Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1869 — The Becent Steamboat, Horror on the Ohio River. [ARTICLE]

The Becent Steamboat, Horror on the Ohio River.

,The follow iojppn rt icuUps ©£ 4 by- qx pH> slon of the .steanboat Cumberland, near Bh«lwne4town, on Wie'fiWmittg dWheTfllf are gleaned from tho EvnneYiff*, Joumdl of the lGtl\: The boat was ot her ffotfrfitiirtl'ir)tf, and at Shuwneetown bur tbupijot had jq* rung for heaving the lead, when her larboard holler exploded with (PtijmMernuln, leaving the, boat' a ooniplet*. wde«k, and Wlbng and wounding a largo, number of her &eck-crew, a few pa£*d|?>« And’the mail agent, us is supposed. Kngineor Ku* map, wiio was op watch, hearing .the call fr»r the lead, at once tried tho Waterin'her toilers, and Adding it wtMaehiry.totttrMfal to tbe engine, to be ready to answer, the “slow bell,” whlMi he expected; and had just taken his position by thb engine wtie* the .boiler exploded. .It ‘ is. the, opinion of her engineers tlikt ohly the larboard boiler

; exploded». but alt the hoHersi three- lit number, were blown pviTboard. . Only a small pieeA of the exploded'boiler, and two small pieces of the flues aittfcbhed to the boiler-head, were found. Jim: MA theny, who was at the wheel, was blown Overboard, as was also BrrCsc Tfbtrfcr, sOeond clerk, who was on the Watch when the explosion occurred. Mathenywas but little stunned, and was not' only able to save himself, bat also aided Hunter, whom he found helpless on the water, by clingingto portions of the wreck till rescued by a skiff. , ■, David Person, the mate, v/w< blown, up in the air, and fell’into the hold beffi-atn the furnaces, among thocoalsof tire. After having worked his way out of the hold he discovered that the* boat. Was on fire; and though badly stunned, bruised and bleeding, lie rallied such of -the crew as he could And able for duty, turd, with Jhuiraiti cmled in extinguishing the’fire, which broke out in another-place, ibiit by 4ho timely efforts of the mate anil oneV, as* sifted by AJtx. liewdl, Cujff. Lutytij, others; it was aguip eitingyiahed, and the wreck, aha, fib doubt, nianv lives'sa\‘6d* In tlie meantime the atfCltof was rtistrontj and the J. L. Graham came up and towed the wreck to Shawueotywu,.jwffen.it sunk gradipilly, hnfa” having ljeyp stagkd by the explosion. When the expfesfdff doolP ‘plate, '(‘djft.' Lowtiiand Jim Danrn.rv'aveK- hurled Id the'wreck of Ute texas, :ind had Do burnt their way out, which »|f4ff. twch they succeeded in doing, and. joiffeff’ Uic mate and crew in theiir efforts to'sav'e the boat and assist the Wourided. Capt. botvth was especiallyiactive andeffieienUmscCtit; ing the conjfoft of the wounded;uudtvtu} ' nobljr seconded, in his efforts. by.,Cant,. Howell ahd Mr. Daniel Jacobs, of §)iawncetown, and the people of Sha\VfthctOWl were earnest in their efforts to render assistance and relieve the suffering. . 1 Marion 'Wright, the first clerk," wfcl slightly burned in lys, efforts Uiwt Bruce Hunter’s little boy, who was aslt-ep office, in wliich he was subcessftil, though the boat’s spfe,, in the name rpom; war blown overboard. , , —— George Blreh, the steward, had his ftgllt band ffadly sinaabed and slightly burned, but will soon be all right. * ... Samuel Copeland, the Blair agehClt is supposed, was makiUg.>ap his mail 'fhr Shawpeetpwn, and wa9Hotseen afterward. The officers of the LorCria, will A passed up last night, reported thatisfcpdead bndiefe had been recovered including the body rff the mail‘agent and one or the colored porters. Copeland leaves a Metropolis, IIL We are told that hekatlpnly a few days since taken out a life policy for $2,000. . . ; A young man who lived between Sb*wt ncetown and Equality, 111., a passenger, was terribly mangled and Instantly Ikiltco. His name waanoi ascertained. -. h? -r Nine of the negro, deck crew were at Shawneetown wounded, three Or fotir' seriously. Four or five were "very slightly wounded, but were able to assist iff Mying the wreck. There VCrA twenty deckhands and four firemen on thohoatvof whom pot more .than fourteen.,or Megp are accounted for, and it Is slip posed that four or f\ve wort kißud,’- hut as tbe books were lost in tbe cq»fu4iQ»,-aUeb4-ing tbe disaster, the exact number, or the names, could not be ascertained. . There was but one lady passenger,, and .she escaped without injury. Tjie bfflcers'bf the boat are highly commended foftkeif-e (forts, to save the passengers aiK|thy,ya;ew. Thebe are 676 convents in. Austria, with a population of <},l4Q monks and 4,914 nuns. : ' J '