Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1892 — DEATH AND A PANIC. [ARTICLE]

DEATH AND A PANIC.

Fatal Crash of the Ferryboat Cincinnati at New York. Every timber of the double-decked ferryboat Cincinnati groaned and shivered as the boat crashed into its slip at full speed the other afternoon in New York. Men were violently thrown to the deck and against the rails, and horses were struggling to keep their feet and trampling upon women, The accident was probably due to the carelessness of Engineer Gray and his assistant, George A. Bowman. Gray allowed Bowman, who is a licensed engineer, but who ranked as an oiler on the Cincinnati, to run the engine for him, and it was while Bowman was handling it that the accident happened. As the boat neared the slip Pilot Tuttle gave two bells to reverse the -engines, which was answered in the engine-room. The boat, however, seemed to 'be running at as high a rate of speed as ever. The Cincinnati ran straight into the bridge, striking with such a blow that it tore iff some of the solid iron facing. While the excitement was most in-

tense, Fireman Holt rushed up from the engine-room and said: “Engineer Gray has been crushed to death/ The boat had swung out into the stream and was drifting with the tide, oAs soon as the plunging of the horses had abated several of the men made their way in between the jumbled trucks and got to the door leading to the engine-room. They scrambled down the steep iron stairs and found Fireman Holt and Oller Bowman peering down into the crank pit. At the bottom lay the mangled remains of Engineer Gray. They were wedged in between the crank and the sides of the pit, and it was half an hour before they could be extricated. Tuttle, when he found the engines had stopped, had signaled for help, and several tugs went to the assistance of the Cincinnati. A couple of them caught hold of it and it was towed into the slip above where it had struck. The huge crank which churns up aad down in the pit in its revolutions round a shaft caught the body of Gray and crushed it in a horrible manner. Oiler Bowman stood holding the lever of his engine, almost paralyzed with fright, and did nothing. Fireman Holt rushed in and, taking in the situation at a glance, shut off the steam and stopped the engines.