1911 — June 24, Flue Collapse, City of St. Joseph, Miss. River, Presidents Island, TN –20-22

–20-22 Blanchard.*

— 22 U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report, 1911, p. 12.
— 20 Forrest City Times, Ark. “Boat Explosion Costs 20 Lives.” 6-30-1911, p. 1.
— 20 National Safety Council. Proceedings of… Eighth Annual Safety Congress. 1919, p.1066.
— 20 New York Times. “Chronology of the Year,” Dec 31, 1911.
— 18 Joplin Daily News, MO. “No Blame For The Crew.” 6-28-1911, p. 7.
— 18 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the [MS Riv.]… 1999, p97.
— 17 Hattiesburg News, MS. “Fatality List Grows Larger.” 6-26-1911, p. 1.

* Blanchard. While the U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service is generally a reliable source for dates and deaths, it is not an infallible source in our experience. Thus, the reporting of three sources noting twenty deaths, the reporting of less than twenty deaths by three sources, and our inability to locate newspaper articles of the time relating more than twenty deaths gives us pause. Perhaps there were twenty-two deaths, but out of an abundance of caution we choose to employ a range of twenty to twenty-two deaths.

Narrative Information

U.S. Steamboat-Inspection Service: “On June 24, 1911, one of the flues in the outside of port boiler of the steamer City of St. Joseph collapsed while said vessel was en route up the Mississippi River, 22 of the crew being drowned by jumping overboard or scalded to death.” (US Steamboat-Inspect. Service. Annual Report, 1911, p. 12.)

Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis: “June 24th. The Steamer ‘City of St. Joseph’ blew up at Presidents Island, near Memphis, Tenn., on the Lower Mississippi.” (Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis. Annual Statement of the Trade and Commerce of St. Louis. 1912, p. 91.)

Newspapers

June 24: “Memphis, June 24. – Six negro deck hands were killed, fourteen were probably fatally hurt, ten others were more or less seriously injured. Chief Engineer F. H. Morgan was severely scalded, Captain Charles Price was painfully cut and bruised, and other members of the crew and passengers were slightly hurt late today when a flue collapsed and the boiler aboard the Mississippi river packet City of St. Joseph exploded while the streamer was in midstream opposite President’s Island, six miles south of Memphis.

“That the list of dead and injured is not larger is attributed in a large measure to assistance given by the crew and excursion party aboard the ferry boat Charles H. Organ which was within several hundred yards away hurried to aid of the helpless craft.” (Sentinel-Record, Hot Springs, Ark. “River tragedy on Mississippi.” 6-25-1911, p. 1.)

June 26: “Memphis, Tenn., June 26. – Seventeen negroes dead, two others will die, and Engineer Floyd Morgan fatally scalded is the result of the collapsing of the flue of the boiler on the steamer, City of St. Joseph Saturday afternoon. Eight of the negroes died immediately, five were drowned, and three scalded to death. Nine of the others fatally scalded died Sunday.

“Engineer Morgan, whose condition is regarded as critical, declared today that he was standing near the steam gauge Saturday afternoon at 4:15 just as the boat was about to land at Berkley Landing, Ark., seven miles below Memphis. This gauge he maintains stood at 145 degrees. The limit prescribed by the government is 144 degrees. The high pressure is believed to have caused the flue to collapse, and an investigation made by the Federal authorities.” (Hattiesburg News, MS. “Fatality List Grows Larger.” 6-26-1911, p. 1.)

June 27: “Explosion on River Steamer Followed Collapse of Boiler Flue. Memphis, Tenn.,

“June 27. – None of the crews of the river packet City of St. Joseph is blamed in connection with the recent explosion aboard the boat and the consequent death of eighteen negro deck hands and passengers in the findings of Captain H. C. Waltz, United States boiler inspector, who concluded his investigation today. The explosion followed the collapse of a boiler flue, possibly, Captain Waltz explained, because of a hidden defect in material or craftsmanship.” (Joplin Daily News, MO. “No Blame For The Crew.” 6-28-1911, p. 7.)

June 30: “Memphis, Tenn. – Five negroes were drowned, one killed and 14 fatally scalded and burned when a flue of a boiler on the steamer City of St. Joseph collapsed while the boat was six miles below Memphis in the Mississippi river near Berkley Landing, Ark., en route to this city from Whitehall, Ark.

“Efficient work on the part of the crew of the Charles H. Hogan, which was 300 yards away, is all that prevented a greater calamity. The City of St. Joseph caught fire at three separate times.

“The negroes who lost their lives were sitting on the lower deck of the boat, directly behind the boiler…at the time of the accident. There was no warning of any kind. A hissing of steam, a muffled report, and simultaneously the entire end of the boiler blew out when a flue collapsed. Bricks, iron and mortar were hurled as from a catapult. To add to the horror, scalding water was sent in every direction.

“Horribly burned and scalded, five of the negroes jumped into the river. Although life preservers were thrown to them, they were too badly injured to assist in saving themselves. None of the 50 passengers on the boat was injured. Engineer Morgan was badly scalded. Captain Charles Price was painfully cut and suffered minor burns. The boat was valued at $30,000.” (Forrest City Times, Ark. “Boat Explosion Costs 20 Lives.” 6-30-1911, p. 1.)

Sources

Forrest City Times, Ark. “Boat Explosion Costs 20 Lives.” 6-30-1911, p. 1. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/forrest-city-times-jun-30-1911-p-1/

Hattiesburg News, MS. “Fatality List Grows Larger.” 6-26-1911, p. 1. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hattiesburg-news-jun-26-1911-p-1/

Joplin Daily News, MO. “No Blame For The Crew.” 6-28-1911, p. 7. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/joplin-daily-globe-jun-28-1911-p-7/

Merchants’ Exchange of St. Louis. Annual Statement of the Trade and Commerce of St. Louis. R.P. Studley & Co., 1912. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=w9cpAAAAYAAJ

National Safety Council. Proceedings of the National Safety Council. Eighth Annual Safety Congress. Held at the Hotel Statler, Cleveland, Ohio, October 1-4, 1919. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_National_Safety_Counc/tYJb4BKrm9QC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=steamer+%22city+of+st.+joseph%22+explosion+1911&pg=PA1066&printsec=frontcover

New York Times. “Chronology of the Year,” 12-31-1911. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0D11FD395E13738DDDA80B94DA415B818DF1D3

Sentinel-Record, Hot Springs, Ark. “River tragedy on Mississippi.” 6-25-1911, p. 1. Accessed 8-18-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/hot-springs-sentinel-record-jun-25-1911-p-1/

United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1911. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1911. 383 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZlgpAAAAYAAJ

Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.