EXPLOSION OF THE NEW-ENGLAND. 4T5 
was done by the hands of these estimable inhabitants to alle- 
viate the distresses of the unfortunate sufferers. This boat 
has been built at a great cost, and no expense has been spar- 
ed ; she has run a month, and I believe the only cause of 
this misfortune has originated from the want of water in the 
boilers, it became so rarified in the boilers that both exploded 
simultaneously, or so near together that it was barely per- 
ceptible. I remarked the difference, and knew before I went 
on deck that both had exploded. 
The appearance of the wreck is thus described by E. 
Champion, Jun. in a communication on the subject. Never, 
of its kind, was so melancholy a ruin presented to the eye, as 
the wreck of the New-England. You approach her as you 
approach the cemetry of the dead. She seems the slaugh- 
ter-house of the traveler. As you enter her these melancholy 
associations cease. You stand astonished at the force and 
effect of the murderous explosion. From the stem to the 
wheel-room all is well ; from the wheel-room aft, athwart the 
deck, and downward to the water, you see the direction as 
well as power of the blast. The explosion downward seems 
to have been far more powerful than in any other direction, 
and yet, with a resisting body as near the boiler, equal force 
might have been demonstrated in other parts. The guards 
on deck, extending beyond the hull, upon which the boilers 
were placed, ^vere blown through, the exact size of the boil- 
ers : beams of a foot square, supported by braces and knees, 
being blown off as square and close to the hull as if sawed 
by the carpenter. Beyond the exact size of the boilers, the 
deck was entire. The souffle or blast of the larboard boilers 
was felt as far as the extreme stern, on the outside of the la- 
dies' cabin, where it slightly scalded a lad}^ The blast of the 
starboard boiler swept also to the stern, and both blew off th^e 
promenade deck as far back as the ladies' cabin, leaving the 
centre. The steps at the quarters were blown out of shape 
and crushed sideways by the blast. This shows that no po- 
sition outside the ladies' cabin could be safe. The front of 
the ladies' cabin was pressed inward about eighteen inches at 
the door, and opened at the corners about twelve inches. The 
chamber-maid, sleeping in her (upper) berth, next the lar- 
board boiler, was thrown out, and fell upon her hands in the 
water. This position on the floor was the first thing of 
which she was sensible. Two children, sleeping in the berth 
beneath her, were unhurt — the scalding element probably 
