 | CHAPTER X. The western merchant |  |
10. CHAPTER X.
We ran all day without seeing anything more of the steamer
which the pilot supposed was chasing us. We overtook
and passed one or two boats bound downward, which had
started several hours before us; and so most of the passengers
ceased to think any more of the Ark.
The Earthquake performed well, and was really a fine
running craft; besides, the captain consumed no time unnecessarily
by the way. When forced to land for a supply
of wood, he ran ashore himself, where he remained, constantly
urging the crew and the deck passengers, (whom he
compelled to give their aid,) to greater activity and expedition;
and when the last stick was deposited on the guards,
the boat was always in readiness to push out again, with
an ample supply of steam. He refused to take in more
freight, and declined rounding to for more passengers.
The night was fair, all the stars being out, and we continued
onward with unabated speed. The weather was
warm, and many of us remained on the boiler deck till
a late hour to avoid the perforations of the musquitoes,
which had taken possession of our state rooms. The velocity
of the boat produced such a current of air on the forward
deck, that they were unable to buzz about our ears.
Nothing disperses a cloud of musquitoes so quickly and so
effectually as a smart puff of wind. Some of the passengers,
however, braved the fury of the insects at the exciting
card table. They “bled freely,” both in pocket and from
their veins, and seemed to evince most impatience under
the first-named system of phlebotomy. I noticed that those
whose circumstances were the most desperate, and who
could least afford to lose, were the boldest to bet, and the
most eager to play. I had my stakes safely under lock
and key, and refused every invitation to join the hazardous
game. I remembered my adventure on the old Belvidere,
and resolved not to play. I kept my resolution on the
Earthquake.
Towards midnight I retired to rest, first anointing my
face and hands, and other parts likely to be exposed to the
assaults of the annoying insects, with the oil of pennyroyal,
I slept soundly. The rumbling of machinery,
and the motion of a steamer on the western waters, never
fail to produce profound slumber, if one's mind is at ease.
The boat acts like a vast cradle, and gently rocks one to
sleep. True, it sometimes acts as a baby-jumper, and
tosses the slumberers helter-skelter through the air;—but
one must not think of such a thing if he desires to have a
refreshing nap.
I awoke the next morning to the sound of a tremendous
hissing of steam. It seemed like a ton of shot poured down
from a high tower on plates of tin. I dressed myself and
walked up on the hurricane deck, making my way pretty
well back to the stern. The sound of escaping steam always
has a disagreeable effect on my nerves, and involuntarily
produces a disposition to remove my “corpse” as far
as possible from the locality of the boilers. I have been
often laughed at and rallied by others, when seen briskly
walking towards the hindmost part of the vessel; but their
rallying has rarely sufficed to disturb an equanimity based
upon the consciousness of being distant from the focus of
danger. Now-a-days, however, the boilers are placed so
very far back—reaching almost to the centre of the vessel—
that they have a fair sweep when they blow up, ripping
everything fore and aft; and one is quite at a loss to find a
place of security. I hope they will adopt the plan of taking
passengers in tow, and have floating saloons constructed
for that purpose. The one who first seizes upon this hint,
may make a fortune. He shall certainly have my patronage.
The hissing and whistling continued, so that when I
stood on the top deck, “solitary and alone,” I was completely
enveloped in a white cloud of steam, and was for
some moments unable to perceive whence it proceeded.
of things around me, I found that the vapor did not come
from the Earthquake, but from another steamer that lay
beside us, which had just landed. Her captain wisely
preferred to lose the steam generated in her boilers than to
run the risk of their bursting. Our boat was quiet enough,
economizing all its resources. We were at Cairo—that
famous city yet to spring up at the mouth of the Ohio—and
the steamer along side of us was the dreaded Ark.
I learned that we had been lying there nearly an hour,
taking in a large supply of wood, and that the Ark had just
come in for a similar supply. So we still had the start of
her. I soon found that the ambitious desire to beat her
was fast spreading from the captain and crew to the passengers,
who, coming out one after another in succession,
expressed the hope that we might again leave the Ark in
our rear.
While I stood on the hurricane deck the cable was loosened,
and the Earthquake putting out, rushed up the stream,
trembling at every joint, and making the woods on either
side quake with the reverberations of its roar. A long
white mark was left behind us as we receded from the
Ark, showing the violence of our progress. I remained
on deck until we had turned out of sight of Cairo, and
long after the rest of the passengers—summoned by the
steward's bell—had gone below. I had no stomach for any
breakfast until I was satisfied the terrible Earthquake had
worked off its palpable superabundance of steam, and
until I supposed there was a probability of having time
accorded me to digest a meal. I did not profess to be profoundly
wise in regard to the philosophy of explosions;
but common sense taught me that when the steam was out,
it could not burst the boilers, and that the furious rushing
as possible. Nor could I help reflecting that when a blow
up did take place, some were killed and some escaped;
and I had a peculiar desire, in the event of the Earthquake
gaping open, to be included in the latter category.
I made my appearance at the table in time to get
my breakfast, and with an improved appetite, for the
cool fresh air of the morning had braced me amazingly.
While I was seated at the table, the old Snarleyyow from
New York came creeping out of his state-room and sat
down opposite to me. His vinegar face seemed more acid
than ever; and, as he did not deign to speak to me, I
politely reciprocated the compliment by not speaking to
him. Still I could not wholly forbear the temptation to
speak at him. I saw that he turned up his nose at everything
set before him, and made mouths particularly at the
coffee, because there was no cream to put in it. So I
called for a cup beyond my usual number, and took occasion
to praise its flavor. The old gentleman put down
his cup, and rose from the table without finishing his meal.
He spoiled his stomach to spite the table; and only afforded
amusement for the mischievous cabin boys. It is a common
saying, when there is no remedy for an evil, it is well
to “grin and bear it.” My experience in traveling convinces
me that it is best to bear it without grinning.
When I walked forward, I found the passengers talking
of nothing else but the race—always a word of ill-omen
to me on a steamer. It seemed to produce a pleasurable
excitement among them, in which I could not participate.
I might have been somewhat differently affected, had I not
had all my fortune on board, and had I not been on the highway
to matrimony.
Again I ascended to the hurricane deck, and looked
down the river. To my dismay, I beheld a column of steam
the Ark, it was unquestionably gaining on us; for there
was no steamer that nigh us when I went down to breakfast.
The captain, the pilot, indeed all of us, gazed at it
in silence. It was too evident that we were pursued by
a superior boat. I asked no questions and made no requests,
as all seemed intent on keeping the Earthquake at
its utmost speed; nothing I could have said against it would
have produced any effect. I merely descended and walked
back to my state-room. I pulled off my coat, and opening
the door on the outside to let in the fresh air, threw myself
on my berth, and attempted to read one of the light works
that I had purchased from a newsboy in St. Louis. But
the author, whoever he was, (his name was wisely withheld,)
had not the power to beguile me. His imaginary
love fits did not touch my heart, nor his piratical encounters
dispel my fears. So truth is not only stranger, but stronger
than fiction.
At the end of a couple of hours, I walked on the hurricane
deck again, without exchanging a word with any one
in my progress thither. I now saw the Ark plainly enough,
for she was not more than half a mile behind us. The
captain was evidently trying her metal, for she ploughed
the water like one of the North river steamers.
I sat down on a bale of hemp to await the result, and
partly to conceal the tremor that seized upon the joints of
my knees. There were many others on the top deck, among
whom were several of the females from the ladies' cabin,
who seemed to enjoy the sight as much as any of the rest.
Our firemen, while at breakfast, had suffered the steam
to escape faster than it was generated, and now the captain
was almost furious in his orders to throw in wood and
rosin. However, it required time to produce the desired
(oh, very gracefully!) along side of us. She also had been
making pretty violent efforts to diminish the distance between
us, and had consumed the major part of her steam.
But when we were precisely even, bow with bow, and when
I expected to see her pass by us (hoping she would leave
us out of sight, and annoy us no more), our sweating firemen
below, who had been skipping about the doors of the
furnaces like sable imps from the nether regions, had done
their work so effectually, that the Earthquake itself quivered
with the internal impulse, and shooting forward, absolutely
glided past its puffing and groaning antagonist, amid the
huzzas, exulting screams, and frenzied excitement of the
men, women, and even the children on our decks.
The Ark's bow, as she fell behind, turned towards our
stern, and she ran along in our wake only a few yards
distant from us. I could distinctly see that she was preparing
to make another effort. Her firemen were in a
savage commotion, and soon two dark whirling columns of
smoke rose from her chimneys. But our imps of darkness
were not idle. We had our sable columns too, sometimes
mingled with red angry flame, as the rosin and lard were
applied.
For many painful moments (to me) each boat maintained
its position. The distance between them continued about
the same. It occurred to me that if any accident, however
slight, should happen to our machinery, and cause us
to stop, the Ark, immediately in our rear, must inevitably
run into us. I thought, besides, that our relative positions
might be maintained equally as well, and with much
more comfort, at less expense, and vastly greater safety,
if both boats would only consent to dispense with about
thoughts.
At length, when we got to a long bend of the river, the
Ark sheered out to the left, as if she designed to take advantage
of a more direct course to the distant point ahead—
viz., the inside track. Her steam was now at its greatest
pressure, and it was in vain that the Earthquake essayed
to defeat the object. She likewise diverged to the left;
but when the steamers came together again, the Ark was
even with us. Our firemen relaxed not their exertions,
and for a long time we seemed to maintain our position.
At last, to my infinite gratification, it was announced from
below that the “combustibles” were getting short. The
last barrel of rosin had been knocked on the head, and the
last keg of lard had been pulled up the hatches. While
I rejoiced at this intelligence, the rest seemed dismayed.
There was an old lady on board, whose husband was well
known as one of the richest farmers of Illinois; and the
wife was pretty well known too, as being the “better
horse,” and assuming rather more than feminine authority
in her better half's business. She was, however, well
skilled in speculations, and was generally very lucky in
devising plans to get the highest price for their produce.
This horrible old lady sat on the other end of the bale of
hemp I occupied. She had been sitting there a long time
without uttering a single word; but her toothless mouth
was drawn up to a purse-like pucker, while her chin almost
touched her nose. Her little sharp eyes sparkled like a
serpent's, as she watched the progress of the race. I supposed
at first that she was partaking of my painful alarm,
inasmuch as she was a woman, and an old woman at
that. No such thing. When it was understood that the
“combustibles” were failing, she beckoned the captain to
nerves of iron rather than flesh and blood.
“See here, Captain,” said she, in a squeaking voice,
“I am a true grit Kentuckian, from the old Boonsboro settlement,
on the Kentucky river. I have seen the boys chase
the Indians, and run their blood horses. I have raised
race horses myself, and have a spirit in me that can't
stand being beat. I have twenty casks of bacon hams on
board, which are at your service. They will make as hot
a fire as anything else—I have tried them; for my cook
once burnt down my kitchen with a fat ham. Take them,
and go ahead!”
Such was the substance of her speech. The captain
made no reply, but hastened below. In a few moments
the atmosphere was loaded with the fumes of the wholesale
fry; and the Earthquake, which had begun to lose
ground, held its own again. The boats were now close
beside each other, and the passengers amused themselves
by occasionally stepping from one deck to the other.
I looked at the shore, near which we were now running,
and for the first time was enabled to realize the fearful
speed we were making. The trees danced by us like the
flitting creatures of a vision; and the occasional houses,
orchards, and fields beyond, seemed to be twisting, whirling
and flying about, as if indeed “all creation had broken
loose.” I closed my eyes on the thrilling scene, and
strove for some time to banish the startling apprehensions,
which held me on the rack, from my mind. It was a vain
endeavor.
We were now approaching Paducah, and both boats
were striving more furiously than ever to gain the victory.
The landing in front of the town was crowded with spectators.
They took a most lively interest in the exciting
arms. Our wheels hummed like whirligigs in the
water, while the escape pipes coughed like claps of thunder.
On we rushed, the Earthquake being next to the shore, and
not twenty paces distant from it. Most of the passengers
on the hurricane deck collected around the pilot house in
front, while I maintained my position in the rear. But in
the intensity of my alarm I had unconsciously risen from
my seat, and now stood upright on the bale of hemp.
The old lady sat still, her livid lips compressed, if possible,
still more closely than ever, while not a sigh escaped her,
and not an exhibition of the slightest tremor.
Both steamers had freight to put out at Paducah; but
neither seemed disposed to stop. We had the inside track,
and the Ark strove in vain to head us. At length, when we
were even with the landing, the Ark's machinery stopped
abruptly; she fell back and landed. From the moment
her wheels ceased to work, her considerate engineer had
begun to let off the steam, which escaped with a deafening
sound, forming an expanded cloud over head, and creating
astonishment that such an immense amount of vapor could
have been confined in so small a compass as three boilers.
The Earthquake ran ahead a few rods, and then stopped.
The freight to be delivered there had been previously placed
on the gangway, so that it might be rolled off without a
moment's delay: this was done. No steam escaped from
our boilers; all was husbanded for the renewal of the
struggle. Indeed, there was no diminution of the exertions
of the infuriated firemen during the brief delay at the
landing. Wood and hams of bacon were still crammed
into the jaws of the gaping furnace. The huge chimneys
grew red-hot, and all the passengers were forced to retreat
from the boiler-deck.
As soon as the freight was put ashore, the men were
ordered to push out instantly, which they lost no time in
doing, for the lowest subordinate on board was now
thoroughly imbued with the prevailing anxiety and determination
to win the race. The merchant for whom the
freight had been delivered was seen coming down from his
store with a bag of money in his hand. But our captain
would not wait to receive it. When he reached the water's
edge the planks were pulled in, and the crew were pushing
the boat out into the current. The vessel turned out
quickly, so that the bow pointed up the stream. We were
some sixty feet from the shore when the order was given to
go ahead. The engineer obeyed. The wheels made two or
three revolutions—and then—oh how shall I describe it! I
can never bring my mind to reflect upon what ensued, without
a renewal of the thrill of agony which seized upon my
soul. I saw the huge black chimneys shoot high up in the
air—pieces of machinery, timbers, fragments of hissing red
hot iron—human limbs separated from their bodies—bodies
without limbs—men, women and children—all in one horrible
promiscuous mass, hurled upward, in the twinkling
of an eye, and followed, like the blinding flash of lightning,
by such an awful explosion as seemed to rend the heavens
and the earth. A blindness, a deafness, a total insensibility
then kindly intervened, and obscured from my vision the
appalling spectacle.
I do not know how long it was before my consciousness
returned. My last impression was that of having been
enveloped in steam, which collapsed my lungs. The first
thing I observed, on recovering my senses, was that I lay
extended, with my face on the earth, and that my clothes
were saturated with water. After one or two feeble attempts
to rise, I only succeeded in turning over on my side. The
without a head, lying within a few inches of me. I turned
and looked in the opposite direction. There, too, were the
dead and the dying. I sat up, and gazed in bitter agony
on the most heart-rending scene that ever mortal eyes
beheld. I was in the midst of a long row of the dead and
the dying, which had been either thrown ashore, or rescued
from the water. Men and women were busy around us,
striving to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded. Groans,
and cries, and shrieks were heard on every hand. Carriages
and litters came to take us away—some to lingering
couches, others to the grave.
I found, upon an examination of my limbs, that I had
not received any material injury. The only pain I felt was
a scalding sensation in the lungs, which seemed to diminish,
as I breathed more deeply. Though satisfied of my
own safety, the miserable condition of those around me
again overwhelmed me with horror. I fell back, closed
my eyes, and stopped my ears, in the vain hope to obtain
a brief respite from the realization of the mournful event.
The picture was graven in my brain, and the unhappy
spectacle could not be hidden from my mind. At last they
were all removed but me. I was startled by the rude
hand of a cartman placed upon my shoulder. I turned
and looked him in the face.
“You are not dead?” said he.
“No,” I replied; “nor do I believe I am hurt much,”
I continued, as I made an unsuccessful effort to rise up.
“Pray, tell me how many have perished.”
“Nobody will ever know how many,” said the driver.
“The cabin passengers were registered, and all of this class
that cannot be found, will be missed and counted. But
the poor deck passengers had not their names put down.
survive, say there must have been fifty on deck. But ten
escaped. Of the cabin passengers, it is supposed only
fifteen were killed—but as many more are wounded. They
counted you as dead.”
“But where is the other boat?” I inquired, seeing the
Ark alone at the wharf.
“She was blown to pieces. As I came to town, I found
several doors of her state-rooms three hundred yards beyond
the farthest house. All of her that was not blown away,
immediately sunk. They say her hull was split open in
the centre, and that she spread out and went down before
any one could go to the rescue of the passengers that remained
on the wreck.”
“But how came I on shore?” I asked.
“I cannot tell—I was not here,” said he.
“I can tell you,” replied a gentleman who had witnessed
the explosion. “I was looking at you when the
boat blew up. You stood upon a bale, and towered above
the rest. A heavy piece of iron came up through the
decks, and carried away the head of a female sitting near
you. You still remained standing. When the steam
rushed up, and all the decks, as well as the hull, sank
down in one chaotic mass, I perceived you still in your
erect attitude, as a puff of wind blew aside the cloud of
vapor that enveloped you. Thus you went down. When
you reached the water, the bale on which you stood turned
over, and then, for the first time, your position was
changed. You sank down on your side, without lifting
your arms, and the water closed over you. You rose
again, pale and stiff, and was brought ashore in a yawl,
supposed to be dead.”
I could now stand up—and with a little assistance, for I
conducted to a room, where I lay in bed while they dried
my clothes before a fire. When this was done, I rose
again and dressed myself. I sat down to reflect. My
first thought, then, (I must own it,) was about my money.
I had heard nothing of my trunk. If it, too, had been
sent sailing through the air, I had no doubt it had burst in
its course like a bomb-shell, and scattered my treasure in
such a manner that I would never recover it. On the
other hand, if it had gone down with the boat, still the
chances were twenty to one against my ever seeing it
again.
These were bitter reflections, and banished the remaining
effects of the steam and the submersion. I no longer
felt pain in my lungs, nor as much sympathy as at first
for my fellow-sufferers. On the contrary, the sickness of
despair seized upon my heart. If I was doomed thus to
lose everything I had hitherto been toiling for, it was
almost a matter of regret that I, too, had not perished with
the rest.
I had a few bank notes in a belt round my body. They
were Virginia notes, which I was unable to convert into
specie in St. Louis without submitting to a discount I was
unwilling to bear. I unbuttoned my vest and took off the
belt. It was wet and warm with the returning heat of my
body. I spread the smoking notes on the table before the
fire. They were stained, but not ruined. I clutched
them as the last remnant of my fortune, and counted them
over and over again, as if this process could increase their
number, or magnify their denominations. They amounted
to about one hundred dollars, which, with some two hundred
I had in Philadelphia, formed my entire wealth.
But I could not, at first, realize my sudden destitution.
I went out to the scene of the disaster. I wandered among
the remains of the wreck upon the shore in search of my
treasure. I could find fragments of human beings, but no
money. I made known my loss, and offered a liberal
reward for its recovery. Other trunks were found floating
on the surface of the stream, but not mine; while not a
vestige of it had been seen on the land.
Others involved in the calamity had large sums about
them, but sustained no serious losses. Theirs were in
checks and drafts; mine—oh, the infatuation of our foolish
resolves!—I had determined should be in heavy metal,
which was to save me some seventy-five dollars in exchange.
And it had been for the purpose of saving a few
paltry dollars that I had taken passage on the ill-fated boat!
| CHAPTER X. The western merchant | |