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FULL, ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT.
VOL. XMX.
ASlOltIA, 0IIEO0X. FRIDAY MOKMNG, OCTOBER 11, 18!.
NO. J.7
V 1 C .
ru T HI
1 hi a . 11
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ASTORIA
SEVEN MEN ARE
DIED
Terrible Disaster Overtakes the
Torpedo Boat Davis On Her
Off iciai Trial Trip.
HER BOILER TUBES, EXPLODE
Six Men in the Forward Fire Room Caught
Like Rats in a Trap ani Burned to
Death by Fire and Steam.
ALEXANDER JOHNSON'S HEROIC DEED
Bravely Dropped Into the Sea of Fire in ao Effort to Save
His Imprisoned Companions and Lost His Life
Terrible Sufferings of the Unfortunate Men
is Told by Several Eye-Witnesses. -
THE DEAD.
CHARLES M'NELLY, Fireman.
PAIL LL'ITHLE, Coal l'asscr.
HARRY WOOD, Fireman.
WILLIAM WOOD, Supcrintcn.
dent Duller Room.
JAMES RYAN, Fireman.
ALEXANDER JOHNSON, Fire
man. ALBERT HL'EIILF, Fireman.
I'erhnp one of tho worst, and certainly
the moyt horrlfylntr accident In the his
tory of ctvlliintlon on the Columbia river
omirroU on tho turixHlo-boat DavU, 25
nilKa alwve thla city, ycatordny. It waa
an aocldent that possibly no human vlg
llonca or foresight could have guarded
Rgnlnat. 8evcn homea rendered desolate,-
and wven frlRht fully mutilated bodies
of somebody' Joved ones, stark and
KtiaMly, He In the Astoria morgue, awalt-
Init shlpnutu toilay to Portland.
Such la tho terrible result of what was
to have been the Davis' triumphant and
final official trial trip down th. broad
Columbia to thla city. Cooped In a little
low, atecl-wallod room, Tx9 foet, flllod
with flamea, icaldlns steam and boiling
water. lx human belnga wer literally
cooked until the flesh dropped from their
bones, while to them was added later a
seventh victim, who nobly gave his Ufa
In an unsuccessful effort to relieve them.
Eye-witnesses aay the death of these
men was that of human creatures cast
bodily Into the Jaws of a flerce,vdevour-
n furnace Are. Strong men paled and
sickened and visibly trembled at he
spectacle.
The Davis, In command of Captain W.
II. Tattorson. wd with a picked crew,
constating of tho finest and most trust
worthy workmen of the great plant of
Wolff & Zwlcker, .in charge of tho ma
chinery of tho vessel, loft Portland at
5:39 Wednesday evening. On the vessel
wero the government official trial board,
consisting of Lieutenant-Commander
Drake, president; Chief Engineer W. S.
Smith, and Constructor Spear, of the U.
3. N.; Messrs Wolff and Zwlcker, an.d
Chief Engineer Cruta, a government of
ficial stationed at Portland. All went
smoothly and, afto a pleasant run, Rai
nier ws reached, whero the boat was
moored for the night and prepared for
her critical run of yesterday. At 10 a. m.
she rot under way and ran a mile up
the river, waiting for the fog to raise.
TO DEATH
The weather cleared shortly, and the ves
sel turned her bow In the direction of
Astoria, proceeding under easy steam.
With her engines working smoothly and
perfectly she continued her course until
Mount Coffin was reached. Then, every
thing being In readiness for the final
spurt, the fire boxes were filled with the
fine quality of Cumberland coal, brought
from the east for the occasion, the prop,
er steam pressure iMng reached, the
vessel was opened out The shapely little
boat fairly flew over the water, and.
passing Oak Point at 10:55, was making
S miles. At 11:3$ Puget Island was
passed. Eight minutes later the accident
occurred. Immediately tho hatchway
leading to the forward boiler room was
opened, but, before the imprisoned men
could be reached they had succumbed to
the awful heat, and were literally roasted
alive. The flames swept out of the fur.
mice, while steam and scalding water
added to the torture of the six unfortu
nates, who were rendered helpless, al
though not unconscious. Immediately.
Noble efforts were made to save them,
but It was of no avail, and, when they
were finally dragged to the deck, they
had been so severely burned that all died
later from their Injuries.
Dr. Edgar H. Thornton, of Portland,
was on tho Davis when the accident oc
curred, and he did everything in the
power of human skill to alleviate the
agonies of the men, whose groans and
cries were awful to hear. Dr. Thornton
was rendered vafuable assistance by
Constructor Spear, and they made the
sufferers as comfortable as possible
under the circumstances.
STORY OF THE DISASTER
TO THE TORPEDO BOAT.
Statement of First Assistant Engineer
Arthur Bartholomew. Who Was In
the Enirlne Room at tho Time.
First Assistant Engineer Bartholomew,
who w9 on watch at the time In the
engine room, said to an Astorlan repre
sentative: "Wo loft Portland Wednesday night at
5:W, arriving at Rainier ot 7:30, and tiej
ui for the nlKht. Wo left Rainier yes
terday morning at 10 o'clock and on ar
riving off Uui upper point of Tenas Iluhce
Island at 11:3G, a short distance below
Cathlamet. the first thing I knew the
pressure gauge, that Is, the gauge we
have to regulate the blower engine, sud
denly Jumped to five Inches and burst.
We carry two and one half inches pres-
sura, this beiw the normal pur , did all In hla power to relieve tha suffer
under forced draught. nt 0 rha Injured men, and wua glv. n
"I Immadlatety gave the alarm, and
everyone left tha angina room, knowing
there waa an accident somewhere, ex
cept myself; I beln forced to remain In
order to answer slgnala from th. captain,
who, having discovered something wa
wrong, but . being unabla to locate K,
had turned the boat in th. direction of
shore.
"Discovering later what the trouble
was. Captain Patterson aapt In th. mld
dl. of tna stream and let go tha anchor.
On receiving th. 0. X.' bell I left th.
engine room and went on deck.
"By this tlma the hatch was open and
th. victim were being lifted from below
to tha deck. Nona of them waa at that
time dead and tha scan, waa on. of the
moat agonizing I aver wltnesaed. . ,
"A th. Injured men war. dragged on
deck the fleafe' In several Instance
drooDed from their bands and other ax
poaed portions of their bodies.
"A lx. Johnson, on of th. Injured
firemen now In .th. nospltal, performed
a nerola deed which wilt probably coat
him hi llfel A soon aa the hatch wa
lifted. Johnson, who I one of th. men
In the after Ore-room, descended to rea
ct, th. men and waa overcome by the
flame and boiling water, and Bad to b.
lifted himself out . of the fire-room,
scalded In a horrible manner.
"Johannes Wolff, son and partner of
th. aenior member of the firm of Wolff
ac Zwlcker. waa the second man to de
ecend to the rescue of the Injured men.
He fortunately escaped without serious
Injury, but that detracts nothing from
the bravery of the deed.
"As fast aa the men were taken out
of the fire-room they were placed In
charge of Dr. Thornton, the firm's sur
reon, who waa aboard.
"Johannes Wolff and one of the crew
by thla tlma had launched a life boat
and left for the Oregon shore to tele
graph for assistance. Within' half an
hour the Harvest Queen with a ahip In
tow tore In sight The Queen, on being
signalled, anchored the ship and came
to our relief and took us In tow and
headed for Astoria.
"In the meantime Fireman McNelly
and Lulthle had died.
"Just above Tongue Point we met the
tug Relief with Drs. Fulton and Tuttle
on board, responding to the telegram sent
by Mr. Wolff. Just aa they boarded us
Fireman Wood died. Tna arriving phy.
aiclana had a consultation with" Dr.
Thornton and decided that nothing could
be done for the remaining injured men
until Astoria waa reached.
"as to the cause of the accident, of
course I have my own theory. But since
the boat was In charge of the official
trial board at the time. K would not be
proper for me to advance any opinion
until their Investigation Is made.
From another member of the crew who
waa on board. It was learned that the
accident waa due to the explosion of
some of tha boiler tube. Tha collapse
of these tubes In the after end of the
boiler allowed the steam and water
to enter the Are boxes, blowing open the
furnace doors and filling the little room
with the mingled horrors of living
flames and boiling water.
As soon as the Davis arrived at the
itflr Onmnpr IVthl wan summoned and '
, v . .w k ., aa.a Strange to say. he was only slightly ln
took charee of the bodies of the dead "
firemen. The four Injured firemen were ' Jured. and during the subsequent run
taken on stretchers to St. Mary's hos- f down to Astoria devoted his time to the
pltal and olaced in a small ward on the attempted alleviation ot the living suf-
second floor. I ,
! ferers on deck.
The unfortunate men presented a hor
rible sight. Their entire bodies had the I ",
appearance of ; being literally cooked.! SPECULATION AS TO CATE.
Patches of the flesh hung In ghreua and i Tne exaet cause of the disaster must bs
ihe face of Fireman Wood was swollen
badly, and all of them appeared to be In
terrible agony.
At about W o'clock last night the re- : every piece of her was tested' oefore be
matnlng sufferers succumbed to their in(t olaced. At the time of the explosion
frightful Injuries: all dying within brief ( boat waa yg but 190 pound of
Intervals, making seven victims of the
tam. The boilers had been tested at
disaster. 1
i K Ooounda' pressure, so the accident wa
! not the result of weak tubes. Doubtless
PILOT PATTERSON'S STORY. not lao 1
the automatic water guage failed to per
Pilot W. H. Patterson waa In charge of form ,u work ind ln tnls mftnner the
the Davis when the accident happened. forward ,,1 wa not supplied with
He told the following Btory to an As- .
torlan reporter:
"We left Portland at 5:30 p. m. and ,
steamed down to Rainier, where the 1
Davla was moored for the night. Leav- ,
ing Rainier at 10 next morning we
steamed up the river about a mile, wait-
Insr for the fog to lift. The weather
soon cleared, and we started down
stream, passing Mount Coffin at 10:22.
At 10:36 we passed Puget Island, under '
full head of steam, and eight minutes
later, while opposite Tenas Ilahee Island,
the accident occurred.
"When the hatchway was opened the
flames and steam went out like a blaze
from a blast furnace, throwing caps,
hats, and Jumpers SO feet In the air.
Alexander Johnson, one of tho firemen, j
dashed toward the open hatch and '
dropped down, in an effort to rescue the
)vvn beneath. . Tha heat was terifflo and
Johnson was soon overcome. John Wolff,
son of tho senior member of the firm,
then descended, and succeeded in get- !
ting roDes around the men In the fire i
room. '
"Dr. Thornton, of Portland, who wa
along to render aid ln case of accident
valuable assistance by Constructor fH'"3r,
of the trial board.
"MiN.ly and Iillhl. died shortly after
being removed front th. hold, and Harry
'Vood breathed hi last a tha boat w
landing in this city. Th. men were all
frightfully, burned, and, ,thlr luflrnng
waa awful -' :
' "Th. accident was caused, I think, by
the failure of th. automatic wati-r gunge
to. .work properly, causing tha forward
boiler to run dry, After the1 bursting of
th. to! in th. boiler, the beat blew th.
flame from th. furnace; and th room
wa a niut of seething flam, and scald
ing steam! When tho accident happened
we were making about 8 mile an hour."
ALEXANDER JOHNSON.
, HEIIO Of THE DAVIS.
Brav. Fellow Went .Nobly to HI Death
In an Attempt to Reacu uts Im
prisoned Friends.
At St Mary hospital In this city last
night Alexander Johnson, one of th.
firemen on the Davis, succumbed to th.
terrible burn received when the ex
plosion occurred. Johnson name will
live In the Northwest for years to come,
for he waa a hero whose act I seldom
equalled an act which even Lieutenant
Hobson's did not surpass.
Johnson was In the after fire room
when th. accident happened. With th.
opening of the forward hatch, which led
to the fiery prison of tha men who wer.
being roasted to death below, the flames
shot upward, while, mingled with th.
hissing of the steam, could be heard th.
groan and cries of the unfortunate men
In th. hold. Without one moment' hes
itation, thla hero In overalls dropped
through the opening into the literal fur
nace that raged beneath. In an Instant
he. - too. Ilk. the other victims, sank
powerless and quivering on tha heated
steel floor. '
But another hero Immediately stepped
to the front This time the son of the
senior member of Oregon' Arm of ship
builders descended the biasing pit and.
In spite of its stifling and torturing at
mosphere, fortunately bv this time con
siderably relieved through the open
,tlK.K to his heroic mission until
unforlunat, Wil, h(Uuled up t0
the outstretched arms of those who
were waiting on the upper deck. AsUho
men were drawn through the open hatch,
patchea of cooked flesh dropped from
t their person, and they wrere .laid, a
! ulverln nd unrecognizable mass, on
j the deck, under the clear atmosphere of
j heaven. Young Wolff was then helped to
the ooening and, after a time, received
the attention of the attending surgeons.
determined by an examination.' It 1
impossible that the yessel was faulty, as
watef The steam fponj the ler boiler
,,ishxd forward and tha great pressure
cauaeJ lne tubes to burst. Great care
na(1 been taken by the builder In the
construction of the Davis, and the aid
. dent ls ft most unfortunate blow to the
: flrnu jjr i'olft. of the arm, who wa
(Continued on page three.)
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