Steamboat Disasters on the Western Waters (Abridged, Annotated)

According to James Lloyd, the 1856 publisher of this guide, "The price of this volume is so small, that every man, woman and child, should have a copy for reference..."

However true that may have been, they might not have wanted to refer to it while ACTUALLY RIDING ON A STEAMBOAT.

The largest portion of the book is taken up with detailed accounts of horrific steamboat accidents involving boiler explosions, collisions with other ships, capsizing, and damage from river detritus. In one instance...