TERRIBLE DISASTER IN AMERICA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1662, 14 September 1887, Page 3

TERRIBLE DISASTER IN AMERICA

■ — ♦ Ths particulars which hwe onrne t; hand of the total destruction of the riv<u steamer Obamplain at the moa'h t f th> Great Treverse Bay show that 20 person perished by either fire cr water, and ■even others were missing. The information li dated Obarievolx, Michigan, 17th Jnly, and stateß that the Champlain waf going from Chicago to Chiboygan. On the previous day the steamer was making her passage and when the passengers were aoostly m bed a stream of flames was seen to shoot np from beneath the engines The engineer was driven from hla post. and rashed on deck with his olothlng •blaze. He ran to the hurrloane deck an' plnngad into a tank of water. He endea Your«d to return to the ens;:ne-room, but eonld not do so for the fl ;ra^s. In oon•equenee, the engines of the steame> could not be stopped, and tbe boat was forcad along at a great pace. The passengers were all awakened, bnt were m a terrible state. Tbe flames enveloped the vessel with extraordinary rapidity. Two boats and rafts were lowered, but as the ■tesmer rushed through the water, the boats and rafts got adrift. The passengers had no time allowed them to do anything for their own safety. AH of them jumped Into the water, clinging ac best they oould to floating wreckage. The soenes was terrible. Many were burned to death- The vessel herself wan burnt to the water's edge. Both passemgsrs and orew alike had to straggle for their lives. Twenty persons lost their lires, many of them passengers and several of the crew. There were 57 persons on board when the vessel took fire. Tbe survivors were snvei by fishing boats and a yawl. Tbe poor people had been m the water for about an hour and • half when they were rescued. The origla of the fire was nnknowa, but was ■opposed to be through an oil lamp exploding.