travel, either by land or water. The barges were manned chiefly by men of desperate fortunes and characters, fugitives from justice, and other outcasts from society, who were prepared to commit any crime on the slightest provocation or inducement. We are now prepared to estimate the importance of that great change which may be called the *Steamboat Revolution*, a particular account of which will be given in the next article.

COMMENCEMENT OF STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE
WESTERN WATERS.

FROM the year 1786 to 1811, the only regular mode of transporta-
tion on the western rivers was such as we have described in the pre-
ceding article. The entire commerce of those rivers was transacted
by means of those clumsy contrivances called barges and flat-boats,
which consumed three or four months in making the trip from New
Orleans to Louisville, a trip which is now made by steam power in five
or six days, and has been made in a little over four. The price of
passage from New Orleans to Pittsburgh was then $160; freight
$6.75 per hundred pounds. The introduction of steam has reduced
the price of passage between these two cities to thirty dollars, and
merchandise is carried the whole distance for a price which may be re-
garded as merely nominal. Besides this great saving of time and
money effected by steam navigation on these waters, the comparative
safety of steam conveyance is an item which especially deserves our
notice. Before the steam dispensation began, travellers and merchants
were obliged to trust their lives or property to the bargemen, many
of whom were suspected, with very good reason, to be in confederacy
with the land robbers who infested the shores of the Ohio, and the
pirates who resorted to the islands of the Mississippi. These particu-
lars being understood, we are prepared to estimate the value and im-
portance of the services which the steam-engine has rendered to the
commerce and prosperity of the Western States.

The earliest account we have of the navigation of the Mississippi,
refers to a period more than three hundred years ago, when Ferdinand
De Soto, the first discoverer of that mighty stream, was engaged in
his famous and fantastic exploring expedition in search of. "the foun-
tain of youth." About one hundred years later, Father Joliet, a
Jesuit ambassador and envoy from France, again disturbed these
waters, by launching on their bosom a bark which had been trans-

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41

ported by his fellow adventurers on their shoulders across the terri-
tory between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers.

The first vessel ever built on the waters of the West was the brig
Dean, which derived her name from her builder and original proprietor.
She was launched at the present site of Allegheny city, near
Pittsburgh, in 1806. She afterwards made a voyage from Pittsburgh
to the Mediterranean. When making her entry at the custom-house, at
Leghorn, in 1807, the officer objected to her papers, declaring that
such a port as Pittsburgh did not exist in the United States! A map
was produced, and the captain guided the finger of the officer along
the courses of the Mississippi and Ohio, by Cincinnati to Pittsburgh,
and the astonishment of the custom-house gentleman was unspeakable
when the location of this new city in the wilderness was pointed out.
This incident may give the reader some idea of the ignorance and in-
credulity which prevail in Europe in relation to the rapid growth and
prosperity of this country.

After the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon, in 1803, some
eastern capitalists sent out mechanics, and built several ships on the
Ohio. In 1805, Jonas Spoir built the ship "Scott" on the Kentucky
river, twenty miles above Frankfort, and near the residence of that
celebrated western pioneer, General Charles Scott. This ship was the
first that ever made a successful trip to the Falls of the Ohio. She
remained there for several months before the occurrence of a rise in
the river sufficient to float her over. In the meantime, two other ves-
sels from Pittsburgh, built by James Berthone & Co., had arrived at
the Falls, and in the attempt to get over, the longest one was sunk,
and soon after torn to pieces by the violence of the current. This
accident was so discouraging, that no further attempts at ship-building
were made on the Ohio.

In 1811, Messrs. Fulton and Livingston, having established a ship-
yard at Pittsburgh, for the purpose of introducing steam navigation on
the western waters, built an experimental boat for this service; and
this was the first steamboat that ever floated on the western rivers. It
was furnished with a propelling wheel at the stern, and two masts;
for Mr. Fulton believed, at that time, that the occasional use of sails
would be indispensable. This first western steamboat was called the
Orleans. Her capacity was one hundred tons. In the winter of 1812,
she made her first trip from Pittsburgh to New Orleans in 14 days. She
continued to make regular trips between New Orleans and Natchez, until
the fourteenth day of July, 1814, when she was wrecked near Baton
Rouge, on her upward-bound passage, by striking a snag.

42

The first appearance of this vessel on the Ohio river produced, as the reader may suppose, not a little excitement and admiration. A steamboat, at that day, was to common observers, almost as great a wonder as a flying angel would be at present. The banks of the river, in some places, were thronged with spectators, gazing in speechless

FIRST BOAT BUILT ON THE WESTERN WATERS, 1812.

astonishment at the puffing and smoking phenomenon. The average speed of this boat was only about three miles per hour. Before her ability to move through the water without the assistance of sails or oars had been fully exemplified, comparatively few persons believed that she could possibly be made to answer any purpose of real utility. In fact, she had made several voyages before the general prejudice began to subside, and for some months, many of the river merchants preferred the old mode of transportation, with all its risks, delays, and extra expense, rather than make use of such a contrivance as a steamboat, which, to their apprehensions, appeared too marvellous and miraculous for the business of every day life. How slow are the masses of man-kind to adopt improvements, even when they appear to be most obvious and unquestionable!

The second steamboat of the West was a diminutive vessel called the "Comet." She was rated at twenty-five tons. Daniel D. Smith was the owner, and D. French the builder of this boat. Her machinery was on a plan for which French had obtained a patent in 1809. She went to Louisville in the summer of 1813, and descended to New Orleans in the spring of 1814. She afterwards made two voyages to Natchez, and was then sold, taken to pieces, and the engine was put up in a cotton factory.

The *Vesuvius* is the next in this record. She was built by Mr.

ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

43

ATION

ver produced, admiration, almost as great banks of the river in speech.

s, 1812.

n. The average of sails or sails believed that utility. In the judgment began to preclude delays, and even as a steamboat and miracles of nature, masses of men to be most obvious to the vessel called the D. Smith was a machinery of 1809. She was a New Orleans vessel to Natchez, was put up in 1815. She was built by M.

Fulton, at Pittsburgh, for a company, the several members of which resided at New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. She sailed under the command of Capt. Frank Ogden, for New Orleans, in the spring of 1814. From New Orleans she started for Louisville in July of the same year, but was grounded on a sand-bar, seven hundred miles up the Mississippi, where she remained until the 3d of December following, when, being floated off by the tide, she returned to New Orleans. In 1815, '16, she made regular trips for several months, from New Orleans to Natchez, under the command of Capt. Clement. This gentleman was soon after succeeded by Capt. John de Hart, and while approaching New Orleans with a valuable cargo on board, she took fire and burned to the water's edge. After being submerged for several months, her hulk was raised and refitted. She was afterwards in the Louisville trade, and was condemned in 1819.

The *Enterprise* was No. 4 of the Western steamboat series. She was built at Brownsville, Pa., by D. French, under his patent, and was owned by several residents of that place. The Enterprise was a small boat of seventy-five tons. She made two voyages to Louisville in the summer of 1814, under the command of Capt. J. Gregg. On the 1st of December, in the same year, she conveyed a cargo of ordnance stores from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. While at the last-named port, she was pres-

ENTERPRISE ON HER FAST TRIP TO LOUISVILLE, 1815.

sed into service by Gen. Jackson. Her owners were afterwards remunerated by the United States' government. When engaged in the public service, she was eminently useful in transporting troops, arms, and ammunition to the seat of war. She left New Orleans for Pittsburgh on the 6th of May, 1815, and reached Louisville after a passage of twenty-

44 COMMENCEMENT OF STEAM NAVIGATION

five days, thus completing the first steamboat voyage ever made from New Orleans to Louisville. But at the time the Enterprise made this trip, the water was so high that the banks in many places were overflowed; consequently there was no current. The Enterprise was enabled to make her way up without much difficulty, by running through the "cut-offs," and over inundated fields, in still water. In view of these favorable circumstances, the experiment was not satisfactory, the public being still in doubt whether a steamboat could ascend the Mississippi when that river was confined within its banks, and the current as rapid as it generally is.

Such was the state of public opinion when the steamboat Washington commenced her career. This vessel, the fourth in the catalogue of western steamboats, was constructed under the personal superintendence and direction of Capt. Henry M. Shreve. The hull was built at Wheeling, Va., and the engines were made at Brownsville, Pa. The entire construction of the boat comprised various innovations, which were suggested by the ingenuity and experience of Capt. Shreve. The Washington was the first "two decker" on the western waters. The cabin was placed between the decks. It had been the general practice for steamboats to carry their boilers in the hold; in this particular Capt. Shreve made a new arrangement, by placing the boilers of the Washington on deck; and this plan was such an obvious improvement, that all the steamboats on those waters retain it to the present day. The engines constructed under Fulton's patent had upright and stationary cylinders. In French's engines vibrating cylinders were used. Shreve caused the cylinders of the Washington to be placed in a horizontal position, and gave the vibrations to the pitman. Fulton and French used single low-pressure engines. Shreve employed a double high-pressure engine, with cranks at right angles; and this was the first engine of that kind ever used on the western rivers. Mr. David Prentice had previously used cam wheels for working the valves of the cylinder; Capt. Shreve added his great invention of the cam cut-off, with flues to the boilers, by which three-fifths of the fuel were saved. These improvements originated with Capt. Shreve, but although they have been in universal use for a long time, their origin is not known.

On the 24th day of September, 1816, the Washington passed over the Falls of Ohio, on her first trip to New Orleans, and returned to Louisville in November following. While at New Orleans the ingenuity of her construction excited the admiration of the most intelligent citizens of that place. Edward Livingston, after a critical examination of the boat and her machinery, remarked to Capt. Shreve, "You

ON THE WESTERN WATERS.

deserve well of your country, young man; but we (referring to Fulton and Livingston's monopoly) shall be compelled to beat you (in the courts), if we can."

An accumulation of ice in the Ohio compelled the Washington to remain at the Falls until March 12th, 1817. On that day she commenced her second voyage to New Orleans. She accomplished this trip and returned to Shippingsport, at the foot of the Falls, in forty-one days. The ascending voyage was made in twenty-five days, and from this voyage all historians date the commencement of steam navigation in the Mississippi valley. It was now practically demonstrated to the satisfaction of the public in general, that steamboats could ascend this river in less than one-fourth the time which the barges and keel-boats had required for the same purpose. This feat of the Washington produced almost as much popular excitement and exultation in that region as the battle of New Orleans. The citizens of Louisville gave a public dinner to Capt. Shreve, at which he predicted that the time would come when the trip from New Orleans to Louisville would be made in ten days. Although this may have been regarded as a boastful declaration at that time, the prediction has been more than fulfilled; for in 1853 the trip was made in *four* days and nine hours.

After that memorable voyage of the Washington, all doubts and prejudices in reference to steam navigation were removed. Ship-yards began to be established in every convenient locality, and the business of steamboat building was vigorously prosecuted. But a new obstacle now presented itself, which, for a time, threatened to give an effectual check to the spirit of enterprise and progression which had just been developed. We refer to the claims made by Messrs. Fulton and Livingston to the exclusive right of steam navigation on the rivers of the United States. This claim being resisted by Capt. Shreve, the Washington was attached at New Orleans, and taken possession of by the sheriff. When the case came for adjudication before the District Court of Louisiana, that tribunal promptly negatived the exclusive privileges claimed by Livingston and Fulton, which were decided to be unconstitutional. The monopoly claims of Livingston and Fulton were finally withdrawn in 1819, and the last restraint on the steamboat navigation of the western rivers was thus removed, leaving western enterprise and energy at full liberty to carry on the great work of improvement. This work has been so progressive that, at the present time, no less than *eight hundred* steamboats are in constant operation on the Ohio and Mississippi and their tributaries, and this mode of navigation has there been carried to a degree of perfection unrivalled in any other part of the world.

THE OHIO RIVER.

No man who has the least appreciation of natural beauty, ever beheld this river and its diversified shores without a feeling of admiration. The Frenchman, boastful of his refined tastes, and the uncultivated savage of the wilderness, agreed in giving it the name which, in the language of each, signified "*The beautiful river*;" and never was a complimentary title more truly deserved than in this instance. The banks on either side present a succession of tall and picturesque cliffs, with alternate valleys, meadows, and woodlands, which nature seems to have arranged with more than her customary regularity; while numerous islands, decorated with superb trees and luxurious verdure, complete a natural panorama which nothing of artificial production can ever equal.

The Ohio river is formed by the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers at Pittsburgh. Flowing generally in a south-westerly direction, it separates the States of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana on the right, from Virginia and Kentucky on the left. The Ohio river unites with the Mississippi ten hundred and sixteen miles from the mouth of the latter, in lat. 37° N., long. 89° 10' W. The whole length of the Ohio is nine hundred and sixty-four miles. In breadth, it varies from four hundred to six hundred yards. At Cincinnati it is about six hundred yards wide, which may be considered as the mean breadth of the river.

The Alleghany river, whose confluence with the Monongahela forms the Ohio, rises in Potter county, in the northern part of Pennsylvania, and after a circuitous course through a part of New York, it again enters Pennsylvania, and unites, as previously stated, with the Monongahela at Pittsburgh. For nearly two hundred miles from that city the Alleghany is navigable for boats. Steamboats of a small size have occasionally ascended to Olean, two hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of this river.

The Monongahela is formed by the union of the West-Fork and Tygart's Valley rivers, which rise in Randolph and Lewis counties, Virginia, and meet one mile from Fairmont, in Marion county of the same State. The Monongahela is navigable for large steamboats as

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THE OHIO RIVER.

far as Brownsville, Pennsylvania, thirty-five miles from the mouth of this river; and for boats of a medium size, as far as Fairmont, Virginia. The whole length of the river, exclusive of its branches, is one hundred and fifty miles. The obstructions to navigation which formerly existed in the lower part of this river have been removed, or obviated by various artificial contrivances.

The principal tributaries of the Ohio are the Muskingum, Great Kanawha, Big Sandy, Sciota, Miama, Green, Kentucky, Wabash, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers. Of these tributary streams, the three last named are the most important.

The Tennessee river is the largest stream which pours its waters into the Ohio. It is formed by the union of two branches, called the Clinch and Holston rivers, which have their sources among the Alleghany mountains, in the north-west part of Virginia. These branches unite at Kingston, North Carolina, and from thence the river Tennessee flows westerly into the State of the same name, then makes an extensive circuit through the northern part of Alabama, and then, changing its course again, runs nearly northward, through the States of Tennessee and Kentucky, and falls into the Ohio at Paducah, in lat. 37° N., and long. 88° 35' W. The length of the Tennessee, from the junction of its branches, is eight hundred miles, but in connection with Holston river, its longest branch, it is computed to be eleven hundred miles long. For six hundred miles the Tennessee is navigable for large boats, and for boats of a smaller size, four hundred miles more. Steamboats of the first class ascend this river as far as Florence, Alabama, which is situated on the north bank at the foot of the rapids called Muscle shoals, which are between Lauderdale and Lawrence counties, Alabama. The river here has a descent of about one hundred feet in the course of twenty miles, and no boats can pass over the shoals except in the highest stages of water. The channel at this place varies from one to two miles in width, but at the lower termination of the shoals it is contracted to half a mile. The bluffs on each side are composed of an upper stratum of flint, and a lower stratum of fine limestone. In 1840, a canal twelve miles long was built around the shoals, but unfortunately the locks were made too short to admit even the smallest steamboats that navigate that river; it was soon abandoned, and the channel has been filling up for the last fifteen years. Thousands of wild geese and ducks resort to this locality to feed on the species of shell-fish from which the name of Muscle Shoals is derived. Above the rapids, boats run at all seasons to Knoxville, Tennessee, on the Holston, a distance of five hundred miles.

Cumberland river, one of the largest affluents of the Ohio, rises

THE OHIO RIVER.

among the Cumberland mountains, near the south-east boundary of
Kentucky. After flowing westwardly about two hundred miles through
the State of Kentucky, it takes a meandering course through a part
of the State of Tennessee, until it reaches Nashville. From this point
it flows N. W., and again enters the State of Kentucky about ten miles
east of the Tennessee river. Its course afterwards is nearly parallel
with that of the Tennessee, until it enters the Ohio river at Smithland.
During the time of high water, large boats ascend to Nashville, about
two hundred miles from the mouth of this river, and small boats go
three hundred miles further. The area drained by the Cumberland
river is estimated at twenty thousand square miles.

The beautiful river of Kentucky is formed by the north, middle, and
south fords, which unite in Proctor and Owsley counties. It flows N. W.,
forming the boundary between Fayette, Jessemine, and Woodford
counties on the right, and Madison, Garrard, Mercer, and Anderson on
the left; then passing through Franklin county and Frankfort city,
and separating Owen from Henry county, it falls into the Ohio at
Carrollton, ninety miles below Cincinnati, and sixty above the Falls
of Ohio. The length of the main stream is about two hundred miles,
which is navigable by means of dams and locks to Frankfort at all
times; and flat boats ascend one hundred miles further. In many parts
of its course it flows through a deep channel, formed by perpendicular
walls of limestone, and is remarkable for its picturesque scenery.

The Muskingum river has been made navigable, by means of artificial
improvements, as far as Zanesville, seventy miles from its mouth; but
at times of high water boats may ascend to Coshocton, thirty miles
further. Sciota river admits of steamboat navigation for a distance of
fifty miles. The State of Ohio contributes to the river from which it
derives its name, the waters of the Muskingum, Sciota, Miami, and
several minor streams, whose courses vary in length from one hundred
and twenty to two hundred and fifty miles.

Green river rises in the centre of Kentucky, and flows westerly,
until, having completed more than half its course, it receives the waters
of the Big Barren river. In this part of its route it traverses the
cavernous limestone formation, and passes over that stupendous natural
euriosity, the Mammoth Cave. From its confluence with Big Barren
river, it takes a north westerly course, and falls into the Ohio in Hen-
derson county, Kentucky, nine miles above Evansville, Indiana, on the
opposite shore. The whole length of Green river is estimated at three
hundred and fifty miles. It is made navigable by locks and dams, at
all seasons, as far as Bowling Green on the Big Barren river, twenty

THE OHIO RIVER.

49

miles below the Mammoth Cave, and during a part of the year the navigation extends to the Cave itself. At times of high water, boats have reached Greensbury, two hundred miles from the mouth of the river.

The Ohio begins its course at Pittsburgh with graceful tranquillity. Its breadth for some distance after the conjunction of its two parent streams, is about six hundred yards. At this point the elevation of the Ohio above the level of the sea is six hundred and ninety feet; at the entrance of the Muskingum river, it is five hundred and forty-eight feet; at the mouth of the Sciota, four hundred and sixty-six feet; opposite Cincinnati, four hundred and eighteen feet; and at its confluence with the Mississippi, three hundred and twenty-five feet; making the average descent a little less than six inches to the mile.

The peculiarity of the Ohio river which distinguishes it from the Mississippi, and some others, is its extraordinary gentleness and serenity. The ordinary motion of the current is about three and a half miles per hour; its velocity gradually increases to the time of high water, when it is nearly doubled. But for nearly three-quarters of the year, the stream moves with so much gentleness, that an object floating on its bosom would be carried scarcely more than two and a half miles in an hour.

But the case is very different during one of the periodical floods, or "freshets," of the Monongahela and Alleghany, which are sometimes of such sudden occurrence that the waters of that river rise twenty feet in the same number of hours. Then, indeed, the impulse given by the swollen river to the head-waters of the Ohio, changes the usual placidity of that stream to a torrent-like violence and impetuosity. The "rush of the waters," at such times, is tremendous, and the force of the current irresistible. This rise of the river affords an opportunity for the canal boats at Pittsburgh to cast off their moorings, and commit themselves to the rapid stream, which carries them, by the mere force of the tide, to the various landing-places on the Ohio, from whence the south and west obtain their annual supplies of mineral fuel.

The falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, Kentucky, about six hundred miles below Pittsburgh, may be considered as a remarkable deviation from the usually quiet deportment of the river. The descent, at this point, is 22½ feet within two miles, which produces a current so rapid and dangerous, that this part of the river is considered often unnavigable; boats of the largest size, however, sometimes pass these rapids, by taking advantage of an unusual depth of water. In order to obviate this natural obstruction to the navigation of the Ohio, a canal of suitable dimensions and capacity has been constructed on the Kentucky side

4

THE OHIO RIVER.

of the river, which extends the whole length of the rapids, (about two
miles,) and affords a smooth and safe passage for boats one hundred
and eighty-five feet in length, when the falls, for want of a sufficiency
of water, are impassible. In descending the falls, the channel is near
the Indiana shore; but, in ascending, the boats are compelled to take
the "middle schute," near Corn island, the situation of which is in the
centre of the river. In the navigation of these falls, up or down, it is
always necessary to have a "fall's pilot," and those gentlemen skilled
and experienced in the art of conducting a vessel through these
"troublesome waters," are to be found only at Louisville, Kentucky.

One notable circumstance connected with the topography of the
Ohio river, is the vast number of beautiful islands which are enclosed
by its waters. More than one hundred of these are of considerable
size; some of them are exceedingly fertile, and in a high state of culti-
vation, and many of them are covered with trees of the largest size.
There is an equal or greater number of islets of alluvial formation,
whose vegetation is more scanty, and some are mere sand-banks, en-
tirely barren, or covered in spots with a growth of willows, or other
trees or shrubs, which can find nourishment in such a meagre soil. The
navigation of the Ohio above the falls is obstructed, more or less,
during the summer months, by a deficiency of water, and by numerous
sand-bars, which sometimes extend from shore to shore, or project
to a considerable distance across the bed of the stream. Steamboats
which have the misfortune to be grounded on these bars are often com-
pelled to remain in that situation until relieved by the periodical rise
of the river. At those seasons, when the depth of water is insufficient
for the larger class of boats, they are generally withdrawn, and their
place is supplied by small "stern-wheel boats," which, even when not
laden, have a draught of water not exceeding sixteen or twenty
inches. These delicately constructed vessels do an exceedingly lucra-
tive business, until the rise of the water forces them from the field of
competition.

In the winter season the Ohio is commonly frozen over for six or
eight weeks, during which time the business of the river is entirely
suspended. At this season of inactivity the boats seek a secure har-
bor to avoid the running ice, and embrace the opportunity to refit and
make preparations for the re-commencement of active duty in the
spring. The breaking up of the ice, which usually takes place in the
month of February, is caused by a sudden rise in the river, which
forces the ice in huge fragments down the stream. This is a time of
some peril, when boats, by any chance, are exposed to the fury of the

THE OHIO RIVER.

icy torrent, which pours down with prodigious force and rapidity. Not unfrequently as many as a dozen boats are overwhelmed and submerged at "one fell swoop."

The Ohio, like a majority of rivers, is subject to great elevations and depressions. The average difference between high and low water, at ordinary times is about fifty-three feet; but in the years 1810, '32, and '47, the rise was sixty-two feet six inches. At this elevation the water reaches the second story of the houses on Water street, Cincinnati, and almost inundates Cairo, at the mouth of the river. At its lowest stages, the Ohio is fordable at several places between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, though boats constructed for the purpose may navigate the river at all seasons.

The navigable waters of the Ohio and its tributaries is estimated at more than six thousand miles in extent; and the regions drained by these streams comprise an area of two hundred and thirty thousand square miles. Between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, the river scenery is especially magnificent, picturesque or beautiful, as the view varies at different points. The banks, or cliffs, in some places are from one hundred to two hundred feet in height, and are often covered with dense forests, which extend down the embankment to the very margin of the stream.

The Ohio, when open for navigation, as it is for nearly the whole year, is covered with boats, and the commerce of the river amounts annually to many millions of dollars.

SKETCH OF PITTSBURGH.

PITTSBURGH is one of the largest and most important cities west of the Alleghany mountains. It is situated at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, which here form the Ohio river; 357 miles West of Philadelphia; 477 N. E. by E. of Cincinnati; 1174 E. N. E. of St. Louis; and 223 N. W. of Washington. Lat. 40° 32' N.; lon. 80° 2' W. The site comprises the triangular plain enclosed by the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, Grant's Hill, and several other elevations which terminate the plain on E. Fort Duquesne, a French trading post erected in 1754; formerly occupied the site where Pittsburgh now stands. In 1758, an English expedition marched against this post, which was then regarded by the youthful Washington as the key of the West. An advanced detachment, under Capt. Grant, having encamped on what is still called Grant's Hill, was attacked and defeated by a party of French and Indians from fort Duquesne; but on the approach of Gen. Forbes, with a force of 6200 men, the disheartened garrison set fire to the fort and descended the Ohio river. The victorious troops on entering, November 25th, by general acclamation called the place Pittsburgh, in honor of Wm. Pitt, then Prime Minister of England. The town of Pittsburgh began to be settled in 1765; it became a county town in 1791, was incorporated a borough in 1804, and chartered as a city in 1816. In 1845 a great fire consumed a large part of Pittsburgh, causing a destruction of property to the amount of $10,000,000. Notwithstanding this terrible calamity the city has continued to increase in wealth and population almost beyond parallel. The manufactures of Pittsburgh and its vicinity employ above six hundred steam-engines. There are about forty-five iron foundries with machine-shops, of which nine make on an average one hundred and fifty steam-engines annually; a mammoth rail manufactory, the largest perhaps in the world, is in operation there. It is capable of turning out one hundred and twenty tons of rails every twenty-four hours. Capital of the company, $1,000,000. There are twenty-three heavy blacksmithing forges, with a capital of $500,000, producing railroad axles, steamboat shafts, sugar mills, &c. Pittsburgh contains about sixty schools, and nearly an equal number in the suburbs, annually attended by eighteen thousand pupils. There are about twenty-five printing-offices, issuing newspapers and other publications, fifteen of which are dailies. A Chamber of Commerce has been organized since 1850. The manufactures of Pittsburgh are immense, and capable of being extended almost indefinitely. Indeed, there are no known limits to the elements necessary to their augmentation. Wood, coal, ores, and agricultural resources, all abound in the utmost profusion, and may be obtained with scarcely any expenditure of labor or of capital. In England it requires an immense outlay of capital to mine coal, which there lies from 500 to 2500 feet below the surface; but in Western Pennsylvania, enough coal to turn all the machinery ever constructed, may be found in rich beds underlying the hills, at an elevation above the ordinary level of the country. Millions of bushels of coal are annually shipped from Pittsburgh to the West and South.

Boats are built here in great numbers. Some of the fastest boats afloat on the Western waters were built at Pittsburgh. Machinery is here made cheap and durable, and many of the St. Louis and New Orleans commanders get their boats built and equipped here. One of the largest and best engine builders is A. Irwin, Esq., firm of A. Erwin & David Holmes. It was at this establishment that the heavy engines of the John Simonds, Buckeye State, and other large steamers were built.

Pittsburgh is rapidly improving. Population in 1810, 5000; in 1820, 7500; in 1830, 13,000; in 1840, 22,000; in 1850, 80,000; in 1856, 159,000.

(53)

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS

ON

The Western Waters.

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION AND LOSS OF LIFE ON BOARD THE
STEAMBOAT WASHINGTON

THIS deplorable accident took place on the Ohio river on the 9th
day of June, 1816. The Washington was the largest and finest boat
which had hitherto floated on any western stream. Her commander,
Captain Shreve, was skilled and experienced in all the duties of his
calling; her machinery was all presumed to be in the best possible
order, and no human foresight could have anticipated the fatal event.
The boat left Marietta, Ohio, on Monday, June 7, and on the after-
noon of the following day came safely to anchor off Point Harmar,
where she remained until Wednesday morning. The fires were now
kindled, and other preparations made for continuing the voyage
down the Ohio; but a difficulty occurred in getting the boat into a
proper position to start the machinery. While laboring to effect this
object—the boat having, in the mean time, been carried by the force
of the current near the Virginia shore—it became necessary to throw
out a kedge anchor at the stern. Soon after, all hands were sum-
moned aft to haul in the kedge, and while they were collected on the
quarter for that purpose, by a singular and most unfortunate chance,
the end of the cylinder nearest the stern was blown off, and a column
of scalding water was thrown among the crowd, inflicting the most
frightful injuries on nearly all of the boat's crew, and killing a number
on the spot. The cry of consternation and anguish which then arose
might have been heard for miles. The captain, mate, and several

( 55 )

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

56

others were blown overboard; but all of these, with the exception of one man, were afterwards rescued from the water, but were found to be more or less injured, either by the fragments of the cylinder or the scalding water.

The inhabitants of the neighboring town, now called Harmar, were universally alarmed by the sound of the explosion, which appeared to

EXPLOSION OF THE WASHINGTON, 1816.

shake the solid earth to a considerable distance. A number of physicians and many other citizens crowded into the boat to ascertain the extent of the calamity; but no language can describe the scene of misery and torture which then presented itself to the view of the spectators. The deck was strewn with mangled and writhing human beings, uttering screams and groans of intense suffering. Some, more fortunate than their companions, lay still in the embrace of death. Among the wounded, six or eight, under the influence of their maddening torments, had torn off their clothes, to which the entire skin of their limbs or bodies adhered; the eyes of others had been put out, and their faces were changed to an undistinguishable mass of flesh by the scalding water. But the greatest sufferers, apparently, were those who had been internally injured by inhaling the scalding steam, the effect of which on the lungs is agonizing beyond all the powers of imagination to conceive. The whole scene was too horrible for description, and it made an impression on the minds of those who witnessed it which could never be obliterated.

The cause of the explosion was a disarrangement of the safety-valve, which had become immovable in consequence of the accidental slipping of the weight to the extremity of the lever. The following is a list of the killed and wounded by this calamitous explosion:

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

57.

**KILLED:**—Peter Lanfer, B. Harvey, Anna C. Jones, Thomas Brown, James Nulta, — Jones, passengers; Samuel Wait, carpenter, Jacob —, colored cook.

**WOUNDED:**—Captain Shreve, commander, Mr. Clark, engineer, James Blair, George White, Enoch H. McFeeley, Joseph Walsh, John C. Williams, (mortally,) passengers.

Mr. Williams of Kentucky, the unhappy gentleman last mentioned in the preceding list, while lying in the cabin of the Washington, in his last moments, offered one of the cabin-boys all his money if he would knock him on the head to put a speedy end to his misery. The boy who received this offer, and who relates the incident, is now Captain Hiram Burch, of Marietta, Ohio,

Joseph —, one of the hands, was missing; he is supposed to have been blown overboard, and carried down by the current. Several of the wounded died a short time afterwards in consequence of their injuries. At a meeting of the citizens of Marietta, a committee was appointed to provide for the sufferers, and to make arrangements for the burial of the dead.

This first steamboat accident in the West produced a great excitement among the inhabitants of that region, and occasioned for some time a strong prejudice against steamboat travel, the people being oblivious of the fact, that when the water conveyance was confined to barges and keel-boats, there was more real danger and more actual loss of life than may be classed among the incidents of steamboat navigation.

## EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT CONSTITUTION.

On the 4th day of May, 1817, while the steamer Constitution was ascending the Mississippi river, and when she was off Point Coupee, the boiler exploded, making the whole front part of the cabin a perfect wreck, and killing or wounding thirty persons, eleven of whom perished instantly. As soon as the terrific report of the explosion was heard on board, numbers of the excited passengers threw themselves into the rapid current, and many were drowned or wafted down the stream before assistance could reach them. The shrieks of the wounded and dying were reverberated from the distant shores, and many a ghastly and heart-sickening spectacle presented itself on the deck of the ill-fated vessel. One man had been completely submerged in the boiling liquid which inundated the cabin, and in his removal to the deck, the skin

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

59

had separated from the entire surface of his body. The unfortunate wretch was literally boiled alive, yet although his flesh parted from his bones, and his agonies were most intense, he survived and retained all his consciousness for several hours. Another passenger was found lying aft of the wheel with an arm and a leg blown off, and as no surgery

EXPLOSION OF THE CONSTITUTION, 1817.

cal aid could be rendered him, death from loss of blood soon ended his sufferings. Miss C. Butler, of Massachusetts, was so badly scalded, that, after lingering in unspeakable agony for three hours, death came to her relief. Many were drowned whose names do not appear in the subjoined list of those who perished by this disaster. Besides, many of the victims were so mutilated and disfigured, that their bodies could not be identified; and owing to these causes the list may be considered as very incomplete.

Capt. Bezeau and lady, with some others, were fortunate enough to escape unhurt, being forward when the explosion took place. The following are the names of those who were killed:

William Yarnall, Va.; E. Frazier, Gibson Port, M. T.; Thomas Brown, Scotland; Wm. McFarland, Washington Co., Ky.; Joseph D. Wilson, James Carpenter, Md.; Alexander Philpot, Henry Co., Va.; William Steel, Warrenton, M. T.; Peter Huber, N. O. and Baltimore; Robert Robertson, 18 years old; William Larkin, silversmith Natchez; Amos Shorter, Wm. Albright, David Young, Theodore Wright, Mrs. Yancey, of Pittsburgh; Mrs. Amy Farmer, Patrick Dougherty, Waldo Green, W. Wheeler, John Durrick, Augustus Baer, and Dennis Fryer.

The Constitution, formerly called the Oliver Evans, was built at Pittsburgh only a short time before this fatal explosion. At that period she was one of the finest boats on the river.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

61

SINKING OF THE STEAMER TENNESSEE.

About ten o'clock, on a dark night, in the midst of a tremendous
snow storm, on the 8th of February, 1823, when the steamer Tennes-
see, under a full press of steam, was ploughing her way up the turbu-
lent Mississippi river, near Natchez, she struck a snag, and imme-
diately commenced filling with water. The Tennessee was crowded
with passengers, and the confusion and excitement were great among
them all. The deck passengers had retired to bed. Most of those in
the cabin were spending a cheerful evening together, in the enjoyment
of social intercourse. The shock was great, and called every one in-
stantly to the deck. Some supposed the boat had run into the bank,
and would bound off again without injury. But the fatal truth was

SINKING OF THE TENNESSEE—1823.

soon known, and in the confusion many leaped overboard and per-
ished. Capt. Campbell gave orders instantly to stop the leak; but the
pilot, who had been down to examine the damage, with difficulty escaped
from the hold, in consequence of the water so rapidly rushing in. A
hole as large as a common door was torn in the hull, and the truth
was soon told—the Tennessee was going down. The shrieks of the
women were heart-rending at this awful news. The night was dark,
and the wind howling around in its fury made the scene doubly
terrible. Every one inquired of his neighbor what was to be done, and
every one was anxious to provide for his own safety. The yawl and
long boat were lowered, and into it the passengers, nearly two hundred
in number, crowded, till it was on the eve of sinking. Those in the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

boat shoved off, and with one ear could not reach the shore in time to return to assist those left behind. Some, finding there was no chance in the long boat, jumped into the river and swam ashore; others pulled off the cabin doors and floated on them; some got among the fire wood, and were lost by slipping through and being covered by it; some clung to parts of the boat, which floated off with them. Mr. Keiser got upon the carpenter's bench, and Mr. A. Logan, who had fallen into the water and sunk nearly to the bottom, on coming up, fortunately caught hold of the way-plank, which formed a raft, and on which he floated down stream. Mr. Keiser soon came up with him, and leaving the work-bench joined him on his raft. They floated in company about eight miles, when, seeing a light on shore, they called for aid, and were taken up by a young man named Gibson, who conveyed them to the house of Mr. Randolph, where they were kindly treated. One man swam with his hat and cloak on, until he reached the willows, when he deliberately relieved himself from the burthen of those outside garments, leaving them on the tree till next morning, and swimming safely to shore. Another passenger swam out with a small bag in his mouth, containing $3000 in gold, which proved of essential service to him; for on getting hold of a plank, and throwing his arms over it, he found the weight of his specie, which he then carried in his hand, admirably calculated to preserve his equilibrium. One man was sick in his berth, and being told of the danger, observed that he was too weak to save himself from drowning, and appeared reluctant to get up; but on being reminded that his father was on board, and required his assistance, he sprang from his bed, and not only saved his own life, but was instrumental in saving others. A young married lady, when her husband was about recklessly to throw himself into the Mississippi, caught hold of him, and by her presence of mind took off some shutters and made a raft, upon which they both floated down the river, and were picked up by a skiff.

The boat floated down the river a short distance and lodged near some willows, upon which many of the deck passengers clung till daylight, when they were relieved from their perilous situation.

Scarcely any property was saved from the wreck; a few trunks and other light things floated off, and were picked up. Some were pilfered by a mean wretch living in the neighborhood, named Charles Goodwin, others were preserved and afterwards reclaimed by the owners. The survivors speak in the highest praise of Mrs. Blanton, formerly of Kentucky, who, in the absence of her husband, Mr. William Blanton, made every exertion for the comfort of the sufferers. By this

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

disaster there were no less than sixty lives lost; the names of many will never be known. The following is a list as far as could be ascertained:

**CABIN PASSENGERS LOST.**—M. J. Nouvel, Lexington, Kentucky; M. C. Pool, Baltimore; Mr. Maylin, Philadelphia; Mr. Caruthers, Tennessee; Dr. Young, F. A. Boulton, Andrew Stone, Maryland; Alexander Parkhurst, Mobile; Daniel Ebert, P. Striker, A. Booker, John Roberts, Kentucky; A. Perin, Alabama; W. Ashwood, Pennsylvania; A. Harmer, New York; — Phillips, Mrs. Jenkins, Arthur Wendell, Massachusetts; Thomas Rodgers, D. Hicks, C. Conley, — Martin, — Anshultz, A. Derrin, P. Watson, J. Williams, Andrew Hempstead, Texas; and a lady, name unknown.

**DECK PASSENGERS LOST.**—George Saunders, Lexington, Kentucky; Samuel Cooper, David Knaw, John Curby, S. Hencely, John Stewart, John Kipler, Mrs. Mausker and child, Mr. Terley, James Bradford, and three negroes, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Walters, Miss Williams, Mr. and Miss Armstrong, Mobile, and three servants; D. Fox, Mrs. Hooper, — Andrews, and fifteen passengers, no names reported.

This was one of the early disasters, and was the theme of conversation for months after the fatal calamity. Indeed, people, for a long time after this accident, were almost afraid to go on a steamboat; but it was soon forgotten in the narratives of the more heart-rending disasters that followed after, in rapid succession.

## EXPLOSION AND BURNING OF THE STEAMBOAT TECHE ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, MAY 5TH, 1825.

The S. B. Teche left Natchez on the evening of May 4th, 1825, heavily laden with cotton, and carrying about seventy passengers, many of whom came on board at the moment of departure, and were unknown to each other. Her course was down the river, and she proceeded about ten miles, when the night became so excessively dark and hazy that her commander, Captain Campbell, deemed it unsafe to proceed further, and concluded to come to anchor. At two o'clock on the following morning, May 5th, the anchor was weighed, and the steam having previously been raised, the boat had just begun to pursue her voyage, when the passengers, many of whom had been sleeping in their berths, were startled by a shock which seemed sufficient to separate every plank and timber in the vessel, accompanied by a report which sounded like the discharge of a whole broadside of the heaviest artillery.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

65

Every light on board was immediately extinguished, either by the escape of steam or the concussion of the air. As the day had not yet dawned, an impenetrable darkness now hung over the scene of the disaster, the extent of which could only be imagined by the affrighted and horrified crowd collected on the deck; but at that moment of appalling danger, and still more dreadful uncertainty, was heard a cry that the boat was on fire! Then followed a scene of indescribable confusion; the pas-

EXPLOSION AND BURNING OF THE TECHE.

sengers, in the very insanity of terror, were rushing hither and thither, through the dense and ominous gloom, and many anticipated their doom in their erring endeavor to avoid it.

Mr. Miller, of Kentucky, one of the surviving passengers, who afterwards published in a New Orleans paper a narrative of the events of this fearful night, states that when the alarm of fire was given, he attempted to go towards the bow, from whence the cry proceeded, but before he had advanced ten paces, he was precipitated down the hatchway, (the hatches had been blown off by the explosion,) and after falling, fortunately on his feet, to the bottom of the hold, he found himself knee-deep in scalding water, which had been discharged from the fractured boiler. He would soon have perished in the suffocating vapor which filled the place, had not his cries for assistance been heard by some humane person on deck, who threw him the end of a rope, and thus enabled him to escape from his agonizing and perilous situation.

By this time the flames began to ascend, illuminating the deck with a lurid glare which enabled the passengers to discern the means of escape which offered, though these means were made less available by the terror and confusion which prevailed. The yawl made several trips to the nearest shore, carrying off a load of passengers at each

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

67

trip; but as the flames began to extend rapidly over the deck, it was evident that all the people on board could not be saved in this way. In these circumstances, the Captain gave orders that bales of cotton should be thrown overboard, and on these many passengers were kept afloat until the boats finally took them off.

But the last incident of this tragic narrative is one of the most distressing. About three o'clock, A. M., the steamboat Washington, while passing up the river, was hailed by the survivors on board of the burning vessel. The Washington promptly sent a boat to their assistance, and waited to receive them. All who remained on the Teche, (about twelve in number,) embarked in the Washington's boat; and now, assuring themselves of safety, they had reached the side of the steamer, when, by some unlucky accident, the small boat was upset, and every person on board, man, woman, and child, was drowned. It would seem that their inexorable fate had doomed them to destruction.

The number of lives lost by this accident could never be ascertained. Several persons were instantly killed by the explosion, and others were so badly injured, by scalding, or otherwise, that they died soon afterwards. It is thought that not less than twenty or thirty were drowned.

## EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT GRAMPUS, ON THE MISSISSIPPI, AUGUST 12, 1828.

The Grampus was engaged in towing three brigs and a sloop up to New Orleans, and was about nine miles from that city, when the explosion took place. This accident was one of the most remarkable in the whole catalogue of steamboat disasters, on account of the extensive wreck which was made of the machinery. The boat had six boilers, all of which were blown to minute fragments. The same complete destruction was made of the flues, and various other parts of the steam apparatus; and the boat itself was, (as an eye witness reports,) "torn to pieces."

The Captain, (Morrison,) and Mr. Wederstrand, a passenger, were sitting by the wheel at the time of the explosion; both were blown to a part of the forward deck fifty feet distant, where they were afterwards found, very much bruised, among a mass of ruins. The pilot at the wheel was precipitated into the water and drowned. Another pilot, who was walking the deck aft of the wheel, had a leg broken, and received other injuries, which caused his death. The brig in tow on the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

larboard side of the Grampus had both topmasts cut away by the fragments of the machinery, and her standing rigging was much damaged. A piece of the pipe fell across this brig's tiller, carried it away, and slightly injured the man at the helm. The brig on the other side of the steamer had her bottom perforated by a piece of the boiler. The other vessels, being astern, escaped without any damage.

The *cause* of this accident requires particular notice. It appears, from the statement of a passenger, that the chief engineer had "turned in," leaving his assistant in charge of the engine. This assistant, as it is supposed, went to sleep at his post, after partially shutting off the water. The consequence was a deficiency of water in the boilers; and the assistant engineer, on waking, when he discovered that the boilers were nearly exhausted, ignorantly, or imprudently, put the forcepumps in operation to furnish a supply. At this time the iron must have acquired a white heat, and the contact of the water produced such an excess of steam, that the explosion naturally followed.

**KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSING.**—John Smith, a fireman, killed. George Brown, a Balize pilot, mortally wounded. One of the crew of the brig Anastasia, (name unknown,) killed. Another seaman, belonging to the same brig, badly wounded. William Taylor and John Harden, much injured. Joseph Dryden, second engineer of the Grampus, missing (so reported, but undoubtedly killed). Thomas Dodd, steersman, missing. Harry, Frank, Layden and George Mooney, all blacks, missing. Charles Craig, badly wounded. Nine were killed on the spot, or died soon afterwards, in consequence of their injuries. Four others were wounded.

## EXPLOSION OF THE HELEN McGREGOR, AT MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, FEBRUARY 24, 1830.

The steamboat Helen McGregor, Capt. Tyson, on her way from New Orleans to Louisville, stopped at Memphis, on Wednesday morning, February 24, 1830. She had been lying at the wharf about thirty minutes, when one or more of her boilers exploded, with the usual destructive and melancholy effects. The loss of life by this accident was, at that time, unprecedented in the records of steam navigation. In the bustle incident to the landing and receiving of passengers, a part of the deck near the boilers was crowded with people, all of whom were either killed instantaneously, or more or less injured. No person in the cabins was hurt. The number of those who perished at the moment

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

71

EXPLOSION OF THE HELEN MCGREGOR, 1830.

of the explosion is variously estimated at from thirty to sixty. As many of them were strangers whose homes were far distant, and whose bodies were never recovered from the water, into which they were projected, it is very plain that an accurate account of the number of the victims is not to be expected.

The following report of the killed and wounded is the most complete and reliable that could be obtained :—

**KILLED.**—Richard Hancock, of Louisville, Kentucky; A. Van Mee-ter, Hardin County, Tennessee; Mr. Talbot, of Long Beach, Ohio; James Bledso, Kentucky; Mr. Carrol, Cincinnati, Ohio; Edward P. Beadles, Clark County, Indiana; J. Dunn, Tennessee; G. B. Giles, Cincinnati; Ephraim Goble, Brookville, Indiana; John Delaney, colored; William Ewing, Clark County, Indiana; William Stockwell, Salem, Indiana; Solomon Jones, Maysville, Kentucky; J. Reaves, Harrison County, Indiana; Lewis Young, colored; Jack, a colored boy, twelve years old.

**BADLY WOUNDED.**—George Trey, Tipton County, Tennessee; John Cameron, Clark County, Indiana; Joshua Richardson, Indiana; John Valentine, Massachusetts; Mr. De Haven, Philadelphia; John Leland, a pilot; J. Sugg, Union County, Kentucky; John Felchen, New York; R. Bailey, firm of Bell, Hardin & Co., Tennessee; H. Heldrith, Madison County, Indiana; John Addisson, one of the crew; Thomas Drenard, Wilson County, Tennessee; J. Swan, Orange County, Indiana; J. Tenyck, Shippingsport, Kentucky; William Case, New York.

**SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.**—Capt. Tyson, commander of the Helen McGregor; — Turner, engineer; P. O'Daniel, Indiana; T. L. Know-

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land, Ohio; J. Monaco, Tipton County, Tennessee; John Coons, Clark County, Indiana; William Pottorff, Clark County, Indiana; John Dougherty, Overton County, Tennessee; Thomas Bank, Lawrence County, Indiana; Green Williams, colored fireman.

## EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT ROB ROY ON THE MISSISSIPPI, JUNE 9TH, 1836.

The Rob Roy was on her route from New Orleans to Louisville, and was under way, at 8 o'clock P. M, June 9th, 1836, near the town of Columbia, Arkansas, when the fatal catastrophe we are about to record took place. The engine was stopped for the purpose of oiling some part of the machinery; and although this necessary operation did not occupy more than two minutes, the accumulation of steam was sufficient to cause an explosion. As soon as the accident occurred, preparations were made to run the boat ashore, which was happily reached within a few minutes. By this judicious measure many lives were undoubtedly saved. None were lost by drowning, and the only victims and sufferers were those who were killed or wounded at the moment of the explosion. The clerk of the boat, a few days after the accident, furnished the following account of the killed and wounded, which he certified to be correct, adding, that some of those reported among the wounded had since died, and others were not expected to recover.

**KILLED:**—John O'Brian, Michael Bregan, John Cavenaugh, (Irish,) Wm. Lynd, of Cincinnati, P. W. Banton, Madison, Indiana, Jane Vincent, Highland Creek, four men, names unknown, passengers; Levi Jackson, Jeffersonville, J. Shane, Louisville, Felix Davis, Jeffersonville, George Williams, Cincinnati, two colored men, names not mentioned. Total of killed, 17.

**SCALDED:**—Wm. Spear, Pittsburgh, badly, John Gebhard Irishman, do., Henry Snodgrass, Parke county, Indiana, Levi Hamblin, Deboyne, Mr. Hentry, Louisville, W. Southworth, New York, E. Ford, Boston, Richard Fulton, Indiana, Wm. Reagan, Scott county, Missouri, R. A. Braden, Lawrence county, Tennessee, Mrs. Barade and two children of ditto, W. W. Creary, Scott county Missouri, Tilden Hogg, Randolph.

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TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMBOAT BEN FRANKLIN, AT MOBILE, ALABAMA, MARCH 13, 1836.

The steamboat Ben Franklin, on the day of this awful occurrence, was backing out from her wharf at Mobile, in order to make her regular trip to Montgomery. Scarcely had she disengaged herself from the wharf, when the explosion took place, producing a concussion which seemed to shake the whole city to its foundations. The entire population of Mobile, alarmed by the terrific detonation, was drawn to the spot to witness a spectacle which must have harrowed every soul with astonishment and horror. This fine boat, which had on that very morning floated so gallantly on the bosom

EXPLOSION OF THE BEN FRANKLIN, 1836.

of the lake, was now a shattered wreck, while numbers of her passengers and crew were lying on the decks, either motionless and mutilated corpses, or agonized sufferers panting and struggling in the grasp of death. Many others had been hurled overboard at the moment of the explosion, and such were the numbers of drowning people who called for assistance, that the crowd of sympathising spectators were distracted and irresolute, not knowing where or how to begin the work of rescue. Many—how many, it is impossible to say—perished in the turbid waters before any human succor could reach them.

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Apart from the loss of life, which at that time was unexampled, the destruction produced by this accident was very extensive. The boiler-deck, the boilers, the chimneys, and other parts of the machinery, besides much of the lading, were blown overboard and scattered into fragments over the wharf and the surface of the river. Mr. Isaac Williams, a passenger, was blown at least one hundred feet high in the air, and his dead body fell into the water, about one hundred and fifty yards from the boat.

The cause of the accident is believed to have been a deficiency of water in the boiler. The boat was injured to that degree that repairs were out of the question, and she was never afterwards brought into service.

The usual uncertainty attends the estimated number of lives lost by this calamity. Many of those who perished, had just entered the boat, and had not registered their names; and, among the mangled corpses, not a few retained scarcely any vestige of the human form, so that the identification of particular persons was impossible. We have, after much research, obtained the following list of the sufferers, which we believe to be the most complete account ever published.

**KILLED.**—Robert Brinkley, pilot; Isaac Williams, of Wilcox County, Kentucky; James Purnell, William Jones, Jacob Patty, firemen; James Hulson, Isaac Flannegin, deck hands; Mr. Martin, of North Carolina; S. G. Simpson, carpenter; Thomas Cravin, cabin-boy; three colored men, names unknown; two slaves of Mr. S. B. Heade, and one of Mrs. Terry.

**BADLY WOUNDED.**—Captain H. A. Leade; R. G. Gordon, of Mobile; Colonel R. Singleton, of Baldwin County, Alabama; Capt. Scuddy, James Flommen, Clark County, Indiana; E. H. Dickerson, Montgomery; Mr. Godfrey, Washington; Joseph Thompson, William Jacobson, first and second engineers; Mr. Thompson, of Columbus, Ohio; Miss Norris and slave, of Mobile.

**SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.**—Samuel Murphy, bar-keeper; Dr. Tunstall, Mount Vernon; Thomas Tony, deck hand; William Hyde, Baldwin County, Alabama; J. A. Wiggins, Claiborne.

The citizens of Mobile, with their customary humanity and generosity, took the wounded in charge, and did every thing in their power to mitigate their sufferings.

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EXPLOSION OF THE DUBUQUE, AUGUST 15, 1837.

This distressing accident, by which sixteen persons were instantly killed, and several others were badly scalded, took place on the Mississippi, while the boat was on her voyage from St. Louis to Galena. The locality of the dreadful event was off Muscatine Bar, eight miles below Bloomington. The Dubuque was running under a moderate pressure of steam at the time, when the flue of the larboard boiler, probably on account of some defect in the material or workmanship, collapsed, throwing a torrent of scalding water over the deck. The pilot immediately steered for the shore and effected a landing.

When the consternation and dismay occasioned by the explosion had in some measure subsided, Captain Smoker, the commander of the Dubuque, and such of his crew as were not disabled by this accident, made their way, with considerable difficulty, through the ruins to the after-part of the boiler-deck, when it was found that the whole of the freight, and every other article which had been there deposited, was cleared off and wafted far away into the water. The unfortunate deck passengers, together with the cooks and several of the crew, were severely scalded, either by the hot water or escaped steam. Many of these wretched people, in their agony, fled to the shore, uttering the most appalling shrieks, and tearing off their clothes, which in some cases brought away the skin, and even the flesh, with them. Humanity shudders at the recollection of the scene. It was several hours before any of them died; nor could medical relief be obtained until a boat, which had been despatched to Bloomington, returned with several physicians who resided at that place. At 10 o'clock, P. M., eight hours after the explosion, the steamboat Adventure, Captain Van Housen, came up with the wreck, and took it in tow as far as Bloomington.

The following is a list of the sufferers as far as ascertained:

**KILLED:**—John Littleton, second engineer; he was badly wounded in the head by a piece of iron, a part of the flue, and survived about three hours; Isaac Deal, of Pittsburgh, fireman; Felix Pope, Kaskaskia; Charles Kelly, deck hand, from Ohio; Noah Owen, Quincy; Jesse Johnson, colored cook, thrown overboard and drowned; Benjamin Muser, another colored cook. The rest of the killed were deck passengers, viz: James C. Carr, St. Clair county, Illinois; George McMurtry, Francis Pleasant, colored, Henry A. Carr, John C. Hamilton, Joseph Brady, and John Boland, of Dubuque; Joseph L. Sams,

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and L. B. Sams, of Clay county, Illinois; Martin Shoughnohoy, St. Louis; George Clix, of Galena; David Francour, Frenchman; wife and child of Michael Shanghnessy.

M. Shanghnessy, the husband and father of the two victims last mentioned, was badly scalded, but survived. Three other deck passengers, young men, names unknown, are supposed to have been thrown overboard and drowned; and it is strongly suspected that others beside these perished in the same manner.

## CAPSIZE OF THE HORNET, JUNE 2, 1832.

On the night of Saturday, June 2d, 1832, the steamboat Hornet, Captain Sullivan, while ascending the Ohio river on her way to Kanawha, and when about thirty-three miles above Maysville, Kentucky, encountered a sudden and violent gale blowing from the southwest, and immediately capsized. Exclusive of the persons belonging to the boat, there were forty-two people on board, viz: twelve cabin and thirty deck passengers, nearly half of whom were drowned. The Hornet righted soon after the disaster, and was towed to the nearest port, Concord, by the steamboat Guyandotte, Captain Davis Embree.

Of the twenty persons drowned by this accident, all the names which have been preserved are comprised in the following list:

Thomas Duvall, of Muskingum, Ohio; Messrs. Le Clere and Perot, two French gentlemen of New Orleans; Mrs. Garrett, of Greenupsburgh, Kentucky; Mr. Blackstone, of Guyandotte; Wm. H. Colbert, of Kingston; and two colored women, slaves belonging to passengers.

Of the boats crew, Captain Sullivan, master; John Johnston, pilot, of Gallipolis; Edward Jones, a sailor, of Cincinnati; a chambermaid and a female cook, both colored.

SKETCH OF WHEELING.

WHEELING, Virginia, is situated on the east bank of the Ohio river, in Ohio county, and on both sides of the Wheeling creek, ninety-two miles below Pittsburgh, three hundred and sixty-five miles above Cincinnati, three hundred and fifty miles northwest of Richmond, and about six hundred and thirty feet above the level of the sea; lat. 40° 7' N., long. 80° 42' W. The site is a narrow, alluvial tract, overlooked by precipitous hills, and extending two miles along the river. Wheeling is a port of entry, and is the most important place on the Ohio river between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati; and in respect to commerce, manufactures and population, the most considerable city of western Virginia, and next to the largest in that State. The hills that rise in the immediate vicinity contain inexhaustible beds of coal, which supply fuel at a small expense to the numerous manufactories of Wheeling. This city has eight iron foundries, seven forges, six manufactories of nails, ten of glassware, five or six of cotton goods, five of paper, three of steam-engines, three of silk goods, and several of wire. Flour, woollen goods, white lead, and many other articles are produced here. Numerous large steamboats are annually built at Wheeling, some of which are equal in speed, comfort and safety to any boats floating on the western waters; about sixty of them are owned here, with an aggregate tonnage of twenty-four thousand. It contains a fine court house, twenty churches, several excellent academies, four banks, the aggregate capital of which is two millions of dollars. Five or six newspapers are published here. The city is supplied with water raised from the river by machinery. The national road crosses the river at Zane's island, opposite the city, by the most stupendous wire suspension bridge in the world, the span of which is of unequalled length, measuring one thousand and ten feet; the height of the towers on either side are one hundred and fifty-three feet above low water mark, and sixty feet above the abutments. The bridge is supported by twelve wire cables, each one thousand three hundred and eighty feet in length, and four inches in diameter. The cost of this immense structure is estimated at two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. When this magnificent bridge was first thrown across the Ohio river it created a great deal of excitement among the citizens of Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh steamboatmen. It was considered an obstruction to navigation, and various lawsuits were immediately instituted against the company to compel the removal of it. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided that it must come down. At this stage of the proceedings Congress took it up, and passed an act making it a post route, which silenced all further clamor. The accompanying daguerrean view of Wheeling and the bridge is the most accurate ever taken. Wheeling became the capital of Ohio county in 1797, and is celebrated as being the site of fort Henry, which was besieged in September, 1777, by a party of nearly five hundred Indians, led on by the notorious Simon Girty. It was manfully defended by only forty-two men, of whom twenty-three were killed; and the Indians, after fighting all day, were compelled to retire, with a loss of one hundred. In 1802 it contained about seventy-five houses. Population in 1820, one thousand six hundred; in 1830, six thousand; in 1840, eight thousand; in 1850, thirteen thousand; and in 1856, twenty thousand.

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EXPLOSION OF THE ENTERPRISE, NEAR CHARLESTON, S.C.,
SEPT. 10, 1816.

In the midst of a furious thunder-storm, accompanied by a heavy fall of rain, the steamboat Enterprise, Capt. Howard, was making her way up the river, at nine o'clock, P. M., (having but a few minutes before stopped to land some passengers on Sullivan's island,) when the boiler exploded, killing eight persons instantly, and wounding five or six others, with various degrees of severity. Fortunately, a majority of the passengers had crowded into the cabin to avoid the rain; this circumstance, no doubt, was the means of saving many persons from a horrible death; a fate to which nearly all who remained on deck were subjected. The noise of the explosion was so very slight, as to be scarcely noticed by the people collected in the cabin; and they were first made aware of the accident by hearing the hissing sound of the hot water which escaped from the boiler, and the shrieks of the persons on deck who had been scalded or otherwise burnt.

There were about seventy passengers on board the Enterprise, and providentially no women or children. Several of the persons whose deaths are reported below, were killed by pieces of the boiler and flue, some of which were blown to a great distance. Others were scalded to death, or badly burned by the ignited fuel from the furnace, which was scattered in every direction, knocking some of the people down, and overwhelming them, as it were, in a whirlpool of fire. The night was made hideous by the cries and groans of the sufferers, which rose above the din of the warring elements.

At the time of the accident, the steamer was fortunately not more than one hundred yards from the Island, from whence boats were immediately despatched to the scene of destruction, to afford that assistance which the situation of the passengers and crew required. All the survivors, including the wounded, were conveyed to the Island, where they were provided with such accommodations as their condition demanded and circumstances would admit of.

Some difference of opinion existed with respect to the cause of this accident. Captain Howard, master of the boat, and some of the passengers, held the opinion that the flue was struck by lightning, which being conducted by the metallic tube down to the boiler, shivered the latter to fragments. In opposition to this opinion, it is alleged that salt water was used for the purpose of raising steam, and as the boiler

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was composed of cast iron and not of copper, an explosion, according to the theory of skilful engineers, was inevitable.

As stated above, eight persons lost their lives by this accident. Their names, with one exception, Mr. Robbs, were never published. Three of those killed were colored men. Four of the crew, not included in the above statement, were so severely burned that their lives were despaired of, and it is probable that they died soon after.

## COLLISION OF THE POLANDER AND HORNET, APRIL 19, 1832.

The Polander, Captain Menaugh, had just left the wharf at Cincinnati, about eight o'clock, P. M., the night being dark and foggy, when she encountered the Hornet, which was coming into port. Both vessels were considerably injured, and the Captain of the Hornet was crushed to death. One of the crew of the same vessel was severely wounded. No further particulars have been published.

## EXPLOSION AND BURNING OF THE LIONESS, ON RED RIVER, MAY 19, 1833.

The destruction of the Lioness was caused by the explosion of several barrels of gunpowder, which were stowed, among other freight, in the hold. The accident, therefore, cannot be attributed to any defect in the steam apparatus, or to any mismanagement thereof. The catastrophe took place at an early hour, on a calm and beautiful Sabbath morning in spring. Many of the passengers had not left their berths. Among those that had embarked in the Lioness at New Orleans, were the Hon. Josiah S. Johnston, of the United States Senate, and several other distinguished citizens of Louisiana. The boat was commanded by Capt. William L. Cockerell; her place of destination was Nachitoches, on Red river. She had accomplished a considerable part of the voyage, and reached the north of a small stream called *Ragolet Bon Dieu*, when, on the morning referred to above, the mate and several of the crew were arranging some part of the cargo in the hold; and as the place was dark, they found it necessary to use a lighted candle. It is conjectured that a spark from the candle, in some way, found access to one of the kegs of powder; but as every person who had been at work in the hold was killed by the explosion, the mode in which the powder became ignited could never be ascertained. It is reported that

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EXPLOSION AND BURNING OF THE LIONESS.

some articles of a very combustible nature, such as crates containing a quantity of dry straw and several casks of oil, were stowed in dangerous proximity to the powder. It was stated by some of the passengers that three distinct explosions were heard. The fore-cabin, the boiler deck, and the hold immediately under them, were literally torn to pieces, and the fragments were scatteted over the surrounding waters to a surprising distance. A part of the hurricane deck and a portion of the lady's cabin were likewise detached; and this proved to be a favourable circumstance, as the hull almost immediately sunk, and, in all likelihood, every female on board, and many other persons, would have been drowned, had they not been sustained on the detached pieces of the wreck just spoken of. As it was, all the women were saved; and the loss of life, though terrible enough indeed, was less than might have been expected, in view of all the circumstances of the disaster. The hull of the vessel was on fire almost from stem to stern, at the time she went down. All of the crew and passengers who survived, saved themselves by swimming, or were floated to the shore on fragments of the wreck. The names of the sufferers, as far as they could be ascertained, are given below.

DROWNED, OR KILLED BY THE EXPLOSION.—Hon. Josiah S. Johnston, Member of Congress, of Louisiana; B. Riggs, Esq., Michael Boyce, Esq., of Alexandria, Louisiana; Michael Clifford, New Orleans; H. Hertz and Thomas Irwin, a deck passenger, of Texas; John Coley, mate of the Lioness, Louisville; John Clarke, Englishman, steward of the same; Samuel Landis, William Kant, James Folsome, sailors; another sailor, name unknown; Mary Anderson, chambermaid; Alexander, colored cook; and a colored servant belonging to one of the passengers.

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WOUNDED.—Josiah Johnston, Jr., son of the Hon. J. S. Johnston, mentioned in the list of killed; Hon. Edward D. White, of Louisiana; Henry Boyce, Esq., Mr. Dunbar (badly hurt), of Alexandria, Louisiana; J. H. Graham, New Orleans; Michael Colgen, J. V. Bossier, M. Rupen, of Natchitoches; Isaac Wright, Pilot; John Roberts, engineer; John Rogers, sailor; and two firemen, names unknown.

## EXPLOSION OF THE BLACK HAWK, DECEMBER 27, 1837.

This awful calamity, which hurried more than fifty human beings into eternity, occurred on a cold wintry night, while the Black Hawk was about to ascend the Red river, on her passage from Natchez to Natchitoches. The boat had a full load of passengers and freight, including ninety thousand dollars in specie belonging to the United States government. She had just reached the mouth of Red river, when the boiler exploded, blowing off all the upper works forward of the wheels. The pilot and engineer were instantly killed.

The number of passengers on board is stated to have been about one hundred, nearly half of whom were women and children. No estimate of the number killed was ever published, but it appears from the best accounts we have that a majority of the passengers and crew perished. A large proportion of the passengers on western steamboats are persons from distant parts of the country, or emigrants, perhaps, from the old world, whose journeyings are unknown to their friends, and whose fate often excites no inquiry. When such persons are the victims of a steamboat calamity, their names, and frequently their numbers, are beyond all powers of research. So it appears to have been in the case now under consideration. Instead of a list of the slain, we are furnished only with a catalogue of the *survivors*, and these, alas, appear to have been merely a forlorn remnant. The only cabin passenger whose name is mentioned in the list of killed furnished by the clerk, was Mr. Delisle, of Natchez. Among the deck passengers, fifteen were known to be lost, three others died soon after the explosion, one was observed to sink while attempting to swim ashore, and twelve more were scalded severely, and fifteen slightly. A subsequent account added to the above list of killed Mrs. Delancey and her three children, of Boston; Dr. Van Bantz, drowned, and Wm. Tolling, who was mortally wounded and died within a few hours. The latest and most authentic account stated that not less than fifty persons must have perished by

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the explosion of the Black Hawk. The crew of the boat suffered to a considerable extent. The pilot was blown overboard and lost. Henry Sligh, colored engineer, was killed. George Johnson, another engineer, was dangerously wounded. Felix Ray, barkeeper, was very badly scalded. Four firemen were killed, and one was wounded. Two deck hands were killed. The cook, steward, and cabin boy were all dangerously wounded. Two slaves belonging to Mr. Duffield were drowned.

After the explosion, the wreck, being all in flames, floated fifteen miles down the stream, and then sunk. Some of the passengers were taken off the burning wreck by a flat-boat. It is mentioned that the females on board of the Black Hawk rendered essential service by baling and assisting to extinguish the flames. A part of the cargo and seventy-five thousand dollars of the specie were saved. Several valuable horses, which had been shipped at Natchez, were drowned.

## EXPLOSION OF THE MOSELLE, NEAR CINCINNATI, OHIO, APRIL 25, 1838.

We are now about to relate the particulars of an event which seemed for a time to shroud the whole country in mourning; an event which is still believed to be almost without a parallel in the annals of steamboat calamities. The Moselle was regarded as the very paragon of western steamboats; she was perfect in form and construction, elegant and superb in all her equipments, and enjoyed a reputation for speed which admitted of no rivalship. Her commander and proprietor, Capt. Perrin, was a young gentleman of great ambition and enterprise, who prided himself, above all things, in that celebrity which his boat had acquired, and who resolved to maintain, at all hazards, the character of the Moselle as "the swiftest steamboat in America." This character she unquestionably deserved; for her "quick trips" were without competition at that time, and are rarely equalled at the present day. To give two examples:—her first voyage from Portsmouth to Cincinnati, a distance of one hundred and ten miles, was made in seven hours and fifty-five minutes; and her last trip, from St. Louis to Cincinnati, seven hundred and fifty-miles, was performed in two days and sixteen hours; the quickest trip, by several hours, that had ever been made between the two places.

On the afternoon of April 25, 1838, between four and five o'clock, the Moselle left the landing at Cincinnati, bound for St. Louis, with an unusually large number of passengers, supposed to be not less than

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two hundred and eighty, or, according to some accounts, three hundred. It was a pleasant afternoon, and all on board probably anticipated a delightful voyage. Passengers continued to crowd in up to the moment of departure, for the superior accommodations of this steamer, and her renown as the finest and swiftest boat on the river, were great attractions for the travelling public, with whom safety is too often but a secondary consideration. The Moselle proceeded about a mile up the river to take on some German emigrants. At this time, it was observed by an experienced engineer on board that the steam had been raised to an unusual height; and when the boat stopped for the purpose just mentioned, it was reported that one man, who was apprehensive of danger, went ashore, after protesting against the injudicious management of the steam apparatus. When the object for which the Moselle had landed was accomplished, the bow of the boat was shoved

EXPLOSION OF THE MOSELLE.

from the shore, and at that instant the explosion took place. The whole of the vessel forward of the wheels was blown to splinters; every timber, (as an eye witness declares,) "appeared to be twisted, as trees sometimes are when struck by lightning." As soon as the accident occurred, the boat floated down the stream for about one hundred yards, where she sunk, leaving the upper part of the cabin out of the water, and the baggage, together with many struggling human beings, floating on the surface of the river.

It was remarked that the force of the explosion was unprecedented in the history of steam; its effect was like that of a mine of gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, burst simultaneously; the deck was blown into the air, and the human beings who crowded it were doomed

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to instant destruction. Fragments of the boiler and of human bodies were thrown both to the Kentucky and Ohio shores, although the distance to the former was a quarter of a mile. Captain Perrin, master of the Moselle, at the time of the accident was standing on the deck, above the boiler, in conversation with another person. He was thrown to a considerable height on the steep embankment of the river and killed, while his companion was merely prostrated on the deck, and escaped without injury. Another person was blown to the distance of a hundred yards, with such force, according to the report of a reliable witness, that his head and a part of his body penetrated the roof of a house. Some of the passengers who were in the after part of the boat, and who were uninjured by the explosion, jumped overboard. An eye-witness says that he saw sixty or seventy in the water at one time, of whom not a dozen reached the shore.

It happened, unfortunately, that the larger number of the passengers were collected on the upper deck, to which the balmy air and delicious weather seemed to invite them in order to expose them to more certain destruction. It was understood, too, that the captain of this ill-fated steamer had expressed his determination to outstrip an opposition boat which had just started; the people on shore were cheering the Moselle in anticipation of her success in the race, and the passengers and crew on the upper deck responded to these acclamations, which were soon changed to sounds of mourning and distress.

Intelligence of the awful calamity spread rapidly through the city; thousands rushed to the spot, and the most benevolent aid was promptly extended to the sufferers, or, as we should rather say, to such as were within the reach of human assistance, for the majority had perished. A gentleman who was among those who hastened to the wreck, declares that he witnessed a scene so sad and distressing that no language can depict it with fidelity. On the shore lay twenty or thirty mangled and still bleeding corpses; while many persons were engaged in dragging others of the dead or wounded from the wreck or the water. But, says the same witness, the survivors presented the most touching objects of distress, as their mental anguish seemed more insupportable than the most intense bodily suffering. Death had torn asunder the most tender ties; but the rupture had been so sudden and violent that none knew certainly who had been taken or who had been spared. Fathers were distractedly inquiring for children, children for parents, husbands and wives for each other. One man had saved a son, but lost a wife and five children. A father, partially demented by grief, lay with a wounded child on one side, his dead daughter on the other,

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and his expiring wife at his feet. One gentleman sought his wife and children, who were as eagerly seeking him in the same crowd. They met, and were re-united!

A female deck passenger who had been saved, seemed inconsolable for the loss of her relatives. Her constant exclamations were, “Oh, my father! my mother! my sisters!” A little boy, about five years old, whose head was much bruised, appeared to be regardless of his wounds, and cried continually for a lost father; while another lad, a little older, was weeping for his whole family.

One venerable looking man wept for the loss of a wife and five children. Another was bereft of his whole family, consisting of nine persons. A touching display of maternal affection was evinced by a lady, who, on being brought to the shore, clasped her hands and exclaimed, “Thank God, I am safe!” but instantly recollecting herself, she ejaculated in a voice of piercing agony, “Where is my child?” The infant, which had also been saved, was brought to her, and she fainted at the sight of it.

Many of the passengers who entered the boat at Cincinnati had not registered their names; but the lowest estimated number of persons on board was two hundred and eighty; of these, eighty-one were known to be killed, fifty-five were missing, and thirteen badly wounded. It remains for us to give the names of the sufferers, as far as they could be ascertained; but this list, although we have searched every record of the accident, for reasons which have already been explained is still far from complete.

**KILLED.**—Elijah North, of Alton, Illinois; Miss Mary Parker, (drowned,) and B. Furmon, merchant, Middletown, Ohio; Job Jones, of Loudon County, Virginia; B. Mitchell, barkeeper, of Cincinnati; Capt. Perrin, master of the Moselle; J. Chapman, second clerk; T. C. Powell, of Louisville, Kentucky; H. B. Casey, of Cincinnati; James Barnet, of Missouri; Calvin R. Stone, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts; James Douglass, of Fort Madison, Wisconsin; J. Williams, colored; Henry Stokes, second steward; Holly Dillon, fireman; J. Madder, first engineer; Robert Watt, deck hand; E. Dunn, chambermaid; James B. McFarland, Knox County, Ohio; Miss Dunham; J. M. Watkins, of Virginia; M. Thomas, first mate; A. Burns, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Halsey Williams, second engineer; a child of P. Troutman; G. Kramer's wife and five children; J. Fleming, pilot, (body blown to the opposite side of the river,) and J. Dillon. Many whose names are inserted under the head of “missing” may properly be added to this list. A large number of those who perished were Irish and German emigrants, whose names are unknown.

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BADLY WOUNDED.—William H. Inskeep, St. Clairsville, Ohio; Mr. Sherwood, of Cincinnati; Benjamin Bowman, first clerk; James Tyrrell, deck hand; — De Jaune, fireman; Stephen Bailey, carpenter; Isaac Van Hook; a brother of Capt. Perrin; D. Higbee, of Cayuga County, New York; Edward Sexton; Mr. Teed, of Worcester, Massachusetts; — Franklin, second cook; James Fry, third cook.

MISSING.—Lieut. Col. Fowl, U. S. A.; two children of George Kramer; Wm. Parker's wife and two children, Dr. H. Huey, U. S. A.; Joseph Swift, Buffalo, N. Y.; Joseph Fotler, Filbain Fotler, Grechan Fotler, and Jacob Fotler, of Boston, Mass.; John Beaver, Joseph Beaver, Eva Beaver, Mary Beaver, Jacob Beaver, and several children of Joseph and Eva Beaver; a child of Peter Trautman, aged two and a half years; Thomas Watt, a deck hand; Michael Kennedy's wife and two children; D. Higbee's wife and two children; E. Raymond, wife and child, of Baltimore, Md.; John Endig and John Leim, and the wife and child of each; John Tyree, St. Louis; Payton Bird, fireman; John Anderson; Mr. Weber and three children; J. Weaver, St. Louis; Wilson Burrows, deck hand; Mr. Fox, first clerk; J. Duncan, wife and two children; M. Manning and J. Lander, from Ireland; Wm. Dougherty, G. Weaver, D. Brackwell.

On the day after the accident a public meeting was called at Cincinnati, at which the Mayor presided, when the facts of this melancholy occurrence were discussed, and among other resolutions passed was one deprecating "the great and increasing carelessness in the navigation of steam vessels," and urging this subject upon the consideration of Congress. No one denied that this sad event, which caused so much consternation, suffering, and sorrow, was the result of a reckless and criminal inattention to their duty on the part of those who had the management of the Moselle, nor was there any attempt to palliate their conduct.

The Moselle was built at Cincinnati, and she reflected great credit on the mechanical genius of that city, as she was truly a superior boat, and, under more favorable auspices, might have been the pride of the waters for many years. She was quite a new boat, having been begun on the 1st of December, 1838, and finished on the 31st of March, less than one month before the time of her destruction.

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## EXPLOSION OF THE CHARITON, JULY 28, 1837.

Soon after nightfall, the Chariton put out from the wharf at St. Louis, and when she had run about fifty yards up the river, one of her boilers exploded, by which accident nine persons on board were badly hurt; but, happily, no lives were lost. A gentleman, who was a resident of St. Louis at that time, states that when he heard the noise of the explosion, he hastened down to the wharf, when the first object which attracted his attention was a colored man, who had just been brought to the shore in a boat. He had been taken out of the river, into which he and several other persons had been thrown at the time of the accident. He was badly scalded, and also much cut and bruised, and bled profusely. Soon another boat arrived, with two white men in a similar condition, who had also been rescued from the water. The appearance of one of these was especially frightful. Every visible part of his body, (to use the language of the narrator,) "was scorched and burned to a crisp; his eyes were put out, and his head was literally roasted!" Though it was stated that no lives were lost by the accident, it is scarcely possible that this man, so dreadfully injured, could have long survived. On the boiler-deck of the Chariton, two other wounded men were extended; one of them, the chief engineer, had been completely overwhelmed by the torrent of scalding water which the boiler had disgorged. He continually uttered the most affecting entreaties to the bystanders "to kill him at once, and put him out of his misery!" The usual applications of oil, &c., seemed to afford no relief.

The person who gives this account seems to ascribe the accident to some neglect or mismanagement; but the grounds on which he makes this accusation are not specified.

## BURNING OF THE BEN SHERROD, MAY 8, 1837.

On the 8th of May, 1837, the large Louisville and New Orleans packet, the Ben Sherrod, caught fire on her upward trip, while she was engaged in an exciting race with the steamer Prairie. It was one o'clock at night, and the boat was about fourteen miles above Fort Adams, ploughing her way up the Mississippi with great velocity. The Prairie was just ahead of her, in sight, and the crew of the Ben Sherrod were determined, if possible, to go by her. The firemen were

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97

shoving in the pine knots, and sprinkling rosin over the coal, and doing
their best to raise more steam. They had a barrel of whisky before
them, from which they drank often and freely until they were beastly
drunk. The boilers became so hot that they set fire to sixty cords of
wood on board, and the Ben Sherrod was soon completely enveloped in

BURNING OF THE BEN SHERRUD.

flames. The passengers, three hundred in number, were sound asleep,
not thinking of the awful doom that awaited them. When the deck
hands discovered the fire, they basely left their posts and ran for the
yawl, without giving the alarm to the passengers. Capt. Castleman
attempted for a time to allay the excitement and confusion, by telling
them the fire was extinguished. Twice he forbade the lowering of the
yawl, which was attempted. The shrieks of nearly three hundred and
fifty persons now on board, rose wild and dreadful, which might have been
heard at a distance of several miles. The cry was, "To the shore! to the
shore!" and the boat made for the starboard shore, but did not gain it,
as the wheel ropes soon burnt. The steam was not let off, and the
boat kept on up the river. The scene of horror now beggared all de-
scription. The yawl, which had been filled with the crew, had sunk,
drowning nearly all who were in it; and the passengers had no other
alternative than to jump overboard, without even taking time to dress.
There were ten ladies who all went overboard without uttering a single
scream; some drowned instantly, and others clung to planks; two of
the number were all that were saved. Several passengers were burnt
alive. One man by the name of Ray, from Louisville, Kentucky,
jumped overboard, and hung to a rope at the bow of the boat, until
rescued by the yawl of the steamer Columbus, which arrived at the
scene half an hour after the boat took fire. Mr. Ray's face and arms

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98

were much burnt while clinging to the boat. He lost twenty thousand dollars in specie. The steamboat Alton arrived half an hour after the Columbus, but from the carelessness or indiscretion of those on her, was the means of drowning many persons who were floating in the water. She came down under full headway among the exhausted sufferers, who were too weak to make any further exertion, and by the commotion occasioned by her wheels drowned a large number. A gentleman by the name of Hamilton, from Limestone county, Alabama, was floating on a barrel, and sustaining also a lady, when the Alton came up, washing them both under. The lady was drowned, but Mr. Hamilton came up and floated down the river fifteen miles, when he was rescued by the steamer Statesman. Mr. McDowell sustained himself some time against the current, so that he floated only two miles down the river, and then swam ashore. His wife, who was floating on a plank, was drowned by the steamer Alton. Mr. Rundell floated down the river ten miles, and was taken up by a flat-boat at the mouth of Buffalo creek; he saved his money in his pantaloons' pocket. Mr. McDowell lost his wife, son, and a lady named Miss Frances Few, who was under his protection; also a negro servant. Of those who escaped, we have seen and conversed with James P. Wilkinson, Esq., Mr. Stanfield, of Richmond, Virginia, and Daniel Marshall, Esq., of Moscow, Indiana. The scene, as described by them, was truly heart-rending; while some were confined to their berths, and consumed by the flames, others plunged into the river to find watery graves. One lady, who attached herself to Mr. Marshall, and had clung to him while they floated four or five miles, was at length drowned by the waves of the Alton, after imploring the boat's crew for assistance and mercy. Mr. Marshall was supported by a flour barrel. Only two ladies out of ten who were on board were saved; one of these was Mrs. Castleman, the Captain's wife; the other was Mrs. Smith, of New Orleans.

It was said by some of the passengers, that the captain of the Alton did not hear the cries of those who implored him for assistance as he passed, it being midnight; but there can be no excuse for the monster who commanded the Prairie, for leaving a boat in flames without turning around and affording the sufferers relief. He reported her on fire at Natchez and Vicksburg.

A man in a canoe near the scene of the disaster refused to save any who were floating in the water, unless they promised to pay him handsomely for his services. So rapid were the flames that not even the register of the boat was saved; hence it was impossible to get a full list of the lost. One of the officers of the boat informed us, that out of

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

seventy-eight deck passengers not more than six were saved. This was one of the most serious calamities that ever occurred on the Mississippi river, there being at least one hundred and seventy families deprived by it of some dear and beloved member, and over two hundred souls being hurried by it out of time into eternity, with scarce a moment's warning. During the burning of the Ben Sherrod eight different explosions occurred; first, barrels of whiskey, brandy, &c.; then the boilers blew up with a fearful explosion, and lastly, forty barrels of gunpowder exploded, which made a noise that was heard many miles distant, scattering fragments of the wreck in all directions, and producing the grandest sight ever seen. Immediately after, the wreck sunk out of sight just above Fort Adams. A large quantity of specie, which was on its way to the Tennessee Banks, was lost. One gentleman placed his pocket-book, containing thirty-eight thousand dollars, under his pillow, and though he managed to escape, he lost all his money. One scene was distressing in the extreme; a young and beautiful lady, whose name was Mary Ann Walker, on hearing the cry of fire, rushed out of the ladies' cabin in her loose night-clothes in search of her husband, at the same time holding her infant to her bosom; in her endeavors to get forward her dress caught fire, and was torn from her back to save her life. After witnessing her husband fall into the flames in the forward part of the boat, and unable to reach him, she leaped with her child into the water, seized a plank, and was carried by the current within forty yards of the Columbus, but just as she seized a rope thrown to her, both mother and child sank to rise no more. One young man, who had reached the hurricane deck in safety, hearing the cries of his sister, rushed back to the cabin, clasped her in his arms, and both were burnt to death. One of the clerks, one of the pilots, and the mate were burnt to death. All the chambermaids and women employed in the boat perished; only two negroes escaped out of thirty-five that were on the boat.

LOST—Three children and father of Captain Castleman; Mrs. McDowell, of Belfont, Ala.; Mrs. Gamble and three children, of New Orleans; Miss Frances Few, of Belfont, South Alabama; Mr. Frances, burnt to death.

PASSENGERS SAVED—James Smith, lady and son; Thomas Cook, W. H. Cloud, Wm. Beattie, Amos Brundell, Thomas Larmer, Samuel Ray, Lister Sexton.

Great praise is due to Captain Austin of the Statesman, and Captain Littlejohn of the Columbus, for their humane efforts to save the passengers of the Ben Sherrod, for had they acted as the Captain of

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

the Alton, not a soul would have been saved to tell the tale of that calamity. Mr. Wm. Stamp's family did everything in their power to relieve the wants of the sufferers, and they will long be remembered for their kindness to the strangers in that trying time.

LIST OF SAVED—G. Stanfield; Mr. Gamble and his son, of New Orleans; Ephraim Stanfield, Richmond, Virginia; Rosamond P. Andrews, A. H. Hartley, Arkansas; John Lowney, Indiana; Hugh Simpson, and Constantine Mahan, Tennessee; P. H. Watkins, Bedford county, Virginia; Thompson Duvall, Shelby county, Indiana; Matthew M. Orme, Natchez; Thomas W. Blagg, Alabama; J. S. Lowe, Tennessee; Charles W. Andrews, Yates county, New York; John Montgomery and James O. Phillips, Indiana; J. W. Brent, Pecan Point; John Dasua, E. Bushman, E. H. Burnes and J. M. Williams, Indiana; John Blanc, New Orleans; John A. Davis, Florence, Alabama; Erastus Griggs, Marietta, Ohio; A. Randall, Rocky Springs, Mississippi; James P. Wilkinson, Richmond, Virginia; Canton Macon, Cincinnati; Wm. Wallace, New York; Mrs. Smith, of Mobile.

LIST OF OFFICERS PICKED UP BY THE COLUMBUS—Captain C. G. Castleman and lady; George Stiles, clerk; Wm. Bell, first engineer; Stephen Hooks, second engineer; Charles Greenlee, pilot; Samuel Big, second mate; John Hill, carpenter; P. Rice, Jacob Lightstroff, John Eggman, A. Goddin, Amos Burby, Brilly John, M. P. Hard, Charles Simms, Fred. Cowen, Willis Caldwell, John Caldwell, John Johnson, Jacob Rose, Edward Fleece, B. McDaniel, Moses Caldwell, Charles Anderson, Peter Sevier, Andrew Moore, Joseph Cooper, Joseph Fisher, and John Clark.

A gentleman, Mr. Cook, floated down the river several miles before he was picked up. He hailed the wretched and despicable character who had put off in a yawl from the shore, and begged his assistance. The scoundrel, who was intent in picking up baggage, boxes, &c., asked with the utmost sang froid, "How much will you give me?" To the entreaties of others for help, he replied, "Oh, you are very well off there; keep cool, and you'll come out comfortable."

Poor Davis, the pilot at the wheel, was consumed; he was one in a thousand, preferring to die rather than leave his post in the hour of danger. Just before he left New Orleans, he was conversing with another pilot about the burning of the St. Martinsville; said he, "If ever I should be on a boat that takes fire, and don't save the passengers, it will be because the tiller ropes burn, or I perish in the flames." And just such men as Davis are to be found among the western boatmen; many have stood by their posts in the hour of danger, and perished rather than flinch from their duty.

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102

BURNING OF THE BRANDYWINE, APRIL 9, 1832.

The steamboat Brandywine, Capt. Hamilton, left New Orleans on the evening of April 3d, 1832. Her place of destination was Louisville, Kentucky. Her voyage was prosperous until the evening of the 9th, at seven o'clock. When the boat was about thirty miles above Memphis, she was discovered to be on fire. Among the lading, it appears there were a number of carriage wheels wrapped in straw, as articles of that kind are usually put up for transportation on the river. These wheels were piled on the boiler-deck, near the officers' rooms, and under the hurricane roof. It is supposed that the fire was communicated from the furnaces to the highly combustible envelope of these wheels; the wind blew hard at the time, and the sparks were ascending very rapidly through the apertures in the boiler-deck, which were occupied by the chimneys, these not being closely fitted to the woodwork. It appears, too, that the Brandywine was racing with the steamboat Hudson at the time the fire broke out; and that, for the purpose of producing more intense heat, and thus accelerating the boat's speed, a large quantity of rosin had been thrown into the furnaces. This fatal ruse was resorted to because the Brandywine had been compelled to stop and make some repairs, and the Hudson, in the meantime, had gained considerable headway. Soon after the Brandywine had resumed her course, the pilot who was steering discovered that the straw covering of the carriage wheels was on fire. Strenuous efforts were made to extinguish the flames and to throw the burning articles overboard, but it was found that their removal allowed the wind to have free access to the ignited mass; from which cause, as Capt. Hamilton reports, the fire began to spread with almost incredible rapidity; and in less than five minutes from the time the alarm was first given, the whole boat was wrapped in a bright sheet of flame.

The state of affairs on board may be imagined, when it is understood that the Brandywine was crowded with passengers, and the only means of escape from a death of fiery torture which presented itself was the yawl, in which scarcely a tenth part of the affrighted people could be conveyed to the shore at a single trip. But even the faint hope of deliverance which this single mode of escape offered them, soon terminated in disappointment and despair. In the attempt to launch the yawl, it was upset and sunk. The heat and smoke had now become so insupportable, that not less than a hundred persons, made desperate by fear and suffering, threw themselves into the river.

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103

The number of passengers on board, according to some reports, was not less than two hundred and thirty; of these only about seventy-five were saved; the rest were either drowned or burned to death. Among those who perished were nine women, and about an equal number of children.

As soon as all hope of extinguishing the flames was abandoned, an attempt was made to run the boat on shore, but she struck on a sand-bar, in nine feet water, and about a quarter of a mile from the nearest bank of the river, where she remained immovable, until she was burnt to the water's edge. Those passengers, and other persons belonging to the boat, who had the good fortune to escape, saved themselves by swimming, or floating on detached pieces of timber to the nearest island. It is reported to the honor of Capt. Hamilton and his crew, that they remained on the burning boat to the last possible moment, exerting themselves to the utmost to save the lives which had been entrusted to their charge.

In this case, as in several others which we have noticed, the number of victims cannot be ascertained with any degree of precision. The following list of the killed, although it is the most complete account that we could obtain, does not, in all probability, comprise more than one-third of the real number.

CABIN PASSENGERS.—H. Hilyard, H. H. Davenport, — Fowler, and Robert Stothart, Nashville; Mrs. Walker and child; Mrs. Sparks; three colored women, and several children.

DECK PASSENGERS.—L. Hamilton, Joseph Ford, Abner Osborne, Byce Jackson, B. Williams, Joseph Leonard, L. Flourney, — Ralls, B. Murell, Martin Cozine, John Myers, H. McMillan, Edward Bebee, John Mortimer, E. Wright, — Marell, John Adams and brother, and W. Downes, Cincinnati; James Saunders, A. Stansbury, J. Knock, and Adam Abrams, New Orleans; Mrs. Johnson, Philadelphia; Miss Thompson, Baltimore; Miss Hettie Jones, Cincinnati; William Peters, St. Louis; W. Williams, Chicago; Henry Hull, Detroit; James Ott, Hartford, Connecticut; D. French, New York; S. Michael, Missouri; E. Blanks, Kentucky; J. Carter, Natchez; Z. Shires, Boston; B. Colt, Memphis; Miss Blanton, Mississippi; Mrs. Williams; three children of Mr. Thompson, and Ethan Johnstone, Louisiana; and three slaves belonging to the boat.

The number of wounded could not have been less than seventy, some of whom were severely injured, and died, in consequence, soon after. Of those who escaped to the island, some were so badly burned, or otherwise injured, that they survived only for a few hours.

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105

EXPLOSION OF THE ORONOKO, APRIL 21, 1838.

On Saturday morning, at six o'clock, April 21st, 1838, the steamboat Oronoko, Capt. John Crawford, came to anchor in the Mississippi, opposite Princeton, one hundred miles above Vicksburg, where she stopped for the purpose of sending her yawl ashore to receive some passengers. In less than five minutes after the machinery ceased moving, a flue collapsed, spreading death and devastation throughout the boat. This accident occurred before the people on board were aroused from their slumbers. The deck passengers were lodged on the lower deck, abaft the engine, where, as is customary in western steamboats, berths were provided for their accommodation. On this occasion the number of berths was insufficient, as the boat was thronged with emigrants, and mattresses had been spread over the floor for the use of those who could not be lodged in the berths. This apartment

EXPLOSION OF THE ORONOKO.

between decks was densely crowded with sleeping passengers, when the
flue collapsed, as aforesaid, and the steam swept through the whole
length of the boat with the force of a tornado, carrying everything
before it. Many of the crew, whom duty had called on deck at that
early hour, were blown overboard; and as the scalding vapor penetrated
every part and recess of the cabin and space between decks, the slum-
bering population of the boat, with scarcely an individual exception, were
either killed on the spot, or injured in a manner more terrible than
death itself. Some of these unfortunates were completely excoriated,
some shockingly mangled and torn, while others were cast among masses
of ruins, fragments of wood and iron, piled up in inextricable confusion.

The deck was strewn with more than fifty helpless sufferers; the

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107

river was all alive with those that had been hurled overboard by the force of the explosion, and those who, frantic with pain and terror, had cast themselves into the water. Some of those who had been scalded swam to the bank, and then in the wildest phrenzy, occasioned by intolerable agony, leaped back into the water and were drowned. Those persons who occupied the cabin generally escaped before the steam reached that apartment; but one gentleman, Mr. Myers, of Wheeling, while making his way forward with his child in his arms, became alarmed at the scene of confusion and distress which presented itself, and rushing back to the cabin, which by this time was filled with steam, he and the child were both badly burned, and died soon afterwards.

Nearly one hundred deck passengers are supposed to have been sacrificed, the names of a great majority of whom were unknown, and are therefore not inserted in the subjoined list.

PERSONS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN KILLED—John Porter, second engineer, of Shippingsport, Kentucky; Owen Owens, Welshman, (blown overboard and drowned;) Mr. Myers, of Wheeling, and his child, eight months old; John Walker, fireman; E. Webb, Trumbull county, Ohio; P. McGallagher, brother and child, Mr. and Mrs. Flanegan, and two children, of Ireland; R. Hardenbroch, and Joseph Gilman, firemen, of Pittsburgh; Martha Mulligan, of Ireland; Wm. Jackson, Dr. Young, Georgia; Samuel Smith, New York; V. Armstrong, Virginia; Walter Dillon, Boston; E. D. Murray, Syracuse, New York; Dr. Williams, J. B. Clawson, M. D. Perry, Bath, Maine; Jethro Jacks, Mass.; O. Arbinger, Louisville; S. Winters, Indiana; David Few, Lexington, Kentucky; John Bloodgood, B. Hunter, New Hampshire; D. Atkinson and U. Terrebonne, Louisiana; M. Dorsey, Kentucky; Miss Wilhoite, Rhode Island; C. Torrence, Missouri; Mary Ann Bostick, Cincinnati; A. Hemfield, — Delancy, New Orleans; Charles Olmstead, South Carolina; A. Dinwiddie, Maine; and three others, not named.

THE WOUNDED:—George Pettibone, of New York; Joseph Tunis, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Enoch Heritage, Cincinnati, Ohio; William Clayton, Galloway county, Kentucky; George Henry, Wheeling, Virginia; Wm. Haynes, Frederick county, Maryland; S. Smith, Onondago county, New York; James Lloyd Harrington, Roxbury, Massachusetts; wife and child of P. Gallagher; George Snodgrass, Cooper county, Mo.

Several of those mentioned in the list of wounded died of their injuries. Some of those blown overboard were picked up by the yawl, and two or three were saved by a skiff from the shore. The inhabitants of Princeton did all in their power to assist the distressed crew and passengers, and to alleviate their sufferings.

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## EXPLOSION OF THE PILOT.

On the tenth of March, 1844, while the steamboat Pilot, Capt. Gow, was leaving the woodyard of Mr. Felix, opposite New Orleans, the starboard boiler burst with a terrific report. Capt. Gow and Mr. Felix were standing on the boiler-deck; both were blown overboard, and each had a leg broken, and they were otherwise severely injured, yet they succeeded in reaching the shore. William Gow, a son of the captain, was standing on the forecastle, and was frightfully mangled. His spine and both his legs were broken. He was removed to the hospital at New Orleans, where he expired on the following morning. One of the deck-hands jumped overboard and was drowned. John Nixon, first engineer, and Henry Fox, second engineer, were badly scalded. One of the steersmen was slightly scalded, and had both his legs broken. Capt. Gow himself had his legs broken, his skull fractured, and was internally injured, and it was supposed that he could not possibly recover. Several others who were on board were more or less hurt. One of the crew died of his injuries at the hospital, about a week after the accident took place.

Captain Gow and Mr. Felix were blown to the height of fifty feet in the air, and their escape from instant death is certainly one of the most extraordinary circumstances which we find in the records of steamboat calamities.

## EXPLOSION OF THE GEORGE COLLIER, MAY 6, 1839.

This steamer was on her way from New Orleans to St. Louis. On the fatal day, at one o'clock, A. M., when the boat was eighty miles below Natchez, the piston-rod gave way, by which accident the forward cylinder-head was broken, and a part of the boiler stand was carried away. The steam which escaped scalded forty-five persons, twenty of whom died on the same day. A list of the dead and wounded was furnished by the clerk. We copy it, with the usual doubts respecting its accuracy, as many names must have been unavoidably omitted.

**KILLED.**—T. J. Spalding, fireman, of St. Charles, Mo.; Charles Brooks, deck passenger, residence unknown; William Blake, Boston, Mass.; Christian Herring, Germany; Mrs. E. Welch and two children, and J. O'Brian and wife, New Orleans; Seldon J. Broqua, Po-

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

land, Ky.; John Idida, France; David J. Rose, New Orleans; Dederick Groe, Germany; Frederick Gross, and Joseph B. Bossuet, Boston, Mass.; Peter Smith, New Orleans; Joseph Lawrence, Parke co., Ind.; Charlotte Fletcher and brother, England; — Bilch, fireman; and six others whose names are unknown.

WOUNDED.—Passengers.—D. Husselnanger, and Mrs Christian Herring, Germany, (both badly scalded); Thomas Fletcher and wife, England, (badly burnt); Francis Bryan and wife, and Francis Sernelly, St. Louis; Thomas Butler; Isaac Raney; Alfred Davis, deck hand; John Brown, and James McDonald, firemen; five children of Adam Woolbridge, some of them badly scalded; a slave of Thomas Johnston; Isadore Idida, deck passenger, badly scalded.

The cause of the disaster was probably a flaw or imperfection in the machinery.

BURNING OF THE TANGIPAHO, MARCH 2, 1838.

The Tangipaho, N. Sharpe, master, was on her way from the lake terminus of the railroad to the Balize, and when about forty miles from her place of destination, she was discovered to be on fire. After some time spent in the vain effort to extinguish the flames, Captain Sharpe, Mr. Wilson, the pilot, and Mr. Smith, a passenger, left the boat (being obliged to use the hatches for a raft, as there was no small boat on board), with the intention of reaching the nearest land. Mr. Phillip Grennell, the mate, and six colored men employed as deck hands, remained in the steamer. About night-fall the chimneys fell in, and then the mate and his assistants succeeded in extinguishing the fire. Mr. Grennell then constructed several sails by joining blankets together, and put the boat before the wind, hoping to reach South Pass, or some other place of security. After drifting about all the succeeding day, Saturday, March 3d, they cast anchor near the beach, and went on shore for water, but were unable to obtain any. They weighed anchor, and ran the boat on shore in the marshes on Sunday afternoon. From thence they travelled to Johnson's store on the Mississippi, where they procured a skiff, crossed to the opposite side, and were taken on board by the tow-boat Farmer, Captain Morrison.

The gentlemen who betook themselves to the hatches, viz: Captain Sharpe and Messrs. Wilson and Smith, were doubtless lost, as nothing was heard of them afterwards. All might have been saved, had the steamer been provided with a small boat!

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been holding a lively conversation with Dr. Price, of Lexington, a few
moments before. Dr. P. stood on the same platform, and shared the
same melancholy fate, both gentlemen being afterwards found among
the dead. Captain McConnell, who gives this account, was thrown
from the railing on which he stood after notifying the captain that the
boat was ready to start. He fell on the deck and received but little
injury. He supposes that the persons killed numbered about fifty-five,
and the wounded fifteen or twenty. The names which follow are all
that he could call to remembrance.

**KILLED.**—Capt. Samuel Clark, master of the boat; Joseph Underwood, and Hamilton McRay, pilots; James Wilson, first engineer; Basil Boons, mate; Ely Johns, second clerk; carpenter, name not re-collected; Patrick Dunn, bar-keeper; eight or ten firemen and deck-hands. *Passengers*—C. Libley, D. L. Davis, N. A. Miller, and Dr. Price, of Lexington, Ky.; H. M. Blanchard, E. Hubbard, George Johnson, J. K. Gutherite, T. D. Sims, C. Keane, T. D. Levey, A. Dugan, Dr. Johnson and wife, B. Walker, C. Stansbury, O. Perry, and several others, making a total of fifty-five.

The names of the wounded are not given. Capt. McConnell exonerates the commander of the General Brown from all blame, declaring that he frequently urged the firemen and engineers to use the utmost caution, and to carry as little steam as possible, on account of the crippled condition of the boat.

## EXPLOSION OF THE ELIZABETH.

The steamboat Elizabeth, Capt. Gordon, was ascending the Mississippi on Tuesday, April 3d, 1845, having left New Orleans on the preceding Sunday. About three o'clock, P. M., just as she entered the Courtauban, her boiler collapsed, making a complete wreck of her upper works. The numerous pieces of the deck, &c., blown overboard, afforded the means of escape to a number of persons who had been projected into the water.

The names of the persons who were killed or injured by this accident
were given by the clerk of the boat, whose statement we copy :

J. H. Gordon, the captain, was very badly scalded and bruised.
Daniel Yorke, mate, killed. Freeman B. Lamb, first pilot, leg frac-
tured. James Marquite, first engineer, very badly injured. Nelson
Hill, second engineer, missing. — Rhodes, deck hand, missing.
One colored fireman slightly scalded, and another missing.

The passengers were uninjured, except a few who were slightly bruised.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

EXPLOSION OF THE ENTERPRISE, ON THE RIO GRANDE.

On the 21st day of August, 1846, the Enterprise was about casting off from a landing-place on the river, forty-five miles above Renoza, where she had been moored during the night; and scarcely had the paddle-wheels made three revolutions, when the boiler exploded, making a fearful havoc among the passengers (U. S. volunteers) and crew, who numbered altogether about one hundred and fifty persons. The hull, and those parts of the boat adjacent to the stern, were but little damaged, but the forward works, with everything in the neighborhood of the boilers, were torn to pieces or blown overboard. There were sixteen men sleeping between the chimneys, all of whom experienced, more or less, the sad effects of the accident.

Many were shot into the air, and falling into the water, were drowned, being too much disabled to swim, or to make any other effort for their own preservation. Others fell on different parts of the boat, and were horribly mutilated. The boilers were very much shattered, the pieces flying about in every direction, and falling in a shower of iron fragments on the deck. In such circumstances, the escape of so many of the crew and passengers from death or severe injury was almost miraculous. No satisfactory account of the cause of the disaster has been given, but it was conjectured that some leakage in the boilers caused a deficiency of water therein, which is a frequent cause of steamboat explosions.

**THE KILLED**—Enoch Tucker, Texas; Thomas Gaufney, N. Y.; A. Boswell, Tenn.; Mr. Seaps, second cook; a passenger, name unknown.

**BADLY WOUNDED**—Lieutenant Dearing, of the Louisville Legion; William A. Crook, and C. B. Crook, of Tenn.; Capt. Woods, William Grey, Jacob Bowringe, and Thomas Eagle, Texas; J. C. Howard, sutler, of Baltimore, Md.; Joseph Grigsby and William Hickey, sutlers of Louisville Legion; Mr. Tabor, pilot; Thomas Kennepee, Samuel Martin, Patrick Kelley, Frank Tallant, deck hand; J. F. Clark, mate.

**SLIGHTLY WOUNDED**—Milton Cunningham and James Wilson, Tenn.; J. Wheeler, J. Humerick, Matthew Sampson, and Christian Coleman, Texas; J. Downing and Mr. Adams, sutlers of Louisville Legion; Edmund Newell, clerk; Capt. Kelsey, of Conn.; W. Arthines, fireman; Henry A. Emmons, second mate; Dr. H. S. Tudor.

Patrick Kelley, one of the wounded, was maddened by his sufferings, and died in a few days after the accident. The bodies of some of the passengers who were drowned, were recovered from the water and buried some miles below Renoza.

SKETCH OF CINCINNATI.

CINCINNATI is situated on the right bank of the Ohio river, four hundred and ninety miles west south-west of Pittsburgh, one hundred and forty miles north-east of the falls of Ohio, seven hundred and forty east of St. Louis, Mo., and five hundred and forty miles from the mouth of the Ohio river; lat. 39° 6' 30" N., long. 84° 26' W., and is five hundred and forty-nine feet above the level of the sea. Cincinnati is the capital of Hamilton county, and is the largest city on the western waters, and fourth in size and importance among all the cities of the Union. It is remarkable for its rapid growth, extensive commerce and productive industry. From its central position between Pittsburgh and the mouth of the Ohio, it has become the principal gathering and distributing point in the valley of this great river. The city is beautifully situated in a valley four miles in diameter, intersected from east to west by the Ohio, and environed by a beautiful and romantic range of hills, gradually rising to the height of five hundred feet, presenting a grand and picturesque sight to the traveller in ascending or descending the river. From the summits of these hills the most beautiful views of Cincinnati and the surrounding country for miles are obtained. The city extends four miles along the river, the central portions of it are compactly and handsomely built with wide, well-paved streets, bordered with elegant dwellings, lined with numerous shade trees and lighted with gas. Perhaps no city in the United States has grown more rapidly than Cincinnati. A few years ago it was but a small town, and now it ranks the very first city west of the mountains. At the foot of Main street is the public landing for steamboats; it is an open area of ten or twelve acres, with twelve hundred feet front. The wharf is paved with stone from low water mark to the sidewalk, affording a dry and substantial landing to the large fleet of boats plying to and from this great metropolis. In the busy seasons, this wharf is lined with boats, freights are piled up in endless quantities, waiting for shipment or storage, presenting quite a novel scene to the uninitiated western traveller.

Among the most prominent and interesting public buildings may be mentioned that edifice called College Building, on Walnut street, occupied by the Chamber of Commerce and Young Men's Mercantile Library. It is one hundred and forty feet long by one hundred feet wide, with a marble front. The Mercantile Library Association numbers about four thousand five hundred members, and has a rare collection of twenty thousand volumes of literary, scientific and other works, besides about one thousand volumes of bound newspapers; the receipts and expenditures annually amount to about twenty thousand dollars. Books are continually being added to the library, and it is justly considered one of the best arranged and conducted libraries in the country. Papers from all parts of the United States and Europe are filed here, and strangers are allowed free use of the books and papers without charge. No one visits Cincinnati without going to the Young Men's Mercantile Library.

Cincinnati is no less remarkable for the variety and importance of its manufactures than for its commerce. Perhaps there is no place in the whole country where fuel, food and the raw materials of cotton, wool and iron can be procured so cheaply. More than four hundred steam-engines are employed in the manufactories of this city. The total value of manufactured productions in 1855 was seventy-one million dollars. There are sixty iron foundries, with machine shops, which annually produce six million four hundred and thirty-one thousand six hundred dollars; ten rolling mills, which produce three million dollars; forty lard oil and stearin manufactories, which produce four million six hundred thousand dollars; twenty-six flouring mills, which produce three million one hundred and ninety thousand dollars; two hundred

120

SKETCH OF CINCINNATI.

dred and forty-eight manufactories of clothing which produce two million nine hundred and forty-seven thousand five hundred and sixty dollars; two hundred and thirteen of furniture, which produce three million nine hundred and forty-eight thousand dollars, supplying almost the entire west with furniture; sixteen publishing establishments, which produce two million four hundred and ten thousand dollars; sixty wine factories, eleven paper mills, seventy-nine tobacco factories, ten cotton factories, three type foundries, eighteen bell and brass foundries, sixty manufactories of hats, thirty of edge tools, sixty of soap and candles, thirty of trunks, and ten boat yards, besides many other manufacturing establishments. Cincinnati is supplied with water raised from the Ohio river by steam power into a large limestone reservoir which holds five million gallons.

The climate of Cincinnati is favourable to the cultivation of the grape. In this vicinity the vineyards occupy about two thousand acres; wine of good quality is made here from the native Catawba grape. The annual product of the vines in the neighborhood of the city is above two hundred and fifty thousand gallons. There are constantly employed in the commerce of Cincinnati three hundred and fifty steamboats, the total tonnage of which is over one hundred thousand; and the annual number of steamboat arrivals amount to four thousand. Cincinnati is the greatest pork market in the Union. There were received here in 1855 four hundred and sixty thousand hogs, eighteen millions five hundred and thirty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty-four pounds of pork in the rough, besides thirty thousand barrels and fourteen thousand hogsheads of bacon. The assessed value of property in Cincinnati in 1846 was twenty-seven million one hundred and thirty-six thousand five hundred and twenty dollars; in 1853 fifty-six million two hundred and seventy-five thousand four hundred and thirty dollars; in 1855 sixty-four million three hundred and forty-one thousand seven hundred and twenty dollars. About twelve daily and above twenty weekly papers are published in Cincinnati, besides numerous monthly periodicals. In addition to the above, the offices of the daily journals each issue weekly and tri-weekly publications, four of the daily and four of the weekly are in the German language. The city has seven or eight chartered banks, besides numerous private banking companies, the most prominent of which is the Citizens' Bank, Wesley Smead, Esq., president, which employs over one million dollars, in discounting, &c.,

Cincinnati was first settled on December 26th, 1788, and was originally called Losantiville. It was incorporated as a city in 1819. In 1800 it contained only seven hundred inhabitants; in 1820, nine thousand six hundred and two; in 1830, twenty-four thousand eight hundred and forty; in 1840, forty-six thousand three hundred and forty-eight; in 1850, one hundred and sixteen thousand four hundred and thirty-six; in 1853, one hundred and sixty thousand one hundred and eighty-six; and in 1856, two hundred and ten thousand.

## EXPLOSION OF THE CAR OF COMMERCE.

The accident to which we now refer, took place on the Mississippi river, at a place called the Canadian Reach, on the 14th day of May, 1828. We are informed that the force-pump was out of order, and did not supply the boilers with water. The engineer stopped the machinery, and made an effort to put the pump in good working order. The machinery was again put in motion, but scarcely had the wheels made three revolutions when the cast-iron head of one of the boilers was blown out. Such was the jar or concussion produced by this accident, that all the boilers, four in number, were dislodged and thrown with great violence on the deck. More than thirty persons were killed, and ten or twelve others were scalded or otherwise badly injured. In the report of this accident, made by the officers of the boat, the names of the persons killed or wounded are not given.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE ERIE.

This magnificent steamer, Capt. Titus, commander, was destroyed
by fire, on Lake Erie, on the 16th day of August, 1841, by which
calamity more than one hundred and seventy-five persons lost their
lives. The following account is given of the origin of this disaster.
Among the passengers on board were six painters, who were going to
Erie, to paint the steamboat Madison. They had with them several
large demijohns filled with spirits of turpentine and varnish, which,
unknown to Capt. Titus, they had placed on the boiler-deck, directly
over the boilers. One of the firemen who survived the accident, asserts
that he discovered the dangerous position of these demijohns, a short
time after the boat left the wharf, and removed them to a safer locality;
but some person must have replaced them, without being aware
of the inflammable nature of the contents. Immediately before the
fire broke out, a slight explosion was heard; the sound is said to have
resembled that which is made by a single puff of a high-pressure steam-
engine. The supposition is that one of the demijohns bursted, in con-
sequence of its exposure to the heat. The liquid poured out on the
boiler-deck instantly took fire, and within a few minutes all that part
of the boat was in flames. The steamer had recently been painted and
varnished, and owing to this circumstance, the whole of the wood-
work was very soon in a blaze. There were two hundred persons on
board the Erie, and of that number only twenty-seven were saved.

Mr. Mann, of Pittsford, N. Y., who was one of the passengers,
gives the following narrative, which comprises a history of this memo-
rable and most horrifying event. Mr. Mann was walking on the
promenade deck, in company with a young lady, Miss Sherman, and
had just reached the point above the boiler-deck where the demijohns
were placed, when the singular sound spoken of above arrested his
attention. This report was followed by the ascent of a volume of black
smoke, which, as Mr. Mann describes it, "resembled a cloud of coal dust."
Without any apprehension of danger, he stopped for a few moments—
when the smoke subsided, and was instantly succeeded by a red, lurid
flame, which spread with fearful rapidity, and soon enveloped every
thing combustible that was within its reach, cracking the sky-lights
with intense heat, and filling up the space between decks with what ap-
peared to be a dense red flame. While Mr. Mann was looking around
for some means of escape, the young lady rushed from him and disap-
peared; but in a short time she returned, calling on her father, who,

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being indisposed, had retired a few minutes before to his berth. Frantic with alarm for her parent's safety, she was again about to rush below, where certain destruction would have met her, when Mr. Mann detained her almost by force, promising to render all possible assistance to her father as soon as he had provided for her own security. A prospect of deliverance now presented itself. Mr. Mann saw a passenger force up a board which formed a part of the seats that surrounded the promenade deck, and throwing it overboard he leaped after it, and was enabled by grasping the plank to keep himself afloat. Mr. Mann followed this person's example, and succeeded in detaching another board, which he hoped to make the means of preserving the life of the affrighted girl who clung to his arm. But new difficulties presented themselves; no persuasions could induce Miss Sherman to descend to the water. In these embarrassing circumstances, he placed one end of the board over the railing at the stern; Miss Sherman was seated on the projecting extremity, and Mr. Mann earnestly entreated some men who were clustered around the rudder post, to assist him in lowering the plank and the young lady to the water, but no attention was paid to his entreaties. Miss Sherman in the meanwhile, being made dizzy by her fearful position, fell from the plank, sunk in the river, and was seen no more.

BURNING OF THE ERIE.

Having failed in his noble attempt to save this young lady, Mr. Mann now began to make some effort for his own preservation. Glancing around him, he saw Capt. Titus endeavoring to reach the ladies' cabin, and heard him give the order to stop the engine. It was a moment of overwhelming terror. From bulk-head to rudder, the flames were raging with an impetuosity which seemed to mock at all

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

hope of deliverance. The shrieks of many human beings expiring in
fiery torment within the vessel, and the cries for assistance of many
others who were struggling in the water, almost deprived the listener
of sense and reflection. The engine seemed to work with a double
power, as if it were maddened by the appaling character of the
scene. The flames, as they rushed aft, sounded like the roaring of a
hurricane, threatening every moment to engulf the boat and every
affrighted soul on board. Forward of the wheel-house several persons
were struggling to wrench partially loosened timber from the vessel,
for the purpose of sustaining themselves in the water. Below and in
rear of the ladies' cabin, some thirty or forty people were clustered,
each frantically endeavoring to descend by the rudder chains for safety.
In this, some had partly succeeded, but were forced off by others
struggling for the same object. Several persons were hanging from
the sides of the boat, husbands vainly endeavoring to sustain their
wives in that position, and mothers their children. But not one of all
the females whom Mr. Mann saw gathered there, and not one of the
children, was saved. Wives, mothers, helpless infants, all sunk "with
bubbling groan" into the deep tomb of waters.

After making this survey, and abandoning every other hope of escape,
Mr. Mann, who still grasped the board from which the unfortunate young
lady had fallen, threw it into the lake, and immediately followed it. He
sunk for a moment, but arose to the surface, fortunately by the side
of the plank, to which he now clung with desperate energy, as his last
resource. He had companions in the terrible struggle for life, but they
were few; the greater number had already yielded to the mighty con-
queror. Here was one buffeting the waves, unsustained by any thing
but his own strength, but that was doubled by the energy of a last
hope. There was another shrieking for aid, in a voice which became
faintest every moment, and was interrupted by a gurgling sound which
foretold a speedy termination of the struggle. From another direction
came the voice of supplication, the last prayer of a dying man, not for
deliverance from earthly peril, (for all hope of that had been aban-
doned,) but for pardon for himself and protection for a wife and chil-
dren far distant. Then was heard the shriek of the mother, bewailing
the child which she had vainly endeavoured to withhold from the dis-
tended jaws of death. Turning his agonized gaze to the deck above
him, Mr. Mann saw many passengers, one after another, throw them-
selves into the water; the greater number, after a few feeble efforts to
save themselves from the fate which threatened them, disappeared with
wild exclamations of terror and despair.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

124

When Mr. Mann left the deck of the burning steamer, she was
driving ahead with a rapid motion; but having left him on his plank
about two miles astern, she suddenly veered around, and again ap-
proached him; so near did she come, indeed, that he was in danger of
being engulfed, but contrived, with some difficulty, to get out of her
way. As the boat passed him, he saw five or six persons hanging to
the anchor, and about as many more holding on to the pole which sup-
ported the liberty cap at the bow. All of them appeared to be suffer-
ing greatly from the heat. Near the bulkhead, a person stood almost
surrounded by fire; he held in his hand a piece of white cloth, with
which he appeared to be bathing his face, which must have been
severely scorched. When he saw Mr Mann, he begged him, for God's
sake, to allow him to get on the plank, as he could not swim, and
therefore dare not leap into the water. Mr. Mann replied that the
plank would not support two persons, but the suppliant made such pit-
eous entreaties, that Mr. Mann was about to yield, when a heavy swell
bore the blazing wreck to a distance, and carried the unhappy sufferer
beyond the reach of all human aid.

When Mr. Mann had been in the water about two hours, he was
taken up by the steamboat De Witt Clinton, which rescued several
others of the drowning passengers.

Among others who embarked at Buffalo in this ill-fated boat, were
two brothers, Charles J. Lynde and Walter Lynde, sons of the Hon.
Tully Lynde, of Homer, Cortland Co., N. Y. These brothers resided
at Chicago, and were returning from a visit to their parents. The wife
of one of these young gentlemen, a lady of superior intellect, was the
only female passenger saved. She conducted herself throughout the
whole trying scene with exemplary fortitude and intrepidity. Her
husband had provided two life preservers, one for her and one for him-
self. As soon as it became evident that the boat could not be saved,
Mrs. Lynde fastened her life-preserver around her waist, and fearlessly
committed herself to the water, expecting that her husband would
follow immediately. But in this she was disappointed; her anxious
gaze searched in vain among the floating objects on the water, for the
dearest object of her affection. Yet, although she saw him not, she
had no fears for his safety, as she had seen him put on his life-preserver
before she left the boat. He was much excited at the time, and she
exhorted him to be more calm and self-possessed. When the De Witt
Clinton had taken up all the persons that could be found floating on
the water, and Mrs. Lynde among the rest, she eagerly sought her hus-
band among those who had been rescued. He was not there; but she

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125

saw the life-preserver, which she knew to be his, in the possession of a German, who was one of the deck passengers. The man declared that he had found it in the water, and made it instrumental in saving his own life. It was believed by some persons that the German, in order to save himself, had wrenched the preserver from Mr. Lynde; but the more charitable supposition is, that Mr. Lynde, in his excitement and agitation, had failed to fasten it securely to his person, so that it came off at the moment he leaped into the water.

There was a musical band, consisting of ten persons, on board the Erie, all of whom, except two, perished in the conflagration, or in the water.

The following list of the killed, wounded and missing is the most complete that could be obtained.

KILLED.—W. M. Camp, Harrisburg, Pa.; Willet Weeks, Brooklyn, N. Y.; John C. Pool, New York city; E. S. Cobb, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Otto Fox, wife and three children, N. Y.; Lloyd Gelston, of Erie, clerk; Mr. Joles, steward; Mrs. Giles Williams, Chicago; Charles J. Lynde, Milwaukie; Watts S. Lynde, Homer, N. Y.; Mrs. William H. Smith and child, Schenectady, N. Y.; A. Sears, Philip Barker, Henry Weaver, William Thomas, John Evarts and Peter Finney, painters, of Buffalo; (these six persons last named brought the fatal demijohns on board, and are supposed to have placed them in their unsafe position; all six paid with their lives the penalty of their indiscretion;) Miss A. Miller, of Buffalo; (the brother of this young lady, Mr. W. G. Miller, was the master painter who employed the six journeymen named above, and sent them to paint the steamer Madison, as mentioned in the preceding narrative;) J. D. Woodward, N. Y.; William Gisfin, Miss.; D. S. Sloan, Geneva; F. Stowe, Canada; William Sacket, Mich.; Mrs. Spencer and two children, Mrs. Dow, Mrs. and Miss Robinson, and Miss King, Balston Spa., N. Y.; Mr. Moore, lady and two children, moving to Mich.; Roome Button, Fort Plain; Orin Green, Rushville, Yates co., N. Y.; Charles S. Mather, Mount Clemens, Mich.; Mr. Miltmore, dentist, and wife, of Chicago; Von Ockerman, a German, tinsmith, Buffalo; Mr. Sherman and daughter, and John Harrington, Harrisburg, Erie Co. N., Y.; Luther Tuller, wheelsman; Frederick Parmalee, bar-keeper; William Cheats, William Winters, and James Reed, colored waiters; Robert Smith, first cook; Henry Vosburg, second cook; David Mills, third cook; Israel Vosburg and William Sparks, colored porters; Dr. Hackett, Thompsonian physician, of Lockport, N. Y. The following names are those of Swiss emigrants, who were either burned to death or drowned:—

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Z. Zuggler and family, six persons; John Hang, wife and child; Martin Zulgen and wife; George Rettenger, wife and child; George Christian and family, five persons; George Neigold and family, eight persons; M. Reibold, wife and child; George Steinman and wife; Peter Kling and sister; L. Gillig, wife and child; Peter Schmidt; John Netzel; Peter Schneider and family, five persons; J. Newminger and family, four persons; S. Schapler, wife and three children; R. Tilling and wife; C. Obens; J. Korter; C. Durbur; M. Lithold, wife, sister-in-law and two children; C. Deitcherich and wife; C. Wilbur, wife and four children; C. Palmer, wife and three children; J. Garghum, wife and three children; G. Mulliman, wife and two children; C. Kellenman; C. Mintch, and his companion, name unknown.

WOUNDED.—Jerome McBride, wheelsman, badly burned; three Swiss passengers, much injured; Capt. Titus, master of the Erie; Mr. Rice, of Buffalo, badly burned.

Among those who perished were a number of infants, not included in the preceding list, as no charge was made for their passage, and they were therefore not mentioned on the boat's books.

## COLLISION OF THE STEAMBOAT MONMOUTH AND THE SHIP TREMONT.

With strict propriety of language, we might call the awful catastrophe about to be particularized, a massacre, a wholesale assassination, or anything else but an *accident*. In some instances, and this is one of them, a reckless disregard of human life, when it leads to a fatal result, can claim no distinction, on any correct principle of law or justice, from wilful and premeditated murder.

The steamer Monmouth left New Orleans, October 23d, 1837, for Arkansas river, having been chartered by the U. S. government to convey about seven hundred Indians, a portion of the emigrant Creek tribe, to the region which had been selected for their future abode. On the night of the 30th, the Monmouth, on her upward trip, had reached that point of the Mississippi called Prophet Island Bend, where she encountered the ship Tremont, which the steamer Warren was then towing down the river. Owing partly to the dense obscurity of the night, but much more to the mismanagement of the officers of the Monmouth, a collision took place between that vessel and the Tremont, and such was the violence of the concussion, that the Monmouth immediately sunk. The unhappy red men, with their wives and children, were precipitated into the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

water; and such was the confusion which prevailed at the time, such was the number of the drowning people, who probably clung to each other in their struggles for life, that, notwithstanding the Indians, men, women and children, are generally expert swimmers, more than half of the unfortunate Creeks perished. The captains and crews of the steamers Warren and Yazoo, by dint of great exertion, succeeded in saving about three hundred of the poor Indians, the remaining four hundred had become accusing spirits before the tribunal of a just God, where they, whose criminal negligence was the cause of this calamity, will certainly be held accountable.

The cabin of the Monmouth parted from the hull, and drifted some distance down the stream, when it broke in two parts, and emptied its living contents into the river. The stem of the ship came in contact with the side of the steamer, therefore the former received but little damage, while the latter was broken up, to that degree that the hull, as previously stated, almost instantly went to the bottom. The ship merely lost her cut-water.

The mishap, as we have hinted before, may be ascribed to the mismanagement of the officers of the Monmouth. This boat was running in a part of the river where, by the usages of the river and the rules adopted for the better regulation of steam navigation on the Mississippi, she had no right to go, and where, of course, the descending vessels did not expect to meet with any boat coming in an opposite direction. The only persons attached to the Monmouth who lost their lives, were the bar-keeper and a fireman.

It is not without some feeling of indignation, that we mention the circumstance that the drowning of four hundred Indians, the largest number of human beings ever sacrificed in a steamboat disaster, attracted but little attention, (comparatively speaking,) in any part of the country. Even the journalists and news-collectors of that region, on the waters of which this horrible affair took place, appear to have regarded the event as of too little importance to deserve any particular detail; and accordingly the best accounts we have of the matter merely state the outlines of the story, with scarcely a word of commiseration for the sufferers, or a single expression of rebuke for the heartless villains who wantonly exposed the lives of so many artless and confiding people to imminent peril, or almost certain destruction.

THE OLDEST STEAMBOAT COMPANY IN EXISTENCE.

THE United States' mail line between Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, is the oldest steamboat line on the Western waters. This company own some of the finest and fleetest boats in the world. The company was organized in 1818, and have continued together ever since, adding finer and better boats to the line every year. In 1818 this company built the steamer "Gen. Pike," which was the first boat ever constructed exclusively for passengers. She run between Louisville and Cincinnati, making her trips in *one day* and *seven hours*, a feat which is now performed in nine or ten hours by this company's boats. The Gen. Pike was first commanded by Capt. Bliss; afterwards by Capt. Penewitt and Capt. John M. Rowan. In the clerk's office of this pioneer boat was Jacob Strader, Esq., now president of the Little Miami Rail Road Company, and lately president of the Commercial Bank, Cincinnati. She was a very prosperous boat and did an immense business. In a few years afterwards the trade between Louisville and Cincinnati so rapidly increased that it became necessary for the company to build larger and better boats, and then commenced the long list of steamers, Gen. Pikes, Pikes, and Ben. Franklins, the names of which at the present time are as familiar to the Western public as household words. In 1847 the wants of the travelling public demanded a daily line from Cincinnati to St. Louis, and this enterprising company immediately built ten large and elegant steamers and placed them in that trade, and the line has been in operation ever since with marked success. Before this line of fleet steamers went into operation, the time between the two ports was seldom made in less than four or five days. Now the time is made from the Falls of Ohio to St. Louis in from thirty-nine to forty-four hours, almost rivalling the iron horse in speed, and far surpassing it in accommodations.

The company frequently add finer and larger boats to their lines, as may become
necessary to the welfare and safety of the public. Possessing almost unlimited capital, they
have recently constructed two of the fleetest and mostgorgeously furnished boats now
afloat, viz: the low-pressure steamer Jacob Strader and Telegraph No. 3; costing, in the aggre-
gate, nearly four hundred thousand dollars. The cabins of the boats rival in grandeur the
finest palaces, while their speed is equal to eighteen miles per hour. In short, we owe to this
company, in a great measure, that reputation for superior architecture and equipments, which
the western steamboats have acquired; a reputation which is conceded to them by all travellers,
and which places them beyond all rivalship, either in this country or Europe.

The boats named in the following list compose the present line:

From Cincinnati to Louisville, the low-pressure steamers Jacob Strader Capt. Summons, and Telegraph No. 3, Capt. Hildreth, connecting at Louisville for St. Louis with the elegant low-pressure steamers Southerner, Capt. Catterlin, Northerner, Capt. Erwin, Ben Franklin, Capt. Dollis, Moses McLellon, Capt. Barker, High Flyer, Capt. Wright, Fashion No. 2, Capt. Reed, and Alvin Adams, Capt. Boiess. This line connects at Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis with the railroads and steamboats, north, east, west and south. An extraordinary and most gratifying circumstance, in connection with the history of this steamboat company, should not escape our notice. Not a single explosion, nor any other frightful disaster, has occurred on any of the boats since the company was first organized, comprising a period of almost fifty years. Thus we have it demonstrated that the greatest speed in steamboat travel may, under proper management, be consistent with the most perfect security.

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LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE WASHINGTON.

A new and elegant steamboat called the Washington, was burned on Lake Erie, opposite Silver creek, June 16th, 1838. In the early part of the preceding night, the Washington passed the steamer North America, while the latter lay at the town of Erie. On the following morning, about three o'clock, when the North America was within three miles of Buffalo, the helmsman discovered a brilliant light, which appeared to rise from the bosom of the lake in the direction of Silver creek. The North America was immediately put about, and steered for the scene of the apprehended disaster. On approaching the spot, about six o'clock, the burning hull of the Washington was found driving before the wind, about four miles from land, and not a living object could be discovered on board. The surface of the lake was literally covered with hats, bonnets, trunks, baggage and blackened fragments of the wreck.

The intense anxiety of those who beheld this fearful scene for the fate of the passengers and crew of the Washington, was partially relieved by the discovery of several small boats near the shore, in which it was supposed that some who had embarked in the Washington were probably saved. In fact, the alarm had been given at the town of Silver Creek as soon as the flames were perceived from the shore, and all the boats that could be found were sent to rescue the sufferers. There were only three skiffs, however, which could be employed in this service; but these, together with the yawl of the Washington, were the means of saving all who could be found on the steamer, and all who were still floating on the water when the skiffs arrived. But, in the meanwhile, a number, variously estimated from thirty to sixty, had perished. Six dead bodies, those of two women and four children, were picked up by the boats near the burning wreck. One man died of his injuries soon after he reached the shore, and a child was found dead in its mother's arms when taken out of the lake. The mother survived, though she was insensible when found in the water, clasping her dead infant to her bosom.

The origin of the fire is not well explained, but it appears that the flames broke out in the immediate neighbourhood of the boiler. The helm was immediately put about, and the head of the boat directed to the shore, but within a few minutes, the wheel ropes were severed by the fire, and the boat became an unmanageable wreck. Had iron rods, instead of ropes, been used in the construction of the steering apparatus,

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it is highly probable that every individual on board would have been saved, for in that case the boat could have reached the shore without difficulty. The surviving passengers unanimously testified that no blame could be attached to Capt. Brown, the commander of the Washington. The names of the victims, with the usual allowance for defective reports, are subjoined.

PERSONS DROWNED OR BURNT TO DEATH.—Capt. Clemens, of Dudley, Mass.; Conrad Shurtz, and William Shurtz, wife and three children, Clinton, N. Y.; Wm. Sheld, St. Lawrence; Mr. Baker, wife and three children (one child of Mr. Baker was saved.) A Scotchman, name unknown, lost three children, together with his mother and sister. Several of the survivors, whose names are not given, were badly burned before they left the boat.

The Washington was built at Ashtabula; she was not more than six months old, and had made but one trip before the one which was interrupted by this deplorable accident.

## EXPLOSION OF THE WALKER.

This explosion took place on Lake Ponchartrain, on the 2d day of December, 1840. The particulars were never published before. The following list of the killed and wounded was furnished by D. H. Ryder, who was clerk of the Walker at the time of the explosion:

KILLED—J. S. Harper; John Pierson, steersman; G. E. Sedenberg, of Baltimore; A. Budd, J. Cloon, Z. Ferrell, — Smith.

BADLY SCALDED—J. H. White, of Tennessee; J. Bellow, of New Orleans; Mr. Lanier, Mr. Nelson, pilot, and R. Roach, deck hand.

SLIGHTLY SCALDED—Capt. J. A. Otway, J. H. Caldwell, Esq., and four stevedores from Mobile Bay, names unknown.

MISSING—John Dean and Wm. Powell, stevedores.

The accident is ascribed to the "weakness of the boiler," and not to any omission of duty on the part of those who had charge of the engines.

SKETCH OF LOUISVILLE.

LOUISVILLE, situated on the south bank of the Ohio river, in Jefferson county, Kentucky, is the largest town of the State, and one of the most flourishing and important places in the Western country. Its location is at the head of the Falls of the Ohio, one hundred and forty-three miles below Cincinnati, and four hundred and eighteen miles from the mouth of the Ohio, in lat 38° 3' N., long. 85° 30' W. The appearance of the city from every point of view is striking and elegant, and the surrounding scenery is picturesque and beautiful. A delightful view of the Falls of the Ohio, and other interesting objects, may be obtained from the city wharf. Louisville stands on a plain or plateau, elevated about seventy-six feet above low-water mark. The city is regularly laid out, the streets are spacious and well paved, and the buildings, public and private, are well constructed, with a view to permanence as well as beauty. Twelve handsome streets, parallel with the river, extend to a length of about two miles each. The direction of these streets is East and West, and their breadth varies from sixty to one hundred feet, and are intersected at right angles by more than forty others, having a uniform breadth of sixty feet; they are kept in the cleanest order, and are lighted with gas and bordered by ornamental shade trees. In short, the streets of Louisville are, for beauty and convenience, unrivaled in any of the Atlantic cities.

The most remarkable public buildings are the City Hall and Court House, the First Presbyterian Church, St. Paul's Church, the Medical Institute, and the University of Louisville, which is now in successful operation. The Medical Institute, which holds a high rank among similar institutions in the United States, was founded by an ordinance of the City Council, which appropriated $50,000 for the building and library. The number of students in 1855 was more than one thousand. The Asylum for the Blind, established by the State, is a large and beautiful building. The Mercantile Library Association has a library containing between nine and ten thousand volumes. The Historical Society of Louisville has collected many valuable documents relating to the early history of the City and State. Louisville contains a Marine Asylum, founded by the State of Kentucky. Another extensive Marine Asylum for indigent boatmen has recently been erected here, by the United States' government. Besides these public establishments, there are three orphan asylums, about fifty churches, two handsome Jewish synagogues, ten banks, and six large buildings for public schools. A new Custom House is being erected at a cost of $200,000. Seven daily newspapers, eight weeklies, and one monthly medical Journal, are published in this city.

Louisville may be said to owe its existence, in a measure, to the Falls, which interrupt the navigation of the river at this point. In 1833, a canal, two and a half miles long, was opened around these rapids; it was cut through the solid limestone rock, at a cost of nearly one million dollars. Boats exceeding one hundred and eighty-five feet in length cannot pass through the locks of this canal, a circumstance which greatly impedes navigation, and is likewise a serious disadvantage to Louisville, as all the freights for the large New Orleans and St. Louis steamers must be conveyed on drays to Portland, which is three miles below Louisville.

The canal was originally the joint-property of the United States and individual stockholders. The rates of tonnage for vessels passing through were formerly exorbitant, and the stockholders have all become rich at the expense of the boatmen. However, through the

SKETCH OF LOUISVILLE.

untiring exertions of the Hon. Wm. Preston, late member of Congress from that district, the United States government was induced, in the year 1854, to buy out the interest of the private stockholders. The canal is now under the charge of a superintendent, appointed by government, and the rates of tonnage are no more than is required to keep the canal in repair. The canal could easily be made passable for boats of the largest class; this great improvement is now under consideration, and will probably be carried into effect.

In 1850 the entire trade of Louisville was estimated at $55,000,000. The commerce of the city is now believed to reach a much larger amount. There are one hundred and one houses, which do an exclusively wholesale business, to the amount of $26,341,400 per annum. The number of boat arrivals at Louisville in 1854 was 3,500. The principal articles of export are flour, hemp, and tobacco. The very best steamboats now afloat were built at this city. Some of these boats have made the voyage from New Orleans, against the current, to Louisville, a distance of 1486 miles, in little more than four days, a performance which appears to be almost miraculous.

The manufactures of Louisville amount to about $10,000,000. There are twenty-one iron foundries, employing 1900 workmen; one hundred and eight tobacco factories, giving employment to 1800 persons; forty-five clothing manufactories, employing 1260 persons; thirty-six furniture manufactories, employing 612 persons; fourteen rope-walks, with 290 workmen; eleven soap and candle factories; eleven flour and feed mills; twelve tanneries; four cotton and woollen factories; four oil factories; three of white lead, and numerous other manufacturing establishments.

The population of Louisville in 1830, was 10,341; in 1840, 21,210; in 1850, 46,180; in 1852, 60,000; and in 1856, 80,000.

## EXPLOSION OF THE MOHICAN.

The steam tow-boat Mohican, on the 19th day of February, 1842, while engaged, together with the tow-boat Star, in towing the British ship Edward Thorn across a bar near New Orleans, burst all her boilers, causing the death of ten or twelve persons. The Mohican took fire immediately after the explosion, and was entirely consumed. One of the boilers of the exploded vessel was found on the forecastle of the ship in tow. The accident is ascribed to a deficiency of water in the boilers.

Lieutenant Bukup, one of the revenue officers stationed at the Balize, was blown from the deck of the Mohican to the deck of the Star, and was killed instantly. The mate of the English ship was killed, and the Captain was dangerously wounded. Capt. Heaton, of the Mohican, was much injured, and two engineers, two firemen, and three deck hands, belonging to the same boat, were killed.

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## COLLISION OF THE BELLE OF CLARKSVILLE AND LOUISIANA.

On the night of December 14, 1844, a disastrous collision took place on the Mississippi river, between the steamers Belle of Clarksville and Louisiana, the former from New Orleans, bound to Nashville; the latter, from Memphis to New Orleans. Both vessels were heavily laden. The Belle of Clarksville was completely demolished. The hull parted from the cabin and sunk immediately, the cabin floating off with a number of passengers inside, all of whom were saved. None were drowned but deck passengers, and some of the crew of the boat. The Louisiana was immediately brought around, and every exertion was made by the captain and crew to save those persons who were floating on small pieces of the wreck. The detached cabin grounded about half a mile below the place where the boats came in contact. All the cargo and the baggage of the passengers was lost. The boat was laden with sugar, salt, coffee, and molasses. Mr. J. H. French, one of the passengers, had with him three negro slaves, and three valuable horses, among them the celebrated Ann Hayes; these slaves and horses were all drowned. The iron safe containing $12,000 was saved. The cargo was insured at New Orleans for $23,000; the boat for $8,000.

The following are the names of the persons drowned:

**DECK PASSENGERS**—W. Tabb, P. Linn, W. Linn, J. Ryan, A. Malisle, N. Sills, Wm. Jones, T. Whitley, N. T. Allen, A. Kirland, J. Askew, G. Hyer, a son of J. W. Hall, J. Peay, and four colored men.

**BOAT'S CREW**—John Holliday, assistant engineer, and twelve colored firemen, names not given.

## COLLISION OF THE FORREST AND PULASKI.

On Friday night, May 5th, 1843, at 11 o'clock, as the steamer Forrest was lying to, to put off a passenger, about twenty miles above the mouth of the Alleghany river, with her head down stream, she was run into by the steamboat Pulaski, which was coming up the river with about one hundred and fifty passengers. The bow of the Forrest struck the side of the Pulaski opposite the boilers. The boilers were thrown down, the steam-pipes separated, and the steam rushed out among the passengers, scalding many of them in a terrible manner. The side of

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137

the Pulaski being broken up by the collision, the boat almost immedi-
ately sunk, leaving the boiler-deck above water. Five or six persons,
names unknown, were thrown overboard and drowned. One of these
floated past the Forrest, calling piteously for assistance, but before it
could be afforded him the current had swept him away. Another was
drawn in under the wheel and drowned. One young man swam ashore
after throwing himself from the cabin window of the Pulaski.

The following list of the sufferers was furnished by the officers of
the wrecked steamer :

BADLY SCALDED—Wm. Coon, Erie co., N. Y.; Michael Hawkins,
steward of the Pulaski; Sheridan McCullough, of Red Bank, Pa.;
James Gibson, Crawford co., Pa.; Joseph Hughes, Jefferson co., Pa.;
and — Wing.

We have not been able to learn the names of the persons who were
drowned.

SINKING OF THE SHEPHERDESS.

On the 3d of January, 1844, the whole city of St. Louis was thrown
into consternation and feverish excitement by the intelligence that the
steamboat Shepherdess had been wrecked in Cahokia Bend, only three
miles from the centre of that city, and that many lives had been lost.
Several boats were immediately despatched to the scene of the report-
ed disaster, and the worst rumors were unhappily verified. The par-
ticulars of the sad event are given below :

The Shepherdess, while ascending the Mississippi river on her way
from Cincinnati to St. Louis, at 11 o'clock, in a dark and stormy night,
struck a snag just above the mouth of Cahokia creek. The concussion
was very severe, and it is believed that several planks must have been
torn from the bottom of the boat. According to the report of the offi-
cers, the number of passengers was between sixty and seventy. Most
of those who were in the gentlemen's cabin had retired to their berths;
four or five gentlemen in this cabin were sitting up by the stove, as it
was cold winter weather. The ladies were generally undressed for the
night. In less than two minutes after the boat struck, the water rose
to the lower deck, where most of the passengers in that part of the
boat were asleep. The Captain, who was on duty, ran to the cabin
occupied by the ladies, and assured them that there was no danger;
he then returned to the forecastle, and is supposed to have been washed
overboard, as nothing was seen or heard of him afterwards. As soon
as the shock was felt on board, one of the pilots attempted to descend

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138

into the hold for the purpose of examining the leak, but he had scarcely entered when the rush of water drove him back.

About this time shrieks and exclamations of affright and distress arose from the deck below, and several ladies, who hastened to the stern-railing, reported that they saw a number of persons struggling in the river. Certain it is that the water rushed in with tremendous rapidity, and before three minutes had elapsed it had risen to the floor of the upper cabin. Some of those persons who were on deck saved

SINKING OF THE SHEPHERDESS.

themselves by getting into the yawl, which was cut loose and rowed to the shore with a broom. The water rose so rapidly that it soon became necessary for all to seek safety on the hurricane deck. This position was not attained without great difficulty, for the bow had sunk so deep in the water that the only access was the stern. However, it is believed that all the people from the cabin succeeded in reaching the hurricane roof. In the meanwhile the boat was drifting down the stream, and a few hundred yards below, she struck another snag, which rose above the surface. This threw the steamer nearly on her beam ends on the larboard side. Drifting from this snag, she again lurched to starboard. At each lurch several persons were washed off; some of them reached the shore, but many were drowned. A short distance below, just above the first shot-tower, the hull struck a bluff-bank, which again careened the boat nearly on her side. Here the hull and cabin parted; the former sunk and lodged on a bar above Carondelet, while the cabin floated down to the point of the bar below that place, where it lodged and became stationary.

The steamer Henry Bry was lying at the shot-tower above Carondelet, and as the cabin passed, the captain of that vessel, being aroused

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

by the cries of the passengers, took his yawl to their rescue. This little
boat could only take off a few at a time, but by the strenuous exertions
of the captain of the Bry many were saved. This humane gentleman
almost sacrificed himself in the work of benevolence, and did not desist
until he was covered with a mass of ice, and benumbed to that degree
that further effort was impossible. About three o'clock the ferry-boat
Icelander came down, and took off all who remained in the detached
cabin.

We have thus given a general history of this calamity, but some particular incidents deserve the reader's attention. A young man, Robert Bullock, of Maysville, Ky., was one of the passengers. With heroic devotion to the cause of humanity, he took no measures for his own safety, but directed all his efforts to the preservation of the women and children. When every other male person of mature age had deserted the cabin, he went from state-room to state-room, and wherever he heard a child cry took it out and passed it to the hurricane deck. In this way he saved a number of women and children. His last effort was to rescue Col. Wood's "Ohio Fat Girl," who happened to be on board. Her weight was four hundred and forty pounds, but with the assistance of several persons on the hurricane deck, he succeeded in raising her to that place of security. A short time after, the boat made a lurch, and Bullock was thrown into the water. He swam to the Illinois shore, having previously given his coat to a lady on the wreck who was suffering excessively from cold. On reaching the land this young hero found two young ladies, who had been put ashore in a skiff, and who were nearly frozen. They were about falling asleep, which would have been fatal in such circumstances, when Bullock aroused them, and with great exertions succeeded in getting them to Cohokia, where they met with the attention which their half-frozen condition required.

An English family, from the neighborhood of Manchester, ten in number, were all saved. Five of them succeeded in getting to the Illinois shore, four to the Missouri side of the river, and one was taken off the wreck by the ferry-boat. They were all re-united on this boat at Cohokia, at a moment when each party supposed the other to be dead. A spectator of that re-union avers that he never witnessed a more affecting scene.

Mr. Muir, of Virginia, and his brother, were on board, with their
mother and nine of their slaves. With the exception of seven of the
slaves, all of these persons were saved. Levi Craddock, from Davidson Co., Tenn., lost three children; himself, his wife, and two children

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

were saved. Mr. Green, of the same county and state, lost his wife and three children, and was left with two helpless infants, the youngest only three months old. Mr. Snell, formerly of Louisville, Ky., lost a son and daughter. Mr. Wright, of Mecklenburg Co., Va., and two of his children, were drowned. His wife, who survived, was in a state of distraction. The Captain, A. Howell, of Covington, Ky., was undoubtedly lost. He was in the act of ringing the bell, when the boat made a lurch, by which the boilers, part of the engine, and the chimneys, were carried overboard, Capt. H. being overwhelmed among the ruins, and he sunk with them. He left a wife and eleven children, the eldest of whom, a son, was with him on the wreck.

The bodies of two children, who had perished with cold, were brought up to St. Louis. Considering how many children were on board, it is surprising that more of these helpless beings were not lost. The Mayor of St. Louis, who personally assisted in relieving the sufferers, caused all who were saved alive to be taken to the Virginia hotel, where they were amply provided for. Forty persons are believed to have perished in this wreck. The Rev. Mr. Peck, of Illinois, who was on board at the time, makes the estimate much larger. One of the St. Louis passengers averred that the number of persons lost was not less than seventy.

Capt. Howell had lately bought the Shepherdess, and this was her first trip after she became his property.

## DESTRUCTIVE AND FATAL TORNADO AT NATCHEZ.

On the 7th day of May, 1840, the city of Natchez, Miss., was visited by a tornado, which occasioned an immense destruction of property and great loss of life. Several steamboats were destroyed at the wharves of Natchez, and many persons who had embarked in them as passengers were drowned. A large number of flat boats, likewise, were wrecked by the tremendous gale, and a number of boatmen, supposed to be two hundred or more, in the aggregate, perished. A tax had recently been laid on flat-boats at Vicksburg, on which account many of them had dropped down to Natchez, so that there was an unusually large number of these boats collected at the last-named city at the time of the tornado.

The steamboat Hinds was blown out into the stream and sunk, and all the passengers and crew, except four men, were lost. It is not known how many passengers were on this boat. The captain was supposed to have been saved, as he was seen on shore a short time before the gale commenced, but as nothing was heard of him afterwards, it

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141

TORNADO AT NATCHEZ.

is conjectured that he must have returned to the boat, and shared the fate of his crew and passengers. The wreck of the Hinds was afterwards found at Baton Rouge, with fifty-one dead bodies on board, forty-eight of whom were males, and three females; among the latter was one little girl about three years old.

The steamboat Prairie had just arrived from St. Louis, freighted with lead. Her upper works, down to the deck, were swept off, and the whole of the crew and passengers are supposed to have been drowned. The number of the passengers is not known, but four ladies, at least, were seen on board a short time before the disaster. The steamboat H. Lawrence and a sloop were in a somewhat sheltered position at the Cotton Press. They were severely damaged, but not sunk. The steam ferry-boat was sunk, and also the wharf-boat "Mississippian," which was used as a hotel, grocery, &c. Of one hundred and twenty flat-boats, which lay at the landing, all were lost except four, and very few of the men employed on board were saved.

We give the names of some of the victims, but a great majority of the persons drowned could never be identified.

**DROWNED.**—William Stubbs and John Ervin, Louisville; David McGowan, C. Butler, Andrew Filer, Absalom Wilson, A. Terry, D. Garsford, M. Dunn, E. Booker, B. Floney, and C. Carter and two children, of New York; W. Williams and wife, of St. Louis; E. McFaul, of Boston; James Orr, of Natchez; Y. Budhim, of Ind.; Thomas Rodgers, of Cairo, Ill.; D. Ewing, M. Dinwiddie, and W. Johnston, wife and two children, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; C. Phelps, G. Phillips, and Dr. Brady, of Ind.; Marcus Austin, of New Amsterdam, Ind.; M. Tooley, Philadelphia, Pa.; B. Shreve and Miss Margaret Haskell, Ky.; Mrs.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Watkins, Ohio; Mrs. Jones, Louisiana; Mrs. Dwight and daughter, Wis.; Miss Hardy, Ill.; Mrs. Walters and infant, Vicksburg; Duncan Sherman, John Root, and C. Y. Bunner, Ala.

Besides these, about two hundred flat boatmen, (names unknown,) were ascertained to have been lost. The total loss of life is estimated at four hundred. For its violence and destructive effects, this tornado was without precedent in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant of that region. The water in the river was agitated to that degree that the best swimmers could not sustain themselves on the surface. The waves rose to the height of ten or fifteen feet. Many houses in the vicinity of Natchez were blown down, and many buildings in the city were unroofed; the roofs, in some instances, being carried half-way across the river. People found it impossible to stand on the shore. One man was blown from the top of the hill, (sixty feet high,) and fell into the river forty yards from the bank. Heavy beams of timber and other ponderous objects were blown about like straws. Great was the consternation of the inhabitants of Natchez and its neighborhood, and owing to this cause, perhaps, many persons were drowned for want of prompt assistance. When the first alarm had somewhat subsided, the citizens hastened to the river, rescued some who were still living from the water, and recovered hundreds of dead bodies before they were swept away by the rapid current.

EXPLOSION OF THE LUCY WALKER, OCT. 25, 1844.

This event is especially remarkable on account of the unusual compli-
cation of calamities, (if we may so speak,) which attended it; the ex-
plosion, the burning and the sinking of the vessel, all occurring within
a few minutes. The Lucy Walker, Capt. Vann, was descending the
river, and when about four miles below New Albany, Indiana, some
part of the machinery got out of order, and the boat was stopped to
make repairs. During this pause, the water in the boilers was
measurably exhausted, and about five minutes after the engine ceased
working, three of the boilers exploded with tremendous violence and
terrible effect.

The principal force of the explosion took an upward direction; and
the consequence was that all that part of the boat situated above the
boilers was blown into thousands of pieces. The U. S. snag-boat Go-
phar, Capt. L. B. Dunham, was about two hundred yards distant at
the time of the explosion. Capt. Dunham was immediately on the

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143

spot, rescuing those who had been thrown into the water, and affording all other assistance in his power. Having been a spectator of the scene, with all its horrors, this gentleman has furnished a narrative, to which we are indebted for many of the facts related in this article. He states that such was the force of the explosion, that, although the Lucy Walker was in the middle of the river, many fragments of wood and iron were thrown on shore. At the moment of the accident, the air appeared to be filled with human beings, with dissevered limbs and other fragments of human bodies. One man was blown to the height of fifty yards, as the narrator judges, and fell with such force as to pass entirely through the deck. Another was cut in two by a piece of the boiler. Many other incidents, equally distressing and horrifying, are related. Before Capt. Dunham could reach the spot where the wreck lay, he saw many persons who had been blown overboard perish in the water. But it was his good fortune to save the lives of a large number, by throwing them boards and ropes, and pulling them on board with boat-hooks. Immediately after the explosion, the ladies' cabin took fire and burned with great rapidity, but before it was consumed, the steamer sunk in twelve feet water. Thus the whole tragedy was completed within a few minutes.

EXPLOSION OF THE LUCY WALKER.

The screams and exclamations of the ladies and the other survivors are represented as awful and distressing in the extreme. However, most of the females escaped; a very few of them are supposed to have been drowned, but none of those who survived were injured. The books of the boat were destroyed; of course it will ever be impossible to ascertain all the names or the number of those who perished. There were at least fifty or sixty persons killed or missing, and fifteen or

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

twenty wounded, some of them very seriously. Capt. Dunham took off the wounded and left them at New Albany, where they were suitably provided for by the hospitable and benevolent citizens of the place.

The following are the names of the killed, wounded and missing, as far as we have been able to learn:

**KILLED OR MISSING.**—Gen. J. W. Pegram, of Richmond, Va.; Samuel M. Brown, Post-Office agent, of Lexington, Ky.; J. R. Cormick, of Virginia; Charles Dunn, pilot, of Louisville, Ky.; Philip Wallis, formerly of Baltimore, Md.; Rebecca, daughter of A. J. Foster, of Greenville, Va.; James Vanderburg, of Louisville, Ky.; Mr. Hughes, formerly of Lexington, Ky.; Mr. Matlock, of New Albany, Ind.; engineer of the steamboat Mazeppa; Nicholas Ford, formerly of Baltimore, Md.; David Vann, master of the Lucy Walker; Moses Kirby, pilot of the same; second mate, second clerk, second engineer, and bar-keeper of the boat, names not mentioned.

**WOUNDED.**—Four negro firemen; W. H. Peebler, Mr. Rainer, of Virginia, and the first engineer, all badly hurt; Capt. Thomson, pilot, both arms fractured; Mr. Roberts, of Philadelphia, slightly hurt.

Two persons, John W. Johnson and Richard Phillips, are supposed to have been in the boat. They were not seen after the explosion, and it was generally believed that they were lost. Another account says, "We understand that the bodies of Nicholas Ford, Philip Wallis, S. M. Brown, and a little girl, killed by the explosion of the Lucy Walker, have been taken from the river, and decently interred by the citizens of West Point."

**ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS.**—The Rev. Mr. Todd, of Natchez, was blown overboard, but saved himself by swimming. At New Albany, when the dead bodies and the wounded were brought to that city, the stores and other places of business were generally closed, flags were lowered, and the whole town wore the aspect of mourning.

Mr. Wren, of Yazoo, Miss., was thrown from the boiler-deck, and fell near the bow of the boat, in a state of insensibility. When he recovered his senses, he saw his little son, six or seven years old, with the flames raging around him, in the upper part of the boat. He watched the movements of the child, as every parent will believe, with intense anxiety. Soon he saw the boy leap overboard; the river was covered with planks and mattresses, and the lad went from fragment to fragment, until he succeeded in getting on a mattress which would support him in the water. The agonized father, who was unable to rise from the spot where he lay, continued to watch the progress of his little son, until he saw him taken off the mattress by the crew of

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145

Capt. Dunham's boat. Who shall attempt to imagine, much less to describe, the feelings of the father at that moment?

A man and his wife and four daughters were saved separately, and in different ways. Their subsequent meeting must have been most joyous. A little girl was found clinging to the wreck when the flames were so near that she was constrained to dash water on one side of her face, to protect it from the intense heat. A man was on the hurricane-deck with his wife and little daughter, at the time of the explosion. He dropped the lady aft into the yawl, and saw that she was safe; he then threw the child into the stream, and although suffering severely with a sprained ankle and other hurts, he plunged in, and saved both himself and his little girl by swimming.

Pieces of the boiler were thrown on the Kentucky shore, and it is said that some of them were no thicker than a half dollar. When, where, or by whom could they have been inspected?

The Lucy Walker was built at Cincinnati, and finished only about nine months before the fatal termination of her career.

## TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF THE WILMINGTON.

The steamer Wilmington, bound from New Orleans to St. Louis, burst a boiler at daylight, on the morning of the 18th of November, 1839, when near the mouth of Arkansas river. The boilers, engines, and upper works were entirely demolished. In fact, there never was a more terrific explosion, although the loss of life was small, owing to there being few passengers on board.

LIST OF THE KILLED.—One of the pilots, Mr. Andrew Helms, who was standing near the stern of the boat, was blown overboard and drowned; Julius Fisk, the first engineer; Paul Johnson, second engineer, mortally wounded; William Hasker, John Freeman, C. Smith, John Rhoades and Dr. Brant, New Orleans; William Wills, South Carolina; C. Ebert, and nine wounded.

The Wilmington had just started from a wood-yard, and was under full headway when the explosion took place. The boat was completely riddled with pieces of iron flying through the cabin. The dead were buried at the mouth of the Arkansas river.

10

SKETCH OF CAIRO.

CAIRO is advantageously situated in Alexandria County, Illinois, at the southern extremity of the State, on a point of land formed by the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, one hundred and eighty-four miles below St. Louis, and one thousand miles above New Orleans. The situation of this town at the junction of these two great rivers, affords one of the finest positions for a commercial city that can be found in the Western States; but owing to some natural defects in the locality, the growth of the place has been less rapid than it would have been in more favorable circumstances. The banks of the Ohio at this point are low, and the surrounding country is still lower; the whole tract of land, therefore, is liable to inundation at the periodical rising of the river. These occasional overflows, and the marshy nature of the soil, are supposed to affect the health of the neighborhood; but by the industry and ingenuity of man these natural disadvantages have already been removed, to some extent, and there is no reason to doubt that all such obstacles to the improvement of the place will, in the course of time, be entirely removed. A levee or embankment, twenty-six feet high, has been erected, at a cost of $1,000,000, to protect the town and adjacent country from overflows. Since this great work was completed, Cairo has improved very rapidly. It is the southern terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad, (the largest railroad in the United States,) which extends to Chicago and Rock Island. A line of first class steamers will soon be in operation between Cairo and New Orleans, leaving each place daily, and conveying the United States mail.

The largest wharf-boat in the world, two hundred and thirty-six feet in length, is stationed at this place, under the superintendence of Messrs. Fowler & Norton, Freight and United States Mail Agents, and dealers in groceries and produce. This aquatic establishment affords great facilities to the boats in obtaining supplies, and in the shipment of freight. Messrs. Fowler & Norton are also freight agents for the Illinois Central Railroad. These gentlemen, with some other active and enterprising residents of Cairo, have been instrumental in giving a new impulse to the business of the place, and in forwarding those improvements, which bid fair to make it, at no distant time, one of the first cities of the West.

When we consider what New Orleans has effected in order to overcome the natural disadvantages of soil and situation, we cannot question the ability of Cairo to obviate those minor inconveniences which at one time threatened to interfere with her prosperity. Judging from what has been done already, we may safely predict that this place will soon become a flourishing emporium, and command the immense trade of the West, Northwest, and South. The tardy growth of Cairo, in earlier times, has been ascribed in a great measure to the illiberal policy of the English Company which purchased the land some years ago, and attempted to establish a monopoly of the whole ground, of which they retained the ownership, and making mere tenantry of all the settlers. A better system now prevails; another company, of a far more progressive character than the preceding one, has obtained possession of the land; men of energy and pecuniary means have been induced to settle in the place; improvements of various kinds have been carried into effect, and still greater ones are in contemplation. Two excellent newspapers have been established at Cairo. The population at present is 1000, and is rapidly increasing.

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LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

## COLLISION OF THE ATLANTIC AND OGDENSBURG.

At an early hour before daylight, on the 20th day of August, 1852, the steamboat Atlantic ran afoul of the propeller Ogdensburg, about six miles above Long Point, on Lake Erie. The morning was very foggy and the darkness was extreme, and for some time the extent of the damage was not apparent, even to those who were on board of the vessel which sustained the injury. The propeller struck the Atlantic forward of the wheel, on the larboard side; the shock was so little felt on board the steamer, that she continued her course without any apprehension of danger; and, as the propeller had reversed her engine before the collision took place, the crew of it did not suppose that any serious mischief had been done to the other. However, before the Atlantic had proceeded two miles, it was discovered that she was sinking rapidly. The passengers were all in bed at the time, and when they were aroused from their slumbers to be informed of their perilous condition, the scene of confusion and dismay which followed is beyond all the powers of language to describe. The number of persons on board, including passengers and crew, is rated at four hundred and fifty. Of these, more than two hundred were Norwegian emigrants. As soon as the startling intelligence was communicated to the passengers, all were assembled on deck, to meet or avoid the fate which threatened them. The poor Norwegians, who were generally ignorant of the English language, could scarcely be made to comprehend the cause of the alarm, but observing the consternation which prevailed among the other passengers, they became wildly excited, and threw themselves into the water in spite of every effort to restrain them. The other passengers listened to the exhortations of the captain, and became perfectly calm, assisting to throw overboard settees, chairs, mattresses, and other buoyant articles, which might be the means of supporting them in the water when the boat went down. In the meanwhile, the state of affairs in the doomed vessel was such as to produce a feeling of intense anxiety, even among the bravest. The dense obscurity of the night, the damp and chilling atmosphere, the terrific hissing of the water as it rushed through the gaping leak upon the furnaces, in which every spark of fire was soon extinguished, the shrieks and cries of the affrighted women and children who remained on board, and the still more distressing exclamation of those who were struggling in the water, all these circumstances combined to make a scene of horror which appalled even those who could have met their own fate with fortitude and intrepidity.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

About half past two the steamer sunk, notwithstanding all the well-directed efforts which had been made by the crew to keep her afloat.

The propeller had stopped to make repairs after the accident, and now when her crew were apprised of the dreadful condition of those who had been in the Atlantic, by the cries, shrieks, and lamentations of the drowning people, the Ogdensburg promptly steered for the spot, and was the means, under divine Providence, of saving about two hundred and fifty of the unfortunates who still survived. Hundreds were battling with the waters, and while the sympathising crew of the propeller were dragging some aboard of that vessel with all possible despatch, many others sunk into the abyss of waters, and were seen no more. From the most authentic statements it appears that more than three hundred lives were lost. A majority of the sufferers were Norwegian emigrants, of whom previous mention has been made. The books of the boat were lost, and no record of the names of those who perished has been preserved. The following is a list of the names of those passengers who obtained tickets at Erie, but it is uncertain who of them were saved and who were lost:

Mr. Osborne, wife and child, Mr. Reed, Mr. Field, wife and two children, of New York; Mr. Frost, of Boston; Mr. Calkins, Mr. Luke, Mr. Fairbrother, Mr. Bushnell and brother, of Albany, N. Y.; Mr. Lawrence, wife and two children, of Utica; Mr. Clark and child; Mr. Russell; Mrs. Cornwall, sister of Elihu Burrett; Mr. Fisher, of Canada; Mr. Shanker, Mr. Britton, Mr. Stanley, of New York; Mr. Myers; Mr. Carley and wife; Mr. Bissal, Mr. Brown, Mr. Le Fevre, Mr. Kirby, of Troy; Mr. Johnson and wife; Mr. White and wife; Mr. Crippen; Mr. Green, Mr. Burd, of Schenectady; Mr. Montgomery and wife, Cayuga Co., N. Y.

Second class passengers ticketed at the same office:—Messrs. Stevens, Hartley and wife, Albany; Toogood and wife, Troy; Marshall, Boston; Hall, Graver, Calvin, Turner, Waits, wife and two children, Hammerman, Stuart, Bird and wife, Lucas, and Hayer.

The persons named below were also on board:

A. E. Doggett, of Chicago; Mr. Walbridge, of Erie; Mr. John W. Murphy, express agent. The names of the emigrants are not given.

Nearly all of the cabin passengers were saved; also, the officers and crew, with the exception of three waiters. Captain Petty, of the Atlantic, was seriously injured. The Norwegian emigrants, of whom the greater number perished, were on their way to Quebec. About seventy-five of these people fortunately could not obtain passage in the Atlantic, and were left on the wharf.