TERRIBLE STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 571, 21 August 1880, Page 3

TERRIBLE STEAMBOAT DISASTERS.

The first was the collision at New York between, tho steamers Narragansett and Stonington, amongst, the largest of the passenger vessels plying between Long Island Sound and tho city. The Narragansett started from Now..York at five o'clock in the afternoon. Several hours later Stonlngton left the Stonington. Th»re was a dense fog in the Sound, and tho steamers came together with a fearfnl crash off th« month of

the Connecticut River at a little before eleven o'clock. The bow of the S*onineton was thrust with trenumd-.->ns force into' the starbrmrd sid>» of the~ 'Snrragansett. Both vnjtscls w->re badly hrolcen. bntthe hole in the Stnninstnn d ; d not extend flown to the wat"r. while that of the Narrtignnsott was farlar*>r. Th« vessels quickly swung apart, and the Xarragansett began to sink at onoe. At the same time a firo broke out on both vcdPCls. which were heavily loa'lod with passengers. Aboard the Sfoniiigton the panic was alla3-ed when it became certain that she was in no danger. On the Xarragansett. however, the peril nf the situation drove a large number ofjseoplo wild with terror. There was a genera! impulse to put on life-preservers, and to get them there was not only riotous scrambling, but actual hand to hand encounters. As the steamer settled an'i Inrched it was evident /hat it would sink immediately. Nothing could be done under snch circumstances to allay the excitement. The passengers ran to the upper decks in wild disorder. Within Ave minutes after the collision a fire broke out on board. This danger completed the demoralisation. The extinguishment of the lamps by the shock had loft the boats in darkness, but now a lurid glare was more terrifying. The flames spread rapidly in both directions from amidships, driving the passengers before them. The life-raft was lowered, but so eager were the people to get on it that they dropped from the railings of the upper deck into the water and sever .1 were drowned. Three more rafts were launched and floated away, ladened with human beings. Small boats were also let down and lowered. There was the greatest confusion, and instances of rank cowardico are numerous. Strong men pushed women aside to snve themselves. A man and his wife leaped into an already filled boat, almost swamping it. If everybody had remained on the top dock there would have been no loss of life, for the water was shallow enough to leave that portion of the steamer uncovered. Women and children madly flung themselves ovei board, and were rowned. The narratives of persons on board the Narragansett complete the account of the disaster.—George Stephenson : I was in my bunk with my hands clasped round my head, when I was suddenly thrown but. I then heard a loud crash, and jumped from my berth, and ran to the bow of the boat. Catching hold of an axe I cut down the flagstaff. As I did so, a man wild with excitement, came running up to mo with two little boys. He said " Can you save them ?" I lashed the little ones by their wrists and tied them to the flagstaff, and was about to launch them and jump overboard, when the man screamed " God bless you, my darlings I" At the same moment. I heard the sharp report of a revolver, and the man fell down. A woman at the same time came running, exclaiming '• My children," and she sprang overboard. The children were so lashed that they could not get away from the flagstaff. Just before I launched the flagstaff there was a cry of "fire." I looked and saw flames bursting through the bunkers. When about to launch the pole another man, wild with excitement, rushed up saying, "My God. I can't swim," and at the same time i heard another pistol shot immediately after I saw the father of the two boys fire his pistol. I threw the flagstaff over, and was about to leap overboard myself when I saw a colored man and woman come on deck. The woman's dress was on fire. The man had her by the waist; both were screaming wildly, and both leaped overboard. I then leaped into the water and swam to the flagstaff and with the children were saved, after being two hours in the water. William King, freight clerk of the Narragansett, said : " Soon after the accident there were nine boats and three rafts at work, picking up those in the water and carrying passengers. I counted as many as thirty in some of the boats and fifty on the rafts. I saw one woman in the water, calmly lying on a cork mattress. Another woman jumped into the water and swam for the Stonington." Clarence Leonard, an actor, and his wife known on the' sta.ee as Miss Minnie Leonard, were passengers on the Narragansett. They saved themselves by clinging to the ropes on a iife-raft. Leanoard says that the deck hand, whowasinthe life-boat, was seen to strike the fingers of a whiteheaded old lady who was clinging to the side of the boat and begging to bo saved. This deck hand, Leanoard says, forced her to let go. She was probably drowned. "Our raft," he continued, "floated towards the boat. We endeavoured to get to the old lady, but the deck hand kept her off with an oar. Another old lady was clinging to the wreck, and when an attempt was made to save her she refused the proffered assistance, saying' Never mind me lam an old woman; save the yonng folks." Numerous passengers repeat with great variety the same stories of frightful disorder and needless death. The other disaster was to the steamer Savanaka, which was burnt of Randallo Island, New York, on June 28. A dispatch from that city gives the following particulars :—The fire commenced by an explosion in the engine-room, and the middle of the steamer was soon in flames. Captain Charles Fmith remained at his post until nearly burnt to death, and succeeded in breaching his vessel on a sunken meadow adjoining the island. Many sprang overboard, but were drowned. Many others on the stern of the vessel would not get off, and were burnt to death. Of the 500 persons supposed to have been on board fifty are'believed to have perished. Charles A. Bell, a fireman : " I heard a noise and on looking saw fire pouring out of the fire-room. I got up and tried to make my way into the fire-room, but the flames were too much for me. We were just off Uandallo Island and running forward. I called to the captain who was at the wheel to head for the shore. But he shouted back that he could not. I then ran into the cabins forward and urged the steward and passengers to save themselves. They did not suspect that the vessel was on fire Jthen, a*s no smoke or flame was blowing in their direction. At that time the woodwork of the vessel, about her centre, was burning like tinder, and the flames were making their way towards both ends of the boat. Probably there was 500 persons on board. Men were jumping from the hurricane deck into the water, and a large number of women and children were huddled near the stem of the boat. I clambered over the rail near the bow, and several men almost jumped upon me before I took the water to save myself. I found a life preserver floating near me, and was going to put it on when a man clutched it. I knew I could swim, and thinking he could not, I let him have it and swam towards the island, which I reached. I then helped a man in a boat, and assisted in picking up the passengers in the water." Another passenger says :—" The vessel burned like powder after the flames were started. It was a terrible scene. Shrieking women and children were huddled aft, until their clothes caught fire. Those on the forward part of the boat were men, who were out from communication with and off from going to the rescue of their families, relatives, and friends by the flames, which burned fiercest about the centre of the boat, A reporter saw a child floating on its back, and was going to jump over to save it, when a frantic woman clutched his arm, saying : ' You are a strong man, and I a wo i,an without any friends on board, for God's sake help me.' The reporter left the child to itself, and, I believed, saved the woman. A lady was climbing down tho ladder leading from the promenade deck to the main dock ; but, as the ladder is a pretty hard thing for a man to get down on at any time, she fell into the gangway amid the flames. I and about a dozen others succeeded in rescuing her from her perilous position."