Parkersburg Sentinel
Steamer Kanawha Sinks in Ohio River
Steamer Swept Against Pier By Storm Which Raged Over River
January 6, 1916
Hits Pier at Dam 19 and Is Destroyed
Light On The Pier Was Out, Extinguished By The Wind, It Is Believed
Many Stories Of Heroism Told By The Survivors Of The Disaster
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad Ran Special Train Late Wednesday Night
The number of persons drowned in the Steamer Kanawha disaster Wednesday night is probably twenty. Captain Berry estimates the number of persons on the boat at 65, possibly a few more or less. Forty-five persons have been accounted for alive and two bodies have been taken from the river, leaving 18 missing. When Captain Berry said last night that all had been saved he gave credence to a report that rescue parties from the Ohio shore had saved 20 from the water. Unhappily this proved false. No one was taken to the Ohio shore.
Of the total saved ten were passengers and 35 members of the crew. Of the mis[s]ing the named of 14 are known positively, including the two whose bodies were recovered.
The list of the missing so far as known, this afternoon, the books of the boat being lost, is as follows:
Mrs. Fitzpatrick, Belleville; body recovered.
Anna Campbell, Chambermaid, Pomeroy, Ohio, body recovered.
Bert Wolfe, purser, Rockland, O.
Arthur Beaver, watchman, Dorcas, Ohio.
Lloyd Gee, steward, Gallipolis, O.
W. L. Hoblitzell, Sr., Washington, D. C.
W. L. Hoblitzell, Jr., Washington, D. C.
Mrs. W. L. Hoblitzell, Jr., Washington, D. C.
Hoblitzell, Infant
J. D. Hoblitzell, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Ulysses Beagle, Racine, Ohio.
Mrs. E. C. Atkinson, Racine, Ohio.
___ Fitzpatrick, aged 7, Belleville.
In addition to these there are six other names unknown, missing if the captain’s estimate of 65 persons aboard is correct.
The steamer Kanawha, regarded as one of the most practical and valuable packet boats in the trade on the Ohio river, was sank at Meldahl’s, about ten miles south of Parkersburg, Wednesday night, as the result of striking the lighthouse pier at Dam 19, opposite Little Hocking. The steamer is practically a complete wreck, and all her contents are lost. There were about sixty-five persons on board the steamer, including the passenger and crew list, and of that number.
A special train was run by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Meldahl’s and on to Belleville, which arrived in Parkersburg on the return trip this morning about 3:00 o’clock. The special train, which was directed to be manned and run at the orders of Supt. O. H. Hobbs, brought to Parkersburg forty-two persons, including two women who were able to reach the West Virginia shore, who were sheltered at stations and farm houses along the river, near the scene of the wreck of the steamer. This was the greater number of those on board, which, it is thought, numbered sixty-five. As the boat went down so soon after striking the pier, three minutes only elapsing from the time she struck till she went under. It could not be ascertained how many were on board. The passenger list and books of the steamer went down.
There were at least twenty-five passengers so far as could be learned, and some of them were on this shore and some on the Ohio side. The greatest anxiety prevailed as to the safety and whereabouts of friends and relatives who could not be comforted till they had definite knowledge of their dear ones.
The railroad officials and the city officials looked after the needs and comfort of the stricken so far as possible and on their arrival in Parkersburg, made arrangements for their housing over night. Thirty or more were accommodated at the City Building.
The first news of the accident was brought to Parkersburg on the arrival of train No. 719 by Charles Swager, who resides on the South Side, who arrived here at 8:30. He notified Captain Chapman, of the Baltimore and Ohio police, at the Ohio River station, telling him of the accident and the desperate condition of the passengers and crew. Captain Chapman at once notified the city officials and others in the city. The long-distance phone was put into use immediately, and it was ascertained that five persons had reached Meldahl’s and later came reports that there were others rescued. Arrangements were made at once for the dispatching of a special train by the Baltimore and Ohio. About that time word was received from R. M. Beaver, who telephoned to railroad officials that there was no need of a special train, as many of the rescued were safe on the West Virginia side and so far as he could learn were being cared for.
It was a few hours later that the Sentinel learned by long-distance phone in a conversation with Captain Berry, that there were about forty rescued persons who were strung along the shore and were cold and hungry. The information was at once given the Baltimore and Ohio, which acted promptly and without delay in the manning of the special train.
Captain Ernest Chapman and Train Dispatcher C. F. Caspar got into further communication with Supt. Hobbs and the company at once arranged for the special.
The train left the Ohio River yards at 11:08 and proceeded to Meldahl’s, where perhaps thirty-five persons were taken aboard the train, which went on to Belleville. After No. 723 had passed the special started on its return journey and picked up several more at farm houses.
The survivors, cold, hungry and wet, were huddled together in the station at Meldahl’s, and were cared f[o]r as far as possible.
Captain Brady Berry, when seen after he had gotten on the train, said that the boat struck the light house pier. “All I know is about the accident. Things are swimming around in my head. We were backing out of Little Hocking when the wind storm hit us. We caught the pier. The light was out and we could not see. I tried to hold the boat to her true channel, but the wind drove her against the pier and she struck on her starboard side. The boat sunk in three minutes after hitting the pier. I ordered every person to the upper decks and we got out the lifeboats. I did not see any one drown, nor hear any one calling. I stayed with the boat till everyone was off and was rescued by the pilot, Dan Patchell.”
Captain Berry remained, he said, till every person whom he could account for was rescued, and rode the steamer for five miles in the wind. “The night was so black I could not see my hand before me. I rode the bottom of the vessel.”
The captain said that as he was reaching under the pilot house he felt the hair of a woman and reaching down, discovered that a woman was in the water up to her arms. The engineman and the brave captain rescued her. The captain did not know her name.
Captain Berry said the accident occurred at 7:30. There was a heavy freight, he said, most of which was merchandise and groceries. There was an automobile on board the steamer and many hucksters had coops and crates and other shipping equipment.
Captain Berry has been on the Kanawha for fifteen years as a pilot, and for the past three years has been the captain of the boat.
Watchman Harold B. Wright, of Dam 19, who was on duty, says he was at his office and when the gust of wind came up he saw that the light, which was about one hundred feet away from him, was blown out. There was a heavy storm over the river, he says.
He got his yawl and made three trips back and forth to the steamer, while she was floating down the river five miles, when she landed on the bar at Lamp’s Landing.
The stories of all the survivors coincide as to the condition of the river. It was one of the most disagreeable nights on the river possible. The high stage and the blackness of the night and the absence of any lights rendered the work of rescue most difficult. There were many deeds of heroism which attest the valiant service of the boat’s crew and her brave captain.
The boat went into the pier on her starboard side and a huge hole was torn in her side and she listed on her right side and began floating down the river and gradually sinking, which she was not long in doing. She continued to float on for five miles, according to the story of Captain Berry. A. C. Crawford, a carpenter at Little Hocking, heard the screams of the frightened passengers and went to their rescue in a boat. He and several others, among them, W. L. Munchmeyer, went to the aid of the passengers, who were on board and did all in their power to rescue them. Everyone was taken off the boat, which turned on her side following the striking of the pier.
The chief engineer, J. L. Pettitt, of Parkersburg, was picked up by Earl Walker, who owns a shantyboat. He was separated from the boat and was left clinging to a timber. He floated for a distance of five or six miles down the river, and was almost frozen when rescued. Earl Walker finally heard his calls and rescued him in the middle of the river.
Among the passengers was C. W. Edgarton, of Washington, a salesman. His story was as follows:
“We had just had supper – it had been over about one-half hour – when we heard a thump that seemed to lift the vessel out of the water. Everybody rushed to the exits of the cabin, but one of the clerks, the second, I think. He had a dark brown suit and reddish curly hair, came rushing into the cabin and stated that there was no danger, and that everybody was all right. ‘Don’t be frightened,’ were his words. We, therefore, started to talking, and everybody calmed down very quickly after that.
“There was no stampede, but in about three minutes, the boat started jisting to the right side and I knew that we were going down. The timbers started to ripping and tearing. It sounded like some one tearing a sheet of paper. In my opinion, the boat was rotten from stem to stern and I do know that the railings on the hurricane deck gave way with me and I was forced to half grope and swim my way back to safety.
“I came out the rear of the boat finally and huddled my wife and sister-in-law, Mrs. Hoblitzell, in a group, and pushed them toward the railing and then up to the hurricane deck. The boat sank to within three or four feet of the hurricane deck and then slowly settled. We were then taken off by W. L. Munchmeyer and harbored in his home until the relief train arrived.”
Mrs. J. D. Hoblitzell and Mrs. Edgarton were with Mr. Edgarton. Mrs. Hoblitzell’s home is at Washington, D. D., as is that of Mr. and Mrs. Edgarton. She was greatly concerned over the fate of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Hoblitzell, Sr., W. L. Hoblitzell, Jr., wife and baby, and also as to the safety of her husband. So far this morning no word had been received of the safety of the dear ones.
Another man who did valiant service was Harold Wright, the watchman, who made several trips in the yawl to the steamer. The rescued were loud in their praise of him for his unrelenting efforts in looking after the shipwrecked.
One of the sad ones was Ulysses Beegle, of Racine, who lost his wife and was unable to locate her after the rush of the passengers to the hurricane deck. He was one of the anxious ones, expecting at every stop of the special train on its return to Parkersburg to see if his wife was among those who got aboard.
E. C. Atkinson is unable to account for his wife, whom he says he lost. He had her by the hand and she slipped from him. Where she went he was unable to guess, but was hopeful that she was on the Ohio shore, and had been taken aboard one of the boats that went to Little Hocking.
One of the heroic survivors was Mrs. Lawrence, aged about sixty, who resides at Long Bottom. She was on her way with her husband to her home at Long Bottom. She stuck to the vessel, she says, till nearly the last, and was sitting on the hull, she says, when the vessel listed, and was immersed three times in the water. She was on the hull when rescued.
All cannot be told of the brave acts performed under the stress of the occasion and in the face of so many hardships and obstacles. All performed their parts like brave men and the credit that is due cannot be given all.
Captain W. E. Roe, of Williamstown, owner of the Kanawha, was a passenger on train No. 723, and got off at Belleville, and came back on the special train. He was stunned by the disaster, but through it all was always inquiring about the passengers. He said: “I have been on the river for 25 years, and have never lost a passenger.”
He said that he would not have taken $30,000 for the boat, and that she cannot be duplicated for twice that amount. The boat was built nineteen years ago, and was one of the most practical boats plying the trade. The steamer was in the Pittsburg-Charleston trade. She was taken off the docks at Point Pleasant about three weeks ago, after receiving repairs amounting to about $5,000. The value of the cargo cannot be estimated fully, but is in the neighborhood of $5,000.
Captain Roe announced his intention of making a tour over the course traversed by the steamer.
The steamer was first built in 1896, and was of 500 ton capacity. The hull had been practically rebuilt and the boat was hardly the same she was when first built. Her draft was two feet without freight, and six feet when loaded. She was 185 fee long, and 42 feet wide over all. There were two boilers, 20 feet long. There were accommodations for 100 passengers and a crew of 60. She was an easy boat to handle and was considered a rare prize by river men.
The people of this city were greatly concerned over the first news of the accident and many stories gained circulation that were unfounded. When the train pulled in about 3:00 o’clock there were many persons present to aid the stricken. The city ambulance and numerous conveyances were on hand to receive the passengers.
C. Chapman, captain of the Ohio River division police department; C. F. Caspar, chief dispatcher; J. H. Hinton, lieutenant of police; Dr. Hubert Gainor, Lieut. E. Pickering, Kendall Hagen, train dispatcher; Engineer Bailey, Fireman Turner, Brakemen Higgins and Walker, and J. B. Duval, conductor rendered valiant service in caring for the stricken and shipwrecked.
J. M. Sears was one of the most serious of those who were rescued, and was taken to an hospital on arriving here. He was suffering from severe chills. He rescued a woman from the steamer who would have gone to destruction but for his heroic efforts.
Among the missing were Art Beaver, of Racine, Ohio, watchman; Bert Wolfe, Rockland, head clerk; and Lloyd Gee, steward, of Gallipolis, Ohio.
The survivors of the Kanawha on reaching shore, found the homes of the people of Meldahl’s and vicinity wide open, and the residents ready to meet and provide them with hot coffee and dry clothes, accompanied by a good warm room, and as some of them put it, “It seemed ages from the time the boat struck the pier until we felt a fire again, although the time between was but a few hours.”
A number of the survivors were invited and stayed over night at homes near the scene of the disaster, and today they were well in hand and in a position to institute a search for people who might have been lost along the river. M. and L. Meldahl, W. L. Munchmeyer, C. and H. Munchmeyer and Warren Beadle, of New England, were among the hospitable residents who extended unlimited courtesies and good treatment to such survivors as were in their vicinity and they even went so far as to search about the river bank near their homes in an endeavor to find some who were lost.
A sad scene occurred at one of the homes when Ulysses Beegle, of Hoboken, Pa., was told his wife was safe and in a bed there. Mr. Beegle was overjoyed at hearing the news of his wife’s safety, and he immediately went to the room directed, but found that it was not his spouse, which made the affair darker in his mind, after being encouraged and then sadly disappointed.
J. K. Bailey, Jr., of Chicago, a well known young man and former resident of the city, who was visiting his father, Captain J. K. Bailey, No. 196 Ninth street, intended making the trip to Indiana by way of the river route and was to take passage on the ill-fated steamer Kanawha, but while seated at the supper table Wednesday night his mother became suddenly ill, and he postponed the trip.
Charles S. Smoot returned from Pittsburg last night, and stated he met a foreigner and wife there who steamer Kanawha, but were unable to get accommodations and decided to travel to Louisville by rail. They shipped their automobile on the steamer, which left the boat when it listed, and the machine is likely lying at the bottom of the Ohio river at Meldahls.
The early list of the survivors of the steamer Kanawha was as follows, numbering forty-five out of a possible list of sixty-five persons on the boat:
R. M. Beaver, Racine, Ohio.
Mrs. R. M. Beaver, Racine, Ohio.
William Burdette, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Mrs. William Burdette, Gallipolis, O.
E. W. Edgarton and wife, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. John Douglass Hoblitzell, Washington, D. C.
Mr. and Mrs. Burt Lawrence, Long Bottom, Ohio.
E. P. Lanton, Reedville, Ohio.
Dan. Patchell, pilot, Buffalo, W. Va.
George Beegle, carpenter, Racine, Ohio.
Ulysses Beegle, Racine, Ohio.
E. C. Atkinson, Racine, Ohio.
James Pettit, chief engineer, this city.
Brady Berry, captain, Williamstown, W. Va.
Miller Burdette, mate, Gallipolis, O.
O. E. Hisson, 2nd mate, Grand View, Ohio.
Ed Roberts, cabin boy, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Denny Martini, deckhand, East Liverpool, Ohio.
Lawrence West, deckhand, Gallipolis, Ohio.
J. J. Sayre, deckhand, East Liverpool, Ohio.
Will Birdwell, deckhand, Charleston, W. Va.
A. J. Hudson, Graham Station, W. Va.
James Manley, cabin boy, Pittsburg.
Ernest Arnold, fireman, Pomeroy, O.
Ralh Pierce, deckhand, Salisbury, Conn.
George McElhose, 2nd engineer, Marietta, Ohio.
Clarence Bobb, deckhand, Sardis, O.
Fred Hoyt, 3d clerk, Marietta, Ohio.
John Sears, Lexington, Ky,
Lee Embroski, deckhand, Pittsburg.
John Allen, deckhand, Gallipolis, O.
John Fulton, deckhand, Gallipolis, O.
Charles Thompson, deckhand, Gallipolis, ohio.
John Rader, cabin boy, Pittsburg.
Robert Rickey, deckhand, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Will Engle, deckhand, Pittsburg.
Henry Davis, cabin boy, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Herman Harris, cabin boy, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Lincoln Washington, cabin boy, Gallipolis, Ohio.
Edgar Shaggs, chef, LaCrosse, Wis.
Emerson Wright, Marietta, Ohio.
J. H. Batton, Pittsburg.
John Hudson, deckhand, Middleport, Ohio.
Two bodies have been recovered from the Kanawha wreck. Twelve other persons are known positively to be missing. In addition it is believed six others whose names are not known are missing.
This afternoon the finding of two bodies was reported in the search for the missing of the passenger and crew list of the steamer Kanawha. The bodies found are those of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, housekeeper for Capt. Phil Wells, who resides above Belleville. Her body was found at Harris Ferry. Her son, aged six years, is missing. The other body was that of a chambermaid on the boat, Anna Campbell, of Carr’s Rum, near Pomeroy. Her body was found at New England.
The search continued this afternoon for other bodies thought to be in the river. The number of missing that are unaccounted for is variously estimated from twelve to twenty. The latter number is though[t] to be nearer the exact number.
Others among the missing are the following:
Bert Wolfe, of Rockland, head clerk on the boat.
Arthur Beaver, of Dorcas, Ohio, deck watchman.
Lloyd Gee, of Gallipolis, Ohio, steward.
Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Hoblitzell, Sr., of Washington, D. C.
Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Hoblitzell, Jr., and baby, of Washington.
J. D. Hoblitzell, of Washington.
Mrs. Ulysses Beagle, of Racine, O.
Mrs. E. C. Atkinson, of Racine.
Mrs. J. D. Hoblitzell and Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Edgarton, who were in the party with the other Hoblitzells bound for Charleston, are at the Monroe hotel awaiting word from relatives.
The boat is thought to be a complete wreck and of little more use than as kindling wood. The river is being patrolled by men in skiffs.
Captain Brady Berry and Captain W. E. Roe, the boat’s owner, went to the scene of the accident this morning, going down from Williamstown in a gasoline boat. Capt. Berry remained at the scene of the wreck all day helping in the search for the bodies.
Capt. W. E. Roe came to this city at noon and at once went into consultation with Inspectors Clark and Thomas of Point Pleasant, who would not discuss the wreck. They are the government inspectors.
Late this afternoon there was no other indication than that the bodies of twenty or more have been lost and that the boat is a complete wreck.
Capt. Roe said he was unable to discuss any plans for disposing of the wreckage or making any disposition of the affairs of the steamer. He is concerned mainly with finding those who are lost.
The light which was blown out by the wind was from an oil lamp. Capt. Berry attempted to pursue a true course but the wind blew his ship against the pier on which the light was stationed.
It was further stated that the life preservers were all put into use so far as possible in the limited time for getting the passengers out of the boat. Some of the passengers on the train Wednesday night had life preservers on. In the hurry it is the opinion that many did not take advantage of their use.
That many of the passengers and others aboard the Kanawha were drowned, is known to be a fact, according to the later reports received by the Sentinel from various points along the river this morning.
Capt. Berry in his statements to the newspaper men some hours after the accident gave it as his opinion that all those who were unaccounted for had probably been taken to the Ohio side, as several boats from that side had assisted in the rescue of the passengers and others on the steamer and there seemed to be no doubt but that some of these at least had been landed on the Ohio side.
One of the rumors late Wednesday night was to the effect that two skiffloads of people, one containing three women, had landed at Cole’s Landing on the Ohio side below Little Hocking. Another report was that eighteen or twenty persons, some of whom had been in the water for two hours and were provided with life preservers, had floated into the Ohio side at Reedville on a large amount of drift and were rescued at that point. There were various other reports of passengers being landed on the Ohio side and it was hoped that all the missing would be accounted for.
The Sentinel this morning was in communication with points on both sides of the river, and from the reports received it is doubtful if any of those on the boat will be accounted for except those who were brought to the city early this morning on the special train.
Dr. Prunty, of Little Hocking, stated this morning that it had been reported that during the night that a party of fifteen had been landed at Cole’s Landing, but upon inquiry this had been found to be incorrect, as no one had been landed at that point. He and others had been in communication with points along that side of the river, but so far as they could learn there was not one passenger or member of the crew landed on that side. Little Hocking is near the scene of the disaster and the news of the accident had been flashed to Dr. Prunty from the home of W. L. Munchmeyer on this side of the river soon after the accident had occurred. The alarm was given in Little Hocking and several parties went out in boats, among them Otis Crawford, who assisted in taking the passengers and others off the steamer and rescuing those who had fallen into the water, some of the latter having floated in the chilly water for nearly an hour before they were rescued. He remained on the river until daylight in the hope of picking up some of those who might have floated from the boat. He did not land any of those he rescued from the steamer or from the water, on the Ohio shore, but took them to the West Virginia shore, following the steamer as she floated down the river.
The report of a number of persons being rescued at Reedville, on the Ohio side, opposite Belleville, was also found to be without foundation. No one at all was rescued at that point, which is nearly twenty miles below the scene of the accident. Mr. Moore, the merchant at Belleville, stated today that none of the persons on the boat had been rescued in that locality, nor had any bodies been seen along the river, as far as he could ascertain.
William Wolfe, of Rockland, father of Bert Wolfe, the head clerk, was awaiting news this morning regarding his son. He had telephoned everywhere for information, but his efforts were fruitless, he said. He son, Donald Wolfe, of Marietta, had a talk with Fred Hoyt, one of the clerks, and he did not know how many passengers there were.
The river was extremely swift, and at a high stage. The high wind and the cold and the absence of all lights could only add to the discomfort of the passengers thrown into the river.