AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM, FOR RAILROADS AND STEAMBOATS,

AND GENERAL ADVERTISING,

The Pennsylvania Enquirer,
PUBLISHED DAILY AND TRI-WEEKLY,

At No. 57 South Third Street, Philadelphia.

BY JESPER HARDING.

Daily, per annum. $8 00
Tri-Weekly, per annum, 5 00

The proprietor of the PENNSYLVANIA INQUIRER, (the largest and most extensively circulated paper in the State,) desires to call the attention of the public generally to his publication, which has been published for more than a quarter of a century, with a success enabling him to add improvement to improvement, until it now stands unrivalled in popularity, as a high-toned Family, Political and Business Newspaper, suited alike to the Merchant's Counting-room, and the Family Fireside.

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AND BOOK BINDERY.

This Establishment has in operation
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Orders by mail will be furnished with the same dispatch as by personal attention.

HARDING'S PULPIT AND FAMILY BIBLES.

The subscriber has recently greatly increased his facilities, and is now prepared to furnish the Trade with his editions of the Bible at lower prices than they can be obtained in the World, ranging from ONE DOLLAR to FIFTY DOLLARS per copy, bound in the most sumptuous and durable manner, in more than FIFTY different styles so as command the admiration of the best judges.

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They can be obtained WHOLESALE of the Publisher, and at RETAIL from every Bookseller in America. To obtain this valuable and correct Bible, be particular to inquire for

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JESPER HARDING,

Post Office Building and 57 South Third Street.

OR IN THE COUNTRY.

IT HAS NO EQUAL IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,

LLOYD'S

STEAMBOAT DIRECTORY,

AND

DISASTERS ON THE WESTERN WATERS,

CONTAINING THE HISTORY OF THE
FIRST APPLICATION OF STEAM,
AS A MOTIVE POWER;

THE LIVES OF
JOHN FITCH AND ROBERT FULTON,
LIKENESSES & ENGRAVINGS OF THEIR FIRST STEAMBOATS.

EARLY SCENES ON THE WESTERN WATERS, FROM 1798 TO 1812---HISTORY OF THE EARLY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION ON WESTERN WATERS--ENGRAVINGS OF THE BOATS.

FULL ACCOUNTS OF ALL THE STEAMBOAT DISASTERS SINCE THE FIRST APPLICATION OF STEAM DOWN TO THE PRESENT DATE, WITH LISTS OF THE KILLED AND WOUNDED—A COMPLETE LIST OF STEAMBOATS AND ALL OTHER VESSELS NOW AFLOAT ON THE WESTERN RIVERS AND LAKES—WHEN AND WHERE BUILT, AND THEIR TONNAGE:

Maps of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,
Towns, Cities, Landings, Population and Distances correctly laid down on the Ohio,
Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Cumberland, Kentucky, Green,
Illinois, Arkansas, White, Red and Yazoo Rivers.

LIST OF
PLANTATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER;

Daguerrean Views and Sketches of

Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville, Fulls of Ohio, Nashville, Cairo, Fulls of St. Anthony, Gates of the Rocky Mountains, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Mobile—Sketches of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and their Tributaries, Sources, Length, Area of country drained, &c. Names of all the U. S. Licensed Pilots and Engineers—First Time of Boats,

THE EARTHQUAKE IN 1812, &c., &c.

ONE HUNDRED FINE ENGRAVINGS, AND FORTY-SIX MAPS,
Being a Valuable Statistical Work, as well as a Guide-Book for the Travelling Public.

BY JAMES T. LLOYD.

CINCINNATI, OHIO:
JAMES T. LLOYD & CO.

1856.

PREFACE.

WITH all that profusion of literature for which the present age is remarkable, an opportunity sometimes offers to supply the public with a book which everybody acknowledges to be a desideratum. We hope it is not presumptuous on our part to believe that the present work is one of that class which the American public cannot easily dispense with, inasmuch as it presents a record of facts and events which form an interesting and important part of our country's history. In this volume, if we do not greatly deceive ourselves, the reader will find a more complete account of the beginning and progress of steam navigation in the United States, and in the Western States especially, than has ever been comprised in any previous publication. As incidental to the history of steam navigation in the West, we have introduced a copious detail of those awful and distressing accidents which have been of too frequent occurrence in that region. Our object in the presentation of these narratives is not to gratify a morbid taste for the horrific, but to suggest, in a practical way, the means of abating an evil which is acknowledged to be of immense magnitude. Whoever reads and compares the facts related in our registry of Steamboat Disasters will be able to trace those sad effects to their true cause, viz: to that gross and criminal mismanagement of steam power which has made the navigation of the Western waters so eminently perilous and destructive to human life. We have used the most diligent research, and spared no labor or expense in order to make this record of casualties complete and authentic in every particular; and we believe we have so far succeeded, that no accident of sufficient importance to deserve notice in such a publication as this, has been overlooked.

We have, likewise, embodied in this work a vast amount of valuable information respecting the history, growth, prosperity, commerce and manufactures of the Western Cities. We have furnished a comprehensive and reliable statement of the present condition of steam navigation in the great West, including ample statistical tables of Boats, Engineers, &c. In short, we have more than redeemed the promises made in our prospectus, by supplying the American public with a book which we hope will deserve a place in every public and private library. It is scarcely necessary to say anything respecting the mechanical execution and artistical embellishments of this work, as their beauty and excellence will be discoverable at a glance. We conclude these prefatory remarks, therefore, with

A WORD TO SUBSCRIBERS.

With respect to the *price* of this book, we owe some explanation to the public. It was our original purpose to charge but one dollar for the volume, but as its size has been considerably increased, and much material, and many extra engrav-

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iv

PREFACE.

ings have been added, we have been compelled, by additional expenses, to augment
the charge to two dollars. We hope, however, that this alteration in the price
will not cause any dissatisfaction among our readers, when the laborious research
and heavy expenditures which the publishers of this book have incurred, shall be
duly considered. We learn with much surprise and regret, that several persons,
representing themselves as our authorized agents, have been collecting money,
ostensibly, on our account, in the Western States. We wish to have it distinctly
understood, that no person or persons whatever have had any authority from us
to make such collections, and that we cannot be responsible in any way, for the
acts of the villainous imposters who have thus made an unauthorized use of
our name.

J. T. LLOYD.

Cincinnati, January 1, 1856.

# INTRODUCTION.

## STEAM.

ITS FIRST ADOPTION AS A MOTIVE POWER—GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODES OF APPLY-
ING IT—AND ITS ADAPTATION TO THE PURPOSES OF NAVIGATION.

IN connection with the special objects of this work, we have thought
it expedient to give some historical account of that great Motor, which,
more than any other human contrivance, except the art of printing,
has been instrumental in improving the social, moral, and physical
condition of our species. The first thing to be observed under this
head, is the great uncertainty, the profound and almost impenetrab-
le mystery, in which the origin of the steam-engine is involved. No
age, no country, and no individual is permitted to enjoy the exclusive
and undisputed honor which is due to the discovery. Some writers—
with a good deal of fanciful license—have referred the first employ-
ment of this motive power to an early date in Egyptian history, simply
because they were unable to conceive how the pyramids could have
been constructed without such machinery, or some apparatus of equal
force. However absurd may be this claim made in behalf of the an-
cient Egyptians, the modern Spaniards have set up pretensions almost
equally ridiculous. It is pretended by the compatriots of Don Quixote,
on the authority of certain documents, real or imaginary, preserved in
the royal archives at Samancus, that a Spanish sea-captain, named
Blasco de Garay, exhibited to the Emperor and King Charles V., in
the year 1543, an engine, intended to propel ships and other vessels of
the largest size, even in a perfect calm, without the assistance of sails
or oars. The description given of this machine is amusingly accurate,
being, in fact, a mere pen and ink sketch of a modern steam-engine.
These particulars are given in a recently published Spanish book, pur-
porting to be a collection of original papers relating to the voyage of
Columbus.

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8

STEAM.

The narrative proceeds to state that Captain De Garay brought his steam-engine to an experimental test, by applying it to the propulsion of a vessel of 209 tons, in the harbor of Barcelona. The experiment was tried in the presence of, the Emperor and his son, Philip the Second; and among other distinguished spectators were Henry de Toledo, the governor; Peter Cardona, the treasurer; and Ravago, the Vice Chancellor. It is added that the experiment was entirely satisfactory to the Emperor, the Prince, and to all the high officers of state who witnessed it, and that the machine would have been brought into immediate requisition, had not some envious men of science denounced the engine as an expensive contrivance, not forgetting to hint at the probability of explosion. By these representations, the opponents of Captain De Garay's project succeeded in frightening the royal family, and the consequence was that the world was deprived of the benefit of the steam-engine for several hundred years, and Spain lost the credit due to the discovery. The Emperor, however, to mollify the bitterness of De Garay's disappointment, gave him a bonus of 200,000 maravesies, and ordered all the expenses of the experiment to be paid out of the public treasury.

There is little reason to doubt that this story is purely fictitious, as the record is not regularly authenticated, and there is an obvious improbability in the circumstance that Spain should have permitted her claim to the invention of the steam-engine to lie dormant for more than three centuries.

Some faint conceptions of the utility of steam as a motive power, seems to have been entertained by ingenious and reflective men living at different periods, long before the invention was brought to any practical result. Bulwer, in his novel called "The Last of the Barons," illustrates this supposition by introducing an imaginary inventor, called Adam Warner, the type of a large class of men, "wise beyond their age," who at every period of the world's history have suffered for their temerity in attempting to bring their cotemporaries up to their own intellectual level. The first persons mentioned in veritable history, who attempted to use steam-power, seem to have satisfied themselves with making it subservient only to purposes of amusement. We have seen a pictorial representation of "the first steam-engine," in the form of a human head, the boiler being placed inside, while the steam, escaping from an aperture at the mouth, gave motion to a wheel resembling in construction the fans of a wind-mill.

There was another steam toy which, notwithstanding the priority claimed for the one just spoken of, appears to have been of a still more

STEAM.

ancient date. This was the Æolipile, or ball of Æolus, which is described as a metallic globe, having a long neck terminating in a minute orifice. This globe being filled with water, and subjected to the action of fire, generated steam, which was seen rushing with great force through the aperture. Although the power of steam was thus exemplified, it does not appear that the ancients ever applied it to any useful purpose; indeed it was impossible for them to do so, by means of any contrivance similar to that just described; for, in order to make the force of steam available, it is necessary to preserve it from contact with the atmosphere, or any thing colder than itself, because if its temperature is lowered by such contact, it is immediately reduced to an inert mist or vapor.

One of the first writers who mentions the vast powers of steam, and suggests the possibility of making these powers useful to mankind, is the French Engineer, Solomon de Caus, who flourished about the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the year 1623, De Caus published at Paris a folio volume on Moving Forces, in which he mentions the experiment of heating water in a metallic sphere, in order to produce steam, adding that if the aperture be closed, the ball will burst with a detonation like that of a cannon. He also describes a method of raising water in a perpendicular tube by the application of heat, the agent being the steam from that portion of the water to which the heat is applied.

The next pioneer to the march of improvement in steam apparatus, was the Marquis of Worcester, author of a celebrated book called "The Century of Inventions." The Marquis was not merely a speculative inventor, but in many cases reduced his theories to practice. He appears to have made a variety of experiments with steam, and succeeded so well in some of them that he has occasionally been called the inventor of the steam-engine. The "method of raising water," which was simply proposed by De Caus, was practically illustrated by Worcester. We do not find, however, that he made any further progress in the application of steam-power than by using it to raise water in a column, on precisely the same principle which had been suggested by De Caus forty years before. If the machinery used in this operation was a "steam-engine," De Caus, and not Worcester, was the bona fide inventor. The Marquis, however, gives a more precise and intelligible account of the process than his French predecessor. He conducted his experiments, as he tells us, by using a cannon for his boiler; and according to his own statement, he succeeded in projecting water to a height of forty feet, merely by the force of expansion or the genera-

10

STEAM.

tion of steam in the lower part of the column. This noble gentleman has been suspected of adding a little romance to the reality of his inventions; but he was unquestionably a person of great enterprise and ingenuity. An account of his experiments with steam is given in the sixty-eighth proposition, in connection with the ninety-ninth and one hundredth of the "Century," and is entitled "An Admirable and Most Forceful Way to Drive up Water by Fire."

About twenty years later, (A. D. 1683,) Sir Samuel Morland prepared a manuscript work, (the original copy of which is still preserved in the British museum,) in which the author describes a method of employing steam as a mechanic power, seeming to claim for himself the credit of the invention. Morland's plan is merely a modification of the contrivances of De Caus and the Marquis of Worcester; and there is reason to suppose that he subsequently became ashamed of his "invention," (probably on account of the ridicule which it excited,) for when his book was afterwards published at Paris, the account of the steam-engine was suppressed. The only particular in which Morland may be allowed to claim originality in this matter, is a calculation, which approximates to the truth, respecting the vast difference in the space which water occupies in its natural state and that which it fills when expanded by heat, so as to assume the form of steam. As numerically designated by Morland, this difference is proportioned as one to two thousand. Recent experiments prove that one cubic foot of water will produce about seventeen hundred cubic feet of steam; so that the unassisted observations of Morland are measurably correct.

We will next speak of the discoveries and improvements of Monsieur Denis Papin, an ingenious Frenchman, who, during a temporary residence in England, near the end of the seventeenth century, devoted a great part of his time to pneumatic experiments. This gentleman, and several other experimenters who followed in his track, did not propose to make steam the prime agent in the production of a moving power. The force which they designed to use was that of atmospheric pressure, steam being called into requisition merely as an auxiliary power, or to produce what the scientific men of that day were pleased to call a *vacuum*. Long before this time it had been proposed to employ the pressure of the atmosphere as a counter-balance; and several simple machines, on this principle, had already been constructed. The principle, in fact, was that of the common sucking-pump, the object being to exhaust the air in a tube, beneath a block or piston exactly fitted to the cavity. The pump principle was modified by attaching the piston-rod to one end of a cross-beam, from the other extremity of which the

STEAM.

11

weight to be raised was suspended. Various plans had been devised for exhausting the air in the lower part of the tube or cylinder. Otto Guericke used the air-pump for this purpose; but it occurred to Mons. Papin that the object might be attained with less labor and more expedition. In order to produce the desired "vacuum," his first idea was to explode a small quantity of gunpowder in the bottom of the cylinder, which, as he supposed, would expel the air through a valve opening upwards through the piston, while the immediate falling back of the valve would prevent the readmission of the air. It was found on trial, that a "complete vacuum" could not be effected by this method, and Mons. Papin, after revolving various expedients in his mind, concluded at last to employ steam as the exhausting agent.

The reader will observe, that in all previous attempts to use the power of steam, the sole object had been to raise water to a higher level; and that purpose was effected merely by applying the steam *directly* to the surface of the water to be raised. Papin was the first to make the force of steam more generally available, by preparing for it a separate chamber, as it were, in the hollow of the cylinder;—this he did by the introduction of the piston, and here was a long stride towards the perfecting of the steam-engine. In sober truth, Mons. Papin was the first who really made a machine which deserved that name; although, as we have previously observed, he was aiming at a different object, viz: the construction of an engine to be worked by atmospheric pressure. He is entitled to the credit due to the first application of two principles, which all his predecessors in their work of discovery had entirely overlooked. 1. Mons. Papin demonstrated the practicability of applying the moving force of steam, by means of the intermediate agency of the piston and its rod, to bodies on which it cannot act directly. 2. He recognized, as a constituent of the motive power, not the expansiveness of steam only, but its *condensibility*; without which its expansive quality would be of little service. It was the misfortune of Mons. Papin to overlook the fact, that the motive power he sought would be more readily obtained by making steam the principal agent, instead of a subordinate. To this same inventor we are indebted for another important attachment to the steam-engine, namely: the safety-valve, which was employed by him in the apparatus called "Papin's Digester," which is still used to produce a powerful heat in cooking and chemical preparations.

It had been remarked by De Caus and others, as an incidental fact, that water, when converted to steam, may be restored to its original state by the mere application of cold;—but Papin was the first who

12

STEAM.

endeavored to make this circumstance useful in the operation of the machine. His method of condensation, however, was extremely awkward and dilatory; so much so, at first, that the best expedient he could devise was to remove the fire, and then permit the enclosed vapor to cool of its own accord.

Captain Savery is the next person on the record, who is supposed to have contributed to the progress of this invention. Several anecdotes are told of this gentleman, which seem to signify that his attention was accidentally directed to the subject which afterwards occupied so much of his thoughts. It is reported that he was one day refreshing himself with a bottle of wine at a tavern, and having thrown the flask into the fire, he observed that the small quantity of liquor which had been left in the vessel, became so expanded by the heat, as to fill the bottle completely. Captain Savery then took up the bottle and plunged it, mouth downwards, into a basin of cold water, which stood near him, and admiringly beheld the water rising into the receiver, in which the condensation of the steam had produced a partial vacuum. This trivial incident, it is said, first suggested to Savery the possibility of applying steam, or any other expansive and volatile fluid, to the most important uses. But it does not appear that he prosecuted his discovery far beyond that point which had already been reached by others. His greatest achievement was the adaptation of steam power to the production of a vacuum in a simple machine, which merely answered the purpose of a sucking-pump of considerable power, which was found to be of practical utility in the process of raising water from wells or mines. He did not avail himself of Papin's improvements, but reverted to the old method of applying the steam directly to the surface of the water, which had been employed by the Marquis of Worcester many years before. Captain Savery, however, possessed so much ingenuity and mechanical skill, that he was enabled to contrive many facilities and improvements in the machinery constructed on these principles; and his engines came to be in great request for supplying dwelling houses with water, and for other purposes.

After the death of Captain Savery, (A. D. 1718,) his contrivance was much improved and simplified by Dr. Desaguliers. This last-named gentleman introduced an improved method of condensing the vapor in the receiver, by injecting a small current of cold water, whereas it had been the practice of Savery to effect this object by dashing water over the outside, which occasioned a great loss of time and waste of fuel.

It has previously been remarked, that Monsieur Papin was the original contriver of the safety-valve for a special purpose, but Dr.

STEAM.

13

Desaguliers first made it a customary attachment of the steam-engine. The safety-valve is a lid or stopper which covers an aperture in the boiler, and is retained in its place by a weight sufficient to resist the expansive power of the steam up to a certain point, while it must yield before the accumulated force of the confined vapor could terminate in an explosion.

Two humble mechanics of Dartmouth, Devonshire, England, John Newcomen, a whitesmith, and John Calley, a glazier, are the next to take up this chain of invention. Newcomen, with the assistance of his friend and colleague, completed the working model of an atmospheric engine in 1711. The main principle adopted by them was that of Monsieur Papin—making the weight of the atmosphere the moving power, and using steam merely to exhaust the receiver. They also used Savery's method of condensation, by pouring cold water over the external surface of the cylinder; but this method they soon abandoned for the more economical and convenient plan of Desaguliers, which, with a little modification, is still in use. Newcomen and Calley, being persons of little erudition, are said to have been totally unacquainted with the experiments of De Caus, Worcester, Papin, &c., but arrived at the same conclusions by the force of their own unassisted ingenuity. They were indebted to an accident for the discovery of the improved mode of condensing the steam by the injection of cold water into the cylinder. Newcomen's engine possessed several decided advantages over that of Savery. The latter was practically useful only so far as it could be made to do the service of a sucking-pump, and it ceased to be serviceable in raising water, when the column raised became equal in weight to a column of the atmosphere of equal base. It was almost unavailable, therefore, for the purpose of pumping water from mines—the use for which such engines were chiefly in demand at that time. The superiority of Newcomen's engine in this particular was most remarkable. Many mines which had been inundated for years were, by the help of this invention, cleared of water, and preserved in that condition until the excavations were carried to unprecedented depths. For many other important purposes, this new apparatus was found to be eminently serviceable. But how obviously defective was the construction of this engine! How unsatisfactory were its operations, when we place it in the scale of comparison with the perfect machine of our own day! As, in the process used, the cylinder was completely cooled after every stroke of the piston, the waste of fuel was so great, that Newcomen's engine could not be economically employed in circumstances which permitted the use of animal power; and besides this, its operation was

14

STEAM.

slow, distressingly slow. Moreover, as the machine derived all its energy from the weight of the atmosphere, its force was necessarily limited to fifteen pounds on each square inch of the superior surface of the piston, making no allowance for friction, or the imperfection of the vacuum beneath; circumstances which must make a very considerable reduction in our estimate of its power.

It should be borne in mind, that the expansive force of steam was not used in this engine, and that all the uses which steam performed in the movements of the apparatus could have been executed by an air-pump, or any other agency capable of expelling or withdrawing the atmospheric fluid from beneath the piston. Up to this time, therefore, it may appear that the plan of a genuine steam-engine, i. e., one in which steam power was indispensable, had never presented itself to any human being. And for more than fifty years afterwards no progress was made in the adaptation of steam to the purpose of giving motion to machinery. It is true that various minor improvements were made on Newcomen's apparatus, but the main principle continued the same—the power of steam being made subordinate to the weight of the atmosphere. Mr. Brighton, in 1718, so far improved on Newcomen's plan as to make the machinery itself open and shut the cocks which supplied the apparatus with steam and water, instead of having those services performed by an attendant.

The cause of steam was in this condition, when (A. D. 1736) the attention of James Watt, a native of Greenock, Scotland, was attracted to the subject. Mr. Watt was born of parents whose condition in life was respectable, though not opulent. The condition of his bodily health was so feeble as to prevent him from pursuing his early studies with regularity at the public seminaries, but such was his thirst for knowledge, that no obstacle could prevent him from obtaining such education as accorded with the direction of his genius. Even in his childhood his favorite study was mechanical science, and to this study he applied himself, at home, with the utmost assiduity. At a very early age his attention was attracted to the employment of steam as an operative power in machinery; his first thought, in connection with this subject, being turned towards the propulsion of land carriages by steam power.

In the winter of 1763 a small model of Newcomen's engine came into his possession; and by studying the operations of this machine, he first conceived the fortunate idea that the steam might be made to perform a more important duty than Newcomen and his predecessors had ever thought of. The defects of Newcomen's engine were mani-

STEAM.

15

festly presented to his observing genius. The disproportionate size of
the boiler, and other errors in the construction of the model, were
corrected by Watt, who also substituted a cylinder of cast iron for that
of brass, which had been used by Newcomen; for he observed that the
brazen cylinder abstracted more of the heat from the steam, and so
lessened its expansion, occasioning thereby a proportionable loss of
power. But his thoughts were soon turned aside from the correction
of Newcomen's minor mistakes, to the rectification of the primary error
which had made all the engines constructed on the atmospheric prin-
ciple comparatively inefficient. In short, Mr. Watt recognized the
great advantage which might be gained by advancing steam from its
subservient position to that of a principal agent. This idea he followed
up with the most indefatigable application, trying innumerable experi-
ments for the purpose of ascertaining all the powers and properties of
the agency which he proposed to use. The results of some of these
experiments were of great consequence in his future researches. For
example, he found that the rapidity with which water evaporates,
depends simply on the quantity of heat which is made to enter it, and
that this quantity of heat was proportioned to the extent of surface
exposed to the fire. He also ascertained the amount of fuel required
for the evaporation of any given quantity of water, the heat at which
water boils under various pressures, and many other particulars which
had never been taken into consideration by any previous observer.

Having thus made himself thoroughly acquainted with the agent, he
was eminently prepared to control or direct its action to the best
advantage. In the first place, he remarked that the inartificial methods
adopted by his predecessors for cooling the cylinder, occasioned a waste
of at least three-fourths of the fuel. If the cylinder could be kept per-
manently hot, this waste, and much loss of time, could be avoided.
After mature reflection, during which many expedients were thought
of and rejected, he began to consider the possibility of withdrawing the
steam from the cylinder to be condensed in some other vessel. If
this course should be practicable, the separate vessel alone, i. e.,
the "condenser," would be cooled by the water used to cool the
steam; and it appeared to him, as experiment afterwards proved, that
the cooling of the condenser would quicken the process of condensation
rather than retard it. The benefits of these alterations were soon made
obvious to every perception. By keeping the cylinder constantly at
the same temperature, one-fourth part of the fuel formerly used was
found to be quite sufficient; and besides this important item, the saving
of expense in the maintenance of the engine, much power was gained

16

STEAM.

by the production of a more perfect vacuum in the cylinder, in which no water was now admitted to generate new steam, while it expelled the old. Watt's first expedient to cool the steam in the condenser was keeping that vessel enclosed in another of cold water; preferring this method to the admission of cold water into the condenser itself, as its accumulation there might occasion a difficulty in removing it as rapidly as was necessary. But with a view to the attainment of greater speed in the movement of the machinery, he found eventually that the best contrivance was to admit a sufficient quantity of water into the condenser, and remove it afterwards by a pump of suitable power.

Several other difficulties, some of which, at the first view, appeared quite formidable, were finally overcome by the perseverance and ingenuity of this distinguished inventor. His pecuniary resources were enlarged by a contract made with Dr. Roebuck, who advanced the funds required for prosecuting Mr. Watt's experiments, for the consideration of two-thirds of the profits, to be secured to him in case the new machine should come into successful operation. In these circumstances, Mr. Watt took out his first patent in 1769; but his colleague, Dr. Roebuck, having, as the phrase goes, "too many irons in the fire," soon became involved in pecuniary embarrassments, and was unable to fulfil his part of the contract by advancing the stipulated sums. Owing to this unfortunate state of affairs, Mr. Watt was compelled, for the term of five years, to engage in the business of a Civil Engineer; but, at length, (A. D. 1774,) having formed a business connection with an extensive hardware manufacturer at Birmingham, he was enabled once more to revert to his favorite pursuit. The first measure adopted by Mr. Watt and his partner was to erect an engine in their manufactory at Soho, which they submitted to public inspection; and soon after the firm of Boulton & Watt commenced the manufacture of steam-engines as a regular business.

Respecting the first application of steam to the propulsion of vessels, a variety of facts will be detailed in our sketches of the lives of John Fitch and Robert Fulton.

JOHN FITCH.

BEFORE we begin our biographical sketch of this ingenious but very unfortunate man, it may not be out of place to give some account of the state of human knowledge in reference to steam navigation at the time when Fitch commenced his experiments. It was said, in the preceding article, that Mr. Watt's first intention in the employment of steam power, was the impelling of land carriages. From such a project a man's thoughts might, by a very easy transition, turn to the propulsion of vessels by the same agency. This application of steam was too obvious, we might suppose, to escape the attention of any man who had seen a steam-engine in operation. We dare say, therefore, that from the time the first engine was erected at Soho, it was very common for men of mechanical genius to imagine the probability that the new invention might become serviceable to navigation. In 1737, more than thirty years before Mr. Watt took out his first patent, a certain Jonathan Hulls, of London, claimed to be the inventor of "a machine for carrying vessels out of, or into, any harbor, port or river against wind and tide, or in a calm." A draught of this machine is still preserved, and we must aver that it looks surprisingly like an old fashioned steamboat, being furnished with chimneys, propelling wheels, and other customary appurtenances. We have no account of the mode in which Mr. Jonathan Hulls generated his moving forces, but it is evident, from the smoking chimney and other significant indications, that *fire* had something to do with the matter. Hulls obtained letters patent for this invention from George II., but it is presumed that want of funds, or some other fatal obstacle, prevented him from bringing his project to a practical result, as we have no further account either of Mr. Jonathan Hulls, or his marvellous invention. And although we find several allusions to the practicability of steam navigation, not forgetting the celebrated couplet of Dr. Darwin—

"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar
Drive the swift barge or urge the rapid car"—

2

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LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Mr. A. Sutton, of New York, who was provided with two life-pre-
servers, states that while he was fastening one on his wife, a ruffian
snatched the other from him. Mr. S. managed, however, to save him-
self and his two children.

A young woman who fell overboard was saved by the exertions of a
young man who jumped in after her, and supported her on the surface
until she was drawn up into the boat, and, at that moment her brave
deliverer disappeared under the water. He had proved himself an ex-
cellent swimmer, but most likely some drowning wretch had caught
hold of him and dragged him down, clutching him with the grasp of
death, from which there was no means of extrication.

The dead body of a little girl was found floating on a plank. Dr. Crippen, of Michigan, saved two ladies by breaking through the deck into the state-room, and drawing them out of the water. Three men saved themselves by clinging to the binnacle-box, which had been thrown overboard.

The first mate of the Ogdensburg, who was on watch at the time of
the collision, afterwards admitted that if he had given the necessary
orders a few moments sooner than he did, the accident might have been
prevented. The second mate of the Atlantic, who was also on watch,
made similar admissions of delinquency. The officers of both boats
were much censured by the citizens of Buffalo, Erie, &c., as it was
generally believed that the disaster was attributable to their culpable
negligence. The surviving passengers of the Atlantic held a meeting,
and passed resolutions strongly condemning the Captain and owners
of that steamer for neglecting to provide a sufficient number of life
preservers, and small boats. The wreck of the Atlantic was found five
miles below Long Point House. She sunk four miles from the near-
est shore, in one hundred and sixty feet water. Adams & Co.'s Ex-
press Messenger lost $60,000, which went down with the ill-fated
boat. Several attempts have been made by submarine divers to re-
cover this lost treasure, but without success. By this accident about
three hundred persons were drowned. The names of many will never
be known.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

151

EXPLOSION OF THE A. N. JOHNSTON.

This destructive and fatal accident took place on the Ohio river, about twelve miles above Maysville, Ky., on Wednesday, the 29th day of December, 1847, at 2 o'clock, A. M. The steamer, at the time of the explosion, was in the act of rounding from the shore, having just discharged some passengers on the wharf-boat at Manchester. After the explosion, she was burned to the water's edge. No circumstantial account of the accident is given, except that a great many persons were killed and wounded, and their names, as far as they were known to the officers of the boat, will be found in the list which is here appended. It is to be observed that the gentlemen who made the report were not very exact in stating whether many persons named therein were killed, wounded, or missing; but it was understood that when not otherwise designated, the persons named in the list were missing:

*Passengers*.—Redman, a flat-boat hand, killed; S. S. Saunders, of Cincinnati, badly scalded; J. Kirkpatrick, Massillon, Ohio, scalded; William Everhart and son, of Pennsylvania, do.; D. Rutledge, of Ohio, do.; N. Wheat, Baltimore, Md., do.; Samuel Fisher, Warren, O., do.; Samuel Pilson, Baltimore, do.; Henry Shane, Cincinnati; Arthur Foal, Pittsburgh; A. N. Johnson, wife and child, Wheeling, Va.; G. S. Weatherby, Philadelphia; — Conway, Graham's Station; Cyrus Rollin, Lebant Falls; Jacob Schafer, Ohio, scalded; A. Bailey, Ohio, badly scalded; Robert Russell, Ohio; John Clancy and John Hardy, Cincinnati; John Kenline, of Ohio; H. J. Bonner, Hanover, Ind.; C. Hardin, Guyandotte, Va.; John Boyd, Warren, Ohio; William Beard, St. Louis; F. Platter, Ohio; S. Cunningham, Cumberland, Md.; J. Swagert, Belle Air, Ohio; J. Barnett, Dayton, Ohio; F. McDonald, Pittsburgh; William Knight, Va.; John Fowler, Ohio; William Miller, Cincinnati; M. R. Hayden and James Wickersham, Pittsburgh; F. A. Horne, Ohio; James M. Lissorm, Ohio; R. Hickson, Cincinnati; Augustus Marsh, slightly scalded; Henry Ladd and William Ladd, Randolph, Ohio; John Borum, Clarington, Ohio; William Parker, Dilley's Bottom, Ohio; A. Davis, — Captain, O. McTygart, Mr. McCullough, Mr. Lands, and Mr. All, Parkersburg, Va.; James Bromdon and Edmund Swaggart, Belle Air, Ohio; John Gilbreath, of Pittsburgh, badly scalded; Hamilton Barebout, John Williams, James Sprouts, and A. Bacon, Warren, Ohio; William Allen, Wheeling, Va.; Anderson Bonum and Benjamin Bonum, Cincinnati; G. Parker, Pittsburgh; C.

152

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Weaver, Wheeling, Va.; James Henderson, Belmont Co., Ohio; E. J. Pole and J. R. Deary, Athens Co., Ohio; P. Flesher, Doddridge Co., Va.; Jacob Shoewalter, Warren Co., Ohio.

*Boat's Crew*.—A. Fairchild, Wheeling, first clerk, killed; Jacob Johnson, second clerk, missing; James Bellsville, carpenter, missing; John Lyle, second engineer, killed; Matthew Wilson, first mate, of Pa., leg broken; James Fennell, bar-keeper, of Cincinnati, slightly scalded; John Fennell, first steward, do., Alfred Burrows, second steward, do., both badly scalded; William Dorsey, second pilot, of Wheeling, Va., badly bruised; Samuel P. Hardin, first cook, missing; porter and barber, both scalded badly; two men found dead, names unknown.

One of the boilers was blown into a corn-field two hundred yards distant; another boiler was blown a hundred yards further into the same field. There was supposed to be one hundred and sixty passengers on board, of whom from sixty to eighty were killed or missing. Many others were wounded. All the ladies on board, six or seven in number, and four or five children, were saved. The steamer Boone went from Maysville to the scene of the disaster, and brought away thirty-seven of the dead and wounded. Some others were taken to Cincinnati. Many were so badly wounded that there were no hopes of their recovery. The death of the first clerk was attended by singular circumstances. He was

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

153

blown to the distance of one hundred yards, and fell on the shore; he
then sprang up, and ran in a phrenzied manner nearly a quarter of a
mile to a house, which he entered, and ran under a bed. When taken
from thence life was almost extinct, and he expired within a few minutes.

The engineer, just before he died, stated that he had tried the boilers a short time before the explosion, and found a sufficiency of water; but one of the clerks reports that he heard the engineer complain several times after they left Cincinnati that the pumps did not work well.

The City Council of Maysville assembled on the afternoon of the
fatal day, and made an appropriation for the relief of the sufferers.

## COLLISION OF THE BOONSLICK AND MISSOURI BELLE.

The steamboat Missouri Belle left New Orleans, October 24th, 1834, bound to St. Louis, and when she had proceeded about fifteen miles up the river, she came in contact with the steamer Boonslick, which was coming in an opposite direction. The Boonslick sustained but little injury, but the Missouri Belle was so badly broken up that she sunk almost instantly. The Boonslick rounded to and steered for the wrecked vessel, nothing of which remained above water, except a piece of the hurricane deck, on which most of the passengers had taken refuge. A rope was thrown out by the crew of the Boonslick, and attached to the floating piece of the wreck, and some of the passengers were thus enabled to reach the deck of the Boonslick, while the yawls were engaged in picking up those persons who had been thrown into the water. There were about one hundred and thirty persons on board the Missouri Belle at the time she sunk; thirty of these were drowned, though every possible effort was made by the captain and crew of the Boonslick to save them.

LIST OF LOST.—Dr. Brant, Mo.; A. C. Smithers, New Orleans;
Miss C. Frazier, St. Louis; W. Walters, New York; P. Matlock, New
Jersey; Mrs. De Soto, Havana; Miss Mary Trimble, Miss.; John
Budd, Boston; A. During, Ill.; two infants, names not known;
Ebenezer Dumbolt, Germany; wife and child of Mr. C. Glass, Wis.;
three negro firemen, and seven Germans, who were from Heidelberg.
This is the complete list of those drowned by this accident

SKETCH OF NASHVILLE.

NASHVILLE is a very handsome city, the largest in Tennessee, and the commercial metropolis of that State. It is situated in Davidson County, on the southern bank of Cumberland river, two hundred miles from its mouth; two hundred and thirty miles E. N. E. of Memphis, two hundred and six miles S. W. of Lexington, Ky., and six hundred and ninety miles from Washington, D. C.; lat. 36° 9' N., long. 86° 49' W. The whole city is built on a solid rock, covered in some places with a thin soil. The site of Nashville is on a "bluff" eighty feet in height, and four hundred and sixty feet above the level of the sea. * This city is the centre of an extensive trade, the river being navigable for the largest boats up to this point; several excellent turnpikes extend to various localities in the interior of the State, and the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad, one hundred and fifty miles in length, exclusive of its branches, here has its terminus. The branches of this railroad, which was finished in the year 1852, extend from various points on the road, to Shelbyville, McMinnville, Coal Mines, and North Memphis. The Nashville and Chattanooga railroad at Stevenson, Ala., connects with the Charleston Railroad which extends from the point of connection, one hundred and thirty miles, to Tuscumbia, Ala., passing through Huntsville and Decatur. The Nashville and Chattanooga railroad crosses the Tennessee river at Bridgeport, Ala. At Chattanooga it connects with the Georgia and South Carolina system of railroads. The first branch, south, connects with Rome, at the head of navigation on Coosa river; the second branch extends to Montgomery, Ala.; the third, to Columbus, Ga., on the Chattanooga river; the fourth branch extends from Macon to Americus, Ga.; the fifth branch connects with Eatonton, Milledgeville, Savannah, Augusta, Athens, and Washington, Ga., and with all the prominent points to Charleston, S. C. The Nashville and Chattanooga railroad also communicates by the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad, with Knoxville; and by the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad, with Lynchburg, Abington, &c. The Nashville and Chattanooga railroad is constructed in the most substantial and durable manner, and is doing a large and profitable business. In a few years the Louisville and Nashville railroad will be completed, and then the city of Nashville will have the terminus of one of the most extensive and important railroads in the world. The cost of this road has been $3,000,000. The president of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad is Col. V. K. Stevenson, James H. Grant is resident engineer. This railroad is of incalculable value to the commerce and prosperity of Nashville.

The steamboat trade of Nashville is very extensive. Many first class steamers have been built at this place, and are owned by persons residing there. The shipping of the port in the year 1854 amounted to 6,440 tons, and as the business of steamboat building is carried on extensively by enterprising citizens of the place, there is a great annual increase of tonnage.

The city of Nashville is well laid out. The streets are commodious and well paved. Some of the public buildings are magnificent, and the private dwellings will compare favorably with those of any other city in the United States. The new State House, which stands on an eminence one hundred and seventy-five feet above the level of the river, is one of the most elegant and costly structures in America. The material is a fine limestone, quarried on the spot, and bears a strong resemblance to marble. The cost of this building was $1,000,000. The University of Nashville was founded in 1806. The Medical College was opened in 1851. In 1855 it had two hundred students. There are various other literary and scientific institutions, besides a great number of private seminaries for males and females. Nashville has fourteen

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156

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

newspaper offices, four banks, with a capital of $6,000,000, and eighteen churches. The Mineral Cabinet of the late Dr. Troorst contains the largest collection in the United States.

Cumberland river at Nashville is crossed by a magnificent wire suspension bridge, similar to the bridge over the Ohio at Wheeling, Va. The city is lighted with gas, and supplied with water raised from the Cumberland river by machinery. Nashville has expended immense sums of money on her macadamized turnpikes, which radiate in different directions to the inland districts. The country, for several miles around Nashville, is fertile and salubrious. This city is distinguished for its enterprising spirit, literary taste, and polished society. The population in 1845 was 12,000; in 1853, 20,000; and in 1856, 25,000.

## EXPLOSION OF THE TUSCALOOSA.

The steamer Tuscaloosa left the wharf at Mobile, Ala., about 8 o'clock on Thursday evening, January 29th, 1847, on her way to Tuscaloosa city, the capital of Alabama; and when she had proceeded ten miles up the river two of her boilers bursted, by which accident a number of her passengers and crew were killed and wounded. The explosion completely tore up the boiler-deck, and shattered the after-part of the boat below deck considerably. Immediately after the explosion, the steamer drifted near the shore and grounded, her stern projecting towards the centre of the river. A line was made fast on shore, and an attempt was made, by pulling in the stern, to effect a landing for the passengers, but the boat was fixed too firmly in the bed of the river to be moved in this manner. The ladies were then lowered by a rope to the lower deck, and from thence were sent ashore in the yawl. All of them escaped unhurt.

Those of the male passengers who were uninjured saved themselves, and many of the wounded likewise, by constructing a raft of loose planks, on which they reached the shore in safety; but when they arrived at the banks they found it impossible to obtain a dry footing, as the river had overflowed its customary bounds to the depth of several inches, which, as the weather was exceedingly cold, made the landing (if it might be called so) very uncomfortable. In this state of things the male passengers climbed trees, where they remained spectators of the burning wreck for about three hours, when the steamer James Hewitt hove in sight, and on coming near the wreck, sent her yawl to the assistance of the survivors, who were all taken on board and conveyed back to Mobile. The dead body of Lieut. Inge, one of the passengers of the Tuscaloosa, was also taken up by the James Hewitt.

**LIST OF KILLED**—Wm. Tanneyhill, C. Childs, and P. F. Beasley, of Eutaw; W. R. Hasell, of Greenborough; B. Partier, second clerk; Thomas Clark, first mate; Arthur McCoy, second engineer; Abraham Flynn, volunteer for the U. S. Army in Mexico, from Green Co., Ala., and several colored deck hands.

**BADLY WOUNDED**—Capt. E. P. Oliver, not expected to recover; George Kirk, first clerk, and acting Captain of the Tuscaloosa; Col. Wm. Armistead, and Capt. Asa White, of Eutaw. The last named gentleman was very badly scalded.

## ACCIDENT ON THE ELIZABETH.

The boilers of the steamer Elizabeth collapsed on the 4th day of April, 1845, on the Mississippi river, at the entrance of the Courtanbleau. All the wood-work above the boilers was swept away. None of the passengers were hurt, but several of the boat's crew were killed, and others were wounded.

**KILLED**—Daniel York, the mate; John Rhodes, deck hand; Wilson Hill, second engineer; and a fireman, colored.

**WOUNDED**—J. H. Gordon, the captain, mortally; Freeman B. Lamb, pilot, leg fractured; James Marquite, first engineer, badly scalded; and a negro fireman.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

## EXPLOSION OF THE CHAMOIS.

The steamer Chamois, Capt. Morton, exploded near Chattahochee, Fa., at the fork of that river, on Thursday, November 3d, 1842. She was aground, and the crew were endeavoring to get her off, when the accident took place. Three of the crew were killed, and several others more or less injured. The names of the persons killed were Leander Vale, first engineer, William Cannafax, steward, and Joseph Lloyd, deck-hand.

Mr. Cannafax had recently been married, and for years had been the only stay and support of his aged parents. He was a young man of great probity and worth, and his untimely death occasioned a feeling of deep regret among all who had known him.

## EXPLOSION OF THE MARQUITTE.

Between four and five o'clock, in the afternoon of July 1st, 1845, the steamer Marquitte, Capt. Turpin, was about leaving the wharf at New Orleans. Her last bell had rung, and the hands had begun to cast off the moorings, when it was ascertained that the cook was on shore. The boat waited for him about fifteen minutes, during which time no steam was blown off, or passed through the cylinders. The cook having arrived, the steamer began to back out from the wharf, and when the paddle-wheels had made three or four revolutions, all the boilers exploded simultaneously, producing a sound which was heard in the most distant parts of the city. The pilot, Mr. Frederick Ostrander, who was at the wheel, was blown to a considerable distance, and fell on the hurricane deck of the steamer Yazoo City. One of his thighs was dislocated and his hip broken by the fall. It is mentioned as a remarkable circumstance, that Mr. Ostrander's hat was blown in an opposite direction, and fell on another boat. The pilot house which this gentleman had occupied, after ascending to a great height, came down on the forecastle of the steamer James Pitcher, occasioning some damage to that vessel. The wheel, (or a part of the steering apparatus,) which Mr. Ostrander held at the time of the explosion, appears to have been *annihilated*, as not the smallest fragment of it could be found afterwards. Mr. Powell, the second pilot, who was sitting on the boiler-deck, reading a newspaper, was never seen after the explosion. The cook was cut in two by a piece of the boiler; one part of his body was blown forward near the jack-staff, and the other part remained near the machinery. Capt. Turpin himself received an injury in the thigh, but was still active in affording his assistance to the other sufferers. Capt.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

B. M. Martin, of the Belle Poule, was wounded by a piece of the boiler, and died a few hours after. At least forty-five others were killed, and comparatively few of their names, (as usual in such cases,) are on record. The universal excitement and consternation which prevail on board of the vessel where an explosion takes place, renders an accurate statement of particulars almost impossible. After the explosion, the boat drifted a short distance down the stream and sunk. All the cargo was lost.

The ladies and children in the cabin escaped injury, except a small girl, who was badly scalded. One dead body was taken from the wreck; it was that of a man who had his legs literally blown away, and was otherwise mangled. Three others died in a short time. Two of the dead bodies remained all night in the watch-house yard, exposed until eleven o'clock next day, in order to be recognized by their friends, if possible. The officers of the boat were Robert Smith, first mate, slightly scalded; J. F. Lee, clerk, bruised; John Orrick, bar-keeper, badly hurt; Samuel Hays, first engineer, scalded; John Hazzard, second engineer, killed; Hannibal, a slave of the captains, killed; Theodore Ostrander, pilot, severely hurt; Mr. Powell, second pilot, lost; George W. Wood-hull, clerk of the steamer Belle Poule, killed; Luther Hathaway, mate of the same boat, badly injured; John Milton, New Albany, Ind., killed; Mr. Martin, Tenn., badly scalded; Mrs. Decker and child, killed.

**KILLED.**—Z. Vanstover, Hermann, Mo.; Mrs. Lecrist, Louisville; O. Doughty, P. Fishback and N. Drake, Cincinnati, Ohio; B. Williamson, St. Louis; D. B. Short, South Carolina; Miss Tree, England; three firemen, names unknown; Dunn O'Flarety and Patrick Murphy, belonging to the boat; M. Music, New York; Andrew Dearborn, New Castle, Ind.; Dennis Cochran and Samuel Felt, Maine; Thomas Farrell, Rhode Island; — Simpson, Texas; W. E. Wilbur, New Orleans; A. Spotts, Ala.; F. Hogart, Evansville, Ind.; — Franklin, Tenn.; Hilburn Carter and D. Epsome, Canada; besides several others whose bodies were not recognized after being taken from the water.

*Cabin Passengers Saved.*—Miss McCord and child, Miss Lydia Page, Miss Sarah Smith and Mrs. Harriet Cook, all of Mobile; and Miss Elmira Lacy, Cincinnati, Ohio.

## EXPLOSION OF THE KNOXVILLE.

On the 17th day of December, 1850, the steamboat Knoxville exploded at New Orleans, just as she was leaving the wharf at the foot of Gravier Street. The flues of both boilers collapsed, tearing all the upper works forward of the wheel-house to pieces. One of the boilers

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

was projected through the guards of the steamer Martha Washington, which was lying at the same wharf, passing entirely through the cabin of that vessel and entering the ladies' cabin of the Griffin Greatman. Another boiler was carried by the force of the explosion one hundred and fifty yards across the levee, knocking down two large piles of flour barrels; but, happily, no person was injured in its transit, although it passed over the heads of a crowd of people standing on the wharf. An iron chest was blown high in the air, and fell on the steamboat Buck-eye, lying at a considerable distance below. The steamboat Ne-Plus-Ultra, which lay near the Knoxville, was much shattered; and the commander, Capt. Robinson, was badly scalded. The Knoxville took fire, but by the prompt assistance of the firemen of New Orleans the flames were extinguished. There were eighteen passengers on the boat at the time

EXPLOSION OF THE KNOXVILLE.

of the accident, a majority of whom were killed or missing. The Martha Washington, which lay nearly in contact with the Knoxville, was much damaged, all her upper works being swept away. We subjoin a list of the killed and wounded among the boat's crew; the names of those passengers who suffered were never ascertained, but their number is estimated to be not less than sixteen.

**KILLED.**—William Dowdy, second engineer; the bar-keeper and third engineer, names not mentioned, and sixteen passengers.

**WOUNDED.**—Capt. Irvin; Abraham Young and Henry Turner, cooks; B. H. Franklin and William Henry, pilots; Patrick Conelly, J. Collins, John Burke, Peter Millen, John Burns and Patrick Cannon, firemen; George Stackhouse; George Oldham; James Johnston, first engineer; William Bowen, clerk; and the bar-keeper of the Martha Washington.

SKETCH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

THE Mississippi is the most important river in North America, and with the Missouri, its principal affluent, the longest in the world. It rises on the Hauteurs de Terre, the dividing ridge between the Red River of the north, and the streams flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, three thousand one hundred and sixty miles from the Gulf, and sixteen hundred and eighty feet above the level of the ocean, lat. 47° N., long. 95° 54' W. A small pool, fed by the neighboring hills, discharges a little rivulet, scarcely a span in breadth, meandering over sand and pebbles; and blending here and there with a kindred streamlet, it ripples on, forming a number of basins, until it subsides at last into Itasca Lake. From this issues a second stream, giving promise of the strength of its maturity, first flowing northward through several small lakes, and then in various directions, forming Cass Lake, Lake Winnipeg, and a number of other bodies of water. It afterwards assumes a southerly course, receives mighty rivers as tributaries, and having rolled its vast volume through more than eighteen degrees of latitude, enters the Gulf of Mexico by several mouths, lat. 29° N., long. 89° 25' W. Though above the junction not so large as the Missouri which flows into it from the north-west, twelve hundred and fifty three miles from the Gulf, yet having been first explored, it received the name "Mississippi," which it has since retained throughout its entire course.

If we regard the Missouri as a continuation of the Mississippi above the junction, the entire length will amount to about four thousand three hundred and fifty miles. Above the confluence of the two rivers, the waters of the Mississippi are remarkably clear; but after commingling with those of the Missouri, they become exceedingly turbid, and contain about four tenths of sedimentary matter. The Missouri river, ("the Mud river,".) which is the longest tributary stream in the world, has its source in the Rocky mountains, lat. 45° N., long. 110° 30' W. The springs which give rise to this turbulent river, are not more than a mile from the head waters of the Columbia, which flows westerly to the Pacific ocean. At a distance of four hundred and eleven miles from the source of the Missouri, are what are denominated the "Gates of the Rocky mountains." For a distance of nearly six miles, the rocks here rise perpendicularly from the water's edge to a height of one thousand two hundred feet. The river here is about one hundred and fifty yards wide, and for the first three miles there is only one spot, and that of but a few yards in extent, on which a man could stand between the water and the perpendicular walls. At a distance of one hundred and ten miles below this, and two thousand five hundred and seventy-five miles above the mouth of the Missouri are the "Great Falls." Here the river descends by a succession of falls and rapids, three hundred and fifty-nine feet in sixteen and a half miles. The perpendicular falls are, the first, twenty-six feet, the second, forty-seven feet, the third, twenty feet, and the fourth, eighty-nine feet. Between and below these are continual rapids of from three to eighteen feet descent, forming the grandest view perhaps in the world, surpassing in beauty of scenery and magnitude the falls of Niagara.

The bed of the Missouri commences at the confluence of three small streams, about equal in length, and running nearly parallel to each other, called Jefferson's Madison's, and Gallatin's forks. The Yellow Stone river, which is eight hundred yards wide at its mouth, is the longest tributary of the Missouri, and enters it from the southwest, twelve hundred and sixteen miles from its navigable source. The two rivers at their junction are about equal in size. Steamboats ascend to this point, and can ascend farther, both by the main stream and its affluent. Chi-
enne river, which is four hundred yards wide at its mouth, enters the Missouri from the south-

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162 SKETCH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

west, thirteen hundred and ten miles from its mouth. White river, which is three hundred
yards wide at its mouth, enters the Missouri from the southwest, eleven hundred and thirty
miles from its mouth. The Big Sioux river is one hundred and ten yards wide, and enters
the Missouri from the northeast, eight hundred and fifty-four miles from its mouth. Platte
river is six hundred yards wide, and enters the Missouri from the southwest, six hundred
miles from its mouth. Kansas river is two hundred and thirty-four yards wide, and enters
the Missouri from the southwest, three hundred and forty-four miles from its mouth. Grand
River is one hundred and eighty-nine yards wide, and joins it from the north, two hundred and
forty miles from its mouth; and Osage river, which is three hundred and ninety-eight yards
wide, flows into the Missouri from the southwest, one hundred and thirty-three miles from its
junction with the main stream. The Missouri river is three thousand and ninety-six miles
long to its confluence with the Mississippi; add to this twelve hundred and fifty-three miles,
the distance its waters must flow to reach the Gulf of Mexico, and the entire length, is four
thousand three hundred and forty-nine miles. Through the greater part of its course, the
Missouri is a rapid, turbid, and very dangerous stream to navigate. No serious obstacle,
however, is presented to navigation from its mouth to the great falls, a distance of two thou-
sand five hundred and seventy-five miles, excepting, perhaps, its shallowness during the sea-
son of the greatest drought, and the innumerable snags which are firmly imbedded in the
river, by which boats sometimes meet with the greatest difficulty in ascending or descending
it. The flood from this river does not reach the Mississippi river, till the rise in the Red, the
Arkansas, and the Ohio rivers has nearly subsided. Vast prairies, with narrow strips of allu-
vium skirting the streams, compose the Missouri basin, excepting the upper portion of the river,
which flows through an arid and sterile region. The entire extent of area drained by this
river and its tributaries, is estimated at six hundred thousand square miles. The first five hun-
dred miles of its course to the great falls is nearly north, then inflecting E. N. E., it reaches
its extreme northern bend, at the junction of White Earth river, lat. 48° 20' N. After this its
general course is southeast till it empties into the Mississippi river, eighteen miles above St.
Louis, and twelve hundred and eighteen miles above New Orleans, lat. 38° 50' N., long. 90°
10' W. The other principal tributaries of the Mississippi river from the northwest and west,
are the St. Peters, or Minnesota, which empties into it two thousand one hundred and ninety-
two miles from its mouth, and the Des Moines, White, Red, and Arkansas rivers. Those
emptying into it from the northeast and east, are the Wisconsin, which enters it nineteen hun-
dred and thirty-four miles from its mouth; the Illinois river flows into it five hundred and
six miles below, and the Ohio joins it, one thousand and fifty-three miles from the
Gulf of Mexico. The Arkansas river, next to the Missouri, is the largest affluent of the Mis-
sissippi; it rises in the Rocky Mountains near the boundary between Utah and the Indian
Territory, and pursues an easterly course several hundred miles. Near the ninety-eighth de-
gree of west longitude, it turns and flows south-eastward, to Fort Smith, on the western bound-
dary of Arkansas; continuing in the same general direction, it traverses that state, dividing it
into two nearly equal portions, and empties itself into the Mississippi at Helena, four hundred
miles below the mouth of the Ohio, and six hundred miles above New Orleans, in lat. 33° 54'
N., long. 91° 10' W. Its whole length exceeds two thousand miles. The current is not ob-
structed by falls or rapids, and is navigable by steamboats, during about nine months of the
year, for a distance of eight hundred miles from its mouth. The difference between high and
low water in this river is about twenty-eight feet; it is from three-eighths to half a mile wide
throughout the last six hundred miles of its course. White River is the next largest tributary
of the Mississippi; it is formed by three small branches which rise among the Ozark Moun-
tains, and unite a few miles east of Fayetteville, Arkansas; it flows first north-easterly into
Missouri, and after making a circuit of one hundred and ten miles, returns into Arkansas, and
pursues a south-easterly course to the mouth of Black River, which is its largest affluent from this
point; its direction is nearly southward until it enters the Mississippi, fifteen miles above the
mouth of the Arkansas. The whole length of White river exceeds eight hundred miles, and is
navigable by steamboats, in all stages of water, to the mouth of Black river, three hundred
and fifty miles above its mouth; and during a large portion of the year they can run to Bates-

["SKETCH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.", "ville, about fifty miles higher. In very high water, boats have gone several hundred miles further up into Missouri. The navigation is not obstructed by ice in the winter. Below Batesville the channel is about four feet deep throughout the year, and is one of the most delightful and placid streams in the world.", "Red River is the southernmost of the great tributaries of the Mississippi. It rises in two branches, called the North and South Forks, which unite near lat. 34° 30' N., and long. 100° W. The principal or southern branch has its source in lat. 34° 42' N., long. 103° 7' 10\" W., in New Mexico, just beyond the west boundary of Texas; and the North fork in lat. 35° 35' 3\" N., long. 101° 55' W., within a degree of the north boundary of Texas. After the junction of the two forks, the stream varies but little from a due east course till it reaches Fulton, in Arkansas, where it turns to the south, and pursues that direction, with a slight inclination to the east, till near Natchitoches, from whence it runs a little south of east. The main or southern branch has its sources in deep and narrow fissures in the north-east part of the Llano Estacado, an elevated and barren plain, at an altitude of two thousand four hundred and sixty-one feet above the level of the sea. For the first sixty miles the escarpments rise from five hundred to eight hundred feet, so directly from the water's edge, that, in many instances, a skiff must take the channel of the stream to proceed. After leaving the Llano Estacado the river flows through an arid prairie country, almost entirely destitute of trees, over a broad bed of light shifting sands, for a distance of five hundred miles, following its sinuosites. It then enters a country covered with gigantic forest trees, grown upon a soil of the most pre-eminent fertility. Here the borders contract, and the water, for a considerable portion of the year, washes both banks, carrying the loose alluvium from one side and depositing it on the other, in such a manner as to produce constant changes in the channel, and to render navigation difficult. This character continues throughout the remainder of its course to the Delta of the Mississippi; and in this section it is subject to heavy inundations, which often flood the bottoms to such a degree as to destroy the crops, and occasionally, on subsiding, leaving a deposit of white sand, and rendering the soil barren and worthless. The entire length of Red River, including the South Fork, is estimated at two thousand one hundred miles, the main stream being about one thousand two hundred miles long. During eight months of the year steamboats regularly navigate it from New Orleans to Shreveport, a distance of about seven hundred and fifty miles, and the navigation is good in all stages of water to Alexandria. The most serious obstacle to the navigation of the upper part of Red river is the \"great raft,\" which consists of an immense mass of drift wood and trees, which have been brought down several hundred miles by the current, and lodged here, obstructing the channel for a distance of seventy-five miles, and inundating the adjacent country. In 1834, '35 it was removed by Capt. Henry M. Shreve (who was employed by the general government) at an expense of three hundred thousand dollars; but being left many years without snag-boats to keep it clear, another and more serious raft has been formed, the lower part of which is now about thirty miles above Shreveport, and is continually growing, so that in a few years more this important stream will be rendered entirely unnu
The Yazoo river is another prominent tributary to the Mississippi. It is formed by the Tallahatchee and Yallabusha rivers, which unite at Leflore, in Carroll County, Mississippi. It then pursues a very serpentine course, the general direction of which is South by West. The length of the main stream is about two hundred and ninety miles. It is a deep, narrow, and sluggish stream, traversing an alluvial plain of extreme fertility, which is mostly occupied by plantations of cotton. It is probably not surpassed in navigable qualities by any river in the world of equal size. Steamboats ascend it from its mouth to its origin in all stages of water, and at all seasons of the year. The Tallahatchee, the largest branch, is perhaps as long as the Yazoo itself, and is navigable by steamboats more than one hundred miles. The Yazoo empties into the Mississippi twelve miles above Vicksburg.\nThe descent of the Mississippi from its source to its embouchure averages over six inches", "", ""]

165

to the mile. The elevation of the various points are at its extreme source sixteen hundred and eighty feet. Itasca lake, fifteen hundred and seventy-five feet; falls of St. Anthony, eight hundred and fifty-six feet; Prairie Du Chien, six hundred and forty-two feet; St. Louis, three hundred and eighty-two feet; mouth of the Ohio, three hundred and twenty-four feet; Natchez, eighty-six feet; entrance of the Red river, seventy-six feet, and opposite New Orleans, ten and a-half feet. The only falls of any considerable note in this river are those of St. Anthony, which have a perpendicular fall of eighteen feet, with rapids above and below, making in all about sixty-eight feet descent in three quarters of a mile. The scenery here is grand and picturesque, especially at the time of the spring floods. The rapids of Pecagama are six hundred and eighty-five miles above the falls of St. Anthony. The river there is compressed to a width of eighty feet, and precipitated over a rugged bed of sandstone at an angle of 40°. The entire descent at this point is about twenty feet in three hundred yards. Below the falls of St. Anthony the river is navigable for steamboats. A considerable obstruction, however, is offered when the water is low, by the rapids, about nine miles in extent, a short distance above the entrance of the Des Moines river, near Keokuk, and the upper rapids, which commence below Muscatine, Iowa. These rapids are a serious obstacle to the navigation of the Upper Mississippi, and it is to be hoped that the general government will improve them at once. The average depth of the Mississippi below the mouth of the Ohio, varies from ninety to one hundred and twenty feet, and the breadth from six hundred to twelve hundred yards. Opposite New Orleans the river is one third of a mile wide, and one hundred feet deep. The mean velocity of the current at this place is about two feet per second, or thirty-three miles per day. Between the Gulf and the entrance of the Missouri river, it is from sixty to seventy miles per day. Above the mouth of the Missouri the current is less rapid. A peculiarity of the Lower Mississippi is its extremely winding course. Sometimes a bend of thirty miles will occur, where the distance across the neck does not exceed a mile. This circumstance, no doubt, tends to check the current, and facilitate navigation. One of the important facts in relation to this great river, is that it flows from North to South. A river that runs East or West has no variety of climate or productions from its source to its mouth. The course of this stream being from North to South, spring advances in a reverse direction, and releases in succession the waters of the lower valley, then of the middle section, and finally the remote sources of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is a remarkable fact that the waters from this last named region do not reach the Delta until upwards of a month after the inundation there has been abating. The swell usually commences towards the end of February, and continues to rise by unequal diurnal accretions till the first of June, when the waters again begin to subside.

No experience will enable a person to anticipate, with any degree of certainty, the elevation of the flood in any given year. In some seasons, the waters do not rise above their channels; in others, the entire lower valley of the Mississippi is submerged. Embankments called levees have been raised from five to ten feet high, on both sides of the stream, extending many miles above and below New Orleans. By this means the river is restrained within its proper limits, except at the greatest freshets, when the waters sometimes break over everything, causing great destruction to property, and sometimes loss of life. The average height of the flood from the Delta to the junction of the Missouri is above sixteen feet. At the mouth of the latter river it is twenty-five feet. Below the entrance of the Ohio river the rise is often fifty-five feet. At Natchez, it seldom exceeds thirty feet; and at New Orleans, about twelve feet. What goes with the water? It is known that the difference between high and low water mark, as high up as White river, is about thirty-six feet, and the current at high water mark runs near seven miles per hour, and opposite to New Orleans the difference between high and low water mark is only twelve feet, and the current little over three miles to the hour. The width and depth of the river being the same, from which we calculate that near six times as much water passes by the mouth of White river as by New Orleans. What goes with the excess? The only solution we can offer is, that it escapes by the bayous "Plaquemine," "Lafouche" and "Iberville," but when we calculate the width, depth and current of these bayous they fall vastly short of affording a sufficient escapement. The true explanation can, we think, be given. At low water,

166

throughout the whole extent, we see a land structure exposed, underlying the bank, or that the alluvial structure on which the plantations are, is a structure of deposit made by the river above its low water mark, which, opposite to the mouth of White river, is thirty feet thick. As you descend, the river diminishes in volume as the difference between high and low water mark diminishes and nearly corresponds to it, and wherever the bottom is exposed it shows through-out the whole extent that the bottom is *pure coarse sand*; exhibiting at many places the *ocean shingle*, through the superimposed alluvial structure mixed with fine sand. The water percolates with such facility and rapidity that the water in a well dug at a considerable distance from the river bank rises and falls with the rise and fall of the river, not varying an inch, and through the coarse sand and shingles of the bottom, it passes as rapidly as through a common sieve.

By the accurate surveys of several scientific engineers, it is ascertained that the fall of the Mississippi river is four inches to the mile. The distance from Natchez to New Orleans of three hundred miles will give twelve hundred inches, or one hundred feet. The depth of the river is less than fifty feet at high-water mark. The river debouches into the ocean from a promontory made by itself. The surface of the ocean, by measurement, below the bottom of the river, above New Orleans, corresponds with the low-water mark below New Orleans, therefore the Mississippi river is pouring through its own bottom into the ocean, the superimposed weight giving lateral pressure to hurry the subterranean current. If the reader has ever stood upon a Mississippi sand-bar in a hard rain, or seen water poured from a bucket on the sand-bar, he has seen that neither can be done in sufficient quantity to produce any current or accumulation on the surface. The river is, therefore, from the time it comes below the lime-stone stratas of Missouri and Kentucky, wasting itself through its own bottom. If the Mississippi river had to pursue its course, like the Ohio, over rocky strata, walled in by rock and impervious clap banks, the high-water mark at New Orleans would reach one hundred feet above its present limit; but running over coarse sand, walled in by a deposit made of sand, ancient duluvial detritus, and vegetable mound, no more water reaches the ocean than the excess over the amount that permeates the surrounding structure and passes off in the process of percolation or transperation in a subterranean descent to the ocean. The river, without any restraint from rock or clay in the bottom or bank, is left free to the government of no other law than the law of hydrostatics. The washing, or wasting of the banks, cannot be prevented, though the caving or sliding of large portions at one time may be easily guarded against.

The Arkansas river, west of that state, receives several large tributaries, and is itself above their junction as large as the congregated rivers after their junction within the state. Within that state it has no more tributary before reaching the Mississippi river, which has within the said district, as a consequence, a rise of fifteen or twenty feet. Sometimes it enters the stem of the main river without producing any rise at its mouth, unless the supply is maintained for a considerable time; thus the far-famed Niger of Africa, whose mouth has never been found, may be lost and wasted in the great sand plains of the Desert of Sahara, and its subterranean flood may again be collected on the surface of a subterranean stratum of rock, and projected on the surface of the earth, sustaining the opinion of Pliny, that the Niger is a western and main tributary of the Nile. The flood of the Mississippi river often carries away large masses of earth, with trees, which frequently become imbedded in the mud at one end, while the other floats near the surface, forming snags and sawyers. So changeable are the channels of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, that to be a competent pilot, it is necessary to make trips every few weeks on these rivers, otherwise sight is lost of the channel, so suddenly does it change from one side of the river to the other. Eight hundred and sixteen steamboats are employed on the Mississippi river and its tributaries, the total tonnage of which amounts to 326,443 tons, besides twenty-three hundred flat boats and barges which are in constant operation. The total value of the steamboats annually afloat on the western rivers, is estimated at nearly $20,000,000, and the commerce at $200,000,000. The area of country drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, is over 2,000,000 square miles. This vast region, from its almost unexampled fertility, has obtained the title of the "Garden of the World."

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

167

EXPLOSION OF THE AUGUSTA.

The Augusta left Natchez, December 3d, 1838, for Vicksburg, with the ship Jeannette in tow. On the voyage the ship got aground, when the Augusta separated from her, and proceeded to a wood-pile, where she took in some fuel, and was making her way to another pile, when the pilot, seeing some floating timber ahead, rang the bell as a signal for the engine to be stopped. The machinery was accordingly stopped until the float had passed, when the bell was again rung as a signal for the engine to be put in motion. The engineer discovered, at this moment, that the engine was at the dead point, and he immediately ran back to turn the bar, but before he had time to return, the explosion took place, laying a great part of the boat in ruins. The boilers and all the machinery were broken to minute pieces; the social hall, with all its appurtenances, was shattered, according to the common phraseology, "into atoms," and nearly all the cabin was swept away; a small part of it adjoining the ladies' cabin was all that was left. The extent of the devastation proved that the force of the explosion was tremendous. Fortunately the Augusta had but few passengers on board, otherwise the loss of life would have been very great. The names of all the victims are not known. Five dead bodies were found on board, and doubtless others were blown into the water. A considerable number were hurt; some to that degree that the physicians were hopeless of their recovery. The pilot at the wheel, Mr. Lachapelle, with his pilot box, was blown overboard, the box being broken into two pieces during its transit. By using one of these pieces for a float, Mr. Lachapelle contrived to reach the shore.

The five persons found dead on board were, Leonard Brown, clerk; W. Henderson, first engineer; George Ward, merchant, Troy, Miss.; and John Wilson and Robert Smith, deck-hands.

The captain was never seen after the explosion, and there can be no doubt that he lost his life, being probably blown overboard and drowned.

BADLY WOUNDED.—*Deck Hands*—William Johnson, James White, James Innis, James Johnson, William McDonald, and another, name unknown. The barber was so badly hurt that he died on the following day.

SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.—William Taylor, second engineer, Henry Smith, and Lewis Lachapelle, pilot.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

169

Twenty-eight deck-hands and firemen were on board; when they were called together, some time after the explosion, only *eight* could be mustered. There was but one female passenger, and she escaped unhurt. When an examination was made of the pieces of boiler found on deck, no doubt remained that this explosion was the result of culpable negligence on the part of the engineer.

## EXPLOSION OF THE PERSIAN.

On the night of November 9th, 1840, the steamboat Persian collapsed her flues, on the Mississippi river, three miles below Napoleon, Ark. The Captain was asleep at the time of the accident, and, according to common rumor, the pilot was intoxicated. The boat had stopped to take in wood. Six persons were instantly killed by the explosion, seventeen died on the following day, and fifteen or sixteen others were supposed to be mortally wounded. The cabin passengers and the captain and clerk escaped uninjured.

**LIST OF THE KILLED**—Daniel Green, first engineer; John Williams, second mate; Oscar Brown and Washington Marks, colored firemen; six deck passengers, all of one family, named Floyd; John Cora, second cook; John O'Brien, deck passenger; Wm. S. Hanners, of Illinois; Mr. Fields, of Tennessee, and nine others, names unknown.

Thirty were scalded, with more or less severity.

## BURNING OF THE CLARKSVILLE.

The popular and beautiful steamer Clarksville, a regular packet boat between New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, was destroyed by fire near Ozark island, on the 27th day of May, 1848; thirty deck passengers, nearly all the crew, and the commander, Capt. Holmes, lost their lives. The cabin passengers were all saved. We have obtained the following particulars of this melancholy event:

As soon as the alarm of fire was given on board, the pilot steered for the island. At the moment her head touched the shore, the flames burst into the cabin, one of the boilers burst simultaneously, and, to aggravate the calamity still more, three kegs of gunpowder, which were among the freight, exploded at the same instant. Governor Poindexter, of Tennessee, who was one of the passengers, received some injuries. Most of the passengers lost their baggage, and none of the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

officers or crew saved anything. Captain Holmes acted most nobly throughout the trying scene, who, after swimming ashore with his wife, returned to the boat, and met his death in the honorable discharge of his duty. His first impulse was to save the female passengers. Rushing to the ladies' cabin, he prevailed on the affrighted occupants to take the chairs, with the life-preservers attached to them, and commit themselves to the water. He then threw the baggage, &c., overboard, to

BURNING OF THE CLARKSVILLE.

lessen the combustible material, and being now exhausted by his exertions, and half suffocated with smoke, he attempted to jump overboard, but striking against the lower guard, he fell among the burning ruins, and there perished.

The following details were furnished by a gentleman who was one of the surviving passengers of the Clarksville: The fire by which this noble boat was destroyed, was first discovered when she was about half a mile below Ozark island, at half-past 5 o'clock, P. M. Within a few minutes after the discovery of the fire, the boat reached the island to which the pilot had directed her course. The head of the steamer struck the ground, and all the passengers might easily have passed over the forecastle to the island, and many of them were saved in this way; but others, being apprehensive of an explosion, remained in the cabin until they were driven from thence by the progress of the flames, which had, by this time, cut off all retreat by the forward part

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

of the boat. All that could now be done by the persons who remained aft, was to throw themselves into the river, as the stern of the boat lay out from the shore. Governor Poindexter and his lady were both injured, the former slightly, and the latter severely. The first clerk escaped without hat or coat, but saved the books of the boat and the money. The fire originated immediately over the boiler, under the social hall, and made such rapid progress fore and aft, that all efforts to extinguish the flames were unavailing. The steamer Chalmetto took off the surviving passengers.

LIST OF THE KILLED.—Captain Holmes, master of the Clarksville; two ladies and a child, names unknown; Charles Quinn, a deck hand; the second steward, name not mentioned; Humphrey, Sam Johnson, Lewis, Peter Spicer, Sam Wilson, Prince, and Giles, colored firemen; a negro man, his wife and four children, slaves of a Mr. Russell; Sam, a slave of Gov. Poindexter; and a colored girl belonging to one of the passengers.

WOUNDED.—Governor Poindexter and lady; Mr. Barrow, and Mr. Lofton, of Memphis.

BURNING OF THE CREOLE.

The Creole was on her way from Nachitoches, on Red River, to New Orleans, with a full freight of cotton, and one hundred thousand dollars in specie, consigned to the Exchange Bank of New Orleans. She had, likewise, about one hundred passengers, including several entire families. At an early hour on Monday morning, February 22d, 1841, when the Creole had reached the mouth of Red River, she was discovered to be in flames, which spread with such rapidity as to preclude all hope of saving the vessel. The engineer and pilot remained at their posts until they were completely surrounded by the flames, and succeeded in running the boat to the nearest bank of the river, before the tiller-ropes were burned off. Unluckily, however, the bank which had been reached was steep and inaccessible; and the boat, when she struck against it, dislodged a quantity of earth, which fell on her bow, and caused her to bound off from the shore. She then became unmanageable, as the tiller-ropes by this time were consumed. Many of the passengers and crew were rescued by the steamers Baltic and Governor Pratt. The cargo, baggage and specie were all lost. The names of the killed are comprised in the following list:

KILLED.—The family of A. B. Church, consisting of two grown

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

daughters, himself and wife, and two colored servants; D. M. Delmonico, New Jersey; wife of John Abrams, St. Louis; A. Dutcher and daughter, Mobile; E. Fitch, New Orleans; A. Barker and wife, Tenn.; Miss Snow, of Montgomery, Ala.; John Floyd, W. Smith, and Edward Young, Miss.; four colored waiters; nine firemen, Irish; a German family, six in number; besides thirty-one persons who were more or less wounded.

## EXPLOSION OF THE EDWARD BATES.

A flue of the steamer Edward Bates collapsed on the Mississippi river, near Hamburg, Ill., on the 9th day of August, 1848, causing the death of fifty-three persons, and wounding forty others. The particulars are unknown, as few of those who witnessed the disaster survived to tell the melancholy story. The names of some of the killed and wounded have been preserved, and will be found in the following list:

**KILLED**—William Chamberlain, Mr. White, Mr. Rarridon, and Mr. Haines, deck passengers; Mrs. Bowen and nephew; Mrs. John Bowen and child; Mrs. Susan Bowen and child; Mr. Eades and two children; Master Eades, his nephew; John Brown, Andrew Hatfield, and Eli Delmay, deck hands; Geo. Matson and John Lenan, firemen; Henry Johnson, Wm. Parks, G. W. Lyons, J. Holliday, Wm. Amet, Frederic Smith, colored fireman, and Isaac Dozier.

Thirteen dead bodies, exclusive of the above, were afterwards picked up at Hamburg.

**WOUNDED**—George Blackwell, T. B. Ewing, D. E. Cameron, Samuel Simpson, Preston Leiper, Le Roy Jenkins, E. B. Morrison and wife, (badly,) M. Vansel, James Cook, J. H. Simpson, Master Bowen, Mr. Eades, E. T. Hudson, H. M. Swazy, J. Righter, and friend.

**MORTALLY WOUNDED**—George Watt, Samuel Dolsey, Wm. Wells, John Montague, Silas Bowman, Samuel Ferguson, T. M. McDonald, Joseph Morrison, Jacob Andrews, F. Turner, Jno. Swan, and Wm. Robinson.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

177

BURNING OF THE PHœNIX.

This terrible accident occurred about four o'clock on the morning of the 21st of November, 1847, on Lake Michigan, within seventeen miles of Sheboygan. The fire was first discovered under the deck, near the back end of the boiler; but it soon spread in every direction through the boat. There were more than two hundred passengers on board, and it soon became manifest that, with the means of escape which offered, not more than one-third of them could be saved. The excitement, consternation and despair which then prevailed among so many people doomed to a horrible death, cannot be depicted by any human language. About thirty of the passengers betook themselves to the small boats, which would contain no more, and they were taken up by the steamer Delaware, which soon hove in sight, but not in time to save those who remained on board the Phœnix, more than one hundred and sixty persons, all of whom were drowned or burnt to death.

The commander of the Phœnix, Capt. Sweet, was just recovering from a severe illness, and was still confined to his state-room, at the time the vessel took fire. He escaped, however, in one of the small boats, and was taken up by the Delaware. A large number of the passengers were Hollanders emigrating to the West. The following relation was given by Mr. House the engineer. Mr. House remained at his post until the flames fairly drove him into the water. Seizing a broad-axe, he separated with a single stroke a rope which sustained a piece of timber called a "fender," used to prevent the sides of the boat from chafing against a wharf. As soon as this fender fell into the water, Mr. House leaped after it, but in his first efforts to get hold of it, he only pushed it further from him; and at that moment, a tall and vigorous emigrant jumped into the water, and endeavored to gain possession of the piece of timber, to which Mr. House trusted for his own preservation. However, the Hollander could not swim, and before he could reach the piece of wood he disappeared under the water, leaving Mr. House in uncontested possession of the frail support. When it is considered that this accident took place in the latter part of November, and that the water of the lake was almost in a freezing condition, some idea may be formed of the effort required when the chilled and benumbed passengers were laboring to keep themselves afloat on the various articles of cabin furniture, &c., which had been thrown overboard for that pur-

12

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE PHŒNIX.

Very few of them indeed were able, in such trying circum-
stances, to support themselves on the surface of the lake until assist-
ance arrived. Mr. House soon discovered that the piece of wood
which he had detached from the boat was not sufficient to sustain him,
but he fortunately obtained possession of a state-room door, which
drifted within his reach, and by attaching this with his neck-cloth to
the fender, he formed a raft, large and buoyant enough to assure him
of preservation from drowning; but his sufferings from the cold were
almost insupportable. When he first betook himself to the water, he
was surrounded by many others, who were striving hard to prolong
their existence until relief might providentially be afforded; but one
after another sunk, chilled and exhausted, into the long sleep of death.
Very soon he found himself almost companionless on the bosom of the
lake. In this frightful and agonizing situation, tortured almost beyond
endurance, with both mental and corporal anguish, he remained for
two hours. At last, when almost tempted to abandon his raft, and
precipitate himself on that fate which seemed most likely to overtake
him eventually, he discerned the lights on board of a steamboat which
was rapidly approaching. Two or three persons were still clinging to
settees, boards, &c., and he exhorted them in the most earnest manner
to retain their grasp a little while longer, as relief was at hand. He ad-
dressed himself particularly to a lady, who had hitherto sustained her-
self on a floating settee with admirable heroism; he directed her at-
tention to the approaching boat, which was now scarcely a furlong dis-
tant; but alas! her emotions at the prospect of deliverance seemed to
overcome her more than the fear of death itself; for at this instant
she swooned away, lost her grasp on the bench, and sunk to her final

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

resting place under the deep, blue waters. When the approaching steamer, which proved to be the propeller Delaware, arrived at the spot, Mr. House was the only person found alive. The propeller had already succored those passengers who had escaped from the burning steamer in the small boats. All who had remained on the Phœnix, and all who had thrown themselves into the lake, with but one exception, had perished.

At this time the blazing vessel presented a most awful and sublime spectacle. The hull was a complete bed of fire, which, bursting in flames from the sides, at times streamed far out over the waters, and then curled aloft, till flame meeting flame, the combined fiery current rushed furiously upward till it appeared to be lost in the clouds. When Mr. House, alone on his raft, beheld this grand, but dreadful object, the shrouds and rigging were covered with human beings, who sought safety there rather than in the waters. Their terror-marked features were lighted up by the ghastly glare of the flames, and as the fire reached them in their retreat, one after another fell, shrieking, into the fiery furnace below. One man reached the cross-trees (an elevated position on the mast), where he lashed himself, and there he remained till all his companions had fallen, and the mast went by the board; but in the mean-time he was roasted to death by the fervid heat. While the boat was burning, and all prospects of relief were cut off, some betook themselves to quiet prayer, others shrieked for aid, or uttered phrensied exclamations of despair, and others bowed in meek submission to the fiat of an overruling Providence. As the flames advanced, one voice after another was hushed in death, and finally a stillness, awful and profound, told the horrified spectator that the scene of suffering was finished.

This disaster is supposed to have occasioned a greater loss of life than any other steamboat accident which ever occurred on the American lakes. The greater number of those who perished were the Holland emigrants, whose names are unknown. Mr. House, the engineer, who related the particulars contained in this narrative, was personally acquainted with some of the American passengers who were lost, and their names only are preserved in the following list, given by Mr. H. himself.

**PASSENGERS LOST.**—Mr. West, lady, and child, of Racine, Wis.; Mr. Heath and sister, of Little Fort; Mrs. Long and child, of Milwaukee; S. Burroughs, of Chicago; D. Blish, Southport; two Misses Hazelton, of Sheboygan; twenty-five other cabin passengers, names unknown to Mr. House; six or eight steerage passengers, and about one hundred and fifty Hollanders.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

OFFICERS AND CREW OF THE BOAT LOST.—D. W. Keller, steward, of Cleveland, Ohio; J. C. Smith, saloon keeper, of Buffalo, N. Y.; N. Merrill, second mate, of Ohio city; W. Owen, second engineer, of Toledo, Ohio; H. Robinson, porter, Chicago; J. Nugent, fireman, of Buffalo. Deck Hands.—T. Harsey, T. Ferteau, of River St. Clair; J. Murdock and A. Murdock, of Canada; George —, cabin boy; H. Tisdale, of Cleveland, (body found;) wheelsman, name not remembered; L. Southworth, of New Bedford; and two colored cooks, of Detroit.

The names of those saved were Capt. Sweet, Ohio city; Mr. Doni-
hoe, clerk, River St. Clair; engineer, M. W. House, Cleveland; wheels-
man, A. G. Kelso, Ohio city; deck hand, J. Moon, Cleveland; fireman,
Michael O'Brien, Buffalo; second porter, R. Watts, Cleveland.

The Phœnix had as large a load of passengers and freight as she could
carry.

The loss of life was the largest which ever occurred on the lakes,
and the property lost was immense. It is supposed that those
one hundred and fifty Hollanders had considerable money with them,
as they were seeking a location in the West; but how uncertain is life!
It is indeed mournful to record this sad catastrophe.

SINKING OF THE TALISMAN.

Before daylight on the morning of November 19th, 1847, the
steamboats Talisman and Tempest came in collision on the Mississippi
river, half a mile below Cape Girardeau. The Talisman was struck
forward of the boilers, and sunk within ten minutes. The Tempest,
which was but slightly damaged, rounded to, and came to the relief of
the Talisman's crew and passengers. The officers and crews of both
steamers exerted themselves to save life and property; but to the dis-
grace of human nature, it is related that a number of heartless and
conscienceless scoundrels came in small boats to the scene of the dis-
aster, and totally regardless of the supplications of the drowning pas-
sengers who implored their aid, they betook themselves to plunder,
seizing on the floating baggage, and every other article of value which
came within their reach. One of the villains engaged in these nefarious
operations was a resident of Cincinnati, and bore the name of Barnes.
His Christian name, (if he ever had any,) is not mentioned, or gladly
would we give it to the public; still more gladly would we

> "Place in every honest hand a whip
> To lash the rascal naked through the world."

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Several of the crew and many of the deck passengers were drowned. Two or three families of German emigrants, numbering about twenty-five persons, were among the passengers. Ten persons, all of one family, were lost. An effort was made to rescue the bodies of the persons drowned by means of the diving bell. A young German, who was unable to speak a word of English, continued to wander about the deck of the Tempest, wringing his hands and making exclamations of distress; his eyes were fixed upon the river, as if he expected the deep waters to give up the wife and children they had taken from him. The fate of Mr. Butler, the engineer, was particularly distressing. He

SINKING OF THE TALISMAN.

was on watch, and although he saw at once and was told repeatedly that the boat was sinking, he refused to leave his post until the water was up to his waist. It was then too late to save himself, and, being unable to withstand the rush of water, he was borne back among the machinery, and drowned. An interesting young married couple, whose names were unknown to the people of the boat and to their fellow passengers, were among the victims of this calamity. The young gentleman was a good swimmer and might have saved himself; but perished in a vain attempt to save the life of his bride. These two were the only cabin passengers lost; all the rest of the drowned were deck passengers, or persons belonging to the boat. Fifty-one persons, men, women and children, are known to have been drowned by this accident, and probably as many more, who are not designated in the annexed list.

*Persons known to have been drowned.*—Mrs. Nicholls, Mrs. Keziah Bennett, Sarah Bennett, her daughter, aged ten years, Belinda Bennett, another child of Mrs. B., aged eighteen months, Thomas Bennett,

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

aged eight years, and Frances Bennett, aged six years, also children
of Mrs. B., Miss Charlotte Cady, Miss Eleanor Cady, Eliza Stone,
aged two years. (All of these were from Morgan County, Ohio, mov-
ing to Schuyler County, Ill. They were travelling under the protec-
tion of John B. Stone, whose little daughter was lost with the rest.)
E. Williams, Johnson O'Neil, deck-hands from Pittsburgh; John Tho-
mas Butler, chief engineer; two children of Mr. Thomas Pryor; six-
teen German emigrants, whose names were not entered in the books ;
nine negroes belonging to Mr. R. R. Buchner, of Calloway County,
Missouri; two young men from Armstrong County, Pa., and a family
of ten persons from Illinois, names unknown.

An intelligent man, who was one of the survivors, stated that the
deck was crowded with passengers, and the boiler deck was so thronged
with passengers, freight, and live stock, that he (the narrator) could
scarcely find a place to lie down. He estimated the number of deck
passengers at one hundred and fifty, and supposed that half of them,
at least, were drowned. Only four or five bodies, among them the
two children of Mr. Pryor, were recovered by means of the diving-bell.
Mr. Cady, the father of the two young ladies mentioned in the fore-
going list, used many efforts to recover their remains, but did not suc-
ceed. It is conjectured that most of the bodies were carried to a great
distance by the current.

EXPLOSION OF THE KATE FLEMING.

The steamer Kate Fleming, Captain Dunham, on her way from Lou-
isville to Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio river, exploded near Walk-
er's Landing, on Saturday, October 5, 1850, at 12 o'clock, M. She
had been aground on Walker's bar, but had got off, and the bell had
given the signal to "go ahead slowly," when after a few revolutions
of the water-wheel, the boiler exploded, dislodging the furnace, and
setting fire to the boat which burned to the water's edge.

LIST OF THE KILLED—E. Y. Bocock, Christian C. Odell, barkeeper;
Annette, colored chambermaid; Jeffrey, colored steward; John, cabin
boy; Hutchinson, a slave of Mr. Moore, of Miss.; a fireman and a
deck-hand, and a Mr. Jennings, of New Albany.

WOUNDED—Capt. Dunham; J. Thornby, of Miss.; the steward of
the Kate Fleming; the mate and second cook of do., and several of
the deck passengers. Mr. Weld, of Louisiana, was badly bruised.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Capt. Dunham, Capt. Quarrier, and Mr. Lowry, with several others, were standing on the hurricane deck, and were all blown up several feet in the air. Captains Dunham and Quarrier fell on the bow of the boat; the others fell into the river, and saved themselves by swimming.

The safe, containing a large amount of money, some of which belonged to the boat, and some deposited by the passengers, was blown into the river, and was supposed to be irrecoverably lost. Very few of the passengers saved their baggage and clothing, though some had sufficient presence of mind to throw their trunks overboard.

## EXPLOSION OF THE ANGLO-NORMAN.

The new and beautiful steamer Anglo Norman, left New Orleans December 14, 1850, on an experimental trip, having on board a large "pleasure party," consisting of two hundred and ten persons. She proceeded in an admirable style some distance up the river, satisfying all on board that she was a first-rate sailer, and giving promise of a brilliant career in the future; but having tacked and directed her course back to the city, all her boilers exploded at the same moment, shattering a considerable part of the boat, and killing and wounding nearly half the people on board.

Mr. H. A. Kidd, editor of the New Orleans Crescent, was one of the excursionists, and was reported among the killed; but he lived to give a graphic account of his miraculous escape from death, which account he somewhat eccentrically entitled "The Experience of a Blown-up Man." Mr. Kidd says:

"Mr. Bigny, one of the editors of the Delta, and myself, took the only two chairs remaining unoccupied on the deck; his chair having the back towards the pilot-house, and mine with its back to the chimney. It will be seen at once that we had seated ourselves immediately over the monster boilers of the boat.

We had been engaged in conversation but a very few moments, when a jet of hot water, accompanied with steam, was forced out of the main pipe just aft the chimney, and fell near us in a considerable shower. I had never noticed anything of the kind before, and thought the occurrence very extraordinary. Just as I was about remarking this to Mr. Bigny, I was suddenly lifted high in the air, *how* high it is impossible for me to say. I have a distinct recollection of passing rather irregularly through the air, enveloped, as it seemed to me, in a dense cloud, through which no object was discernible. There was a sufficient

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

191

lapse of time for me to have a distinct impression on my mind that I
must inevitably be lost. In what position I went into the water, and
to what depth I went, I have not the slightest idea. When I arose to
the surface, I wiped the water from my face, and attempted to obtain
a view of things around me, but this I was prevented from doing by
the vapor of steam, which enveloped everything as a cloud. This ob-
scuration, however, lasted but for a short time, and when it had passed
away, I had a clear conception of my situation. I found myself in
possession of my senses, and my limbs in good working order. I
looked around in every direction, and discovered that I was not far
from the centre of the river, and in the neighborhood of some twenty
or thirty people, who seemed to have been thrown into the water some-
what in a heap. They were sustaining themselves on the surface as
best they could, many of them endeavoring to get possession of float-
ing pieces of the wreck. I could see nothing of the exploded boat,
and was fully satisfied in my mind that she was blown all to pieces,
and that all my fellow passengers were lost, except those who, like
myself, were struggling in the water. I will do myself the simple jus-
tice to say that, from the time at which I had risen to the surface, I
had no apprehensions of drowning, though to a more disinterested
spectator the chances might have appeared to be against me. I never

felt more buoyant, nor swam with greater ease. Still I thought it
well enough to appropriate whatever aid was within my reach; so, like
others, I began a race, which proved to be a tedious one, after a shat-
tered piece of plank. I finally reached it, and putting my hands
rather rudely upon it, I got a sousing for my pains. The piece was
too small to render me any material service. I abandoned it, and
turned in the direction of a steamboat, which I perceived advancing, and

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

which I afterwards discovered to be the Naniopa. To keep my face
towards the approaching steamer, I found that I had to oppose the
strong current of the river. This, together with the coldness of the
water, so exhausted my physical energies, that, for a brief space, I
felt that I should not be able to keep afloat until the boat should reach
me. As the steamer came near, there was a cry from my unfortunate
neighbors in the water, 'Stop the boat! stop the boat!'

There was, indeed, great danger of our being run over by it. I
however had no fears on this point, and made no effort to get out of
its way. Fortunately for myself, I was one of the first which the boat
approached. A sailor threw out to me a large rope, which I succeeded
in grasping at the first effort. I was drawn to the boat's guards,
which were several feet above the water. While drawing me up, the
kind-hearted sailor cried, 'Hold on, partner! hold on!' But I could
not, my strength being exhausted; the rope was slipping through my
hands, and I should certainly have fallen back into the water, and
been irrecoverably lost under the boat's guards, had not another sailor
quickly reached down and seized hold of my arms. I was drawn on
board as nearly lifeless as any one could be without being actually
dead. Two stout men assisted me to reach the cabin. My chest, as
I discovered from its soreness and my spitting blood, had been some-
what bruised, but a little bathing with whiskey soon have me relief.
My friend Bigny was one of the first I met on board."

Both these editors had been in the most dangerous part of the boat,
and their escape, almost without injury, was a remarkable instance of
good fortune. One of the passengers who escaped, remarked, that of
the immense boiler, weighing many tons, not a scrap as large as a
man's hand remained. Very few of the names of those who were
killed could be ascertained, but the general opinion was that the number
of the victims could not be less than one hundred. Mr. Perry, who
was attached to the office of the New Orleans Bulletin, was one of the
killed. The Hon. James Bebee, a member of the Missouri State
legislature, was believed to have been lost. The persons mentioned
below were badly wounded. Messrs. Nathan, Jarvis, Stillman, and
Storm, of the New York Novelty Works; Captain Ambol; Captain
Thompson, of the Ship Lexington. Mr. Kidd, editor of the Crescent,
and Mr. Bigny of the Delta, were both slightly injured.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

195

EXPLOSION OF THE OREGON.

The terrific explosion of the Oregon took place near island No. 82 in the Mississippi river, at one o'clock, P. M., on March 2d, 1851. All the boilers exploded at the same moment, carrying away the forward cabin, and killing, scalding or mutilating about sixty persons. The boat was heavily laden at the time, and carried about one hundred passengers.

Dinner was just over, and most of the passengers were in the social hall and on the forward guards. Immediately after the explosion the boat took fire, and burned to the water's edge. But for the timely assistance of the steamer Iroquois, which was about a mile off when the accident took place, all on board must have perished, as the Oregon was an unmanageable wreck in the middle of the channel. Capt. Lee, of the Iroquois, hastened to the assistance of the Oregon, but was obliged to stop to make some repairs. He succeeded, however, in reaching the Oregon, just as the flames were bursting through the hurricane deck. Men, women and children, almost surrounded by the raging flames, were collected on the after-part of the wreck. The shrieks of the affrighted women and children were heard far away over the waters, and as the Iroquois approached, the groans of the wounded and dying admonished the passengers and crew of that boat to prepare themselves for a ghastly and heart-rending spectacle. The captain of the Iroquois ran his boat aft of the Oregon; a communication was then made by placing ladders on the lower deck of the Iroquois and resting against the Oregon's upper deck; and on these ladders all the people on the wreck who were able to exert themselves, passed on to the Iroquois. Afterwards, with great exertion and risk, Capt. Lee succeeded in removing the wounded to his own cabin, the floor of which was soon covered with the most pitiable objects; scalded, charred and dismembered bodies, still panting and writhing in the spasmodic contortions of the last struggle. Some, who seem to have been less injured, appeared to endure equal or greater torment, or were enabled to give expression to their sufferings in frantic exclamations and prayers to heaven for a speedy death.

The cabin servants, who were at dinner, were nearly all killed. Eight white firemen, who were dining in the cabin at the same time, likewise perished. The clerk's office was entirely blown away, with all the books and papers of the boat. Owing to this circumstance, the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

names of comparatively few of the passengers who were lost can be ascertained; and hence the list of killed must be regarded as very incomplete.

**KILLED.**—George Brown, first clerk; Richard Young, Shelby Co., Ky.; William Miller, Harrison Co., Ind.; Mrs. Asher, and Patrick Murphy, Louisville, Ky.; Patrick Lyons, deck-hand; William Larkin, Louisville, Ky.; six of the cabin servants, (colored,) six white firemen, and Mr. Love, engineer.

**BADLY SCALDED.**—Capt. Montgomery; Barrett Milliken, second clerk; Mr. Lyons, bar-keeper; Mr. Cannon, pilot, and J. M. Cox, Nelson Co., Ky.; besides eight or ten deck passengers who were unknown to the people of the boat, and too badly burnt to give any account of themselves.

## SINKING OF THE JOHN L. AVERY.

The J. L. Avery, J. L. Robertson commander, was a new boat, built in the most substantial manner, and furnished with every necessary equipment for a first class passenger boat, being designed as a regular packet between New Orleans and Natchez. She left New Orleans, on her customary trip up the river, on March 7th, 1854. She stopped at Point Coupee and took in a large quantity of sugar and molasses; and on the 9th of the same month she passed the steamer Sultana, off Black Hawk point, forty miles below Natchez; and having left the Sultana, (with which she appears to have been racing,) about a mile astern, she struck what was supposed to be a tree washed from the shore by a recent freshet. A very large leak in the bottom of the boat was the consequence of this accident, and although the pilot immediately steered for the shore, the steamer sunk before she could get near enough to land the passengers. Mr. J. V. Guthrie, an engineer, and the carpenter, were standing just forward of the boilers when they heard the crash—the boat at the same time making a sudden surge to one side. The carpenter immediately lifted the scuttle-hatch and leaped into the hold, but finding the water pouring in too fast to admit of any attempt at repairing the damage, he made haste to get out again, at the same time giving notice to the engineer that the boat had snagged. Mr. Guthrie, perceiving that the boat was going down, hastened to the engine, but before he got there, he was up to his knees in water. The cabin passengers were hurried up to the hurricane-deck. Soon after, the boat righted, and the hull separated from the cabin and sunk in sixty feet of water.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

199

As the hull parted from the upper works, the surging of the waters caused the cabin floor to rise up against the hurricane roof, and six persons who remained in the cabin were dragged out through the skylights by Capt. Robertson and his two clerks. Mrs. Parmin, one of the six passengers rescued from that perilous situation, had her eldest child in her arms at the time, and was with difficulty prevented from plunging in again, as her babe was left asleep on the bed. But the situation of the deck passengers was the most calamitous; there was a large number of them crowded in their allotted place, where they were walled in by hogsheads of sugar, which would have prevented their escape, if escape had been otherwise possible. These unfortunate people were nearly all drowned.

SINKING OF THE JOHN L. AVERY.

There were many Irish emigrants on board, whose names were unregistered, and there is a great deal of uncertainty respecting the number of those who perished. Eye-witnesses testify that a large number of men, women and children could be seen drowning at one time. Of the twenty firemen on board, twelve were drowned. The second mate and another person launched the life-boat, but it was almost immediately upset, probably by the eager and ill-directed efforts of the drowning people to get into it. The steamer Sultana, with which the Avery had been racing, promptly came to the rescue of the drowning crew and passengers, and was the means of saving some of them; but the number lost is believed to be at least eighty or ninety.

Mrs. Seymour, one of the cabin passengers who escaped, relates the following incidents of the wreck:

While the passengers were at dinner, it was remarked that the atmosphere of the cabin was overheated, a circumstance which one of the

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

party accounted for by stating that some unusual means had been used to get up extra steam, as the officers of the Avery were resolved to out-run the rival steamer, Sultana. Mrs. Seymour had retired to her state room for an afternoon nap, from which she was aroused by the concussion when the boat struck; and soon after, she found herself in the water. She was drawn up into the floating cabin by one of the waiters, named John Anderson, who, as Mrs. Seymour testifies, was instrumental in saving the lives of several other passengers. She states that her pocket-book, containing nine hundred dollars, which had been placed under her pillow, was lost. She also lost a manuscript which she was preparing for the press, and which she valued still more highly than her pocket-book.

Mrs. Seymour continues:—I cast my eyes upon the water, which was covered with fragments of the cabin. To these frail supports human hands were clinging, while many human voices were crying, “Save me! oh, save me!” The water at first was dotted with human heads, sinking and rising, and then sinking to rise no more. A sudden splash drew my attention to the side of the boat, and I saw that a young lady, who had been drawn from the inundated cabin through the sky-light and placed in safety on the floating deck, in the delirium of the moment had plunged again into the water, from which she never again emerged. Several others followed her example, but appearing again on the surface, they were rescued by the waiter Anderson and two or three others of the boat’s crew, who never slackened in their efforts to save human life. Two or three gentlemen leaped into the water and swam to land. A fine Texan poney, belonging to Mrs. Emerson, escaped from the deck, and endeavored to save himself by swimming. He reached the shore, but not being able to climb the bank, he fell back into the water and was drowned. In a faint but earnest tone, I heard a female voice say, “Oh, William, do save her!” On directing my gaze to the place from whence the voice came, I saw a woman sinking in the river. At the same time a child’s voice exclaimed, “Oh, mother, he cannot save me!” I saw her fair hair, all wet, fall back from her young face as her little arms loosened their grasp on the neck of her brother, and the mother and her two children sank together.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

203

## COLLISION OF STEAMER CHESAPEAKE AND SCHOONER PORTER.

The steamers Chesapeake and Constellation from Buffalo, were sailing in company on Lake Erie, June 9, 1847, and being off Conneaut about midnight, they met the schooner Porter, which turned aside to avoid the Constellation, and came in contact with the Chesapeake. It appears that the light on board the Chesapeake was mistaken by the helmsman of the schooner for a light on shore, and by some calculation of the distance, the schooner ran into the steamer, which she struck on the larboard bow. At the moment of collision, the crew of the Porter sprang on board the Chesapeake, and the latter continued her course out into the lake. Captain Waine of the Chesapeake, thinking that neither vessel was much injured, put about, and steered for the Porter in order to return her crew; but as she came nearer, it was perceived that the Porter was sinking, and by the time the small boat was lowered, she had disappeared. At this moment, the captain was informed that the steamer was leaking. All hands were called to the pumps, but the water gained on them, and the passengers were set to bailing. The firemen were driven from the hold by the rush of water. The Captain had ordered her to be run ashore; she was accordingly headed in that direction, but before she had proceeded far, the water had put out her fires, and the engine stopped. The anchor was then let go to maintain her position, as the wind was blowing freshly from the shore. From this time to the moment the boat sunk, all hands were employed in preparing floats for the conveyance of the crew and passengers to land. The Captain advised all to stick to the wreck, but some left it notwithstanding, hoping to swim ashore, or to float thither on pieces of plank, furniture, &c., but nothing was heard of them afterwards. Among those who left the boat in this way, was the chief engineer.

Within half an hour after the collision, the Chesapeake went down, head foremost, in seven fathoms water. The upper deck separated from the hull, and remained on the surface. On this floating platform, the passengers who remained alive, took refuge. Many of them were women and children, and their shrieks for aid are described by Captain Waine (who tells the story of the disaster) as most appalling. At this critical juncture, the steamer Harrison hove in sight, but soon passed them at a distance without hearing their cries for help. The

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Harrison stopped at Connaut, about a mile and a half distant from the wreck, and her captain was there informed by the clerk of the Chesapeake, who, with several other persons had reached the shore in a small boat, that his assistance was needed. The Harrison immediately started for the place, and rescued all who were still alive on the floating deck.

The persons named below are known to have been drowned :

Mrs. Houk, Waterton, N. Y.; G. Van Doren, Sandusky; E. Cone, Belle Air, Ohio; S. York, Tiffin, Ohio; R. Sutherland, chief engineer; Orson Ware, second porter; R. McNabb, deck-hand.

Besides these, many passengers whose names were unregistered, were undoubtedly lost. The clerk's books, and about $8000 in specie, sunk with the hull, and were never recovered.

During that awful half hour which preceded the sinking of the Chesapeake, the state of affairs on board was almost too horrible for description. The night was exceedingly dark; a high wind was blowing from the shore, precluding all hope of reaching land on floats; the boat was fast sinking, and death to all on board seemed inevitable. The captain preserved all his serenity, and advised the passengers that their only chance of safety consisted in remaining on the wreck. He assisted his wife and another lady to climb the mast, and fixed them on the cross-trees. Mr. Lytle, the steward of the boat, was very active and self-possessed, helping such as needed help, and often exposed his life to imminent peril in order to preserve the lives of others.

At length the bow began to fall, and the cry was heard, "She is going!" One loud, long, and unearthly shriek arose simultaneously from the despairing multitude; a shriek which the survivors say is still ringing in their ears, and such a shriek as they hope never to hear again. Many had betaken themselves to floating articles, settees, cabin-doors, planks, tables, &c. One man was seen to turn under his plank, where he remained, his fingers only visible, holding on with the grasp of death. A gentleman and his wife were seen on a float, sometimes sinking, and then rising again to the surface. The lady, not having presence of mind enough to guard against inhaling the water, soon became strangled and exhausted, and died beside her husband, who held out some time longer, but finally sunk into the same watery grave which had received his wife. "They loved in life, and in death they were not divided."

The most touching case was that of Daniel Folsom, his wife, and child. When the engine ceased to work, the yawl-boat was manned and sent ashore in charge of Mr. Sheppard, the clerk. Ten men

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

207

were put on board, and four ladies, among whom was Mrs. Folsom. She at first refused to go without her husband. He knew it was not the time to debate such a question, and instantly resorted to the only argument which could prevail, by taking the child and putting it in the boat. She then followed, and the husband took an affectionate leave of her at the gang-way. All of this family were saved.

BURNING OF THE ORLINE ST. JOHN.

The steamboat Online St. John left Mobile for Montgomery, Ala., on Monday evening, March 2d, 1850. On the fourth of the same month, when within four miles of her place of destination, she was discovered to be on fire on the larboard side, near the boilers. In less than three minutes from the time at which the first alarm was given, the whole cabin was enveloped in a sheet of flame. There were about one hundred and twenty human beings on board, and it is reported that not more than fifty of that number survived the destruction of the boat. As soon as the fire was discovered, the pilot steered for the shore, which the steamer fortunately reached before the tiller-ropes were severed by the flames. The boat was run ashore in a dense cane-brake on which her bow and waist rested, while the stern projected into the river. A few persons who happened to be on the forward part of the boat were landed without any difficulty, but the greater number of passengers ran aft, with the hope of getting into the yawl. But the deck passengers and a part of the crew had got possession of this small boat, and had already left the steamer. More than one hundred people were now collected at the stern, which, as mentioned above, projected into the deep water, which effectually cut off all means of escape in that quarter; and to go forward was now impossible, as the whole of the middle of the boat was completely wrapped in flame. To make the situation of these people still more critical, the cabin threatened to fall on them. "As the flames spread aft, (says an eye-witness,) the scene was indeed terrible. The ladies and children had gathered in the extreme after-part of the boat, and their screams for help can never be erased from my memory."

If the yawl had been brought back, all might have been saved; but the deck hands who had taken possession of it, ran it ashore in the cane-brake; and before the captain and second mate could bring it back, all who remained on the steamer, without a single exception,

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

211

EXPLOSION OF THE ANTHONY WAYNE.

The Anthony Wayne was an old steamer belonging to the regular line of Buffalo and Sandusky packets. On Sunday morning, at half-past one o'clock, April 28, 1850, while making one of her usual trips, this boat exploded, on Lake Erie, opposite the mouth of Vermillion river, and eight miles from the shore. Within twenty minutes after the explosion, the steamer sunk, the hull parting from the hurricane deck, and leaving the latter afloat on the lake. The surviving passengers and crew remained on this fragment of the wreck until daylight, when the schooner Elmira, Capt. Nugent, came up and took them off, together with the wounded, and all the dead bodies which could be recovered. There were eighty-four persons on the Anthony Wayne, about half of whom were saved alive, though some of these were badly wounded.

LIST OF KILLED.—Myron Tytus, of Dayton, Ohio; M. Hart, Per-rysville, Ohio; wife and child of John Ellis, Mount Hope, Mich.; J. W. Doty, Warsaw, Ill.; J. J. Elmore, and J. Burchard, engineers; Henry Sturges, steward, Mount Clemens, Mich.; G. Franklin, fire-man, of Detroit; A. J. Meade, bar-keeper; Wiley Robinson, John Williamson, and Henry Kelly, cooks; two waiters, colored; Alexander Cartwright, deck-hand; John Brainard, and James O'Neil, firemen; Whitney Parsons, porter; Henry Blane, deck-hand; John Falkner; Henry McDonough, and several others, names unknown.

DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED.—J. H. Josler, Crittenden County, Vt.; Robert Shay, Dayton, Ohio; John Terry, Louisville, Ky.; C. G. Lawrence, Angelica, N. Y.; A. W. Gray, Stillwater, N. Y.; a son of Mr. Ellis, Mount Hope, Mich.

SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.—John Beadley, Cleveland, Ohio; Matthew Falkner, Sheffield, Mass.

The case of Mr. Archer Brackney, one of the passengers, is mourn-
fully interesting. He was on his way from Lafayette, La., to Phila-
delphia, with the remains of his wife and child, recently deceased.
Both the corpses were enclosed in one box. When the explosion took
place, he succeeded in dragging his two living children from their
berths, and with them plunged into the water. Finding himself un-
able to support the two children on the surface, he looked around for
some piece of the wreck which might be useful in preserving their lives.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

A floating object attracted his attention; it was the box which contained the bodies of his wife and child. On this he placed his little boy and girl, and endeavored to keep the box in an upright position, but the surges caused it to pitch and roll in such a manner, that his son, in spite of all his efforts, was washed off and drowned. He now turned all his attention to the preservation of the other child, and finally succeeded in gaining the floating part of the wreck with his little daughter, and both were saved.

## EXPLOSION OF THE CLIPPER.

This explosion, of which a very vague account has been preserved, took place on Wednesday, September 19th, 1843, at about a quarter past twelve o'clock, M. One of the passengers, who lived to relate the story, and who appears to have powers of description peculiar to himself, states that the Clipper "blew up with a report that shook earth, air, and heaven, as though the walls of the world were tumbling to pieces about our ears. All the boilers bursted simultaneously; vast fragments of the machinery, huge beams of timber, articles of furniture, and human bodies, were shot up perpendicularly, as it seemed, hundreds of fathoms in the air, and fell like the jets of a fountain in various directions; some dropping on the neighboring shore, some on the roofs of the houses, some into the river, and some on the deck of the boat. Some large fragments of the boilers, &c., were blown at least two hundred and fifty yards from the scene of destruction. The hapless victims were scalded, crushed, torn, mangled, and scattered in every possible direction; some were thrown into the streets of the neighboring town, (Bayou Sara,) some on the other side of the bayou, three hundred yards distant, and some into the river. Several of these unfortunate were torn in pieces by coming in contact with pickets or posts, and I myself, (says the same credible witness,) saw pieces of human bodies which had been shot like cannon balls through the solid walls of houses at a considerable distance from the boat."

Every object in front of the wheel-house was swept away as if by a whirlwind. A gentleman who visited the place where the killed and wounded had been deposited, at Bayou Sara, says, "The scene was such as we never hope to look upon again. The floors of the two large ware-rooms were literally strewn with the wounded and dying, and others were pouring in as fast as it was possible to convey them to the spot. The sufferers were praying, groaning, and writhing in every contortion of physical agony."

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

**KILLED.**—Mr. Berry, chief clerk; second clerk, name not mentioned; William Sumpter, second engineer; (he was thrown more than one hundred and fifty yards, through the roof and gable end of a house, into the back yard against a fence; his body being completely dismembered, and crushed out of all resemblance to the human form;) William Nelson, third engineer; Arnault J. Laraud, pilot; William Wall, second pilot; the watchman; Gabriel Pool, carpenter; two colored cooks, the cabin boy and eight firemen, four deck hands and others, names not remembered.

**WOUNDED.**—John Tyson, chief engineer; John Peterson, mate; and a number of deck passengers, names unknown.

The watchman mentioned in the list of the killed, was thrown one hundred yards from the boat, through the solid walls of Bacon's hotel, and into a bed. He retained his senses perfectly, but expired within half an hour after the explosion. The cabin boy was thrown two hundred yards, through the roof of a shed; he was taken up dead and frightfully mangled.

## LOSS OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON.

The George Washington was on her way from Cincinnati to New Orleans, and at one o'clock, A. M., on January 14th, 1852, when she was a short distance above Grand Gulf, Miss., the boilers exploded, and the boat was burnt to the water's edge. She had in tow, at the time, two barges, heavily laden, both of which, with their cargoes, were totally consumed. But these losses are insignificant, when compared with the destruction of human life which was one of the effects of this accident. William Carroll, the first clerk of the George Washington, a Mr. James Treat, P. Supner, the cook, a fireman, six deck hands and six deck passengers were all killed at the moment of the explosion. Several passengers, names not known, are believed to have been burned with the boat. Mr. Chiswell, the carpenter, was badly scalded, and died within a few hours. Mr. Kuykendale, a passenger, was mortally wounded. Capt. Irwin, C. D. Clemone, passenger, and several others, were more or less injured.

SKETCH OF ST. LOUIS.

St. Louis is situated on the right bank of the Mississippi river, eighteen miles below the entrance of the Missouri river, one hundred and eighty-two miles above the mouth of the Ohio river, eight hundred and forty-eight miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, eleven hundred and eighty-two miles above New Orleans, and one hundred and fifty miles below Jefferson city, the capital of the State of Missouri. St. Louis is a port of entry, and is situated in St. Louis County, lat. 38° 37' 28" N., long. 90° 15' 16" W. The site rises from the river by two plateaus of limestone formation, the first twenty and the second, sixty feet above the floods of the Mississippi river. The ascent to the first plateau is somewhat abrupt; the second rises more gradually, and spreads out into an extensive plain, affording excellent views of the city and the mighty river. The present site of St. Louis was selected by Laclede, in February 1764, as one possessing peculiar advantages for the fur trade, and for defence against the savage Indians, who at that time held almost undisputed sway, not only in Missouri, but in the United States. The confluence of the different rivers in the immediate neighborhood of St. Louis was a desideratum in the estimation of the trapper. It has become of vast importance to the place in establishing it as a centre for agricultural and manufacturing enterprises. The statistics of these early times show that for sixteen successive years, ending in 1805, the average annual value of the furs collected at this place, amounted to $303,750. The number of Deer skins was 190,000; of Beaver, 46,000; of Otter, 11,000; of Bear, 70,100; and of Buffalo, 1360. The population of St. Louis at this period was about 1500, more than one-half of whom were absent a great part of each year, engaged in trapping. It will readily be understood that the elements which gave this settlement an existence, were not of a character adequate to foster it beyond the limits of a small frontier village, and accordingly as late as 1820, the accession of population was only about 1600; up to this date the census only shows the population to have been 3,146. Military expeditions and establishments, together with a small emigration confined to those peculiar temperaments which delight in the wild and dangerous, still kept up a progressive improvement, which, centering here for personal security, as well as for trade, still fixed it as the seat of a commercial and manufacturing metropolis, destined in a few years to become an object of interest throughout the world. On the 11th of August, 1768, a Spanish officer by the name of Rious, with a company of Spanish troops, took possession of St. Louis and Upper Louisiana, as it was termed, in the name of his Catholic majesty, under whose control it remained until the final transfer to the United States by Napoleon, in 1804. In 1813, the first brick house ever put up on the banks of the Mississippi, was erected at St. Louis. In 1817, the first steamboat (Antelope) arrived here on her way to explore the great Missouri river, which at that time was almost as totally unknown as the Arctic ocean. In 1822, St. Louis was chartered as a city under the title given by Laclede, in honor of Louis XV. of France. From 1825 to 1830, the influx of population from all parts of the United States began to be of importance. It was then St. Louis received its first great impulse, and commenced extending its commerce from New Orleans to the Rocky Mountains, which has since given it the name of the Atlantic city of the Mississippi valley. In 1829, the keel boat entirely disappeared; the steamers Yellow-stone and Assinaboine about this time ascended to the great falls of the Missouri river, and from that day to the present, fine steamers have continued to make trips up the turbulent Missouri river, and the progress of St. Louis has been upward and onward.

The natural advantages which St. Louis enjoys, as a commercial emporium, are probably not surpassed by those of any inland port in the world. Situated midway between two oceans, and

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SKETCH OF ST. LOUIS.

near the geographical centre of the finest agricultural and mineral region on the globe, almost at the very focus towards which converge the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio and the Illinois Rivers, there can be no doubt that she is destined, at no distant date, to become the great receiving and distributing depot of most of the vast region drained by these rivers. Having already reached an enviable position among her sister cities, she is now looking westward, with a system of railways, intended not only to bring to her markets the agricultural and mineral treasures of the great Missouri Basin, but eventually to extend beyond the Rocky mountains to the valley of the Salt Lake, and finally to the golden shores of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific railroad is now under full headway, being already completed to Jefferson city, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from St. Louis. Her connection with the Atlantic cities, through Cincinnati and Chicago, is already secured. The Ohio and Mississippi railroad, extending in an air line from St. Louis to Cincinnati, was built by the great liberality and enterprise of Daniel D. Page and Henry D. Bacon, both citizens of St. Louis, without whose capital this great work would have fallen through, and the public would have been deprived of a direct and expeditious route between the east and west. Another railroad, leading to the Iron mountain, is rapidly approaching completion. The north Missouri and the Hannibal and St. Joseph's railroads are all chartered and under way.

The opening of these railways, and others proposed, will give St. Louis ready access to immense deposits of iron, coal, lead, and copper ores within a circuit of ninety miles, equal to the wants of the whole Mississippi valley for centuries to come, and which have not, to this time, been brought into use, simply because of the difficulty and expense of reaching the market; therefore, with all the commercial facilities which St. Louis now enjoys, facilities which have hitherto been productive of prosperity almost beyond example, what may she not become when the vast system of railways here contemplated shall have gone into operation?

St. Louis extends, in all, nearly seven miles by the curve of the Mississippi river, and about three miles back. The city is well laid out, the streets being sixty feet wide, and with but few exceptions intersecting each other at right angles. Front street, extending along the levee, is over one hundred feet wide, and built up on the side facing the river with a range of splendid five story wholesale stores and warehouses, which make an imposing appearance as the city is approached by water. Front, Main, and Second streets, parallel to each other, and to the river, are the seat of the principal wholesale business houses. The latter is occupied by heavy grocery, iron, receiving and shipping houses. Fourth street is the fashionable promenade, and contains the finest retail stores. The streets, parallel to Front and Main streets, are designated Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and so on. Large expenditures have been made from time to time in grading and otherwise improving the streets and alleys of St. Louis.

It may be doubted whether any city in the United States has improved more rapidly than St. Louis, in the style of its public buildings. But twenty-four years ago a Court House was erected at a cost of $14,000; it was then considered a handsome edifice, and sufficient for all future purposes; within a few years, however, this building has given place to a new structure, now nearly completed, the cost of which will exceed $500,000; it is constructed of St. Genevieve limestone, which is to be had in great abundance sixty miles south of the city. The Court House occupies an entire square, bounded by Market, Chesnut, Fourth, and Fifth streets; the style of architecture resembles that of the capitol, at Washington city. The fronts are adorned with porticos, and in the interior is a rotunda, lighted from the dome. The new Market and City Hall are of the first magnitude, corresponding to the present beautiful appearance of the city. A new Custom House is now being built at the corner of Third and Olive streets, at an estimated cost of $350,000. Of the four churches, the Catholic, the Presbyterian, the Episcopal, and the Baptist, which were all the town contained in 1827, not a vestige now remains, but in their stead has arisen up to date, sixty-four others, to wit, twelve Catholic, eighteen Methodist, eleven Presbyterian, seven Episcopal, three Unitarian, three Evangelical, and one Boatman's, besides three Jewish Synagogues. Several of these have cost above $100,000 each; of these St. George's, (Episcopal) at the corner of Locust and Seventh streets, the Catholic Cathedral, on Walnut street, and the Church of the Messiah, a magnificent Gothic edifice, recently erected by the Unitarians, at the corner of Olive and Ninth streets,

SKETCH OF ST. LOUIS.

are regarded as the finest. The Cathedral is one hundred and thirty-six feet long, and eighty-four feet wide, with a front of pure polished Freestone, fifty-eight feet high, adorned with a Doric portico, in the tower of which is a chime of bells, the heaviest weighing twenty-six hundred pounds. The United States arsenal, situated on Arsenal street, in the extreme Southeast section of the city, is a large and imposing edifice, enclosed by handsomely ornamented grounds. Jefferson Barracks are located twelve miles below, on the bank of the Mississippi river.

Among the benevolent institutions may be mentioned the City Hospital, the Marine Hospital, situated three miles below St. Louis; the Sisters' Hospital, the Home for the Friendless, and the Orphan Asylums. The Home for the Friendless, designed for the benefit of aged indigent females, and opened October 4th, 1853, is situated on the Corondolet road, about five miles from the Court House; about $40,000 have been raised for the support of this Institution. The City Hospital has long been distinguished for the excellent accommodations which it affords to the sick, but of late has been found inadequate to the wants of the rapidly increasing population. A new edifice, intended as a House of Refuge, has recently been completed, and the building formerly occupied as a hospital, situated on land in the St. Louis common, known as the old County Farm, has also been fitted up for the reception of a juvenile Reform School. The Literary and Educational Institutions of St. Louis have, considering their recent origin, attained a high degree of excellence. The University of St. Louis, organized in 1832, under the direction of the Catholics, is a well ordered, well sustained, and most efficient institution. The Medical College connected with it, is also very flourishing. During the term of 1854, '55, it was attended by one hundred and twenty students. On the first of October, 1855, it is said that the number of matriculants enrolled for the ensuing season, was four times greater than any previous year.

The medical department of the Missouri University is also located here. It was founded in 1840, and during the winter of 1855, one hundred and forty students attended its lectures. The members of both these colleges enjoy excellent advantages for practice in the City Hospital. The Mercantile Library association of St. Louis was organized in 1846, and incorporated in 1851. The united size of the library and reading-room is eighty by sixty-four feet; lecture room, eighty by forty-four feet. In the third story is the largest and grandest hall in the western country, being one hundred and five feet long, and eighty feet wide. The cost of building was $95,000. The libraries contain upwards of eighteen thousand volumes, besides about one hundred and sixty magazines and other periodicals, independent of its newspapers.

St. Louis has about twenty-five publication offices, issuing newspapers and other periodicals. Ten or eleven papers are published daily, besides several weekly and tri-weekly papers. The press is generally characterized by talent and ability, and several of its issues have very large circulations. St. Louis has the best wharf of any city on the western waters. The levee, which a few years ago was a mere mudbank, is now widened, and handsomely paved from one end to the other, giving great facilities to the numerous boats in receiving and discharging their cargoes in good order. St. Louis is indebted to the Hon. L. M. Kennett for its present healthy and beautiful appearance. From the time this gentleman was elected mayor of the city, in 1850, to the time he retired, in 1853, he did nothing but improve the condition of the city. Innumerable sewers were built running from the low and damp portions of the city to the river, and all parts of this city have since been very healthy. It was during the administration of L. M. Kennett that the wharf was so vastly widened and improved; in fact he did more for the prosperity of the city than all his predecessors. In 1853 he declined serving any longer, preferring retirement; but in 1854 he was brought out for Congress against the Hon. Thomas H. Benton, being the only man of his party with whom they could hope to succeed against so formidable an opponent, and he was triumphantly elected to Congress.

The Manufactures of St. Louis, although in their infancy, are hardly less important than her commerce. The flourishing business is carried on here more extensively than in any city of the west. The product of the mills of the city amounted in 1855 to 836,460 barrels; at Belcher's sugar refinery, which is one of the most extensive in the world, the yield for 1855 amounted to 24,563 boxes, 14,658 hogsheads, 24,457 barrels and 68,848 bags of refined sugar, besides

220

SKETCH OF ST. LOUIS.

237,766 packages and 20,000 barrels refined from cane syrup. The manufacture of different kinds of chemicals and oils is very extensively carried on. There are, in St. Louis, twenty establishments for the manufacture of tobacco, yielding 16,000 packages, and consuming 1400 hogsheads of raw material. The manufacture of hemp into bale rope and bagging, and the distilling of whiskey, also employ a large amount of capital. Indeed there can be no doubt that the development of the vast mineral resources of the region tributary to her is destined to exert a controlling influence upon the future of this metropolis.

Her manufactures of iron already exceed those of any other city on the western waters. Numerous foundries annually turn out stoves, mill machinery, heavy railroad work, as well as large steam-engines, to an enormous amount. A large establishment went into operation here in 1853. Mining operations have already been commenced at Iron mountain. From this source Messrs. Chouteau, Valle and Harrison, obtain the material for their extensive rolling mill; in fact, thousands of tons of this superior iron, after passing through their establishment, are annually shipped to Pittsburgh. St. Louis has now about sixteen thousand establishments in operation in the city, comprising about two hundred different manufactories, which amount annually in value to $36,000,000.

St. Louis is by far the greatest shipping point on the Ohio or Mississippi rivers; there are constantly plying to and from this point over six hundred steamers. Each river which contributes to the commerce of St. Louis, has its regular packets, and for the most part a separate place of landing. The New Orleans, the Missouri, the Illinois, and the Upper Mississippi steamers, are as fine steamboats as float on the Western waters; some of them, in point of speed and accommodations, are equal to the best Lake or Ocean steamers. From St. Louis there are daily lines to New Orleans, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh; Peoria and Lasalle, on the Illinois river; Keokuk and St. Paul, on the Upper Mississippi river; Lexington, Kansas, and St. Joseph, on the Missouri river, and Nashville and Clarksville, on the Cumberland river, besides regular packets to Alton, Cairo, Memphis, and up the Tennessee river. With such an immense inland navigation, the commerce of the port requires a large number of steamers, and its tonnage exceeds that of every other Western city. The population of St. Louis in 1830, was 6,694; in 1840, 16,469; in 1850, 77,404; in 1852, 94,819; in 1856, 146,364.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

EXPLOSION OF THE BRILLIANT.

This accident, which caused a frightful loss of life, took place on the Mississippi river, at Bayou Goula, six miles below Plaquemine, on the 29th day of September, 1851. The Brilliant, Capt. Hunt commander, left New Orleans two days before the accident, and was on her way to Bayou Sara, and the intermediate landings. She had stopped at Dr. Stone's plantation, and was about recommencing her voyage, when her boiler bursted, making a total wreck of the main cabin and state-rooms as far aft as the ladies' cabin, and sweeping away all the upper wood-work forward of the boilers. The boiler itself was projected forward among a crowd of the boat's crew and deck passengers, nearly all of whom were killed or wounded. The flues and parts of the machinery were thrown in the opposite direction, and made sad devastation among the cabin passengers.

As usual in the narratives of western steamboat calamities, the names of only a small number of the victims are recorded. Capt. Hunt stated that he had more than eighty deck hands and firemen on board at the time of the explosion. Of these, only twenty-five could be found after the accident. He could give no account of the number of deck passengers, but is certain that they were very numerous. There were thirty-five cabin passengers, ten of whom were ladies. Twenty-five of these were seen in the water after the explosion, three of whom were rescued by the steamer Natchez, and it is believed that the others all perished. The Natchez also conveyed to Plaquemine forty-two persons badly wounded who had been taken from the wreck. Of these, fifteen died within six hours. Fifteen others, badly wounded, were carried ashore in the yawl, and the steamer Princess took off three more in a similar condition. A majority of those wounded by this explosion did not recover.

Capt. Hunt furnished the names of a few of his boat's crew who were among the victims of this disaster, viz.: James Fullerton, mate; J. A. Cotton, first clerk; Robert Doyle, first engineer, was supposed to be mortally wounded; Mr. Falls, second pilot, was badly scalded. Capt. Hunt himself was in the wash-room when the boiler exploded, and he was uninjured. Mr. Lewison, editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate, was mortally wounded.

The accident is ascribed to the imprudent use of rosin among the fuel, in order to produce a more intense heat, and so to increase the speed of the boat. A wounded fireman stated that four barrels of rosin were burned at the landing, and the fifth was about to be consumed when the explosion took place.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

EXPLOSION OF THE REDSTONE.

The disaster we are about to record, took place on the Ohio river, a
short distance above Carrollton, April 2, 1852. The Redstone was a
small boat, about three years old, and was built at Pittsburgh for the
Brownsville Slackwater Navigation. At the time to which we now
refer, she was plying in the Madison and Cincinnati trade, in opposi-
tion to the regular line of Madison packets. She left Madison about
noon on the day aforesaid, with thirty or forty passengers on board,
and had stopped above Carrollton to take in a Mr. Scott. His parents
accompanied him to the shore, and were looking at him when the boat
began to move off; a moment after, they were horrified by seeing him
blown high in the air, and then fall into the river. Two boilers ex-
ploded—one of them was blown on shore, and, in its course, prostrated
a sycamore tree two feet in diameter. The trees and the shore, for
hundreds of yards, were lined with shreds of clothing, sheets, blankets,
and other vestiges of the wreck. A man's boot, ripped and torn, was
picked up more than six hundred yards from the wreck, whither it had
been blown, no doubt, from the foot of some unhappy victim. A pas-
senger who had got on the boat at Milton, was taking a drink at the
bar, and, after paying for it, was returning his purse to his pocket,
when he was blown into the river and drowned. A lad from Madison
was on board with his two little sisters; he was drowned, but the girls
were saved. A Mr. Claxon, of Carrollton, was on the boat, and was
blown ashore, but, strange to tell, he did not receive the slightest injury.

The following are the names of some of the persons killed:—E. G.
Crossman, printer; E. N. Durbson, of New Philadelphia, Ind.; Mr.
Coons; Rev. Henry A. Scott, (the young man whose parents stood on
the shore and witnessed his death); Lewis Berry, of Brownsville,
Pa., first engineer; Joseph W. Berry, of same place, second engineer;
E. P. Durbin, Lawrenceburg, Ind.; M. Smith, Petersburg, Va.; seven
cabin boys, names not known.

BADLY WOUNDED.—Thomas W. Pate, captain; Sydney Longly and Charles M. Jackson, pilots; Samuel Fritz; George Breck, second cook; Henry Boezi, six firemen, and four deck hands.

SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.—Geo. Collard, mate; John Wilson, carpenter;
Christman Wilson.

Twenty bodies, recovered from the water, were too much disfigured
to be recognized. The boat was so completely shattered by the force
of the explosion, that she immediately sunk in twenty feet water.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

The captain was mortally wounded. This accident was thought to be the result of criminal negligence, as there was scarcely any water in the boiler at the time of the explosion. The engineer had stopped that part of the machinery, called the "doctor," which supplies the boilers with water, in order to produce "a high head of steam." In this he succeeded, and his life was the forfeit of his temerity and the recklessness with which he exposed the lives of others to unnecessary peril.

## EXPLOSION OF THE LOUISIANA.

A few minutes after five o'clock, on the evening of November 15, 1849, the steamboat Louisiana, Captain Cannon, lying at the foot of Gravier street, New Orleans, had completed all the preparations for her departure for St. Louis. She was laden with a valuable cargo, and had on board a large number of passengers. The last bell was rung, and the machinery set in motion; but at the moment the boat disengaged herself from the wharf and began to back out into the river, all the boilers exploded with a concussion which shook all

EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER LOUISIANA.

the houses for many squares around to their very foundations. The Louisiana was lying between two other steamers—the Bostona and Storm—the upper works of which were completely wrecked; their chimneys were carried away, and their cabins were shattered to small fragments. The violence of the explosion was such, that large pieces of the boilers were blown hundreds of yards from the wharf, falling on the levee and in different parts of the city. One of these iron

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

fragments cut a mule in two, and then struck a horse and dray, killing both driver and horse instantly. Another mass of iron, of considerable size, was projected to the corner of Canal and Front streets, two hundred yards from the exploded steamer, where it threw down three large iron pillars which supported the roof of the portico of a coffee-house. Before it reached the iron pillar, this fragment passed through several bales of cotton which lay in its passage.

The tremendous detonation gave notice of the accident to the whole city, and soon all the levee near Gravier street was thronged with anxious and sympathizing spectators. A number of bodies, in every conceivable state of mutilation, had been dragged from the wreck, and were surrounded by the immense crowd which had assembled. Hacks and furniture cars were sent for, and the wounded were conveyed with as much despatch as possible to the hospitals. The sight of the mangled bodies on every side, the groans of the dying, and the shrieks of the agonized sufferers, produced a general thrill of horror among the multitude. The body of a man was seen, with the head and one leg off, and the entrails torn out. A woman, whose long hair lay wet and matted by her side, had one leg off, and her body was shockingly mangled. A large man, having his skull mashed in, lay dead on the levee; his face looked as though it had been painted red, having been completely flayed by the scalding water. Others of both sexes, crushed, scalded, burned, mutilated and dismembered, lay about in every direction. Two bodies were found locked together, brought by death into a sudden and close embrace.

But it is utterly impossible to describe all the revolting objects which presented themselves to the view of the beholders. Suffice it to say, that death was there exhibited in all its most hideous forms; and yet the fate of many who still lived was more shocking and distressing than the ghastly and disfigured corpses of those whose sufferings were terminated by death.

A gentleman who was a passenger on the Louisiana, says that he was standing on the hurricane deck, abaft the wheel house, at the time of the explosion, and though his position was most perilous, he fortunately escaped unhurt. He distinctly saw the faces and arms of several ladies and gentlemen who were vainly struggling to free themselves from the falling planks and timbers. They were carried down with the boat when she sunk. The steamer went down within ten minutes after the explosion; and it is thought that many citizens who went on board to assist the wounded, sunk with the boat. The passenger mentioned above succeeded in saving a little negro boy. The river

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

was covered with fragments of the wreck, to many of which persons who had been blown overboard were clinging, and a number of small boats were engaged in taking them up. The confusion was so great that it was quite impossible to ascertain the names of one quarter of those who were killed; and as a promiscuous crowd of strangers, emigrants, &c., were on board, the greater number of them could not be identified. It is generally admitted that this disaster caused a greater loss of life than ever took place on the Mississippi, before or since. The most authentic accounts make the number of killed one hundred and fifty, and some estimates extend the number to two hundred. The mayor of New Orleans judged from his own observations and diligent inquiries on the spot, that one hundred and fifty lives were lost, at the lowest calculation.

The steamer Storm, which lay in close proximity to the Louisiana, was almost as completely wrecked as the last-named boat itself, and was driven out fifty yards from the wharf by the concussion. Several persons on board of the Storm were killed or wounded. The captain himself was severely injured, but appeared on deck, his face covered with blood, and calmly gave directions for clearing the wreck and bringing his boat back to the wharf.

The fragments of iron, and blocks and splinters of wood, which were sent with the rapidity of lightning from the ill-fated Louisiana, carried death and destruction in all directions. Persons were killed or wounded at the distance of two hundred yards from the boat. There were many miraculous escapes. Dr. Testut, of New Orleans, was standing on the wharf, having just parted from his friend Dr. Blondine, of Point Coupee, who had embarked in the Louisiana, and was killed by the explosion. A fragment of iron struck a man down at Dr. Testut's feet; the poor fellow, while falling, stretched out his hands and convulsively grasped the doctor's palletot, tearing a pocket nearly out. His grasp was soon relaxed by death. Among the citizens who received severe injuries from the flying pieces of the wreck, was Mr. Wray, a clerk in the house of Moses Greenwood & Co., who had been on board of the steamer Knoxville, lying below the ferry landing, and was passing up at the time. He was struck on the thigh by a piece of wood, and so badly wounded that amputation was deemed necessary. Several newsboys, who had been selling papers on the Louisiana, and had just gone ashore, were killed.

The bodies of persons who had been in the steamer, were, in some instances, blown to the height of two hundred feet in the air, some of them falling on the wharf, and some into the river. Legs, arms, and

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

229

the dismembered trunks of human bodies, were scattered over the levee. One man, it is said, was blown through the pilot house of the steamer Boston, making a hole through the panels, which looked like the work of a cannon ball.

Among those who were killed on board of the Storm, was Mrs. Moody, the wife of the first clerk, who was standing on the guard, opposite the ladies' cabin. Twelve or fifteen other persons were killed in this boat, and several others were wounded, some of them mortally. The Storm had just arrived with passengers from Cincinnati, none of whom had been landed.

As stated above, a considerable number of those who were killed were emigrants, and other strangers. These are not included in the following list.

**KILLED.**—Robert Devlin, Baton Rouge; Capt. E. T. Dustin, of the Boston; Mr. Gilmer, second mate, and Andrew Bell, pilot, La.; wife and child of Mr. Robert Moody, clerk of the steamer Storm; Capt. Edmonston, St. Louis; Mr. Roach, deck hand of the Storm; Mr. Knox, head steward of do.; a cabin boy of do., name unknown; two firemen of do.; John Sullivan, James Wolf, and a third, name unknown, newsboys; the coachman of St. Charles hotel; several negroes and deck hands of the Boston; Dr. Thomas M. Williams, Lafourche; Dr. Blondine, Point Coupee; Robert McMackin, clerk of the Louisiana; J. J. Gillespie, Vicksburg; J. Merring, Cincinnati; Mr. Wilson, grocer, St. Louis; Mr. Edgar, Washington Co., Miss.; Sylvester Prescott and Æneas Craft, Memphis; Mr. King, of the firm of J. J. Grey & Co., St. Louis; Mr. Elliott, clerk of the firm of Marsh & Rowlett, New Orleans; Merrick Morris, clerk of the firm of Small & McGill, New Orleans.

**WOUNDED.**—Isaac Hart, New Orleans (supposed to be incurable); Mr. Ray, clerk of Moses Greenwood & Co., New Orleans; S. Davis, Mobile; Augustus Fretz, brother of Capt. Fretz, formerly of the steamer Memphis; A. Bird, planter, near Baton Rouge; Capt. Hopkins, of the Storm; John Meson, pilot of the Storm; Mr. Horrell, of the firm of Horrell & Gale, New Orleans; Mr. Price, clerk of the Boston; chambermaid of do.; Harvey W. Bickham; Daniel Eckerle; Henry Livingston; Isaac Garrison; Hugh McKee; Henry, a slave; Samuel Fox; William Welch; Clinton Smith; Miley Mulley; a female slave of Moses Murray, and her two children; John Evans; William Burke; John Laws; Charles, a small negro boy; William Tucker; Henry Tucker; James Matthews; Juan Montreal; William Nee; Sandy, a slave of J. Adams; Sam, a slave of Captain Cannon; James

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

230

Welch; James Flynn; Patrick McCarthy; twenty or thirty other emigrants, whose names could not be ascertained; H. Rea, New Orleans; Thomas Harrison, Missouri; Frederick A. Wood, New Orleans; Samuel Corley, Ky.; Crocket Harrison, Missouri; George, a slave, and a negro child.

During the night, thirty bodies, all of strangers, were brought to the watch-house of the second municipality. Capt. Cannon, of the Louisiana, was on the wharf at the time of the explosion. He had stopped for a moment, to speak to an acquaintance, and this delay probably saved his life. A lady and her two children escaped from the wreck of the boat as it was sinking.

The effects of this disaster, unexampled in the history of steam navigation, were visible in every circle of society at New Orleans. Dismay was in every countenance, and the whole city seemed to be in mourning for the numerous dead; while every heart was deeply affected with sympathy for the surviving friends, and for all who were suffering in body or mind from the effects of the dreadful catastrophe.

## COLLAPSE ON THE FRANKLIN, NO. 2.

This boat collapsed the outside flue of her starboard boiler, August 22d, 1852, on the Mississippi river, five miles above St. Genevieve. Thirty-two persons were killed, or so badly wounded that death in every case was the result. Every person on deck who happened to be aft of the engine at the time of the accident was scalded to death. None of the cabin passengers were injured.

LIST OF THE KILLED.—Edward Levins, Galena; James Jones, Pa. M. Waggoner, Greensville, Ky.; Charles W. Williams, St. Louis; Patrick Murphy, boatman; P. Joy, St. Louis; J. Everett, and Mrs. Schriner and her son Charles, Louisville, Ky.; M. J. Steele, Jackson Co., Iowa; James Mosley, Floyd Co., Ind.; John Brown, Platteville Mo.; H. Dunn, fireman; M. Hainey; a fireman, name unknown; George Hardy, third engineer, Louisville, Ky.; and several others, whose names could not be ascertained.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE CAROLINE.

The Caroline was a Memphis packet, employed on the White river. She had ascended that river about twenty miles on Sunday, March 5, 1854, when, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the wood pile near the boilers, was discovered to be on fire. The pilot at the wheel, Mr. John R. Price, steered for the shore, which was overflown by high water. Before the shore was reached, some persons attempted to escape in the yawl, which, being overcrowded, speedily sunk, and all

BURNING OF THE CAROLINE.

who had embarked in it were drowned. The flames, in the meanwhile, rapidly overspread the steamer, which was soon consumed, down to the level of the water. There were many deck passengers on board, nearly all of whom were lost. The principal sufferers were women and children, who were not able to make the exertions required for their preservation.

The names of those of the crew and passengers who are known to have perished, will be found below:

LIST OF KILLED.—John R. Price and James Creighton, pilots; Lewis Pollock, assistant bar-keeper; eight deck hands and firemen, whose names the captain, in his report of the disaster, omitted to mention; wife and child of J. Haskins, Marshall county, Tenn.; four children of S. McMullen, of Madison county, Tenn.; Mrs. Haley and three children, Tippah county, Miss.; John Horton, wife, and two children, Mr. Karrell, Mr. Martin, Miss Susanna E. Pool, a son of Mr. Henshaw, Mr. Shelby, of Madison county, Tenn.; a son-in-law,

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a widowed sister, with her *thirteen* children, and another sister of Mr. Wortham; Mr. Harshaw, of Clarendon, Ark.; George Jones, clerk of the house of Poole & Co., Jacksonport, Tenn., and a number of deck passengers, names unknown.

It is a remarkable circumstance that scarcely any of the crew or passengers who escaped with life, were injured in the slightest degree. There was considerable amount of money on board. The safe, containing $5,000, sunk in the river, and never was recovered. Mr. Penn, one of the passengers, lost $3,500. The remains of Mr. Wilbank, who died a few days before at the Commercial Hotel, Memphis, were on board on their way to his former place of residence, where the funeral was to take place. The body, however, was doomed to find a grave beneath the waters of White river. A package of money which had belonged to the deceased, and which in his dying moments, he had directed to be sent to his widow, was lost with the other money in the safe.

The hull of the Caroline, having burned to the water's edge, broke in two, and sunk out of sight. The whole loss of boat, cargo, money, and other property belonging to the passengers, is estimated at $150,000. There was an insurance on the boat for $5,000. She was finished in the preceding summer, and cost $12,000.

## EXPLOSION OF THE ST. JAMES.

The St. James was a high pressure boat, owned by Capt. W. H. Wright. She was built at Cincinnati in 1850, and was employed on the Mississippi river until about a month before her destruction, at which time she was engaged on Lake Pontchartrain. The accident took place on that lake, at Pointe Aux Herbes. The St. James left Rey St. Louis on Sunday night, July 4th, 1852, in company with the steamboat California, having on board a large number of persons who had been spending the anniversary of Independence at the watering places. Between two and three o'clock, on the morning of the fifth, the St. James stopped at the point designated above, fifteen miles from the Pontchartrain railway landing, and having taken in several passengers, started again on her course. Her companion, the California, was at this time a short distance astern; each boat, probably was endeavoring to outrun the other, and it is conjectured that the officers of the St. James, in their eagerness to beat their rival, exposed the lives of their passengers to very obvious danger.

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238

EXPLOSION OF THE ST. JAMES.

The St. James had run scarcely two hundred yards from the point where she had stopped, when all the boilers exploded, and nearly at the same moment, the boat took fire. The staunchions being torn away by the explosion, the whole of the boiler deck fell upon the boilers and machinery, precipitating a great many persons into the lower part of the boat, which was now flooded with scalding water, or strewn with the ignited fuel, which had been scattered abroad. Owing to this circumstance, a number of passengers who had not been injured by the explosion itself, were severely scalded or burned when the deck fell in. As the time at which the disaster took place was long before daylight, many of the passengers were asleep. Some of them awoke in eternity, without knowing, perhaps, what cause had hurried them thither, and others were aroused from their slumbers by a sense of intolerable bodily anguish. Vainly would we attempt to picture the scene which now presented itself on the burning steamer. The shrieks of the affrighted passengers were heard on board of the California, and Captain Ensign, of that steamer, immediately steered for the wreck. The space between the two boats was lighted up by the conflagration to the brightness of mid-day, and the spectators from the California could see the terrified men and women on board of the St. James hurrying to and fro, wringing their hands, or seizing on such articles as they could use for temporary support, and jumping into the lake. The screams were awfully distinct and harrowing, as they arose not from the burning boat only, but from the water, in all directions, where many human beings were shouting for help, or gasping in the last agony. Voices were calling from all points, as the boats of the California went about swiftly, picking up all who could

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be reached. The horrified eyes of the people on the California could
see men cease to struggle and go down, while those who saw them
perish had no power to save. It was a scene to harrow the soul of
humanity, a scene which could not be remembered without horror, and
one that could never be forgotten.

As the California approached the burning wreck, the heat was so intense that Captain Ensign was compelled by a due regard for the persons immediately under his charge, to haul off a short distance. The boats belonging to the California were launched, manned, and sent to the aid of the sufferers. The flames rose from the centre of the St. James, and Captain Ensign, while making a second attempt to reach the persons on the wreck, succeeded, by nice management, in getting under the stern, and a large number of ladies and gentlemen from the St. James were thus enabled to reach the deck of the California. All who were saved owe the preservation of their lives to Captain Ensign.

Among the passengers who were lost, was Judge Preston, of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and several other distinguished citizens of that State. Judge Preston had his berth over the boilers. He was seen to retire to rest, and immediately after the explosion, the place where he slept was found shattered to pieces, and he was no where to be seen.

J. M. Wolf, Esq., a member of the New Orleans bar, and his son, a lad of fourteen, were seen standing together on the wreck. The boy was urging his father to jump into the water, declaring that he could save him. The father refused, and the boy threw himself overboard and swam towards the California, which was then approaching. He reached her in an exhausted state, and was saved. A rope was thrown to him just as he cried out that he could struggle no more. It is mentioned, as an illustration of this lad's coolness, that he placed his clothes on a small piece of plank and floated them with him to the California, having an eye to the safety of his wardrobe when his life seemed to be in the greatest peril. When taken on board the California, he had his rescued garments under his arm, and dressed himself with the greatest composure. Mr. Wolf, the father of this boy, who could not be induced to leave the wreck, was lost.

Captain Clarke, Commander of the St. James, was asleep at the time of the explosion. When awakened by the terrific report and the commotion on board, he ran on deck, and with the assistance of the pilot, Mr. Samuel Henderson, he took possession of the yawl, keeping back the crowd which was intent on the same object. Having launched

240

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this small boat, Captain Clarke placed in it Mrs. Asher, her daughter, (a young lady of sixteen,) and her two younger children; also Mrs. Sheed and Robert Smith, the steersman, who had an arm broken. With these persons, the yawl started for the California, but striking against that vessel, the little boat upset and all who were in it, except Mrs. Sheed were drowned. Mr. H. L. Sheed, the husband of this lady, was also one of the passengers of the St. James, and he was lost. Captain Clarke's two little sons saved themselves by swimming to the California. Captain Clarke himself was badly scalded, and Captain Wright, the owner of the boat, received severe injuries.

Many of the passengers had not registered their names. The persons named below are scarcely a moiety of those who perished.

LIST OF KILLED.—Hon. Isaac T. Preston, Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana; Mr. Richard Turner, late Commissary of the Fourth Ward, Second Municipality, New Orleans; J. M. Wolf, member of the New Orleans bar; John Molley and Nicholas Read, of New Orleans; Mr. Sheed, of the U. S. Branch Mint, of New Orleans; James M. Jones, mate of the St. James; the watchman of do., name not mentioned; a colored boy, slave of Dr. Penniston, of New Orleans; another slave, belonging to Captain Tuft; Mrs. Asher and her three children; Mr. Paul, engineer; John, a colored man, second steward of the boat; Robert Smith, steersman; S. Forrester; Mr. Gatchet Delisle; and about twenty others, whose names could not be ascertained.

WOUNDED.—Captain Wright, owner of the St. James, (badly scalded;) Captain Clarke, Commander of do., burned by a piece of blazing timber which fell on his head; Oliver Rout, second engineer, (badly scalded;) Francis Turner, Assessor of the First District; Wm. Collins, first engineer, (badly burnt;) Eliza Wilson; Wm. Deacon, (much injured;) Francois Francis, a passenger, (severely scalded;) Harry Harvey, passenger, (badly scalded;) J. G. Wheeler; Robert McMillar, deck hand, (scalded and right arm broken;) Gregory, colored boy, and Patrick, a colored man, slaves of Madam Isabel, (much hurt;) George, Bill, Patrick and Julius, firemen, all badly scalded.

Mr. Turner, the Assessor, who is mentioned in the list of wounded, had risen and dressed himself, and was walking about the cabin, thinking that he had been imprudent in venturing on a lake boat which used "high pressure;" and while his thoughts were thus occupied, the explosion took place. His injuries, however, were not of a very serious nature.

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241

EXPLOSION OF THE AMERICA.

This afflictive event took place on Lake Erie, July 31, 1850. The head of one of the starboard boilers blew off, turning the boiler deck upside down, raising the upper deck about four feet, and making all the central part of the boat a complete wreck. As soon as the report was heard, several of the passengers jumped overboard and were

EXPLOSION OF THE AMERICA.

not seen afterwards. Many persons were killed or wounded, of whose names an imperfect list will be found below. The names of many of the passengers were not registered.

LIST OF KILLED.—J. McLaughlin, fireman; H. Brown, colored waiter, (he was literally torn to pieces by the pitman, a part of the steam engine;) Joseph Stancliff, Durham, Conn.; James Chancellor; Charles Porter; P. Welsh, fireman; Wm. Terry; M. Hagerty and James Chintstar, firemen; Patrick Kenby, deck hand; the third engineer, and several passengers, names unknown.

WOUNDED.—W. H. Burnitt, of New York, hands and arms scalded; Jeremiah Connor, wife and five children, of Missouri; all badly scalded; Wm. Livas, first cook, scalded; R. Retaliè, of Whitby, Canada, do.; Luther Kinney, of Washington, Macomb county, Michigan, do.; an old Frenchwoman, shoe-dealer of New York, badly

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242

scalded; Archibald Lindsey, steerage passenger, of Michigan, badly
scalded; J. F. Lalor, L. G. Rumsey and Patrick Howley, (deck
passenger,) of Cincinnati, slightly scalded; D. E. Terry, Norwalk, O.,
injured by a fall; B. Welsh, of Buffalo, badly scalded; J. Downing,
of Albany, N. Y., slightly do.; Dennis Warren, deck passenger, much
injured; Patrick Murphy, deck hand, do.; Thomas Purcell, fireman,
do.; colored cook, name not known, slightly scalded.

A spectator of this disaster says, "It was a melancholy sight to go
through the cabin, and see the terrible condition of the wounded. On
some of them scarcely a particle of skin remained, and the flesh was
frightfully burned. I have never witnessed anything to be compared
with this awful catastrophe. One poor woman and all her five chil-
dren were dreadfully scalded. Their sufferings cannot be imagined.
The woman was perfectly exhausted with suffering, but seemed to care
only for her children. One of them, a little girl, tried several times
to jump overboard. Her screams were agonizing to all who heard
them."

## COLLISION OF THE DE SOTO AND BUCKEYE.

Between three and four o'clock, on Friday morning, March 1st,
1844, the steamboats De Soto and Buckeye came in contact on the
Mississippi, near Atchafalaya. The De Soto was bound down, from
Nachitoches, and the Buckeye was on her way to Ouachata, with
about three hundred passengers on board, and a cargo of plantation
supplies. The concussion was so violent that within five minutes after
the accident, the Buckeye sunk to her hurricane deck, in twenty feet
water. The passengers were asleep until awakened by the shock. They
rushed on deck in the greatest consternation. A terrible commotion
and confusion was produced by hundreds of people, in the wildest ex-
citement, seeking their relatives; as many husbands and wives, parents
and children, were separated by the universal disorder which prevailed
in the fated vessel. All, or nearly all, were in their night clothes, and
few were sufficiently self possessed to take proper means for their own
safety, or for the safety of those who depended on them for assistance
and protection.

A few brave spirits, forgetful of themselves, turned all their atten-
tion to the preservation of the women and children; but the boat went
down so suddenly that few of those helpless beings could be saved.
Mr. Haynes, of Alexandria, La., whose family was with him, lost his

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

daughter, a beautiful little girl, about ten years old. His wife's sister, Miss Elizabeth Smith, an accomplished young lady, was like-wise drowned. Mr. Haynes also lost sixteen slaves who were on the lower deck. Mr. Alexander McKinzie, formerly of Florida, lost his wife, seven children, and four slaves. Mr. John Blunt, who was also from Florida, lost his wife, child, and seven negroes. Col. King, of Louisiana, (afterwards Vice President of the United States,) lost two children. A young man named Pollard, supposed to be from Natchez, had a considerable sum of money deposited for safe-keeping in the clerk's office. When the boat was sinking he applied for his money; it was delivered to him, and he was not seen afterwards. A child of Mr. White, of New Orleans, was lost. Two sisters of a young man named Francis Larkin were drowned. Mr. Larkin and these young ladies had been taken on board at Red river landing. Mr. Beard, one of the unfortunate passengers of the Buck-eye, attempted to swim ashore with his young nephew on his back; but in the attempt both were drowned. The whole number who perished could not have been less than eighty. The night was clear, and the moon shed a brilliant light on the water, and to this happy circumstance the preservation of many lives may be ascribed. The De Soto remained by the wreck to the last, and the officers of that boat exerted themselves to the utmost in saving the lives and property of the Buck-eye's passengers. The mate of the De Soto rescued about forty persons from the water by taking them up into the yawl, conveying as many as the little boat could carry to the steamer, and then returning for more.

The surviving passengers of the Buckeye published a certificate exculpating the Captain and other officers of that boat, and ascribing the mischance to a combination of unfortunate circumstances which no precaution or foresight could have averted.

BURNING OF THE E. K. COLLINS.

Between ten and eleven o'clock, on the night of October 9, 1854, the steamboat E. K. Collins was burned to the water's edge on Lake Erie, nearly opposite the light house below Mauldin. At the time the fire broke out, she was on her way from Sault St. Marie to Cleveland. Before she could be run on shore, she was completely enveloped in flames. Twenty-three of the passengers and crew were either drowned or burned to death. The fire broke out on the boiler deck, and spread so rapidly that the passengers and crew, most of whom were in bed,

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

had not time to dress themselves, before they ran on deck to seek the means of escape. As soon as the boat had reached shallow water she became unmanagable, and while the head was embedded in the sand the stern projected over the deep water, and all who happened to be abaft the machinery were reduced to the necessity of throwing themselves overboard, or remaining in the boat with the certainty of perishing in the flames. Had it not been for the timely arrival of the propeller Finertz, scarcely any would have been saved. The current set strongly from the shore, so that several men who attempted to save themselves by swimming were carried back and drowned. The Captain of the Finertz, seeing the light, hastened to the wreck, and had all his boats ready for service by the time of his arrival. Nearly all who were saved owe their preservation to the prompt assistance rendered by this vessel. As a surprising example of human depravity, it is mentioned that some wretch, in the very height of the consternation on board, stole eighty dollars, the hard earnings of a poor invalid, who had been working at Sault St. Marie, until his declining health obliged him to return to his family, at Cleveland. A purse of twenty dollars was contributed by the passengers for the relief of the unfortunate man who had been victimized by this atrocious and inhuman robbery.

## NAMES OF THOSE WHO PERISHED BY THIS DISASTER.—Mrs. Dibble; Samuel Powell; Lawrence Whalom; Thomas Cook; Mrs. McNailly; Mrs. Watrums and child; a colored man from Virginia, name unknown; Charles Adams; John McNeely; John Ennis; P. Tinker; John Halstead; Mr. Lyman; Mrs. F. Lewis; Samuel Brown; A. Alwick; Thomas Anderson; J. A. Grinnan; James Grimmet; Nathanial Robins, and one of the pilots, name not mentioned.

## EXPLOSION OF THE KATE KEARNEY.

One of the boilers of this boat exploded at St. Louis, on Thursday, February 14th, 1854. The Kate Kearney was about to start from the wharf and the last bell had just ceased ringing, when in a single moment the greater part of the boat was changed to a confused heap of ruins. There were fifty or sixty passengers on board, and the names of many, (as usual,) were not registered. It is quite certain that several persons, whose names were never ascertained, were blown overboard and lost. Fifteen persons, badly wounded, were taken to the Sister's Hospital, St. Louis; of these, several died within a few hours, namely:

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the Rev. S. J. Gassaway, rector of St. George's church, St. Louis, F. Hardy, second engineer of the Kate Kearney, D. Keefer, a deck hand, and two colored men.

Among the wounded were Brevet Major D. C. Buel, of the United States army, Major R. C. Catlin, of the seventh, U. S. infantry, a son of that gentleman, and several other persons from Illinois and Missouri. Three persons, whose names are not mentioned, were seen to sink in the river.

Major Buel, one of the wounded passengers, gives the following account of his providential escape from a horrible death. He was overwhelmed among falling timbers and rubbish, from which, with great exertion, he extricated himself after the lapse of a few minutes. As soon as he felt himself at liberty he heard the alarm of fire; and although he had received several painful wounds, he united with others in an attempt to extinguish the flames. He continued in this active service until relieved by the arrival of the fire companies. He then went ashore, took a carriage, and drove to the Planter's House. It was only on his arrival there that he began to realize the serious nature of the injuries he had sustained, and from the effects of which he did not recover for several weeks.

The Kate Kearney was an old boat, having been engaged for eight or ten years in the packet trade between St. Louis and Keokuk. About three years previous, the same boiler which caused the disaster just related, collapsed at Canton, on the upper Mississippi, killing and scalding a large number of persons. The collapsed flues were taken out and new ones were substituted, but the shell of the old boiler remained. The boat was adjudged to be unfit for service several months before the explosion at St. Louis. She was withdrawn from the Keokuk trade, but as both the Alton packets had sunk, the Kate Kearney was chartered to do their duty; in which service she was engaged at the time of the explosion.

## BURNING OF THE BELLE OF THE WEST.

The Belle of the West was burned to the water's edge, near Florence island, on the Ohio river, April 22d, 1850. Only an imperfect report of this disaster has been preserved.

LIST OF THE KILLED.—Jeremiah Bamberger; John Anders and wife; Frederick Bretz, wife and three children; (two children belonging to this family were saved;) Mr. Keller, wife and three children; a lady, name unknown; a man, wife and six children, names unknown;

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three children of Mr. Waggoner; two German deck passengers; and a
family, consisting of two men, two women, and four children.

WOUNDED.—John Bamberger; Levi Yerdz; Miss Yerdz; and three or four others, names unknown.

A brave little boy, twelve years old, leaped into the river, and while swimming to the shore, saw his mother on board, overburdened with two small children, and trying to make her escape. He made her understand by gestures, that he wished her to throw one of the children into the water. She did so, and he swam with it to the shore. The mother escaped with the other child, and thus the whole family was saved. Several other families were less fortunate. A Mr. Waggoner, one of the passengers, was accompanied by his wife and eight children. Three of the children were drowned. Mr. Waggoner was emigrating to Iowa, having with him money, with which he intended to purchase land; but every dollar of it was lost. About fifty German Moravians, some of them with families, were on board. Many of these people perished in the flames, or in the water.

EXPLOSION OF THE VIRGINIA.

On Saturday, March 31, 1849, at 5 o'clock, P. M., the steamer Virginia, plying as a daily packet between Wheeling, Va., and Steubenville, Ohio, was torn into pieces and sunk by the explosion of her boilers, at Rush Creek, ten miles above Wheeling. Eight or ten lives were lost, and about fourteen persons were wounded. The explosion took place when the boat was about to land a passenger, Mr. Roe, who was killed. As almost the whole of the upper part of the boat was reduced to fragments, and the hull sunk immediately, there can be no doubt that all of the crew and passengers who were missing, perished in the wreck.

LIST OF KILLED.—Mr. Roe, Rush Creek; the chambermaid of the boat; William Ebert, Wheeling, Va.; a colored fireman, and eight or ten others, names unknown.

BADLY WOUNDED.—Mr. Boles and lady, Steubenville, Ohio; Mr. Collins, the pilot, one leg broken and otherwise badly injured; Henry Commons, Birmingham, Alleghany county, Pa.; John Taylor, first engineer, Wheeling, Va.; W. Barker, St. Louis; W. Althouse, Wheeling; the carpenter of the boat; James Zink, a boy, and A. Snyder, (both legs torn off,) Wheeling; and Mr. Atchison, Steubenville.

SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.—Mrs. E. Coen, Wheeling; Capt. Dawson,

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247

Richetown; Mr. Beaty, Steubenville; and Mr. Burgess and lady, West Springfield, Ill.

Mr. Roe, the passenger who was going on shore at the time of the explosion, was on the plank, and was cut in three pieces by fragments of the boiler.

## EXPLOSION OF THE ZACHARY TAYLOR.

This was an old boat employed in the transportation of hogs from Lawrenceburg to Cincinnati. On the 21st of December, 1853, she was towing two barges laden with hogs, and there were about three hundred of the same kind of animals on the deck of the steamer, abaft the engine. About day break, on the day aforesaid, when the boat was within ten miles of Cincinnati, one of the flues of the larboard boiler collapsed, projecting columns of steam and scalding water fore and aft, killing three of the boat's crew instantly, and scalding five others. The three men who were killed were lying asleep in front of the fire.

The first engineer, Moses Smith, was scalded in the face. The second engineer, John Everhart, was more seriously injured. Captain Prettyman had passed by the boiler a moment before the collapse. The hot water thrown back among the swine scalded many of them so severely that they jumped overboard.

There were thirty-five passengers on board, not one of whom was hurt. One of the deck hands who were killed was named Boyle; the names of the other two are not given.

SKETCH OF NEW ORLEANS.

THIS great commercial emporium of the South and West is situated on the south bank of the Mississippi river, about 100 miles from its mouth, 1663 miles south-west of New York, 1438 miles south-west of Washington, 2025 miles south south-west of Pittsburgh, and 2000 miles south by east of the Falls of St. Anthony; lat. 29° 58' N., long. 90° 7' W. New Orleans is the seat of justice of Orleans Parish, La. It is built around a bend of the river, and from this circumstance it has acquired the *sobriquet* of the "Crescent City." The location of New Orleans is on a piece of land which inclines gently from the river to the marshy grounds in the rear of the city. The site is from two to five feet below the level of the river in the time of high water. To protect the city against inundations, an embankment, or levee, fifteen feet wide and six feet high, has been raised; it extends one hundred and twenty miles above the city, and to Port Plaquemine, forty three miles below it. This levee affords the citizens of New Orleans a delightful promenade, worthy of comparison with the boulevards of Paris.

The change in the course of the river at New Orleans causes vast alluvial deposits, particularly at that point where the commerce of the city chiefly centres. Here it has been found necessary to erect quays, extending from fifty to one hundred feet in the river. In consequence of the new alluvial formations at this point, the levee has been widened and an additional row of warehouses has been erected between the city and the river. The city was originally laid out by the French in an oblong, rectangular shape, 1320 yards in length, and 700 yards in breadth. Above this are the faubourgs of St. Mary, Annunciation, and La Course; below, are Marigny, Donnois, and Declouet; and in the rear, are Treme, and St. Johns. The suburbs, together with the village of Lafayette, which was formerly under a separate municipal government, are now incorporated with the city proper. In the year 1836, New Orleans was divided, by legislative enactment, into three municipalities, each with distinct municipal powers; but in 1852 this division was abrogated, and the faubourgs, the village of Lafayette, and all the other dependencies, extending about seven miles along the river, were consolidated under one charter, and one city government.

Algiers, which may be regarded as one of the suburbs of New Orleans, is a flourishing village, situated on the opposite side of the river, and is connected with the city by a ferry. It has several ship-yards and extensive manufacturing establishments.

New Orleans was settled by the French in 1717. The name was applied as a compliment to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, during the minority of Louis XV. In 1723, Charlevoix visited the place, and found about two hundred inhabitants, living chiefly in huts or cabins built without any orderly arrangement. There was a wooden warehouse and another wretched building which had been intended for a store, but was used as a chapel. In the same year, some German emigrants, after whom the "German coast" is named, arrived at this location, having changed their original intention to make a settlement in Arkansas. A memorable hurricane visited the place in this year, and destroyed nearly all the buildings. In 1727 the Jesuits and Ursuline nuns arrived; the former remained until the expulsion of their order from France, Spain, and Naples, in 1763, compelled them to leave Louisiana. Their entire property in this region was confiscated; their lands, which were then sold by the French government for $186,000, are now worth not less than $20,000,000. In 1730 two buildings which still remain on the upper side of the Cathedral were erected. The first visitation of the yellow fever occurred in 1769, being introduced, as it is said, by an English vessel, with a cargo of

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SKETCH OF NEW ORLEANS.

slaves from Africa. Four years before this time, the first British vessels visited this place, or rather came to anchor at Lafayette, where they traded with the planters and natives. In 1769 the colony was ceded to Spain, the population of the whole province being then 5,556 whites, and nearly as many blacks. In 1770 the river was frozen for several yards on both sides. In 1782 permission was obtained for the building of a custom-house. In 1785 the Americans of the West, and of Philadelphia began to trade with New Orleans. In 1788 nine hundred houses were destroyed by fire, which broke out on Good Friday, in a chapel on Chartres street. In 1789 many Americans settled in the neighborhood. In 1791 the first company of French comedians arrived. In 1792 the Baron Carondolet became governor of the province. He divided the city into four wards, established a night-watch, and lighted the streets. To defray the expenses of these improvements, a tax of $1.12¹ was levied on each chimney. He erected several fortifications also, placing a fort where the mint now stands, another at the foot of Canal street, a doubt in Rampart street, &c. Military training commenced this year. Five volunteer companies were formed, each company containing one hundred men. In 1794 the first newspaper, called the *Moniteur*, was printed. Much property in the city was destroyed in this year by fire, and by a hurricane. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded back to France. In 1803 the province was ceded to the United States by Napoleon. The city was incorporated in 1804. The population of the city was trebled within the first seven years after the Americans took possession of it. In 1812 the first steamboat, the New Orleans, arrived from Pittsburgh. January 8th, 1815. Gen. Packenham, commanding the English forces, made an attack on the city, but was signally defeated by the Americans under Gen. Jackson. The loss of the English, in killed and wounded, was nearly three thousand; the Americans had only seven men killed, and six wounded. In 1816 the levee gave way, nine miles above the city. The inundation did immense damage. In 1823 J. H. Caldwell was laughed at as a madman, for building the Camp Street theatre. It was quite out of town, and was accessible only by gunwales instead of pavements. From this date to the present time, the improvements have been so rapid, and are so much within the recollection of our readers, that it is unnecessary to mention them specifically. We will now glance at New Orleans as it is at the present day.

The streets of this city are sufficiently spacious, and for the most part, intersect each other at right angles. Canal street, which is the widest in the city, is 190½ feet in breadth. In the centre of this street is a grass plat 25 feet wide. The houses are generally constructed of brick, and those in the principal business locations are often six or seven stories high. There are many splendid dwellings, especially on the outskirts of the city. The houses have commodious basements, but no cellars, on account of the marshy nature of the ground. There are several handsome public squares in various parts of the city. Jackson Square, formerly called Place d'Armes, occupies the centre of the river front of the old town plot; it is ornamented with shell walks, shrubbery, statuettes, &c., and is a favorite place of resort. Lafayette Square, in the Second District, is finely laid out and adorned with a profusion of shade trees. Congo Square, in the rear of the city, is also a handsome enclosure.

New Orleans has a number of superb public buildings. The Custom House is a magnificent structure, and with the single exception of the Capitol at Washington, it is the largest building in the United States. Its dimensions are:—front on Canal street, 334 feet; on Custom House street, 252 feet; on New Levee street, 310 feet; and on Old Levee street, 297 feet; height 82 feet. It covers an area of 87,333 superficial feet. The United States Branch Mint is at the corner of Esplanade and New Levee street. It is an extensive building, 282 feet long, 108 feet deep, and three stories high. It has two wings, each 81 feet by 29. The Municipal Hall, at the corner of St. Charles and Hevia streets, is a beautiful marble edifice in the Grecian style of architecture. The Odd Fellows' Hall and the Merchants' Exchange are large and elegant buildings.

Many of the churches are spacious and beautiful buildings. There are 35 churches in the city—12 Roman Catholic, 7 Episcopal, 6 Presbyterian, 5 Methodist, 3 Lutheran, 2 Baptist, and 3 Jewish Synagogues.

New Orleans has many benevolent Institutions. The Charity Hospital is a magnificent edifice. The United States Naval Hospital is also a noble building. Stone's Hospital and the

SKETCH OF NEW ORLEANS.

Franklin Infirmary are likewise fine structures. The Literary and Educational Institutions are very numerous. Among these, we may mention the University of Louisiana, organized in 1849; it comprises a Law School and a flourishing Medical College.

The public journals of New Orleans are celebrated for superior ability. More than twenty newspapers are published in the city, among which, ten or twelve are dailies. Several of them are printed in the French language. There are also several periodicals specially devoted to literary and scientific objects.

There are eight banks in New Orleans, with an aggregate circulation of $8,127,846; deposits, $12,077,767. Cash assets:—specie, $8,195,295; loans and deposits, $17,409,767; foreign and domestic exchange, $3,857,612. The assessed value of real and personal property in New Orleans for 1852, amounted to $70,194,930.

With respect to commerce, New Orleans possesses unrivalled advantages, especially for internal trade. This city is the grand emporium for the trade of the Mississippi and its tributaries, embracing 15,000 miles of navigable waters, and communicating with a vast extent of country of inexhaustible fertility and boundless resources. The levee of this city constantly presents an appearance of business activity which has scarcely a parallel in any other commercial city of the world. The steamboat trade is stupendous. The foreign and coastwise arrivals at New Orleans, for the year ending December 31, 1853, were:—ships, 782; barques, 447; brigs, 295; schooners, 596; steamships, 244; steamboats, 3,253;—total, 5,617. The shipping of the district, at the above mentioned date, amounted to 81,500 tons registered, and 184,512 tons enrolled and licensed;—total, 266,013 tons. The exports of cotton for the year ending August 31, 1852, were 772,242 bales to Great Britain; 196,254 to France; 75,950 to the North of Europe; 134,657 to the South of Europe and China; 128,629 to Boston; 101,938 to New York; 15,594 to Philadelphia, and 15,041 to other places in the United States. The other principal exports are flour, bacon, lard, grain, tobacco and sugar.

In addition to the several railroads communicating with various points in the State, are two extensive lines which are now nearly or quite completed—one called the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad—extending through Louisiana into Central Texas; and the other, the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad—designed to connect with the railway system of Tennessee, and of the Northwestern States. A charter has also been granted and a company organized for constructing a road to communicate with Mobile, through the Pontchartrain Railroad. In all these works, New Orleans has a primary and paramount interest.

In the year 1834, gas-light was introduced into the city, and machinery was constructed for supplying the inhabitants with water from the Mississippi. It is raised by steam-power to an elevated reservoir, whence more than 5,000,000 gallons are daily distributed to various parts of the city.

The cemeteries of New Orleans are a remarkable "feature" of the place. The burial of the dead is here managed on an unique plan: the bodies being not deposited underground, but above it. This method of interment is adopted on account of the damp constitution of the soil, which makes it impossible to dig a grave which will be free from the intrusion of water. The tombs are built from one to three stories high, and the coffins are deposited lengthwise in niches or cavities of a suitable size.

Owing to various sanitary measures adopted by the citizens, the health of this city has been much improved within a few years past, and the principal obstacle to the growth of the place, viz.: its supposed insalubrity, has thus been, in a considerable degree, removed.

Population of New Orleans 225,000.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE GEORGIA.

On Saturday night, January 28, 1854, the steamboat Georgia was burnt on Alabama river, between Montgomery and Mobile. She had two hundred and thirty passengers on board, thirty or forty of whom are believed to have perished. When the fire was discovered, the boat was run ashore as speedily as possible. The scene which followed was one of indescribable confusion. One who saw it declares that women and children were "pitched on to the shore like logs of wood;" the necessity of getting them out of the burning boat with the greatest despatch seemed to require such rough and unceremonious handling. Several who were thus thrown out of the boat fell into the water and were drowned, and others struck the ground with such violence as to cause serious injuries. Mr. Jackson, of Barbour county, Ala., and one of his children, were lost. His widow and eight surviving children, who were on board with him, were left at Mobile, in destitute circumstances. Mr. Jackson had on his person checks or drafts to a considerable amount, which were also lost. Mr. Jolley and his family, of Randolph county, Georgia, were on the boat. The wife of this gentleman and one of his children were drowned. He lost besides, $900 in specie, and was left penniless. B. F. Lofton, of Lenoir county, N. C., lost two slaves. Rev. J. M. Carter, of Clinton, Ga., lost three negroes. His wife was badly burned. Dr. J. M. Young, of Hancock, Ga., lost a valuable slave, all his medical books, surgical instruments, and everything, in short, except the clothing which he wore at the time of the disaster. Mrs. Davidson, from Macon county, Ala., lost several negroes. Mr. Graham, from Williamsburg, S. C., lost two negroes and $500 in gold. Thos. J. McLanathan, of Bristol, Conn., was drowned. A gentleman from Stewart county, Ga., lost several slaves. A woman who fell or leaped from the cabin floor to the main deck was caught on the horns of an infuriated ox, and thereby received several severe wounds, but the animal threw her into the water and she was saved. A father, who had rescued his wife and six children, went back into the blazing wreck, hoping to save the seventh, but lost his own life. A young man who had escaped to the shore, returned to the boat to bring away his sister, but he was seen to fall into the blazing hull, from which he never emerged. Another man saved three of his children, but his wife and six other children were consumed on this funeral pyre. A young man, who had lost his

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

wife in the wreck, sat on the wharf to all appearance an indifferent spectator of the frightful scene. It appeared afterwards that his grief had reduced him to melancholy madness, or idiotic apathy. Another young man who had seen his father and mother perish in the boat, loudly lamented the loss of $1,000 which the old gentleman had deposited in the safe. This bereavement seemed to be the only one which occupied his thoughts. W. B. Rhenn, of Newbern, N. C., saved himself, his wife, and his five children, but lost nine slaves.

Of the forty persons who perished in this conflagration, twenty-two were negroes belonging to the cabin passengers, and more than half of the others were children. From the moment the flames broke out until the fate of each person on board, for life or death, was decided, only three minutes elapsed; so quick was the work of destruction. Nearly all of the passengers were dressed, only two or three having retired to their berths. It was a fortunate circumstance that so many of the passengers were awake, otherwise the loss of life would have been still greater. Some were kept up by a desire to see the various landing places, and others were listening to the music of a violin which a young man was playing in the cabin.

BURNING OF THE G. P. GRIFFITH.

The fine steamer G. P. Griffith took fire on Lake Erie, about twenty miles below Cleveland, and was burnt to the water's edge, on June 17, 1850. The passengers were all in their berths when the alarm of fire was given, about three o'clock in the morning. The day had just begun to dawn, and the shore was in sight. At first very little alarm was felt on board, as the boat was rapidly approaching the shore, to which her head had been directed. But alas! the prospect of speedy deliverance soon vanished, and every heart was chilled with terror when the steamer, while yet half a mile from land, struck on a sand-bar and became immovable.

> "Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell,
> Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave."

Many of the passengers then plunged madly into the lake, and few of these were saved. The scene on the burning vessel is represented as one which would have agonized any spectator who had no personal interest in the event. What must it have been to those whose lives, and lives even dearer than their own, were subject to the contingencies of

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a moment? The consternation of all on board may be estimated from
the fact that scarcely any of the survivors were able to give a lucid ac-
count of the catastrophe. There were three hundred and twenty-six

persons on the boat; of these, only about thirty, who were able to swim ashore, were saved. Every child perished, and every woman except one, the wife of the barber. One of the passengers, a Mr. Parkes, had secured a piece of the wreck, which was barely sufficient to support him on the surface, and he was reduced to the horrible necessity of pushing others away when they attempted to sustain themselves on the same fragment. He saw scores of people sinking around him, and heard many a voice exclaiming in piteous accents, "Save me! save me!" But who can be humane at such a moment? Who can feel pity for others, when his own life is exposed to the most imminent peril? Mr. Parkes says, that for a moment he felt like "giving up," and dying with his fellow passengers. But the instinct of self preservation was too strong for the emotions of sympathy. Soon he found himself almost solitary on the bosom of the lake. Most of the struggling people had disappeared, their wild supplications for aid had ceased and nothing was heard except the sullen sound of the waters as they beat against the charred hull of the steamer.

One of the passengers gives the following account of his escape. He was aroused from his slumber by the cries of fire and the screams of women and children. When he reached the deck he found that the boat was about three miles from land. The second mate gave orders for the boat to be steered towards the shore. She reached the bar half a mile from land, before the flames had made much progress; but as soon as the steamer grounded on that bar, the fire spread with appalling rapidity. One of the officers directed the passengers to save

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

themselves, but did not point out any means of escape. Many of the passengers threw themselves overboard. The narrator says they leaped out of the boat in crowds, twenty at a time. The Captain remained on the upper deck, near his state room, forward of the wheelhouse. When nearly all the passengers had jumped overboard to escape from the flames, the Captain threw his mother, his wife and child, and the barber's wife into the lake, and then plunged in himself. He remained a moment on the surface with his wife in his arms, and then both sunk together. The passenger who tells this story saved himself on a small piece of plank, supported by which he contrived to reach the shore.

The books of the boat were lost, therefore the names of very few of the victims can be given. But it is known that the loss of life was greater than in any previous disaster on the lake, except only in the case of the steamer Erie. One hundred and fifty-four dead bodies were recovered, and probably from thirty to fifty more remained at the bottom of the lake. The scene on the shore, after the awful tragedy was finished, was melancholy in the extreme. One hundred and fifty dead bodies were strewn along the beach. Boats had been employed in dragging for them at the spot where the wreck lay. A long trench was dug on the shore, and here the greater number of the dead were interred, unshrouded and uncoffined, and many of them unknown.

LIST OF KILLED.—William Daley; Capt. C. C. Roby, wife, mother and two children; Mrs. Wilkinson; Horace Palmer; Richard Palmer; Charles Brown; Theodore Gilman; Richard Mann; W. P. Tinkham and his two children; Daniel, a colored waiter; Hugh McLair; George Wilmen; P. Keeler; Mrs. Heth and Francis Heth and their four children; M. June; W. Tillman; A. Ferguson; J. R. Manson; Thomas Wild; an unknown man, on whose person was found one thousand one hundred and sixty dollars; J. Marsh; another stranger, whose clothes were marked with the initials F. P.; Francis Huile; a great many English, Irish, and German emigrants, of whom only one, Robert Hall, was saved. Mr. Hall lost his wife and four children, his mother, two sisters and two brothers. Mrs. Walker and child; Selina Moony; and others not identified.

Henry Wilkinson, the clerk of the Griffith, swam ashore by supporting his chin on a piece of firewood. When about to leave the wreck, he first threw his mother and little niece overboard, and endeavored to save them, but was unable to do so, being nearly drowned in the attempt.

FLOODS OR FRESHETS ON THE WESTERN RIVERS.

Only those persons who have witnessed the devastation of a western flood can form any idea of the terrific nature of such a disaster. Sometimes the whole country, as far as eye can reach, is under water; while the strength of the current sweeps everything before it. In the year 1786, the Ohio river rose fifty-nine feet above low-water mark. As the surrounding country was but sparsely inhabited at that time, the damage done by this flood was comparatively trivial. In 1792 the Ohio rose 63 feet above low-water mark—four feet higher than the flood of 1786.

On the 11th of November, 1810, there was a great flood at Pittsburg. A brig which had been built at Plumb Creek, near that city, and which was ready to be launched, was floated off her ways by this freshet, so that the common process of launching was unnecessary. Fortunately the vessel was secured and made fast, or she would probably have made a long voyage down the river, without the usual equipments.

June 2, 1826, the Mississippi was three feet higher at St. Louis than it had been within the preceding forty years. It was up to Main street in that city—houses were swept away, and a vast amount of property was destroyed.

July 14, 1828, there was an extraordinary rise in the Ohio river, supposed to be as great as that of 1792. It carried desolation into the lower part of Wheeling, which was covered with water to the depth of six feet. There was a vast amount of property destroyed along the river.

In 1836 the Mississippi rose fifty-four feet above low-water mark, being nine feet ten inches higher than it was in the flood of 1810.

In 1844 the houses at Cairo, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, were nearly submerged. The swollen rivers were fourteen miles wide between the opposite shores of Kentucky and Missouri. Moveable property of every kind, fences, cattle, lumber, furniture, and entire houses, (wooden ones, of course,) were floated down the Mississippi and other rivers.

A building was seen driving down the Mississippi, while several persons from the windows were calling for assistance, which, on account of the torrent-like velocity of the stream, could not be afforded them. Many lives were lost, and the amount of property destroyed by this flood is beyond all estimate. Many drowning people and dead bodies floated down the Mississippi. A house, with a whole family inside of it, went over the Falls of Ohio. Boats passed over fields and plantations, far beyond the usual limits of the river, and took the frightened

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inhabitants from the upper stories and roofs of their houses, to which they had been driven for refuge from the waters. The levees or embankments made at different places, as defences against the river, were broken through. It is believed that more than four hundred human beings perished in this flood. Red River was higher in January of this year than ever it was before, within the recollection of man, and higher than ever it has been since. All the lands in the immediate neighborhood of that river were desolated, and every vestige of cultivation was destroyed. In June of this year, the Mississippi, at St. Louis, was eleven miles wide. and was on a level with the second story windows of the houses on the levee at that city. Many houses were swept away and great numbers of cattle were drowned. The loss of property was immense. An obelisk about twenty feet high has been erected on the levee below Market street, St. Louis, to designate the height of the water at the time of this flood.

In March, 1849, the water was ten feet deep in some of the streets of New Orleans. This was the most destructive flood that ever visited that city. The plantations above were overflown, and the rush of the water over the fields, in some places, was perfectly irresistible, carrying away everything which opposed the current, which was believed to move at the rate of sixty miles per hour. The damage sustained by planters and others was estimated at $60,000,000.

In April, 1852, the Ohio, at Wheeling and Pittsburgh, rose as high as it did in 1832. There was a great destruction of property along the river, and many lives were lost.

## EXPLOSION OF THE POCAHONTAS.

The disaster about to be related, took place on Arkansas river, ten miles below Dardanella, on the 14th day of March, 1852. While rounding out from a wood-yard, she collapsed both flues of her middle boiler, blowing out principally aft. Eighteen persons were scalded, of whom eight died before eleven o'clock on the following morning. The boat took fire immediately after the explosion, but was saved by the strenuous exertions of the officers and crew, assisted by the passengers.

**KILLED.**—Wm. Pettit, second engineer, Quincy, Ill.; Michael Manguire, fireman, Ireland; Henry Cook, first cook, Missouri; Lavinia Barker, Simon Barker and Mourning Barker, passengers, of Indiana; Joseph and John A. McDonald, passengers.

**SCALDED.**—Wm. Sanford, (badly,) third engineer, St. Louis; Wm. Blythe, fireman, Ireland; Wm. Morgan, deck hand, New Orleans; Matilda Housely, passenger, Indiana; Thomas Barker, infant, (badly,) Indiana; W. J. McDonald and son, Susan McDonald, and Amanda Housely, of Indiana, passengers, and the first engineer.

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259

## COLLISION OF THE GULNARE AND WESTWOOD.

While on her way from St. Louis to New Orleans, with a valuable cargo, the steamboat Gulnare, September 8, 1844, came in contact with the steamer Westwood, about twenty miles above Helena. The Gulnare was struck on the starboard side, opposite the main hatch, and was so badly broken up that she sunk within three minutes. The passengers and crew escaped, with the exception of two Germans and a United States soldier, who were deck passengers. These three persons were drowned. The soldier was much intoxicated. One of the Germans lost his life while attempting to save his baggage. The Gulnare was heavily laden, and only a small part of her cargo was saved.

## EXPLOSION AND BURNING OF THE ST. JOSEPH.

This disaster took place at the mouth of Arkansas river, January 12, 1850. The St. Joseph was from New Orleans, bound to St. Louis, with a valuable cargo on board. This steamer and the South America were running side by side at the time of the accident. The larboard boiler of the St. Joseph exploded, and the boat soon after took fire. There were many deck passengers on board, some of whom plunged into the river. The boiler was blown backward, instantly killing a boy at the engine, and mortally wounding the second engineer, who died the next day. A Mr. Moore, of Glasgow, Mo., was also mortally wounded. He lingered in great agony for twenty-four hours, having every particle of skin pealed from his body. It is believed that eight or ten persons were drowned.

We have stated above that the steamer South America was near the St. Joseph at the time of the accident. Captain Baker, of the last named boat, took $3000 from the iron chest and handed it to the clerk of the South America for safe keeping. On the next day, Captain Baker, wishing to pay off his men, desired to have his money back, but the clerk of the South America would give him but $300, claiming the balance for salvage. Captain Baker stopped at Memphis, in order to take legal measures for the recovery of his money. The South America was attached at that port, and the Sheriff took possession and detained her for twenty-four hours. In the meanwhile, the facts of the case coming to the knowledge of the citizens, caused

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such a general feeling of indignation, that the officers of the South America being apprehensive of popular vengeance, agreed to refund the money to Captain Baker. The behaviour of Captain Greenlee to the crew and passengers of the St. Joseph's, is represented as inhuman in the highest degree.

## LOSS OF THE STEAMBOAT MECHANIC.

(WITH GENERAL LAFAYETTE ON BOARD.)

The steamboat Mechanic had been chartered at Nashville for the conveyance of General Lafayette and suite to Marietta, Ohio. She departed from the former place on Friday morning, May 6th, 1825, having on board, besides her officers and crew, General Lafayette, General Carroll and staff, Governor Coles, of Illinois, General O'Fallon, Major Nash, of Missouri, and several other gentlemen as passengers. On the following Sunday, about 12 o'clock, midnight, while the steamer was ascending the Ohio, and when near the mouth of Deer Creek, about one hundred and twenty-five miles below Louisville, a severe shock was felt by the persons on board, and it was soon ascertained that the boat had struck some object under the surface of the

SINKING OF THE MECHANIC.

water. The commander, Capt. Hall, presently announced to the passengers in the cabin that the boat had snagged. Capt. Hall then caused the yawl to be made ready to convey General Lafayette and the other passengers ashore. In the meanwhile, the General had been aroused from his slumbers, and was soon prepared to leave the steamer. As the night was very dark, and great confusion prevailed

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on board, General Lafayette, while attempting to descend into the yawl, was precipitated into the river and would have been drowned but for the assistance of one of the deck hands, whose name we have been unable to ascertain. The General, although far advanced in age, was able to keep himself above water until help arrived. He lost eight thousand dollars in money, besides his carriage, clothing, &c., but finally reached the shore in safety.

While Capt. Hall was devoting all his attention to the preservation of his passengers, his desk, containing one thousand three hundred dollars, was lost overboard and was never recovered.

## EXPLOSION OF THE PILOT.

The steam tow-boat Pilot, Capt. Brown, bursted all her boilers, on March 14th, 1845, a short distance below New Orleans, while engaged in towing the brig Pioneer up to that city. Some fragments of the boat were thrown into the air with such force as to carry away the top-gallant mast and fore top-gallant yard of the Pioneer.

**LIST OF KILLED.**—William B. Fagan, first engineer; Mr. Barry, a passenger; Mr. Davis, steersman; and a fireman, name not mentioned.

**WOUNDED.**—William Webster, branch pilot; William Reilly, second engineer; Capt. Brown; three deck-hands and four firemen.

Capt. Brown was thrown off the vessel by the concussion and was taken out of the water by the crew of the brig.

## BURNING OF THE SOUTH AMERICA.

This steamer was destroyed by fire on the Mississippi river, nine miles above New Orleans, December 17th, 1850. About forty lives were lost. Sixteen of those who perished were United States soldiers; the rest were deck hands, and persons belonging to the boat. One woman was killed, viz: Mrs. White, the wife of the carpenter. In order to save her from the flames, her husband threw her into the river and then sprung after her, but could not save her.

**LIST OF KILLED.**—Jackson Knowles, head cook; William Sheppard, porter; a young man from Elizabethtown, Ill., name unknown; three firemen; a collier, wife and child; the following United States soldiers, viz.: Gilder, Hunt, Franks, Rean, Rosendale, Drury, Dumont, Dailey, Duyer, Gerard, Hyer, Johnston, Kimble, Loomis, Werther, Lind, and Donnie; several deck passengers, names unknown, were also lost.

All the baggage belonging to the passengers, and the boat's books and papers, were destroyed.

AWFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE CONFLAGRATION AT ST. LOUIS.

TWENTY-THREE STEAMBOATS BURNED, SEVERAL SQUARES IN ASHES.

The prosperous and beautiful city of St. Louis, Mo., was visited on the night of 17th May, 1849, by a most terrible conflagration, which destroyed property to the amount of $5,000,000. The fire broke out about 10 o'clock, P. M., near the river, at the corner of Locust street and the Levee, where the corner house and the three buildings above on the Levee were destroyed. From thence the flames spread across Locust street, sweeping every house, (with but one exception,) in the blocks fronting on the Levee and Main street, and extending from Locust street southward to Chestnut street, a distance of three squares. The fire then advanced up Chestnut street and crossed over to the next block south, at the junction of Commercial alley with this street, then extending from the alley to Main street, and down that to Market street, consuming everything in its route, except two buildings at the corner of Market street and Commercial alley. At the intersection of Market and Main streets, the flames crossed diagonally to the Market Street House, and followed both sides of Market street up to Second street. Then, crossing Main street, the flames again swept every building, from Locust to Market street, except a row of four-story fire-proof warehouses just below Locust street. Thence the destructive element proceeded up Pine, Chestnut and Market streets, consuming every house in the two blocks between the streets just mentioned and Main and Second streets, together with nearly half the block north of Olive street.

At this point the ravages of the fire in this part of the city were stayed; but in order to produce this effect, it was found necessary to blow up two or three houses at the corner of Market and Second streets. Several persons were killed by the explosion, one of whom was Mr. Targee, a well known citizen of St. Louis. The fragments of one of the dead bodies were found on the opposite side of the street; one piece near the junction of Walnut and Second streets, and a thigh-bone and foot belonging to another body, near the lower end of Walnut street, two or three squares from the spot where the houses were blown up. These, with the body of a boy who was burned on the Levee, were supposed to constitute the remains of four persons who had perished in the conflagration.

Although the progress of the fire was arrested at the point designated above, the flames continued to spread southward; having made another start at the foot of Elm street, and spreading diagonally through the block, it again reached Main street, extending down to Spruce street, a distance, north and south, of two squares. Then crossing Main Street, it swept all before it to within a short distance of Third street, three squares to the west of its starting point. At Main street, the flames crossed Elm street, and consumed one fourth of the block north of Elm and west of Main streets. From the foot of Elm street up its southern side to Second street, a distance of two squares, not a house was left standing. This dreadful calamity reduced many families from comfortable circumstances to perfect destitution. Hundreds of estimable people were made houseless.

> "Cast abandoned on the world's wide stage,
> And doomed in scanty poverty to roam."

About ten o'clock, P. M., the fire, by some means, was communicated to the steamer White Cloud. There was quite a fleet of steamboats moored at the Levee at this time. The Eudora was lying above the White Cloud, and the Edward Bates below it; the Belle Isle and Julia were moored below the Bates. A strong wind was blowing from the north-west at the time the fire commenced its devastations among the boats. The flames were soon communicated from the White Cloud to the Eudora, and the Edward Bates caught almost at the same moment.

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The hawsers of this vessel were either cut or severed by the fire, and she then drifted into the current, carrying destruction to almost all the boats stationed south of her. As the wind set in towards the wharf, the cables were hauled in and they drifted out into the current, yet the flaming vessel followed them up with a speed from which it seemed impossible for them to escape. She appeared to be animated by some intelligent spirit, which prompted her to involve the others in that destruction to which she herself was doomed. The fleet of vessels being loosened from their moorings, were driven about, the sport of the wind and the waves, with nobody on board to control their motions.

Within half an hour from the time the conflagration commenced among the boats, twenty-three of them had been surrendered to the fury of the flames, and half a million dollars worth of property was destroyed. The spectacle was awful but magnificent; a spectacle to which no pencil could do justice, but not the less dreadful and horrifying to every spectator.

LIST OF BOATS DESTROYED.—American Eagle, Cossan, Master, Keokuk and Upper Mississippi packet; valued at $14,000; total loss; insured for $3,500 at Pittsburgh; no cargo.

Alice, Kennett, Master, Missouri river packet; valued at $18,000; total loss; insured for $12,000.

Alexander Hamilton, Hooper, Master, Missouri river packet; valued at $15,000; total loss; insured for $10,500 in eastern offices; no cargo.

Acadia, John Russell, Master, Illinois river packet; valued at $4,000; total loss; fully insured in eastern offices; cargo valued at $1,000.

Boreas No. 3, Bernard, Master, Missouri river packet; valued at $14,500; total loss; insured for $11,500 in city offices; no cargo.

Belle Isle, Smith, Master, New Orleans trader; valued at $10,000; total loss; insured for $8,000 at New Orleans; no cargo.

Eliza Stewart, H. McKee, Master, Missouri river trader; valued at $9,000; total loss; insured for nearly the full value at Nashville; no cargo.

Eudora, Ealer, Master, New Orleans and St. Louis trader; valued at $16,000; total loss; insured for $10,500 at St. Louis; no cargo.

Edward Bates, Randolph, Master, Keokuk packet; valued at $22,500; total loss; insured for $15,000 at St. Louis; no cargo.

Frolic, Ringling, Master, tow-boat; valued at $1,500; total loss; no insurance; no cargo.
Kit Carson, Goddin, Master, Missouri river packet; valued at $16,000; total loss; insured for $8,000 at St. Louis; cargo valued at $3,000.

Mameluke, Smithers, Master, New Orleans and St. Louis trader; valued at $30,000; total loss; insured for $20,000 at Louisville, Columbus, &c.

Mandan, Beers, Master, Missouri river trader; valued at $14,000; total loss; insured for $10,500 at St. Louis; no cargo.

Montauk, Moorhouse, Master, Upper Mississippi trader; valued at $16,000; total loss; insured for $10,000 at St. Louis, &c.; cargo valued at $8,000.

Martha, D. Finch, Master, Missouri river trader; valued at $10,000; total loss; fully insured at St. Louis; cargo valued at $30,000; also insured.

Prairie State, Baldwin, Master, Illinois river packet; valued at $26,000; total loss; insured in eastern offices for $18,000; cargo valued at $3,000.

Redwing, Barger, Master, Upper Mississippi trader; valued at $6,000; total loss; no insurance; cargo valued at $3,000.

St. Peter's, Ward, Master, Upper Mississippi trader; valued at $12,000; total loss; insured for $9,000 at Nashville and Louisville; no cargo.

Sarah, Young, Master, New Orleans and St. Louis trader; valued at $35,000; total loss.
Taglioni, Marshall, Master, Pittsburgh and St. Louis trader; valued at $20,000; total loss; insured for nearly the full value at Pittsburgh; cargo valued at $15,000.

Timour, Miller, Master, Missouri river trader; valued at $25,000; total loss; insured for $18,000 at St. Louis, &c.; cargo valued at $6,000.

White Cloud, Adams, Master, New Orleans and St. Louis trader; valued at $3,000; total loss; fully insured; no cargo.

And a Ferry boat, valued at $3,000.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

265

## EXPLOSION OF THE CONCORDIA.

On the 16th of September, 1848, the steamer Concordia burst all her boilers, when about to land passengers at Plaquemine, La. All the upper works were demolished, and some fragments of them were blown to the distance of three hundred yards. The cabin passengers all escaped uninjured. Twenty-eight of the crew and deck passengers were killed, and eight or ten persons were wounded.

**KILLED.**—B. M. McDowell, clerk; Michael McQuaide, deck hand; Henry Jordon, a colored fireman; two cabin boys; a fireman, name not mentioned; Robert and Edward Davis, colored men; and about twenty deck passengers, names unknown.

**WOUNDED.**—Capt. H. Pease (mortally); John F. Mosely, second clerk; John Tabbot, colored fireman; John Henderson, first engineer; F. W. Colles, book-keeper; Samuel Bunnall, colored fireman. Capt. Pease died soon after the accident.

## EXPLOSION OF THE TIMOUR NO. 2.

The steamboat Timour No. 2 exploded, September 25th, 1854, while lying at Edwards' wood-yard, on the Missouri river, three miles below Jefferson City. She was taking in wood at the time. All her boilers, three in number, exploded at the same moment, wrecking all the forward part as far as the wheel-houses, killing fifteen persons, and wounding five or six others. The boat sunk soon after the explosion. She had a valuable cargo, the greater part of which was lost. The names of the sufferers are not mentioned, with the exception of Mr. Charles Dix, the Captain's brother, who was blown overboard and drowned.

## SINKING OF THE BELLE ZANE.

On the eighth of January, 1845, the steamboat Belle Zane, while on her way from Zanesville, Ohio, to New Orleans, struck a snag in the Mississippi, about twelve miles below the mouth of White river, and

266

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

immediately turned *bottom upward!* This terrible accident took place in the middle of an exceedingly cold night. Of ninety persons who were on board a moment before the disaster, only fifty escaped drowning—and many of those who succeeded in reaching the shore were afterwards frozen to death. At the time the boat was snagged, the passengers were all in their berths; those who were able to extri-

SINKING OF THE BELLE ZANE.

cate themselves when the boat suddenly turned over, had scarcely any clothing to protect them from the inclemency of the weather. No situation could be more wretched than that of the people who escaped to the beach, almost naked, unsheltered and drenched with water on a freezing night in December. They remained in this miserable situation for nearly two hours, when the steamboat Diamond came down and took off all who remained alive, sixteen in number. There were five ladies on board, all of whom were saved in the yawl. The feet and hands of some of the survivors were so badly frozen that amputation was necessary.

The following is a list of those who perished, as far as their names could be ascertained:—Dr. Brant, Ohio; Abner Jones, C. Banks, Mrs. Williams, two daughters and a colored slave, Miss.; Hettie Frasier and cousin, name unknown, Boston; Edward Bossing and son, Illinois; Mrs. Wilkes and family, consisting of eight persons; seven deck hands, fourteen slaves, and thirty other names unknown. Sixteen bodies were picked up, including four ladies, and buried on the banks of the Mississippi.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

EXPLOSION OF THE GLENCOE.

On the 3d day of April, 1852, the Glencoe, Captain Lee, from New Orleans, arrived at St. Louis, and had just been moored at the levee, foot of Chestnut street, when three of the boilers exploded, with the most appalling and destructive effects. The sound of the explosion was heard in the most remote quarters of the city; in the neighborhood of the levee the shock was like that of an earthquake, the houses for several squares around appeared to reel under the force of the conclusion. The boat was crowded with people at the time; the passengers were engaged in looking after their baggage, and numbers of citizens, hotel-runners, hackmen, &c., had pressed into the boat. There was a fearful loss of life, but the names and number of the killed are beyond the scope of inquiry, as many of the victims were strangers; the bodies of a large number blown overboard were not recovered from the water, and many of the dead were so shockingly disfigured or torn to pieces that all recognition was out of the question. Fragments of wood, iron, and dead bodies were thrown to a surprising distance.

The shock of the explosion drove the steamer far out into the river, and immediately afterwards she took fire, the furnaces having been dismantled, and the burning fuel scattered over the decks. As the

EXPLOSION OF THE GLENCOE.

Glencoe floated down the stream, she presented a frightful spectacle. The whole forward part of the boat to the wheel-house, and down to the water line, had been swept away, and all the after-part was a commingled mass of timbers, freight, and human bodies heaped together

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

in the wildest confusion. The fire burned fiercely and spread rapidly. The spectators on the shore beheld men, women and children running, with phrensied gestures, from one part of the burning steamer to another, seeking some means of escape from the dreadful death which threatened them—some who had been caught between the falling timbers were writhing in agony, making ineffectual efforts to extricate themselves, and imploring others to assist them. Numbers of the crew and passengers were compelled by the advancing flames to throw themselves overboard; some of these succeeded in reaching the shore, but many of them were drowned.

In the meantime, several small boats were actively engaged in rescuing the drowning people, and a considerable number were saved in this manner. The wreck finally lodged at the foot of Poplar street, where it burned to the water's edge, and then sunk, carrying down with it the ashes and bones of the dead. Near the spot where the explosion took place many dead bodies and dying persons were extended on the levee. Thirteen mutilated corpses were soon after removed to the office of the Board of Health, that being the most convenient place where they could be deposited. Twenty or thirty of the wounded were conveyed to the Sisters' Hospital. Others who were less injured, some with their faces scalded or blackened by the fire, were running about the levee in a frantic manner, crying for assistance. The dead bodies of five persons who had been blown from the deck of the Glencoe were found on the steamer Cataract. They were dreadfully mangled, the limbs in some cases being torn from the trunk—heads were mashed and disfigured to a degree which defied all attempts at identification. The body of a woman was found on the levee stretched across a marble slab, (the top of a table which had also been blown from the boat;) every bone in this corpse was broken, and “the limbs,” says an eye-witness, “were so badly mangled that they could scarcely hang together.”

The body of Mr. John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe, was found on the hurricane deck of the steamer Western World. Few external injuries were found on this body, but life was totally extinct. The body of a little girl, with the legs torn off, was recovered from the river. The dissevered leg of a man was picked up on the side walk in Commercial street; the boot which remained on the limb, led to the recognition thereof as a part of the mortal remains of William Brennan, one of the engineers. Of the thirteen wounded persons who were sent to the hospital, three died during the night, and scarcely any of the others were believed to be curable.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Capt. Lee, his lady and one of his children, left the boat as soon as she landed, and a very few minutes before the explosion. The Captain's little son, ten years of age, who remained on board, was killed. Mr. A. R. Jones, a merchant of St. Louis, was instrumental in saving a great number of lives. He obtained a yawl, and approached the burning boat near enough to take off a great many passengers. As an acknowledgment of his humane services in the time of danger and affliction, the steamboat men of St. Louis presented Mr. Jones with a handsome silver mug, bearing a suitable inscription.

**LIST OF THE KILLED.**—John Denny, first clerk of the Glencoe; Henry Balsar, pilot; John Curtis Lee, son of the Captain, aged ten years; Edward McCarty, hack driver, St. Louis; Mrs. Schenil, passenger, Memphis, Tenn.; (every bone in her body was broken, as mentioned in the preceding narrative;) John Grey, aged 12 years, a pedlar boy, from Memphis; William Brennan, assistant engineer; a family, consisting of a man, his wife and three female children, names unknown; George W. Rolfe, runner at the American Hotel, St. Louis; David Cree, Belfast, Ireland; George Reeder and James Wile, runners at the Virginia Hotel; a woman, name unknown; and many others, whose bodies could not be identified; making a total of sixty killed.

**BADLY WOUNDED.**—William Callahan, fireman; Jesse H. Harrington, passenger, Cook county, Ill.; Samuel High, a citizen of St. Louis, who went on board after the boat arrived; Thomas Carroll, passenger, Liverpool, England; Frederick W. Burlog, German emigrant; Thomas Donahoe, Dubuque, Iowa; Patrick McLaughlin, New York; Daniel B. Henman, Gibson county, Ill.; James McLean, Ohio; Michael Dunn, one of the boat's crew; Sarah Matthews, passenger, aged thirteen, mortally wounded; W. B. Catherwright, passenger, Mississippi; William Brathwed, an Englishman; (he had with him $1,900 in specie;) George Buchanan, engineer.

**SLIGHTLY WOUNDED.**—Mr. Lane, bar-keeper; Mr. Studdiford, Ohio; Francis Cafferty, hotel runner; Thomas Foley, assistant engineer.

Very few of those who were badly wounded lived twenty-four hours after the accident. In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing list, some of the wounded were conveyed away by their friends, and their names were not ascertained.

Two or three steamboats which lay near the Glencoe, were much damaged by the explosion. A lady from Illinois was killed in her state-room in the steamer Cataract, which lay next to the Glencoe.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

EXPLOSION OF THE SALUDA.

The Saluda exploded on Missouri river, near Lexington, April 9th,
1852. It appears that this boat had been detained in the neighbor-
hood of Lexington for four days, by a strong tide. Several of her pas-
sengers left her to seek other conveyance. On the day above men-
tioned, the Captain made another effort to stem the current. The
steamer left the landing at half past one o'clock, A. M., and five min-
utes after, the boilers exploded with such tremendous effect that the

EXPLOSION OF THE SALUDA.

cabin and all the wood-work forward of the wheel-house were com-
pletely demolished, and not a piece of timber was left above the guards.
The boat sunk within a few minutes. The books were all lost, and the
names of all the passengers who were killed by the explosion or who
sunk with the boat could not be ascertained. The number of those who
perished is estimated at one hundred.

The commander, Capt. Belt, who was on the hurricane roof, was
blown high in the air, and fell against the side of a hill in Lexington,
at least one hundred feet from the wreck. The second clerk, Mr. John
Blackburn, was standing on the boiler-deck, and was also blown on
shore, to a considerable distance from the boat. He was taken up
dead. It may be mentioned as a melancholy coincidence, that a
brother of this gentleman, (E. C. Blackburn,) was killed by the acci-
dent on the Pacific railroad in November, 1855. They were both
highly esteemed by all who knew them. The mutilated bodies of a
large number of the passengers of the Saluda were found in the streets
of Lexington. Charles Labarge and Louis Gareth, the pilots, and
Messrs. Clancy and Evans, the engineers, were lost. Their bodies were
blown into the river, and were never recovered. One of the surviving
passengers lost his wife and seven children. A lady was deprived of

278

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

her husband and three children. Such was the force of the explosion, that a part of the boiler passed through a warehouse on the wharf, and quite demolished it. The citizens of Lexington subscribed $1,000 for the relief of the sufferers. The accident is ascribed to the negligence of the engineer.

**KILLED.**—Mr. Laynell, second bar-keeper; Mr. Nash and Mr. McClency; E. S. Halfer, second engineer; Mr. Leggett; Mr. Wayley; J. Brick; Mrs. Dunbar and child; Mrs. McGehas and child; two children of Mr. Rollins; two Messrs. Bayley; two second clerks; a first engineer; two pilots; Mr. McAllister; W. H. Bridges; five firemen, and many others, names unknown. Many of those who perished were Mormons.

Sixteen persons were wounded, two of them mortally; names not mentioned.

## COLLISION OF THE SULTANA AND MARIA.

These boats came in collision on the Mississippi, seven miles below Natchez, November 21, 1846. The bow of the Sultana struck the Maria opposite her boilers, throwing them out of their place, and breaking the connection pipe and much of the wood-work, causing the

boat to sink within five minutes. About thirty lives were lost, and several persons were scalded with more or less severity.

**KILLED.**—Garret Bennis, James Slemmon, Wm. Moreland, John Ross, Dennis McArtney, John Steamlon, Wm. English, Frank Roberts, Peter Mattis, Peter Valenier, and perhaps twenty others, names unknown.

**WOUNDED.**—Wm. Leahey, Samuel Buzzy, Patrick Kenney, John B. Fleming.

MINOR DISASTERS.

CONVOY.—The steamboat Convoy was burnt ten miles above Natchez, April 29th, 1849. Two persons, who jumped overboard, were drowned. The boat was a total loss.

ANDREW FULTON.—The steamboat Andrew Fulton, on her way from New Orleans to St. Louis, was wrecked on the Plateau Rocks, March 1st, 1849. Three passengers were drowned.

KEOKUK.—The steamboat Keokuk was snagged at the foot of St. Genevieve island, on the Mississippi, August 29th, 1844. She sunk in three fathoms water. One cabin passenger, and ten or twelve deck passengers, names unknown, were drowned.

GLIDE.—The steamboat Glide, Capt. Delzell, exploded on the Mississippi, August 10th, 1844. A passenger was blown overboard by the explosion, and no effort was made by the crew to save him, although he floated for some time, and called for assistance. The Glide had no small boat.

ST. CHARLES.—The steam ferry boat St. Charles, exploded near the Levee at St. Louis, December 7th, 1844. Mr. Bell, a passenger, was mortally wounded; and several other persons were slightly injured.

WESTERN.—The steamboat Western, on her way from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, came in collision with the steamer Aliquippa, which struck her in the middle and nearly cut her in two. Several children were drowned. The boat cost $16,000, and was insured for $10,000.

SHARK.—The tow-boat Shark exploded near New Orleans, January 6th, 1846. The Captain's brother, Mr. Whon, was instantly killed. Mr. Kew, first engineer, and a fireman, were mortally wounded. Three other persons were badly scalded.

SYREN.—The steamboat Syren exploded near Chattahoochie, February 8th, 1845, while taking in freight. Ten of the crew were killed. The boat sunk and the cargo was all lost.

RED ROVER.—The steamboat Red Rover came in collision with the steamer Ruby at Fort Stoddart, on the Alabama river, forty miles above Mobile, March 9th, 1845. The Ruby sunk immediately, with all her freight and $10,000 in specie. Two persons were drowned.

PERSIAN.—The steam tow-boat Persian exploded twenty-two miles below New Orleans, October 24th, 1845. C. Cruler, first engineer, and George Clinton, mate, were killed instantly; and eight persons were badly scalded.

POTOMAC.—The steamboat Potomac, from New Orleans, bound for Nashville, exploded at Choctaw Pass, January 9th, 1845. Two deck hands were killed, and three other persons seriously injured.

SIMON KENTON.—The steamboat Simon Kenton burst a connection-pipe, August 28th, 1847, while lying at the wharf at St. Louis. A German woman attempted to jump into the yawl with her infant in her arms. The child fell into the river and was drowned. Four persons were scalded severely.

CLEVELAND.—The steamboat Cleveland, running between Pittsburgh and Beaver, collapsed two flues, June 14th, 1844. The cook and a colored man were killed, and five persons were dangerously wounded.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.—The steamboat New Hampshire, on her way from New Orleans to Little Rock, Ark., May 1st, 1849, exploded all her boilers, forty miles below the place last mentioned. Twelve persons were killed, viz.: George T. Allen, first clerk; Alexander McComas, pilot; James Van Dyke, mate; four negro firemen, a wheel man, the second steward, a cabin boy, Charles Radcliffe, carpenter, Mr. Berring, a cabin passenger, and a deck hand, name unknown. The boat was totally wrecked.

( 281 )

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

LOUISIANA.—The steamboat Louisiana exploded one of her boilers, August 12th, 1844, killing seventeen persons, viz: William Smith, Henry Finley, J. Goodman, John Henry and Jacob Cross, and twelve U. S. soldiers, names unknown. The explosion took place fifteen miles above Bayou Sara.

SWAN.—The steamer Swan burst two of her boilers near New Orleans, August 16th, 1844, killing William Andrews, pilot, Robert Elliott, bar-keeper, Peter Aimes, steersman, and a negro fireman. The Captain and several other persons were badly scalded.

CASPIAN.—The steamboat Caspian struck a snag at the foot of Island No. 25 on the Mississippi, December 11th, 1845. She sunk in fifteen feet water. Forty German emigrants were drowned.

DENIZEN.—The steamer Denizen, Capt. Rhodes, exploded thirty miles below Vicksburg, November 30th, 1845. Capt. Rhodes was killed, and a cabin passenger badly wounded.

MALON.—The steamer Malon sunk in the Ohio river, near Paducah, September 12th, 1854. Thirty-five deck passengers and one cabin passenger were drowned.

PHOENIX.—The steam tow-boat Phoenix blew up near New Orleans, May 20th, 1843, killing a Mr. Hall, and two other persons, names unknown.

PERUVIAN.—The steamer Peruvian burst all her boilers, June 7th, 1833, while on her way from New Orleans to Louisville. More than fifty persons were killed.

FASHION No. 2.—The steamboat Fashion No. 2 collapsed a flue on the Monongahela river, near Pittsburgh, December 20th, 1850, killing Joseph Carroll and A. Lightle, passengers, Isaac Peebles, assistant engineer, a son of the Captain, and James Louderback, fireman. Several persons were scalded.

FUSILEER.—The steamer Fusileer exploded both boilers near Attakopas, on the Mississippi river, December 30th, 1852. The first mate was killed; the Captain was badly wounded.

HERCULES.—The steam tow-boat Hercules was badly damaged by coming in contact with the brig Ermon, December 26th, 1828, on the Mississippi river, below New Orleans. Three of the crew were drowned.

FINANCIER.—The steamboat Financier exploded on the Upper Mississippi, October 2d, 1850, killing Mr. King, son of the Captain, and William Greene, second engineer. The carpenter and cabin-boy were scalded.

METEOR No. 3.—The Meteor No. 3, on her way from Red River to New Orleans, was burned to the water's edge and sunk fifty miles above the last named city, October 11th, 1850. Three colored men were drowned.

TIPPAH.—The steamboat Tippah, on her way from Tallahatchie river to New Orleans, was burned twenty-five miles aboye Vicksburgh, January 7th, 1852. The second engineer was drowned. Mrs. Butler, the Captain's wife, swam ashore.

COLUMBUS.—The steamboat Columbus collapsed a flue on the Mississippi, May 6th, 1850, killing one man and wounding twelve others.

MAY QUEEN.—The steamboat May Queen collapsed her flues on the Arkansas river, on February 16th, 1852. Twelve persons were killed, and seven were badly wounded.

MARY KINGSLAND.—The steamboat Mary Kingsland exploded, for the third time in her history, on the 1st of March, 1852. George Hainey, second engineer, and two others, names unknown, were killed; George Swiler, pilot, was mortally wounded; and several other persons were severely injured.

PRINCESS.—The steamer Princess was burned, two miles below Fort Adams, on the Mississippi, October 8th, 1854. The persons killed were, Mrs. Weise and child, and Miss Wilson, passengers; George Brantz, a deck hand, and five negroes.

MAGNOLIA and MALUMKA.—The steamers Magnolia and Malumka came in collision on the Alabama river, February 16th, 1854. Three lives were lost.

SYLVESTER WEBSTER.—The steamer Sylvester Webster capsized August 18th, 1854, on the Mississippi river, thirty-five miles below New Orleans. The captain and two female passengers were drowned.

BUCKEYE STATE.—The steamer Buckeye State burst a steam-pipe on the Ohio river, March 25th, 1852, scalding three passengers severely. One of them jumped overboard and was drowned.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

GIPSEY.—The steamer Gipsey was burned, December 7th, 1854, near the mouth of New river. Dr. Harker and his son and daughter perished in the flames. Four other persons were burned to death or drowned.

MEDORE.—The steamer Medore blew up on the Mississippi, April 12th, 1842. John R. Boone was killed.

DOUGLASS.—The steamboat Douglass burst a steam-pipe, near New Madrid, mortally wounding a child of Dr. Hoffman, and two children of Mrs. Montgomery. Mr. C. Lemard of Louisville, and a slave of Dr. Hoffman, were killed instantly. Several passengers were badly scalded.

WEST WIND.—The steamer West Wind collapsed a flue at the mouth of the canal near Louisville. *Killed.*—Mrs. Dothart and sister, St. Louis; Mr. Sadwood; an old man from St. Louis, name unknown; Mr. Vidone, St. Louis. Several passengers were wounded.

COLLISION OF THE FARMER AND SCIOTO VALLEY.—The steamers Farmer and Scioto Valley came in collision, November 20th, 1842, twenty miles below Louisville. The Farmer was sunk and three deck hands were drowned.

MUNROE.—The steamer Munroe was sunk in the night of March 20th 1854, ten miles above Natchez. Thirty persons were drowned.

COLLISION OF THE METEOR AND PARIS.—The steamboat Meteor was struck by the Paris, abaft the wheel-house, August 24th, 1848, when five miles below Stevensport. The Meteor sunk immediately. Four or five German deck passengers were drowned.

BROOKLYN.—The steamboat Brooklyn collapsed a flue, March 6th, 1847, twenty miles below Vicksburg. P. Feinan, fireman, and H. Concle, German passengers, were killed.

CLINTON.—The steamer Clinton was burned, March 23d, 1847, five miles above Bonne Caro, on the Mississippi. Two deck passengers, the second mate, (Mr. Weaver,) the bar-keeper, the cook and the chambermaid, were lost.

SIMON KENTON.—The steamer Simon Kenton, on her way from Quincey to St. Louis, April 4th, 1847, broke a connection-pipe. A. Mead, deck hand, was mortally wounded.

COLLISION OF THE W. M. R. KING AND WINONA.—The steamers Wm. R. King and Winona came in collision on the Tombigbee river, February 5, 1847. The former was sunk and two persons were drowned.

MEDORA.—The steamer Medora exploded below Point Hudson, on the Mississippi river, March 18, 1847. Four persons were killed and three others were wounded.

NATIONAL.—The steamer National was burned at the mouth of Kentucky river, March 20, 1847. The clerk was killed.

PALMYRA.—The steamer Palmyra struck a rock near the Upper Rapids, Mississippi river November 3, 1838. One life lost.

JAMES PITCHER.—The steamer James Pitcher was burned to the water's edge, November 29, 1846. One person killed.

WAVE.—The steamboat Wave was burned near Pern, on the Illinois river, June 21, 1837. A French gentleman, name unknown, was drowned.

DE WITT CLINTON.—The steamboat De Witt Clinton, on her way from New Orleans to Pittsburgh, January 25, 1852, struck a snag eight miles below Memphis, and sunk in 15 feet water. All on board were drowned, except one fireman and the officers of the boat. Thirty-six lives were lost.

LOUISIANA.—The steamer Louisiana, while racing with another boat on Lake Pontchartrain, May 7, 1849, collapsed a steam pipe. Four persons were killed instantly, and six others were badly scalded.

GOVERNOR BENT.—The Governor Bent, an Arkansas river boat, exploded all her boilers near Island No. 76, on the Mississippi, May 12, 1849. One fireman was killed. A few moments before the explosion, all the crew were seated on the boiler-deck, when their attention was attracted to a rat, which they all pursued, except one man, and he was killed. Had the rat not appeared at that moment, many lives would have been lost.

WYANDOTTE.—The steamer Wyandotte was totally wrecked on the Mississippi, above Vicksburg, November 21, 1848. Thirty of the passengers and crew perished.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

COLLISION OF THE MARENGO AND HARRY HILL.—The steamers Marengo and Harry Hill came in violent contact, on the Mississippi, below Natchez, November 30, 1848. The Marengo sunk and three of her crew were drowned.

AMERICA.—The steamboat America exploded fifteen miles below Madison, Ind., on the Ohio river, December 19, 1848. Four persons were mortally wounded, and ten others were much injured.

CHARTER OAK.—The steamboat Charter Oak was destroyed by fire, near Bailey's Landing, on the Mississippi river, April 12, 1848. Many of the passengers were lost, and others severely wounded.

KENNEY.—The steamer Kenney exploded in the Tombigbee river, (Alabama,) June 5, 1848. Fifty of the crew and passengers were killed or missing.

COLLISION OF THE SULTANA AND GRAY EAGLE.—A collision took place between the steamers Sultana and Gray Eagle, at Island No. 35, on the Mississippi, June 13, 1848. Two men belonging to the Gray Eagle were killed and five were wounded.

HARDEE.—The steamer Hardee burst her connection pipes, on Missouri river, thirty miles above Weston, September 6, 1849. Captain G. Fishback was instantly killed; Geo. Martin the pilot, was mortally wounded, and several others were badly scalded.

CARROLLTON.—The steamer Carrollton, going from New Orleans to Vicksburg, was blown up near Baton Rouge, October 1, 1835. Eight persons were killed instantly, and seven others were mortally wounded.

BIG HATCHIE.—The steamboat Big Hatchie exploded one of her boilers at Harmon's Landing, 100 miles above St. Louis, on the Mississippi, July 25, 1845. A passenger, named Hoyle, was instantly killed, and a son of Mr. Ludlow, Manager of St. Charles Theatre, New Orleans, mortally wounded. Several other persons, names unknown, are supposed to have been killed.

COLLISION OF THE R. B. GILMORE AND DELAWARE.—The steamboat R. B. Gilmore was wrecked and sunk by coming in collision with the steamboat Delaware, on the Ohio river, below Louisville, April 15, 1838. Several passengers, names not reported, were drowned.

EUTAW.—The mail-boat Eutaw, running between Wheeling and Steubenville, collapsed a flue, April 23, 1838, causing the death of a fireman. Several persons were badly scalded.

DACOTAH.—The steamboat Dacotah exploded at Peoria, Ill., August 20, 1851. She was bound for Minnesota. Eleven persons were killed, viz.:—Mr. Haywood and three children; Wm. Baker, wife and child; H. Foster; C. Van S cycle; three children of B. Wordsworth; H Bains and Wm. Moffatt.

ECHO.—The steamboat Echo collapsed two flues at Bayou Sara, May 20, 1851, killing three of the crew, and wounding five others.

FINANCIER.—The steamer Financier exploded on the Mississippi, near Alton, October 12, 1850. The mate and the Captain's son were killed. Several of the crew were badly scalded.

DUNCAN.—The steamer Duncan blew up on Savannah river, June 8, 1841, killing three negroes. The boat was burned and sunk.

PIKE.—The steamboat Pike was sunk, September 5, 1840, by coming in contact with the steamer Fayette, two miles below Alton, Ill. Seven persons were known to be lost.

FARMER.—The steamboat Farmer collapsed a flue, on the Mississippi, above New Orleans, Nov. 27, 1840. Mr. Berry, second engineer, and a german deck passenger were killed.

CHESTER.—The steamer Chester, Captain Cable, on her way from New Orleans to St. Louis, collapsed two flues, twenty miles above the first-named place, on the first of July, 1840. The mate and a deck hand were blown overboard and drowned.

EDNA.—The steamboat Edna exploded, July 3d, 1842, at the mouth of Missouri river. Fifty passengers, (German emigrants,) were mortally wounded.

AMOS CROCKER.—The steamer Amos Crocker was sunk, April 27th, 1849, in Red Bayou. One life was lost.

EMBASSY.—The steamboat Embassy, from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, collapsed two flues at Three Mile Island, June 9, 1849. Ten persons were killed and twenty-five wounded.

IRON CITY.—The Iron City struck some floating ice near St. Louis, December 31st, 1848. Her bow was broken so as to cause her to sink immediately. Five of the crew were drowned.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

CORA.—The steamboat Cora, on her way to Council Bluffs, May 5th, 1850, was snagged and sunk, drowning fifteen persons.

COLUMBUS.—The steamboat Columbus collapsed one of her flues, May 7th, 1850, near Island No. 4, on the Mississippi. Eight deck passengers and two firemen were scalded to death, and five other persons were drowned.

IRONTON.—The steamer Ironton collapsed a flue on the Mississippi, May 9th, 1850. One man was killed, and eight persons were wounded.

BELLE CREOLE.—The steamer Belle Creole bursted one of her boilers near New Orleans, November 16th 1849. Five persons were killed or wounded.

JOSEPHINE.—The steamer Josephine exploded on the Mississippi, April 18th, 1845. Mr. James Ellis, of Alleghany county, Pa., was mortally wounded.

CHARLESTON.—The steamboat Charleston exploded on the Chattahoochie river, May 11th, 1845. One of the deck hands was dangerously wounded.

TIGER.—The steam tow-boat Tiger exploded all her boilers, six in number, on the Mississippi river, November 10th, 1854, killing three persons.

EDNA.—The steamer Edna, while starting from the wharf at Columbia, June 12th, 1847, exploded all her boilers, killing twenty persons, and wounding eight or ten others.

CUTTER.—The steamer Cutter, when about to leave Pittsburgh, March 17th, 1843, collapsed a flue, killing Joseph Hughes, one of the engineers, and mortally wounding another.

J. M. WHITE.—The steamer J. M. White, the finest boat of her day, was snagged and sunk thirty-five miles above Cairo, March 28th, 1843. One woman was drowned.

SIMON KENTON.—The steamer Simon Kenton collapsed a flue at St. Louis, June 29th, 1847. Six persons were killed.

STAR SPANGLED BANNER.—The steamer Star Spangled Banner struck a snag fifteen miles below Baton Rouge, July 12th, 1847. About one hundred and twenty-five deck passengers were drowned.

PRAIRIE STATE.—The steamer Prairie State exploded at Pekin, Ill., April 25th, 1852. Twenty of the crew and deck passengers were killed.

CAPITOL.—The steamer Capitol was burned at St. Mary's landing, seventy miles below St. Louis, December 30th, 1844. A Mr. Dalrymple, his wife and son, perished in the flames.

PATH-FINDER.—The steamboat Path-Finder was burned near Vicksburg, February 12th, 1845. Eight lives were lost.

QUEEN CITY.—The steamer Queen City collapsed a flue, on Ohio river, May 6th, 1846, scalding about twenty-five Germans, some of whom died in consequence.

GENERAL SCOTT.—The steamer General Scott, plying on the lakes, exploded one of her boilers, June 9th, 1846. A fireman was killed, and two others were dangerously wounded.

MAJESTIC.—The steamer Majestic collapsed a flue twenty miles above Memphis, December 5th, 1837. Three persons were killed.

NATIVE.—The steamboat Native exploded at Eddyville, December 15th, 1828. Two negroes were killed.

SHAMROCK.—The steamer Shamrock exploded on the St. Lawrence river, July 9th, 1837. Fifty-four passengers were lost.

NICK BIDDLE.—The steamer Nick Biddle struck a snag in the Mississippi, forty-five miles above Vicksburg, July 25th, 1837. Ten deck passengers were drowned.

COLLISION OF THE DANIEL O'CONNELL AND WILLIAM BAYARD.—The steamer Daniel O'Connell ran afoul of the William Bayard, December 18th, 1837. The latter was sunk, and all the people on board were lost.

LOUISIANA.—The steamboat Louisiana, the largest American boat afloat at that time, August, 1841, exploded opposite Baton Rouge, killing twenty-three persons, most of whom were U. S. soldiers.

ST. CHARLES.—The ferry boat St. Charles exploded on Missouri river, December 7th, 1841, killing Ann Bell and four other persons.

WESTWARD.—The steamer Westward exploded near New Orleans, December 12th, 1847, killing twelve of the crew and dangerously wounding the Captain.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

IRON CITY.—The steamer Iron City was crushed and sunk by the ice at St. Louis, December 31st, 1849. The cook and steward were killed.

DECATUR.—The steamboat Decatur was burned near Island No. 66, on the Mississippi, December 20th, 1845. A colored woman was drowned.

COLLISION OF THE CONGRESS AND BUGKEYE.—The steamer Congress was sunk by coming in collision with the Buckeye near Island No. 26, on the Mississippi, February 10th 1846. Twenty-six lives were lost.

ST. LOUIS.—As this fine boat was ascending the Mississippi, in November, 1838, she struck a bar, which caused her to burst a connecting steam pipe, by which Jno. Suthern, the cook, and a deck passenger named Chas. Robbins, were scalded to death. Another deck passenger named Ubanks, in the noise and confusion, jumped overboard and was drowned.

UNION.—As the steamer Union was ascending the Ohio river, on Saturday morning, Dec. 2, 1826, five miles below Big Bone, and fifty miles from Cincinnati, she burst her boilers, killing the engineer, Robert Simmons, Jno. Williams, Theodore Frazier, Simon Smithers, Alonzo Duble, and scalding several others. The explosion was deafening, and the boat was torn almost to pieces; the boiler jumped out forward about sixty feet, and sunk in the river.

STRANGER.—The steamboat Stranger burst her boiler on the morning of Dec. 17th, 1832, when opposite Plaquemine, by which six lives were lost, John Suner, Wm. Dible, N. Long, and three deck hands, names unknown.

DOLPHIN.—The steamer Dolphin was burnt to the water's edge on the 27th of April, 1832, when about twenty-five miles below Wheeling; the sight was grand to behold, and fortunately but one life was lost by this disaster. A deck hand perished in the flames while asleep in his berth.

CRUSADER.—The steamer Crusader exploded on the morning of the 20th June, 1837, near Mobile, spreading death on all sides. J. C. Duncan was instantly killed, and eleven fatally scalded. Immediately after the accident she anchored, and waited till the U. S. Mail boat Mobile came along, and was towed to Mobile. Three of the scalded died before reaching Mobile, and the others the next day. Most of the killed were deck hands. One Frenchman, Jean Edeor, was mortally wounded, and from letters found upon his person, must have been longed to a noble family. He was buried with the rest, and his fate will probably never be known by his family.

NIMROD.—This boat burst her steam-pipe on Sunday night, August 19th, 1834, while under way, and when near Maysville, the steam came rushing out with great force and heat, scalding six persons in a shocking manner, four of whom died. Names of those killed.—Benjamin Iser, Maysville; — Blanton, Louisville; Oscar Lee and Theodore Snigleton, Rochester, New York. The Nimrod was a regular Maysville and Cincinnati packet.

REAPER.—This ill-fated boat sunk in April, 1833, about sixty miles below Fort Adams, on the Mississippi, in seventy feet water, going entirely out of sight. Mr. Livingston Harrison, engineer, the pilot, mate, and thirty slaves chained together, lost their lives. Mr. Harrison was a citizen of Cincinnati, where his family and numerous friends still live.

YAZOO.—This boat, bound from Mobile to New Orleans, exploded one of her boilers on Monday morning, May 7th, 1838, while off Breton Island. A passenger named Keeler, who was formerly engineer on the Roanoke, was instantly killed. The Yazoo sustained little damage.

COLLISION OF THE ALGONQUIN AND WARREN.—The steamer Algonquin run into the Warren near New Orleans, December, 1837, breaking the connection-pipe on the Warren, by which seven persons were scalded to death. *Killed*—Patrick Murphy, Enos McFaul, Jonathan Eller, William Jones, and three women, names unknown.

ROLLA.—The steamer Rolla collapsed a flue near Rock Island, on the Mississippi river, November, 1837, killing a fireman, and severely injuring the engineer.

SIREN.—The steamer Siren exploded on the night of the 17th of February, 1845, and was one of the most terrible explosions that ever occurred on the western waters. Ten of the crew were instantly killed and many wounded. Capt. Sharpless was thrown fifty feet in the air, but fortunately fell into the water, swam ashore, and was not seriously injured. The passengers very fortunately were not exposed to the force of the explosion, or the catastrophe would have

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

been more terrible. Killed—Mr. Imbus, pilot; black boy; Charles Bordenrider, bar-keeper; and his son, a cabin boy; George Tully, cabin-boy. Wash. McGougan was blown overboard and was picked up by the mate of the boat on a cotton bale, but died before he reached shore. Thomas White, Patrick Murphy, a deck hand, Green, a black boy, Wilkins, a black man, George, a black boy, passenger, belonging to Dr. Harrison, and Jack McGougan were all killed, and forty wounded. The accident occurred on the Chattahoochie river. The U. S. mail was lost.

COLLISION OF THE RUBY AND RED ROVER.—On the 9th of March, 1845, the steamers Red Rover and Ruby came in contact; the accident occurred near Fort Stoddart, Alabama river; the Ruby immediately went down in sixty feet water, carrying down with her Mr. John Carter Knight, and a negro servant.

SALEM.—This fine boat, on her voyage to New Orleans struck a snag near Vicksburg, on the 13th of May, 1841, and immediately went down. The steward was carried under with her.

TOMOCHICHEE.—This boat left New Orleans, April 23d, 1843, bound for Mobile, and when near the English Turn, struck a snag and sunk immediately. One passenger, a Mr. Southgate, of New Hampshire, was drowned.

COLLISION OF THE OREGON AND TENNESSEE.—These boats came in collision on the Mississippi river, just above St. Louis, on the evening of the 27th April, 1841, by which accident the boilers of the Tennessee were knocked down, and her engineer and several others were mortally scalded.

BEDFORD.—On the evening of the 25th of April, 1840, the steamer Bedford, from St. Joseph, was descending the Missouri river, near its mouth, bound for St. Louis, with a large crowd of passengers, when she struck a snag and sunk in less than five minutes in deep water. Seven or eight persons were drowned, including a Mr. Moore, an old volunteer Revolutionary soldier, a negro woman and three children, a white infant whose mother was saved, Mr. John Buck, of Pennsylvania, and Wm. Morton, of New Orleans. During the excitement of the Bedford going down, a young lady jumped overboard and swam near fifty yards, reaching the shore in safety, the first time she ever knew she could swim. Her name was Lucy Wimer, of Belleville, Illinois.

BUCKEYE.—This disaster was one which spread terror throughout the southern and western states. It occurring in early times, made a profound impression upon the minds of travellers, and for years after this accident, the main talk was the explosion of the Buckeye. On Wednesday evening, May 10, 1839, as she was under way, and near Randolph, Tennessee, the Buckeye, Capt. Thompson, exploded with a terrific noise, scattering death and desolation all around. The boat was completely smothered in steam and smoke, which caused many inhaling the hot steam, to die. Charles Gretzinger, pilot, killed; Mr. Randolph, do.; second pilot was dangerously wounded; Thos. Rogers, of Cincinnati, was never found; Mr. Pretis, of Portland, first engineer, killed; Mr. Barkly, the clerk, and Capt. Thompson, were both injured; six firemen were killed, Pat Donahue, Michael Finch, John Dunn, Wm. O'Flarety, Dennis Megan, Samuel Dunbar. Six passengers missed at the time, were no doubt drowned. Mr. Overton Atkinson, of New Orleans, was on the Buckeye at the time, but escaped with a few bruises. The Sultana towed the Buckeye to Louisville.

MASSILON.—This boat, by some accident, burst her connection pipe on the 5th of June, 1339, scalding two persons to death, and knocking two overboard, who were drowned. Names of killed, Samuel Swan, Alabama; Geo. Hite, Nashville, Tenn.; Benjamin Jonson, and a deck hand.

FLORA.—The steamboat Flora burst her steampipe on Friday morning, November 18, 1836, when near Rising Sun, Indiana, scalding and killing sixteen or seventeen persons. The explosion made a great noise; the passengers rushed to the side doors and opened them, when the hot steam rushed in, scattering death to all who inhaled it. Had the cabin doors remained closed, none would have lost their lives. Killed—Benj. Myrich, of Charlestown, Mass.; Saml. Donelly, of Washington, Pa.; E. McLaughlin, Columbiana Co., Ohio; Hon. G. L. Kinnard, of Indiana; Geo. Fisher, supposed to be a resident of Louisville, Ky.; Saml.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Watterbury of Madison, Ind.; Miss Lucy Wing; Allen Wilhoite of New Castle, Ky.; Alonzo Piercing. Mr. Phillips of Pittsburgh was dangerously hurt; Miss Ward and sister, mortally wounded. Several jumped overboard and thus perished.

BONNETS OF BLUE.—The steamer Bonnets of Blue sunk near Montgomery, Ala., on the 30th of Feb., 1836, drowning C. B. Turner of Mobile, and J. Wilbur of Kentucky.

ALBERT GALLATIN.—The steamer Albert Gallatin, on her way from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas, blew up in January, 1842, killing five, and wounding nine. *Killed*—C. D. Crooks, of Galveston; A. B. Jones, Ohio; Amos Longsheet, Texas; Wm. Deets, Maine; and a deck hand, name never known. *Wounded*—Miss Brierly, Miss Young, both of New Orleans; Mrs. Johnston, and Miss Wilmer in her care; Adam Dunkin and nephew; carpenter and engineer, and several others, names unknown.

STAR.—This boat blew up near Mobile, March 1st, 1842, killing Isaac Mix, A. B. Dunn, G. C. Simpson, Alexander Millton, Simon Drew, Alfonso Garasche, Miss Eliza Clarke, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Finch, Miss Annie Smith and Andrew Girtz, and wounding seven others, several mortally.

HERMITAGE.—As this steamer was descending the Cumberland river, January 13th, 1840, she came in contact with the steamer Hugh L. White, and immediately sunk in ten feet water. The accident occurred near Harpeth Shoals. The boat was crowded with passengers, but only one life was lost, that of a fireman, named Hugh Pratt.

NAVY EXPRESS.—This boat exploded near Mobile, July 25th, 1838, while waiting for the mail. The explosion was fearful, but fortunately no lives were lost. The chimney was thrown at least one hundred feet into the air. The cause of the explosion is attributable to the thinness of the boiler; not being thicker than common sheet iron.

HOME.—The steamer Home blew up at the wharf at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the evening of the 18th of January, 1838, killing seven or eight persons, mostly belonging to the boat. She had just arrived a few hours previous to the accident, and the passengers had all left the boat. *Killed*—John Clancey, Patrick Roony, Michael Allen, Samuel Sinter and William Hoyt, deck hands. Four were blown into the river, but were saved.

BOREAS No. 2.—This fine St. Louis and Missouri river packet was burnt near Hermann, on the Missouri river, May, 1846, proving an entire loss to her owners. Messrs. Wetherland & Co., Santa Fee traders, lost $60,000 in gold by this accident, and a man named Jones, from Chicago, Ill., was lost.

BELLE OF HATCHIE.—The Belle of Hatchie, a Memphis Packet, struck a snag about eight miles above Helena, on the 30th of July, 1848, and sunk in less than two minutes out of sight. The hurricane deck parted from the hull as it went down, or every soul on board would have been lost. There were about forty passengers on board at the time, and they remained on the floating wreck. Immediately after striking the snag, one of the deck hands took the yawl and went ashore alone, leaving the passengers to take care of themselves. The watchman of the boat was washed overboard and swam ashore; the mate climbed up the jackstaff as the boat settled down, and was thus saved; four deck hands went overboard and were drowned. Passengers in their fright, jumped into the river, and were drowned. One lady, wife of Capt. Joyce, of Memphis, as the boat was going down, gave her infant child to a man named Nathaniel Harbert, and told him to save it, even if she should be lost. He leaped overboard with it immediately and swam ashore, a distance of three hundred yards below the wreck—he was almost exhausted, but saved his precious freight intrusted to him by a fond mother. The lady was afterwards got out of the cabin on to the hurricane deck, and was saved.

COLLISION OF THE MELODEON AND G. W. KENDALL.—These boats came in collision on the Mississippi river, near Plaquemine, December, 1850, the Melodeon going down in a few moments, drowning two persons—deck passengers—names unknown. The Melodeon was bound from New Orleans to Nashville, with a heavy cargo.

NEWARK.—This boat was bound from Zanesville, Ohio, to Pittsburgh, with a valuable freight, and crowded with passengers. On Thursday evening, April 15th, 1847, when under way, the flue in the front end of one of her boilers collapsed, blowing off the head of the boiler, which passed up through the cabin floor, tearing it up about twenty feet, and then passing

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

through the hurricane roof, killing and wounding eleven persons:—George Nixon, carpenter; Christopher Castle; L. Hubble, engineer; James Coyle; Adam Everett, steward; John Day; T. Harris; C. Hyatt, and Wm. Tignar were all severely scalded—the four first named persons died soon after the accident.

**PINEY WOOD.**—The steamer Piney Wood caught fire on her trip from Springfield to the Lake end of the Ponchartrain Railroad, in October, 1848, and was totally consumed, with several passengers. *List of Persons Burnt*—Mr. Duncan, a merchant of Springfield; D. Brown; two families, consisting of one gentleman named Watkins, his wife, his sister-in-law, two young ladies and two children, and two servants belonging to them; two negro men and the chambermaid of the boat, and a man named Wilson, from New York, and a D. Minter, were all consumed.

**PLANTER.**—This ill fated boat and Captain will long be remembered on the Western waters. The Planter was an Illinois river packet, more of a freight than passenger boat, or the disaster would have been more terrible. On the 5th of January, 1848, while at Jones' Ferry, Illinois river, taking on a cargo of grain, her boilers exploded, tearing the cabin to fragments; the wreck then took fire, and but for the great exertions of the crew, would have been consumed. Five persons were instantly killed, and the Captain, clerk, and engineer and many others severely scalded. Several of the scalded died soon after the accident. The Captain was afterwards killed at Lexington, Mo., in 1852, by the explosion of the ill fated Saluda.

**MONEDO.**—This boat exploded her boilers on the 15th of November, 1848, when about eight miles below Little Rock. One deck hand was instantly killed, and four badly scalded.

**COLLISION OF THE CHICKASAW AND CLIFTON.**—These boats came in collision on the 26th of March, 1852, by which accident the Chickasaw immediately went down in forty feet of water. Her cabin parted from the hull, and floated down the river with the crew and passengers in it. The following is a list of those known to have been lost by this calamity; Thos. Todd, carpenter, Penna.; Wm. Smith, Cincinnati; one cabin passenger, name unknown; J. McKeec, deck hand; John Thompson, Covington, Ky.; Wm. Asher, and Samuel Beers, New Orleans; six firemen who were asleep at the time, were all drowned. One old man, deck passenger, from Pennsylvania, was lost.

**COLLISION OF THE YORKTOWN AND WABASH VALLEY.**—These boats came in collision on the Mississippi River, near New Orleans, April, 1846, by which the Wabash Valley was lost. Three cabin passengers and one deck passenger were lost. The following are the names of the cabin passengers drowned: Wm. Alter, Samuel Allington, Abraham Sutton.

**SWAN.**—The tow-boat Swan exploded on the 16th of August, 1841, on the Mississippi, killing Wm. Andrews, pilot, Robert Elliot, Peter Ames, and a colored fireman of Mobile. Mason Altage, the engineer, was slightly scalded; Geo. Brawdy badly, do.; and the cook, fireman, and steward, slightly do.

**PALESTINE.**—The steamer Palestine caught fire on the 19th of June, 1844, when just above the mouth of the Ohio. She was crowded with passengers, and when the alarm of fire was given, the wildest confusion prevailed. Ladies were screaming, and men rushing to and fro hunting their wives and friends. A rush was made for the yawl which was suspended at the stern of the boat. Fourteen crowded into it, when the ropes were cut to prevent others from getting into it, and all in it were precipitated into the water, and out of the whole number only two were rescued, the remaining twelve meeting a watery grave. *Drowned*—Charles Harrington, of Pittsburgh; Messrs. Snodgrass, Findley, Smith, and Moore, of Platte county, Mo.; Geo. W. Stephens, Wm. Hopson, and Mrs. Levina Horn, of Haskill county, Ky.; Jos. Neal, a colored man, and three firemen, making twelve in all.

**COLUMBUS.**—The steamer Columbus, Capt. Post, left New Orleans, May 1, 1850, for St. Louis, having a heavy freight, and about two hundred deck passengers; and when under full headway in an island schute about fifteen miles below the mouth of the Ohio, one of her boilers burst with a loud report, killing and scalding many. The deck passengers were so terribly frightened that many of them jumped overboard and were drowned. The shrieks of the women and children were heart rending in the extreme. All thought the boat was lost, and women crowded around the crew, imploring protection, so that they could not do their duty in

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

casting anchor. Two men and a woman were killed outright, and seventeen persons scalded, including one of the engineers. The steamer Magnolia was in sight at the time of the explosion, and took her in tow, and landed her at Cairo. The steam and hot water fortunately blowed out the forward end of the boiler, otherwise the loss of life would have been fearful indeed.

**ST. LOUIS.**—The New Orleans and St. Louis packet St. Louis collapsed a flue when near the Jefferson Barracks, on the 23d of May, 1850, at ten o'clock at night, killing ten or twelve instantly, and scalding twenty-five others so badly that sixteen of them died the next day. They were mostly deck passengers, on their way to New Orleans. The St. Louis was a new and splendid boat, and on her first trip. Her engineer, Mr. Donahoe, was tried at St. Louis for manslaughter, but after a lengthy trial was acquitted. The St. Louis never proved a profitable boat after this accident.

**COLLISION OF THE COMMERCE AND DISPATCH.**—The steamers Dispatch and Commerce came in collision on the night of May 6th, 1850, near Port Martland, on Lake Erie, the Commerce sinking in eight fathoms water. She had on board a portion of the twenty-third regiment of British troops, twenty four of whom were drowned, with one officer and sixteen passengers, making a total of forty-one souls.

**COLLISION OF THE LUNA AND DUCHESS.**—These steamboats came in contact with each other May 17th, 1850, the Duchess striking the Luna abaft of the boilers, causing her soon to go down, drowning three negroes, and two deck hands, Patrick Jones and William Wilson.

**COLLISION OF THE BUCKEYE STATE AND SARATOGA.**—The passenger steamer Buckeye State, on Lake Erie, October 23d, 1851, run down the schooner Saratoga, a short distance above Long Point, on the Canada side. Three lives were lost by this disaster.

**MONTGOMERY.**—This fine boat took fire on her downward trip to New Orleans, November, 1851, and was totally consumed with twenty-five hundred bales of cotton. Three deck hands perished in the flames.

**GREENWOOD.**—As the steamer Greenwood was leaving the wharf at Kanawha Salines, August 24th, 1850, one of her boilers exploded with terrific violence, making a complete wreck of the boat. *Injured*—Capt. E. Williams, thigh broken and slightly scalded; Jacob Smith, passenger, scalded; George Montgomery, and a young man named Yonce, badly scalded; Henry Burch, of Buffalo, badly scalded, and was carried to the house of A. E. Sargent, where he lingered till Sunday, the 28th, and expired in the greatest agony.

**HERCULES.**—The tow-boat Hercules exploded at the mouth of the Mississippi river, April 10th, 1850, killing six men and mortally wounding five more. The boat was blown almost to pieces. *Killed*—B. F. Miller, pilot, James Riddle, William Hammond, John Warren, William Haren, Thomas Murphy, and Rufus Tarbott.

**COLLISION OF THE MERCURY AND PITTSBURG.**—These boats came in collision on the Ohio river, near Guyandotte, on the 3d December, 1823, by which accident John Williams, pilot, of Wheeling, was killed, and six passengers slightly injured.

**TIGER.**—On Wednesday afternoon, the 6th of November, 1844, the steam tow-boat Tiger exploded her boilers, six in number, while having in tow a barque near the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi river, tearing the boat all to pieces, and killing three persons and wounding several others. The reason no more were killed, the captain had just called all hands to haul in the spring cable. *Killed*—Captain David B. Clark, pilot, of New Orleans; David Brown, first engineer, of New York; A. Snyder, second do., of Canada. The remains of the two engineers were recovered and buried at Hitchcock's Island. The body of Mr. Clark was seen flying through the air at the time of the explosion, and was never recovered. Captain Carwell, the Master, was severely hurt, but recovered in a few weeks. The Tiger was owned by Mr. Joseph Clark, of New Orleans.

**POTOSI.**—This Upper Mississippi river packet collapsed a flue when backing out from the landing, at Quincy, Ill., on Friday evening, October 4, 1844, killing a Mr. N. Perrin, a cabin passenger, who was blown by the concussion out among some horses on the forecastle of the boat, and trampled to death. Mr. Perrin resided at New York, Minnesota Territory, and was the third brother who have lost their lives by steamboat explosions. He left a large family

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

to mourn his untimely end. Phillip Miller was blown overboard, and his body never found.
The steamer Monoma towed the Potosi to St. Louis.

**COLLISION OF THE OTTER AND ATLAS.**—The steamer Atlas, descending the Mississippi, and the Otter ascending it, bound for the Missouri river, came in collision on the night of September 14, 1846, killing one passenger, John Duffy. The boats were not seriously injured.

**COLLISION OF THE CALIFORNIA AND ISAAC NEWTON.**—These boats came in collision on the Ohio river, above Cincinnati, February, 1847, the California going down in less than two minutes, drowning six persons, three of whom were named Wm. Watson, Augustus Thompson, and D. Irvin. After striking her, the Isaac Newton came up nobly to the rescue, and took off all her passengers and crew, and after breakfasting them, took them to Guyandotte without charge. The California was a total loss.

**DANIEL WEBSTER.**—The tow-boat Daniel Webster burst one of her boilers on the 6th of January, 1847, on the south-west bar, killing Mr. Wm. Taylor, a Balize pilot, and a fireman.

**CAROLINE.**—The steamer Caroline burst one of her boilers at the foot of Wabash Island, on the Ohio river, on the 20th of November, 1847, killing John Jones, Humphrey Davis, and Denis Clarke, and wounding six others severely.

**EDNA.**—The steamer Edna, Capt. Phillips, when opposite Columbia, on the Ouachita, on the 4th of June, 1847, burst all four of her boilers, killing fifteen or twenty persons, and wounding many others. *Killed*—Judge Mayo, Louisiana; Mr. Hill, Arkansas; Mr. Odell, South Carolina; Mr. King, do.; Mr. Daily, Louisiana; Mr. Jones, Florida; Dr. Watt, New Orleans; E. Rodgers, Ohio; S. Minter, Georgia. *Boats Crew Lost*—Mr. Donaldson, Ga.; Jim Watson, Jim Thompson, P. Gordon, Thos. Plunkett, D. Anderson, bar-keeper; J. H. Voss, James Pool, pilot; S. Steager, Mr. Oliver, engineer, and four deck passengers.

**CHAMPLAIN.**—The steamer Champlain burst her boilers on the morning of the 3d of November, 1847, at Bridgewater, on the Mississippi river. Three men scalded.

**LUNA.**—The steamer Luna broke one of her shafts, and burst a cylinder head, on the 3d of November, 1847, killing the cook, and seriously injuring several others.

**HARRY HILL.**—The steamer Harry Hill burst one of her boilers at Louisville, on the 11th of January, 1847, severely scalding the first engineer.

**MEDORA.**—The steamer Medora burst her boilers on the 12th of February, 1847, while on her way from New Orleans to Natchitoches, killing Charles Martin, and severely scalding sixteen passengers, among them Major Blake, of Miss.; Dr. John Evans, and Mr. R. Flynn, of Miss.; Dr. Henroy, Mr. Caruthers, and Mr. Moise, residencees unknown.

**QUEEN CITY.**—The steamer Queen City while lying at Natchez, Miss., on the 27th of May, 1846, burst one of her steam pipes, killing seven passengers and wounding ten mortally, and twenty others seriously.

**COLLISION OF THE RAINBOW AND AMERICAN EAGLE.**—The steamers Rainbow and American Eagle came in collision on the Mississippi river, when about fifty miles above New Orleans, on the 14th March, 1844, by which accident five persons were seriously scalded and one passenger killed outright. The Rainbow was descending the river.

**YAZOO.**—The steamer Yazoo, Captain Culver, struck a snag on Monday night, August 9th, 1847, on the Mississippi river, which tore away her wheel-house. Lieutenant Nile, of the 2d Illinois Regiment of Volunteers, who had just returned from Mexico, was carried away by the snag and lost.

**CLINTON.**—The steamer Clinton was burnt up, on the Mississippi river, on the 21st March, 1847. Seven lives were lost, and the U. S. mail.

**GENERAL HARRISON.**—The steamer General Harrison, running on the Chattahoochee river, burst her boiler on the 14th of November, 1842, killing five persons.

**DISPATCH.**—The boiler of the tow-boat Dispatch exploded at Pittsburgh, on the 18th of August, 1846, seriously scalding a Mr. Pearce, whose father resides opposite Monongahela.

**COTTON PLANT.**—The steamer Cotton Plant, bound for Upper Red, sunk in Red river on the 17th of April, 1845, drowning three persons and two children.

**HUNTRESS.**—The steamer Huntress burst her boilers on the Ohio river, one hundred and twenty miles below Louisville, on the 10th of April, 1830, killing the first engineer, three firemen and the second steward. A negro fireman jumped overboard and was drowned.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

292

**TALLY-HO.**—The steamer Tally-ho exploded her boiler on the Ohio river, on the 1st of May, 1830, just as she was leaving Dover Landing, killing the engineer and two deck hands.

**RAMAPO.**—The Ramapo burst her boiler on the 4th of March, 1826, when about fifty miles above New Orleans, mortally scalding Wm. Mathews. The unfortunate man, just before he died, prayed fervently. His parents resided in Rochester county, New York.

**PATRIOT.**—The Patriot collapsed a flue, on the Ohio river, when near Owensboro, Kentucky, on the 13th of April, 1829, scalding four men severely.

**ISLAND PACKET.**—The steam ferry boat Island Packet exploded at Wheeling, Va., December 9th, 1847, killing a son of Hugh Clarke and a traveller, name unknown. Two other persons were wounded.

**ELIZA.**—The steamer Eliza going from St. Louis to New Orleans, was snagged and sunk in the Mississippi, five miles from the mouth of the Ohio, October 8th, 1842. About forty persons were drowned.

**HECTOR.**—The steamboat Hector was burned on the Mississippi, near Island No. 74, two miles above Napoleon, Ark., November 16th, 1842, while on her way to New Orleans. A passenger and one of the crew perished in the flames.

**CUTTER.**—The steamboat Cutter, Capt. Collins, collapsed a flue at Pittsburgh, March 17th 1843. *Killed*—Andrew McClelland, second engineer, three of the crew and ten deck passengers. The first engineer was mortally wounded.

**ROB ROY.**—The steamer Rob Roy collapsed a flue on the Mississippi river, four miles above Columbia, Ark., May 19th, 1836. Eight persons were killed, and fourteen others were badly scalded.

**CAHAWBA.**—The steamer Cahawba, Capt. Curtis, struck a snag in the Mississippi, eight miles above the mouth of Arkansas river, November 21st, 1836. One man was killed.

**POST BOY.**—The steam tow boat Post boy exploded near the mouth of the Mississippi, December 19th, 1840. The engineer was killed, and two of the crew were badly scalded.

**COLLISION OF THE ARCHER AND DIE VERNON.**—The steamboats Archer and Die Vernon came in collision five miles above the mouth of Illinois river, November 27th, 1851. The Archer was cut in two and immediately sunk. Most of the passengers on the lower deck were drowned. The names of those who perished, as far as could be ascertained, are given below. *Drowned*—Jane Smyers and six children; Susan Dick; Peter Maloney and family, consisting of eight persons; Albert Teesdale; Walter Sniker; Mr. Abbott; Felix Arthur and family, consisting of five persons; Andrew Hardy and sister; Dennis Corcoran; Samuel Mulholland, Alton, Ill.; Anna Sherman, and ten others, names unknown.

**COLLISION OF THE COLLIER and DOMAIN.**—The small steamboat Collier was run into by the steamer Domain, on the Ohio river, a few miles above Wheeling, November 7th, 1844. The Collier sunk, and one of her crew was drowned.

**VOLANT.**—The steamer Volant was burned on Yazoo river, thirty miles above Vicksburg November 15th, 1853. A drunken passenger was burned to death.

**COLLISION OF THE DETROIT AND MARION.**—The steamer Detroit ran into the Marion on the Detroit river, August 8th, 1841. Several persons were drowned, but no names are given.

**TROY.**—The steamer Troy exploded on Lake Erie, at the mouth of Niagara river, March 19th, 1850. Fifteen persons were killed. The only names given are, John Buckley, Thomas Gant, William Allen, William Worthington, Nicholas Leland and Peter Leland.

**JAMES ROBB.**—A man frightened to death—The steamboat James Robb took fire on the Mississippi river, January, 1852. Great consternation prevailed in the boat. The passengers were running to and fro, doing all in their power, as usual, to increase the confusion, when a gentleman named Moore, from Memphis, Tenn., who had about $6,000 in a belt fastened around his waist, seized his trunk and made for the forecastle, but after running a few yards, he fell down dead. There was every reason to believe that he was literally frightened to death. His trunk contained a large amount of money in addition to that which he carried about his person, all of which was delivered to the friends of the deceased. The fire was soon extinguished, and the boat was but slightly damaged.

**BUCKEYE BELLE.**—The steamer Buckeye Belle exploded on the Ohio river, near Marietta,

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

November 12th, 1852. Several members of the Ohio legislature were killed or badly wounded.
Senator Covey died in consequence of his wounds on the next day. Twenty-two lives were lost.

MAGNOLIA.—The steamboat Magnolia exploded at St. Simon's island, Georgia, January 9th,
1852. Thirteen persons were killed, and eleven injured.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.—The steamboat George Washington exploded near Grand Gulf, Miss.,
January 14th, 1852. Sixteen persons were killed, and ten wounded.

PITSER MILLER.—The steamer Pitser Miller exploded at the mouth of White river, January
23d, 1852. Three persons were killed.

DE WITT CLINTON.—The steamer De Witt Clinton struck a snag near Memphis, Tennessee,
January 25th, 1852. Forty lives were lost.

CADDO.—The steamer Caddo was sunk near New Orleans, February 14th, 1852. Five lives
were lost.

MARY KINGSLAND.—The steam tow-boat Mary Kingsland exploded February 29th, 1852.
Five persons were killed, and three wounded.

INDEPENDENCE.—The steamer Independence was wrecked in Matagorda Bay, Texas, March
26th, 1852. Seven lives were lost.

REDSTONE.—The steamer Redstone exploded near Carrollton, Ind., April 3d, 1852. Twenty-
one persons were killed, and twenty-five were injured.

POCAHONTAS.—The steamer Pocahontas exploded near Chocton Bend, Mississippi river,
April 11th, 1852. Twelve lives were lost.

PRAIRIE STATE.—The steamer Prairie State collapsed her flues on the Illinois river, April
25th, 1852, killing and wounding twenty persons.

PITTSBURGH.—The steamer Pittsburgh broke her cylinder head, May 19th, 1852. One man
killed.

FOREST CITY.—The steamer Forest City collapsed a flue at Cleveland, Ohio, June 14th, 1852.
Three persons killed.

ST. JAMES.—The steamer St. James exploded near New Orleans, July 5th, 1852. Forty
lives were lost.

CITY OF OSWEGO.—The propeller City of Oswego sunk near Cleveland, Ohio, July 12th,
1852. Twenty lives lost.

HENRY CLAY.—The steamer Henry Clay was burned near Yonkers, on the Hudson river,
July 28th, 1852. Eighty persons were killed, and twenty more were more or less injured.

NORTH STAR.—The steamboat North Star, on her way from Tuscaloosa to New Orleans, was
destroyed by fire Feb. 28th, 1842. Sixteen persons were killed, among whom was Col. C. D.
Connor, of Marengo, Mich., and Mr. Tannyhill of Tuscaloosa.

ANTOINETTE DOUGLASS.—This boat blew up on the Alabama river, November 26th, 1850,
killing thirty persons and wounding 16 others.

GEN. BENT.—This boat struck a snag below Memphis, in January, 1854, causing her to
sink in a few moments. Twenty-one deck passengers were lost.

PEARL.—This boat was sunk by coming in contact with the steamer Natchez, on the Mis-
sissippi river, near Conrad Point. Two deck hands were crushed to death, and three others
lost. Captain Stanley was also lost.

COLLISION OF THE OHIO AND W. B. CLIFTON.—The steamers Ohio and W. B. Clifton came in
collision on the Mississippi river, on the 2d of April, 1854, near Columbus, and the Clifton
sunk in twenty-five feet water, drowning seven deck passengers.

CHARLES BELCHER, LIAH, TUNA, SAXON, CRESCENT, AND NATCHEZ.—On the night of the
3d of February, 1854, the steamers Charles Belcher, Liah, Tuna, Saxon, Crescent and Natchez
were consumed at the wharf at New Orleans. Fourteen negroes, Captain James Leathers, of
the Natchez, the chambermaid and her child, all perished in the flames; Mrs. Carlisle, of St.
Louis, (wife of Captain Carlisle, of the steamer Charles Belcher,) was sick in bed at the time
of the accident; but leaped, with great presence of mind and heroism, from the hurricane
deck, with her child in her arms, and was saved; Captain James Leathers was a young man,
and highly esteemed by all who knew him; he was with General Lopez in his first expedition
against Cuba, and fought like a lion.

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

ST. LOUIS.—The ferry boat St. Louis exploded her boilers at St. Louis, March 23, 1851, killing Wm. W. Benson, first engineer; Paul Trundley, second do.; Alex. McKean, pilot; Sebastian Smith, fireman; John W. James, aged about sixteen years; a daughter of Mr. Louis Jarvis, aged fifteen years; Albert Wells, Ernest Augustus Smidt, Isaac Coop; Meriwether S. Smith; a boy, name unknown; Dr. Truitt, Illinoistown; an Irish boy, name unknown; a young man named Robert Hardin or Harding, whose body was blown about one hundred yards on the levee, and seven others drowned—sixteen badly wounded.

COLLISION OF THE LOWELL AND VINTON.—These steamers came in collision on the Ohio river, just below Wheeling, on the night of the 24th of March, 1851, the Lowell sinking in a few moments. *Drowned*—J. B. McKeon, first engineer; two firemen, and a family of twelve persons from Bedford, Pa. Mr. D. Evans, carpenter, and part owner of the Lowell, had a very narrow escape from death, being cut out from the deck as the boat was going under.

MINSTREL.—The steamboat Minstrel, Capt. McComer, from Cincinnati bound to Nashville, struck a floating log, and sunk on the 3d day of February, 1844, ten miles below Madison, Ohio. One deck passenger was drowned.

HUGH L. WHITE.—This steamboat collapsed a flue, a few miles below Demopolis, Alabama. A colored boy, the property of W. R. Hardaway, was killed. One passenger and the second engineer were badly scalded.

BEAVER.—A small steamboat, called the Beaver, plying on Bayou Plaquemine, was burnt, February 10, 1844. A negro child was killed.

ATLAS.—The boiler of the steam tow-boat Atlas burst on the 1st day of April, 1828, at the mouth of the Mississippi river. She had came alongside of a vessel which was to be towed up to New Orleans. When the steamer had made fast to this vessel, the bell gave the signal to proceed; but, as soon as the machinery was put in motion, the head of the boiler was blown off. This boiler-head was of cast iron, and in an unsound condition before the explosion. The second engineer was killed.

PHOENIX.—About 12 o'clock, M., on the 24th day of May, 1843, the tow-boat Phœnix, Captain Annable, having in tow the ship Flavius, from Liverpool, burst three of her boilers, a short distance below Carrollton, on the Mississippi river. There were twenty men on the Phœnix, four of whom were immediately killed, and three others were more or less hurt. *Killed*—Charles Davis, an Irishman; John, a Portugese; George Granger, an American fireman; and another fireman, name not mentioned. *Wounded*—John Clarke, the pilot of the Phœnix. He was severely scalded, and was not expected to live. James Skinner, second engineer, dangerously scalded; five firemen were also scalded, three of them very severely. The Captain of the British ship in tow, was struck and slightly injured by a piece of plank hurled from the Phœnix by the force of the explosion.

GENEVA.—The explosion of the steamer Geneva took place on the night of December 2, 1852, twenty miles above St. Louis, on the Mississippi river. All the boilers burst simultaneously, and the boat was totally wrecked. The cause of the explosion remains a mystery to this day. The engineer was tried for manslaughter, and acquitted. *Killed*—Captain Dean, a passenger; Captains Johnson and Perry; Mr. Johnson, the clerk; John Ingraham; and Mr. Miller. *Wounded*—Alex. Kelsey, first engineer; second do., and the mate; and several others whose names are not mentioned. The body of Captain Charles Dean was found burnt to a crisp. He was a highly esteemed citizen of St. Louis. He had been, at different times, commander of several boats, but had quit the river and entered the commission business, as a partner in the firm of Carson & Dean. The Geneva had stopped to take in wood at the time of the disaster.

KANAWHA PACKET.—One of the boilers of the Kanawha Packet exploded on the 27th day of June, 1829, at Guyandotte, on the Ohio river. The boat was detained there for a few minutes to land passengers, and when about to leave the wharf some other business gave occasion for a delay of half an hour. When the steamer was shoved out from the shore, the engineer discovered that the water in the boilers had sunk below the guage-cocks, and as the steam was high, he appeared to be alarmed. At this moment, another detention was caused by sending a passenger ashore in the yawl. As soon as this was done, the engineer started

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

the machinery again, and as the motion began, both heads were blown out of one of the boilers. Eight persons, including the two engineers, were killed.

**PHOENIX.**—The steam tow-boat Phoenix exploded January 21, 1847, at the head of South-west Pass, Mississippi river, while engaged in towing the ship Manchester and the barque Leontine. **Killed**—Samuel Dill, second engineer of the Phoenix; James Lathrop, pilot; Joseph Lancaster, mate; Henry Haick, steersman; Charles Smith and John Ricardiff, deck hands; Owen Jones and Martin Boyle, firemen. Twelve persons were killed on board of the Manchester, the ship in tow, and two on board of the barque Leontine. **Wounded**—Mr. Fisk, first engineer of the Phoenix; eight passengers of the Manchester, and two of the Leontine. Both of the vessels in tow were considerably damaged, and the Phoenix likewise was much injured.

**MAJESTIC.**—The steamer Majestic, when about to start from Memphis, on her regular trip to St. Louis, May 25, 1835, met with a deplorable accident. The passengers, of whom there was a large number, were attracted to the starboard side of the boat to witness some interesting object on shore, and the crowd collected on that side caused the boat to careen considerably. As soon as the throng dispersed, and the boat resumed her right position, the larboard boiler collapsed. Forty persons were more or less scalded; and, although some were killed instantly, eight or ten died on the following day, and several of the others were believed to be incurable.

**LANCASTER, No. 3.**—This boat burst a steam pipe while lying at Stepstone, Ky., above Cincinnati, July 1855, scalding to death John Kenney, James Kelley, and Thos. Joyce, deck hands, of Cincinnati, besides severely scalding three others.

**OCEAN WAVE.**—This boat took fire August 1855, while on Lake Ontario, about forty miles above Kingston. At the time of the discovery of the fire she was nearly two miles from shore, which she was immediately headed for, but so intense was the heat that the machinery gave out, and she drifted to sea. The entire cabin was consumed, and the hull sunk out of sight in fifteen minutes. **Lost**—Mr. Trumbull, first engineer; Julias Santers, barkeeper; the cook of the steamer; Mrs. Donald; the nurse and three children of the cashier of the Gore Bank, Hamilton, C. W.; three ladies, names unknown; Mr. Lyman B. Fisk, of the firm of H. S. Humphrey's, of Ogdensburg; besides sixteen others, no names given.

**WESTERN WORLD.**—This boat was sunk on a dark night, January, 1853, by coming in collision with H. R. W. Hill. The accident occurred on the Mississippi river, just below Princeton. The Western World was crowded with passengers, and over twenty-five lives were lost—deck passengers. The World was turned bottom upwards, and sunk in fifty feet of water, proving an entire loss to her owner, Capt. Alexander Norton. A part of the wreck floated for fifteen miles, when it was caught, and one woman and child was rescued from it.

**FARMER.**—This boat blew up on the night of the 23d of March, 1853, when about ten miles from Galveston, in the bay, on her way from Houston, Texas. **Killed**—S. E. Hart, W. Hubby, T. Hale, the barkeeper, and several others. **Missing**—Capt. Webb, the commander of the Farmer; Thos. Prichard, clerk of do. ; Caleb Robertson, of Galveston, Texas; Mr. Dunlevy, carpenter; Philip Mandus, Mexican, from Gaudalajara; Mr. Warner, second engineer; and C. H. Sterns. **Wounded**—Mr. Dixon; Blakeman, mate; Mr. Curtis, the engineer; Mr. McCormick, the pilot; G. Hunter, of Cincinnati; and John Mc Reynolds. The ladies all escaped unhurt. The steamer Neptune was about one hour employed in taking off the killed and wounded. The scene was horrible. The United States mail books, and money of the boat was lost.

**COLLISION OF THE PAUL JONES AND MAJOR BARBOUR.**—The steamer Paul Jones from New Orleans to Louisville, and the steamer Major Barbour, Capt. H. J. Spotts, came in collision on the morning of the 3d of February, 1848, about 4 o'clock, near Troy, on the Ohio river, sinking the Major Barbour to her hurricane roof in a few minutes, causing the loss of the second clerk, who resided at Henderson, Ky. ; two ladies and two children lost, and several other persons missing and supposed to have been drowned. The boat took fire, while sinking, from the lamp in the cabin, which consumed the principal part of the cabin that remained above the water. The hull was afterwards raised. The Paul Jones received but slight injury.

RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK.

In our sketch of Cincinnati, published in this volume, we made some incidental allusions to the extensive manufacturing establishments of that city. We are aware that many of those establishments deserve a more extended notice, and we wish it were in our power to do them full justice, but this our straightened limits will not permit. But, as a specimen of the enterprise and industry of Western capitalists, we subjoin a short account of one of the largest and most complete steam engine and locomotive manufactories in the Western States. We speak of the manufacturing establishment of Messrs. Moore & Richardson, Cincinnati. These extensive works cover nearly one entire square of the city, near the bank of the river. Here are manufactured both marine and locomotive engines, and for the prosecution of this work, there is a foundry attached which is capable of casting twenty tons of metal at one time, and steam hammers suitable for the performance of the heaviest forging. This manufactory was originally established in the year 1828. The present proprietors are practical men, of great experience in the business; one of them, Mr. Moore, has been connected with the establishment from its commencement. When in full operation, the manufactory employs about three hundred workmen. It is under the most skilful direction, and possesses every possible facility in the way of machinery for the manufacture and repair of engines, whether locomotive or marine, as well as the various kinds of machinery required for the construction and repair of railways.

The manufacture of locomotives was commenced at this establishment in 1846; since which time it has produced about one hundred engines of that class, numbers of which may be seen in constant operation on the Little Miami and Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroads; among which is the celebrated and unrivalled passenger locomotive "Nat Wright," running on the Little Miami Railroad. Specimens of the workmanship of this establishment may also be found on various other railways in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, and in all cases they have given ample satisfaction.

The engines of the magnificent low pressure steamer Jacob Strader, were also constructed at these works, from designs by Mr. Moore, one of the proprietors. Here, likewise, was made the machinery of the splendid steamers Northerner and Southerner, and in respect to beauty, efficiency and durability, this machinery will not suffer in comparison with any which has ever been produced in the United States or in Europe.

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LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

BURNING OF THE BULLETIN NO. 2.

The steamboat Bulletin No. 2, Capt. C. B. Church, was burned on the Mississippi river, near Islands No. 96 and 97, March 24th, 1855. A large quantity of cotton was among the freight, and this highly combustible article caused the flames to spread rapidly. The boat was run ashore as quickly as possible; but as soon as she struck the bank, she bounded back again, and floated down the river until consumed to the level of the water. The surface of the river was covered with floating bales of ignited cotton; and many persons who had leaped overboard, while attempting to save themselves by clinging to these fiery masses, were severely burned. One of the cabin passengers stated that he was

sitting on the hurricane deck when the fire first appeared, and before he could get a bucket of water to throw on it, the whole boat seemed to be in a blaze. If the force pumps had been in good order, (which was not the case,) the flames could easily have been suppressed. An eye-witness thinks that the boat and the lives of many passengers could have been saved, if gum elastic hose had been provided for such an emergency. Certainly it shows shameful and criminal neglect on the part of the Captain or owners, when a steamer is without such apparatus. While the boat was burning, the passengers were greatly excited and dismayed; but we have one instance of surprising coolness, whether it proceeded from courage or stupidity, we will not pretend to say. A gentleman was standing in the cabin with perfect composure

LLOYD'S STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

and apparent unconcern while the fire was making rapid progress in every direction. Capt. Church advised this stoical person to take off the door of a state room and endeavor to save himself thereon. "Make yourself easy, Captain," was the calm response, "I am safe enough!" And, sure enough, he was saved. This anecdote reminds us of one which is told of a celebrated gambler, who leaped from a burning boat into the Mississippi, exclaiming, "Now, gallows, save your own!"

Some of the passengers of the Bulletin succeeded in leaping on shore from the forecastle at the moment the steamer struck the land; but a large majority, who were in the after-part of the boat, were cut off from this means of escape. Capt. Church and all the other officers of the boat faithfully used every effort to save the passengers, and the Captain remained so long on board for this purpose, that his own life nearly became the sacrifice of his fidelity. When driven by the flames from the last refuge on the wreck, he threw himself in the water. The boat had drifted out to such a distance from the shore, that he would infallibly have been drowned, had not a skiff, which happened to be near, come to his assistance.

LIST OF THOSE WHO PERISHED.—Mr. Swick, Boston; C. Denny, deck hand; J. B. Williamson, New York; Jesper Brown, Friar's Point, Miss.; Orville Hill, Nashville; B. Handwerkt, Memphis, Tenn.; John McConican, North Carolina; Evans Gwynn, Columbus, Ohio; a negro girl belonging to J. M. Craig, Arkansas; Nathaniel Carter, barber; Stephen Tareter, cabin-boy; four negro firemen, belonging to Capt. Church; several do. belonging to W. L. Porter, New Orleans; one negro fireman belonging to Mrs. Reinhart, Memphis, Tenn.; one do. belonging to J. R. Upsham, of same place, and an assistant engineer.