I was on board of the steamer _Princess_ on a down trip when she
was carrying a large number of passengers, and there were fourteen
preachers among them, on their way to New Orleans to attend a
conference. The boat was making the fastest time she had ever
made. I had a big game of "roulette" in the barber shop, which
ran all Saturday night; and on Sunday morning, just after leaving
Baton Rouge, I opened up again, and had thirty-five persons in the
shop, all putting down their money as fast as they could get up to
the table. I was doing a land-office business, when all of a sudden
there was a terrific noise, followed by the hissing of escaping
steam, mingled with the screams and groans of the wounded and dying.
The boat had blown up, and was almost a total wreck. There was
but very little left, and that consisted mostly of the barber shop,
which was at the time full of gamblers, and not one of them was
hurt. The steamers _Peerless_ and _McRay_ came to our aid; one
boat looked after the dead and wounded, and the other took us lucky
fellows out of the barber shop. One hundred souls were landed
Into eternity without a moment's warning, and among them were the
fourteen preachers. It was a horrible sight; the bodies were so
mangled and scalded that one could not have recognized his own
brother or sister. Captain William Campbell (now of the Vicksburg
Packet line) was steward of the _Princess_ at the time of the
explosion, and there was not a man on the boat that worked harder
to save life and relieve the wounded. He richly deserved his
promotion, and is now one of the best captains on the river.