HORROR ON THE MISSISSIPPI. MANY LIVES LOST. THE STEAMER JOHN H. HANNA BURNED. TWENTY-ONE PEOPLE PERISH IN THE FLAMES OR ARE DROWNED.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 341, 9 February 1889, Page 3

HORROR ON THE MISSISSIPPI. MANY LIVES LOST. THE STEAMER JOHN H. HANNA BURNED. TWENTY-ONE PEOPLE PERISH IN THE FL AMES OR ARE DROWNED.

A special despatch from Is'ew Orleans to the "Chronicle," dated December 25bh, says :— " A special from Plaquemine, La., I to the States, says*: — The steamer John H. Hanna m\is burned last night near this place. Seldom has a more terrible river disaster happened in Southern waters. The loss ot life was very heavy. About thirty persons perished in the flames and a large number jumped overboard and weie drowned. Among the lost are Captain James S. Holmes and First Clerk Samuol R. Powell. Their bodies have been recovered. Captain Holmes's body was terribly burned. One of the deck hands who escaped says that there were about on© hundred persons on board, and that only about a dozen could be found alive. The engineer and pilot were saved. All who escaped were burned more or less severely. The steamer was but a short distance above the town when a negro roustabout near the boiler room ran out on the deck and shouted that the boat was on fire. John Cullen, the stoker, was at his place at the time, and seeing the flames bursting forth from the big tiers of cotton near the boiler, ran to the engine room and gave the alarm. Engineer Merriman took in the situation at a glance, and at once sounded the alarm by blowing the steam-whistle and ringing the bplls. In an instant

THE FLAMES SHOT THROUGH THE CABIN and over the sides of the cotton, enveloping tho entire boat in fire. Clerk Powell was upstairs at bha time, and when he saw the flames he heroically ran through the smoke which filled the cabin, and tried to arouse the sleeping people He kicked at the doors, and in a short time almost everybody was uwake. Then confusion worse confounded ensued, and the frantic people ran to the different exits to make their escape. But the boat was piled high with cotton, and the passage- way& were filled with smoke. Many dropped before they were able to get to the forward part of the boat, and were dead when the steamer went down. As soon as the fire was discovered Engineer Merriman set the steamer's pumps working and tried to battle with the Hames, but the fire swept through the boat liko a blaze on a praiiio, and the engine-room was soon in flames. Then, to add consternation, a steam pipe burst and filled the place with scalding steam. The engineer was forced to abandon his post and the stokers and others ran to the sides of the boat and rushed through, pell-mell, to save their lives. As soon as the smoke and flames began to start up the sides of the boat Captain Jolles, the pilot, swung the wheel around and headed the boat for the shore. A full head of steam was on and the boat soon ran into the bank. .Before she did so, however, &he was doomed, as all her timber was furiously burning. When the steamer struck the bank she bounded away again and swung around, drifting down the stream as she burned. Then Captain Jolles jumped out over the cotton bales,and spiinging into the river swam ashore. The light was a weird one viewed from the bank, and the town was soon aroused. Floating cotton, charred timbers and other debris filled the river, and many people were struggling desperately in the water for their lives. Some of them were able to swim ashore, but most of them were so badly burned or thoroughly exhausted that they struggled but a few moments and sank to rise no more

DEATH OF THE PILOT AND CAPTAIN. As the burning boat struck the bank of the river the crew and passengers who had been able to reach the forward end of the boat sprang ashore, some of them with scorched faces and bruised limb--, and many with scarcely any coveiing. Among those who managed to get off were Captain Holmes and Bob Smith, the unfortunate pilot of the ill-fated White, who was a passenger. Both men were burnt neatly to death, and the story of the manner in which they suffered is most heait-rend-ing. When the captain jumped ashore he was horribly burned, and in his frantic desire to be relieved from his suffering he buried his face and hands in the soft mud and begged most piteously tor someone to help him. Smith was just behind and was laid out by the side ot the dying captain. Nothing could be done for the su tiering men and the two died together on the river bank.

THE SURVIVORS. The people of Plaquennne weie nob slumbering when tho tire broke out, and when the discovery was made that the Hanna was burning, almost the entire town flocked to the river bank and watched the fire. ■ The unfortunates who reached the shore were taken care of, and doctois and others came to their assistance and tried to alleviate their sufferings. The City and Central hotels and private houses r were thrown open to all the ill-fated people. The survivors telegraphed accounts of the disaster to their homes. No one saw Clerk j Powell, who displayed much heroism in waking up the passengers after he had rapped at the doors, and it is quite positive that he was burned to death and went dow n with the steamer. No attempt was made to save any of the steamer's books or papers, and everything, together wibh the clothes of the passengers, was lost. The boat burned rapidly after she reached the bank and in a very short time after the alarm was given she had burned to the water's edge. The hull sank and nothing was left of the Hanna but floating timber and burning cotton. None of the men could say what was the origin of tho fire. The general impression, however, is that some careless smoker threw a cigateoce among the cotton bales, and thereby caused the disaster.

THE DEATH OF JOHN GRAFTON, a carpenter, was a pad one, He was in the upper portion of the boat, struggling to get near the front end. The flames were twisting all about him. He tried to reach the bow, but dropped and burned to death before scores of people who were unable to render him any help. The second ma to of the boat said Mr Powell was standing near him when they both, jumped into the water. Powell, who could not swim, climbed on a floating cotton .bale, but two deck hands jumped on the balei turning it over and throwing Powell, into the water and he disappeared. The boat was about fifteen yards from the .shore when a great ' many people plunged into the river, and several who reached the bank in safety became bogged in the soft mud, and so intense was the heat from the boat that they were burned to .death before they could climb up'the steep bank to the level. The spread of the fire was bo vapid that

before the -pilot had- finished sounding the three alarm' whistles the entire boat from stem to stern was A ROARING MASS OF FLAMES and the scene that ensued was terrible in the extreme. Men yelled and ran about the decks of the burning steamer like maniacs, and othere, screaming at the top ot their voices, threw themselves into the dark waters and were lost to sight. The second barkeeper said that several persons near him struggling in the water begged for help, but he could not render them any assistance because the water chilled him to the marrow and his clothing clogged his every movement. A cabin boy who was an assistant' of the steward said the crew who were in the Hanna were aroused from their slumbers by the flames, which roared over them, and were compelled to dive headlong from the roof of the boat into the liver, and many of them were burned to death while in the river. This evening the impression prevails that the number of lives lest may not exceed thirty, although, owing to the fact that the steamer's papers were all burned, it is difficult to get at the exact number of people on board tho ill-fated boat. Tho Tohn H. Hanna was built in Madii son, Intl., in 187b, and hailed from Louisville, Ky. She was of 377 tonnage, and was owned by the Ouachita River Cou&olidated Line. She -was valued at $18,000, and was insured for $112,000 in local and foreign companies. Captain J. W. Blanks, President of the Company, sa)s that the latest advices he has are to the effect that the pteamboat lelb Monroe, La., on Sunday morning at 6 o'clock, with 1,000 bales of cotton. The captain estimated that additional cotton had been picked up on the way down to make the number of bales 2,500. Upon being questioned as to tho number of passengers on the Hanna, Captain Blanks thought ib was small, as there is little travel in this section at present. Later. — The "Picayune's" Plaquemine special places the number known to be lost by the Hanna disaster at five whites and sixteen coloured.

A BRAVE MAN'S DEATH. A " Times-Democrat " special from Plaquemine gives the following account of the death of Captain Holmes : — The brave captain met a most awful death. He remained at hia post of duty until every chance to save the lives of the passengers was gone. Then he attempted to swim ashore, but the bank happened to be boggy, and he was seen to make frantic endeavours to extricate himself, without avail. The burning boat was fast nearing him, and while he was on his knees in the mud he put his hands up to protect his lace from the intense heat. It vas an awful moment for those on the shore, who were making every endeavour to relieve him with skills and with ropes from the bank. One man went out to him and placed a box between him and the flames to protect him from the increasing heat. The captain said, " Never mind me, I'll be dead in a few minutes anyway." He was finally freed from his terrible situation by tying a rope around his body and dragging him on shore, but it was too lato. He died about half-an-hour after being rescued.