A CATASTROPHE.

203

striker; Captain Klinefelter was in the barber's chair, and the barber
was preparing to shave him. There were a good many cabin passen-
gers aboard, and three or four hundred deck passengers— so it was
said at the time—and not yery many of them were
astir. The wood being nearly all out of the flat
now, Ealer rang to * come ahead ' full steam, and
the next moment four of the eight boilers exploded
with a thunderous crash, and the whole forward
third of the boat was hoisted toward the sky !

EMPTYING THE WOOB-TTLAT.

The main part of the mass, with the chimneys, dropped upon the boat
again, a mountain of riddled and chaotic rubbish—and then, after
a little, fire broke out.