Terrible Accident to an Excursion Party.

BOILER OF A STEAMER EXPLODES.

Nearly Seventy Passengers Killed and Injured.

SECOND WESTFIELD AFFAIR.

MOBILE, Aug. 28.----The lose pressure steamer Ocean Wave exploded her boiler at palf[sic]-past 5 o'clock Sunday afternoon at the wharf at Point Clear.

There were about 200 excursionists on board, from fifty to sixty of whom were killed and wounded. A portion of the bodies were brought to this city by steamers Fountain and Annie last night. The others will be brought to-day. Efforts are being made for the recovery of the bodies drowned. The cause of the disaster had not been ascertained but an investigation will be made.

Out of seven persons comprising one Creole family six were killed. The captain, engineer, and pilot were killed, and only three officers escaped.

SECOND DESPATCH[sic].

The steamer Ocean Wave left the city Sunday morning with about 200 persons on board, for an excursion to Fish river, about twenty miles from the city. On the return the boat reached Point Clear at 5 P.M., and was made fast. The band and a part of the passengers went ashore, and after half an hour the whistle was blown and all returned to the boat. They had just got on board when the boiler exploded with great force, followed by a rumbling, hissing sound. Fragments of timber of the boat and metal of the boiler were blown in every direction. The forward part of the cabin was carried away, and the chimney fell upon the after cabin and crushed it. The boat almost immediately sunk, and her bow is now submerged.

About sixty or seventy persons were killed or injured by the explosion, nineteen of whom have been recovered. Twenty-eight wounded persons have been brought to this city and one of them, a girl, has since died.

The scene was appalling and heartrending.

Wilder scenes of grief are seldom witnessed. Capt. Wm. Eaton swam for sometime with both legs broken. A boat reached him just too late and he went down. The two pilots were killed, and the firemen were all killed, and the engineer and his wife were severely injured.

It is impossible correctly to estimate the loss of life. By some it is supposed that at least 30 or 40 persons are buried in the debris of the wreck, or at the bottom of the bay. A diver had gone to the scene of the disaster. The accident has cast a gloom over the whole city, and universal sadness prevails. The streets are crowded with people and the excitement is intense.

The Ocean Wave has been for sometime considerable an unsafe boat, and always has been unlucky. A criminal responsibility rests somewhere. The appearance of the boiler indicated that it has yielded through rottenness, as it has been torn apart in a long seam. Had it exploded with greater violence the destruction to life would have been more general. The force of the explosion was terrific.

MOBILE, Aug. 29.---Steamer Fountain brought 11 dead bodies this morning from the wreck of the Ocean Wave. This makes a total of 35 bodies recovered. It is feared that many more are still under the wreck. The excursionists were composed mainly of the working class with their families. No well known citizens are among the killed, except Willis G. Merriwether, a cotton weigher.

Weekly Eastern Argus, Portland, ME 31 Aug 1871