STEAMER DESTROYED BY FIRE. New York, December 26.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 331, 5 January 1889, Page 3

STEAM ER DESTROYED BY FIRE. New York, December 26.

The name of the Mississippi steamer destroyed by tire was the John Hanna. The fire was caused by a passenger letting a lighted cigar fall among the cargo, which was largely composed of bales of cotton. Tn an instant the inflammable material was ablaze, and the flames soon obtained a good hold. The lower deck of the steamer was crowded with passengers, and upon the flames bursting through the deck a panic ensued. Finding it hopeless to attempt to extinguish the flames, the pilot steered the vessel for a sandbank. Upon striking the bank the steamer rebouuded from the shock into deep water. The force of the collision had rendered the vessel a wreck, and the steampipes exploded. In this condition the steamer drifted helplessly down the river. By this time the fire had reached the upper decks, and all the boats had been destroyed, so that the panic-stricken crew and passengers were only able to escape from the burning vessel by plunging into the water. Besides those overtaken by the flames and burned to death, about sixty weie drowned by jumping into the river. The pilot became a raving maniac. As the ilames swept the stand on dock, from whence he and the captain hatl attempted to direct the operations, the latter terminated his own sufferings by drawing a revolver and blowing out his brains. Full particulars are not yet obtainable, owing to the excitement still prevailing, but sufficient is known to stamp the disaster a? one of the most fearful tragedies in the history of American river navigation. >

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