On Sunday morning, says the Dubuque Express of the 11th inst. while the steamboat Rapids was lying at our landing, working off steam, a wild pigeon flew directly over the escape pipe, just after the puff had blown off, when the air partially returning, drew the pigeon into the pipe, and down into the valve so that it became closed. From this position it could not be dislodged till the escape pipe was unscrewed and taken off. Several persons on the landing saw the bird fly in, and the cause of the difficulty thus became immediately known, otherwise it is possible that an explosion may have been the consequence. — St. Louis Rep.
July 6, 1843. An uncommon incident. New York Daily Tribune 3(75): 4.