Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1888 — A DISASTROUS EXPLOSION. [ARTICLE]

A DISASTROUS EXPLOSION.

Thirty or Forty I? ves Lost on a Steamboat at Vail* jo, Cal. An explosion occurred on the ferry steamer Julia, plying between South Vallejo and Vallejo Station, Cal., Monday. There were about 70 passengers onboard. Just as the deck hands were hauling in the lines, as the steamer was about to leave her moorings, the explosion took' place, and a sheet of flame shot into the air. Those who were on deca were hurled overboard and some of them were killed outright with the debris. Most of those who were belo w decks were killed or drowned. Little assistance could be given except to those who had been thrown overboard. The steamer caught fire, burned to the '"Water’s edge and sank to the bottom with a great number of victims. It is believed that thirty or forty lives were lost. The wharf caught fire and about 600 feet were destroyed. The accident is one of the most terrible in detail that has ever occurred on the Pacific coast, ■