TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1834, 29 December 1888, Page 1

TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE.

Washington, Dec. 26

A steamer caught fire in Louisiana waters, and a terrible catastrophe followed. Thirty of those on board were burnt to death, and sixty were drowned in their efforts to escape. Only ten lives were saved.

New York, Dec. 26,

The name of the Mississippi steamer destroyed by fire wag the John Hanna. The fire was caused by one of the passengers letting a light full among the cargo, which waa largely composed of bales of cotton.' In an instant the inflammable material was ablaze, and, the flames bursting through the deck, a panic enßued, Finding it hopeless to att9mpt to extinguish the flames, the pilot steamed the vessel for a sandbank.; Upon striking the bank, the steamer r'eboundtsd from the shock into deep water. The force of the collision renderod the vessel a wreck, and her steam-pipes exploded. In this condition she drifted helplessly down the river. By this-time the lire had reached the upper decks, and the boats had been destroyed, bo that the panic-striken crew and passengers were only able to escape from the burning vessel by plunging into the water. Besides those overtaken_ by the flames and burnt to death about sixty were drowned by jumping into the river. The pilot became a raving maoiac as the flames swept the stand on the deck from whence ho and the captain had attouipted to direct operations. The captain terminated his own sufferings by drawing a revolver and blowing out his brains, i Full particulars are not yet obtainable, owing to the excitement still prevailing, but sufficient is known to stamp the disaster as one of the most awful tragedies in the history of American navigation.