Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1901 — FIRE AND STEAM KILL. [ARTICLE]

FIRE AND STEAM KILL.

An Explosion Spreads l iaaster Amons Passengers. Explosion, fire and panic combined in deadly work on the city of Trenton, killing eleven persons aud possibly more and injuring over a score of others, some of whom will die. In addition four passengers arc missing. Nearly all the persons injured are from Philadelphia and Camden. Their hurts consist principally of scalds aud burns. The steamer, which belonged to the Wilmington Steamboat Company, left Philadelphia at 1:45 o'clock Wednesday afternoon for its daily trip to Trenton. At a point opposite the Harrison mansion near Torresdale the steam pipe connecting with the port boiler burst with a loud report. The forward part of the upper deck was well tilled with passengers, while many others were in the cabin. Before any of the or employes had an opportunity to seek places of safety another explosion occurred and this time the port boiler was rent in twain. Scalding steam and water poured into the cabin aud sections of the woodwork of the boat were torn away by the force of the explosion. Those of the passengers who were not seamed and scarred by the scalding steam and boiling water were struck by flying fragments of the splintered cabin. Legs and arms were broken and faces and bodies were parboiled. The screams of the injured could be heard on shore, and the cries of those who leaped or were blown into the river were pitiful. So great was the force of the explosion that a piano in the upper drawing room of the boat was hurled many feet away from the boat into the river. This proved a fortunate circumstance for many of the injured passengers. Thrown into the water, scalded and otherwise injured so that they were rendered helpless, they clung to the piano, which had fallen into shallow water, until rescued. After the explosions the rudder turned the bow of the boat toward shore and she quickly ran aground, fastening herself in the mud. By this time the vessel had caught tire and those of the passengers who were still aboard were compelled to leap for their lives. Fortunately the water was not more than four feet deep aud many of the victims of the disaster weie able to wade ashore. Some, however, who were too seriously injured to help themselves were rescued by members of the boat clubs, whose houses line the river front at this point. The captain and crew of the boat conducted themselves as heroes. They rendered all the assistance possible to the injured, aud Captain Wwrell was tho last man to leave the boat. All the seriously injured were hastily conveyed to the hospital at Holmesbtirg. There the scenes were distressing. Meu and women with the flesh hanging from their limbs and bodies bore their suffering like stoics, and some even smiled while the doctors laved the raw and bleeding flesh with cooling lotious. None of the injured was able to give an intelligible account of the disaster. Chief Engineer Murphy, who was on watch when the accident happened, declares that there was ample water in the boiler, and that the steam pressure was not excessive.