Pekin, IL Explosion Of Steamer PRAIRIE STATE, May 1852

EXPLOSION OF THE STEAMER PRAIRIE STATE.

The Chicago Journal gives the following particulars of the recent explosion on board the steamer PRAIRIE STATE:
The steamer PRAIRIE STATE, Capt. RYDER, arrived at Pekin from LaSalle, and in a few minutes the Avalanche came in under a full pressure of steam. The PRAIRIE STATE soon rang her bell and rounded out, but before she had got her head fairly turned down stream, one of the flues of her starboard boiler collapsed, blowing out both ends and making terrible havoc among the crew and passengers on the lower deck. The following is a list of the killed, wounded and scalded:
B. WILSON, Assistant Engineer, killed.
A deck passenger killed, name unknown.
MR. GODDARD, merchant, Peru, killed.
Three other persons whose names are unknown, were drowned, and their bodies have not yet been recovered.
W. F. CHESS, fireman, scalded badly.
A German woman named SENEGAR, very badly scalded.
GEORGE McDOWELL, of Lasalle, slightly scalded.
W. ROVER ANTOINE, fireman, horribly mangled, since died.
JOHN PAGE and JOHN GREEN, deck hands, slightly scalded.
D. K. WILLIAMS, deck hand, scalded badly, died since.
A woman named F. CARTWRIGHT, with three children, on her way to Iowa, all slightly scalded.
WM. CARTWRIGHT, belonging to the same family, very badly scalded.
JOHN BARNES, scalded badly, but will recover.
Several other persons, names not given, have been slightly scalded.

The New York Times New York 1852-05-06
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!