The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-11-30 00:00:00

T.lllil STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER_

country, by thousands of intrepid seamen. Its pathless
fields are made the highways et commerce by your hardy
sailors, its wealth is gathered by your gallant fishermen, and
the arts of navigation are familiar to many among your
population. Although sons of the Sovereign have before
this day visited these shores, this is the Brat occasion on
which a daughter ef the reigning House has seen the New
World. I rejoice that the Princess lands on this continent
among a people so loyal and so thoroughly worthy the Britfah
name as are the inhabitants of this famous colony, and I speak
but feebly for her when I say that she is much moved by the
kindness of your welcome. Tor my own part, I thank you
for the flattering manner in which you have spoken of my
acceptance of this high office, and I can only hope that I
shall in some measure be able to follow in the footsteps of
your late Governor• General. I shall, at all events, always
entertain the greatest solicitude for the welfare of this Pro-
vince. I will add, in conclusion, that the congratulations
you have addressed to us, and the hearty and enthusiastic
loyalty shown in our reception, make the day on which we
enter your noble harbour, the hospitable and ever open gate
of your Province, and of the wide Dominion beyond, a day
to remain long in our grateful remembrance; and I assure
you we consider ourselves most fortunate in having cast in
our lot with so generous, warm-hearted, and devoted a
people.'
"The allusions to the Queen, the Princess, and the Duke
of Edinburgh were received with immense applause, and the
ceremony occupied half an hour. At its conclusion their
Excellencies entered their carriage amidst tremendous
cheers, and left for the Admiralty House, where they are
staying. The procession of societies then broke up.'

In a telegram from Halifax, on Tuesday, the Correspondent
of the Standard says :—" The Drawing Boom last evening
was a brilliant success, and all are charmed with the affability
and kindness of the Princess. This morning the weather had
changed for the worst, and was moist and raw. The Marquis
of Lorne and the Princess remained quietly indoors. In the
afternoon they had a busy time, as loyal addresses were pre-
sented by deputations from the local Government, the
University, and numerous charitable and other societies.
After this the Governor-General held a levee, at which all the
notabilities of tke Province attended. This evening there is
a torchlight procession, and a general illumination of the
town, and a dinner is given at Admiralty Howe to
Ministers."

not tell; but if it did, it no doubt saved some. There were
only five of the little boats which got loose out of eight,
and we don't know whether all these got to the Glen-
gam,. In getting on board the Glengarry, the purser had
hold of the rope with which they haulesl us on board with

one hand, when the steamer luiChed and he was dragged
into the water, when I and Pettersen, a young sailor,
got hold of him and dragged him into the boat
safely. There was a good look-out on the Pommerania all
the time. She had smart sailors, and there were always two
or three on the bridge, and two on the forepart of the vessel
from the time she neared the Channel I was very lucky. I
did not lose much, only a satchel. I saved all my good
clothes, for I kept them with me, but others have lost every-
thing. I jumped for my luggage directly we were ordered
on deck. There is a great misfortune about this Hamburg
steamer. All the crew and engineers come from Hamburg,
and all speak Low Dutch. If they had spoken good German,
there would not have been nearly so much confusion. Our
boat was so crowded that it was very nearly even with the
water, and when they gave orders, calling out to us to do
this and that, we knew no more what they meant than if they
had been talking Spanish."

Roderick Schneider, a native of Chemnitz, Saxony, has
made a statement, in which he says :—" There were several
children on board. but I cannot tell how many. There were
also a number of women, most of whom, however, had
landed at Cherbourg and Plymouth. I* saw one little girl,
who had lost her mother, deliberately jump overboard from
the ship's side. She was about 13 years of age. She seemed
to be terrified, and Ihave no doubt that she jumped out in her
terror. not knowing where she was going or what she was
doing. She was not saved. I can't describe the impression
which the whole affair made upon me. It seems all a dream. We
picked up a passenger, a gentleman, about an hour after we
were saved. He was nearly exhausted, but we applied restora-
tives and in a short time restored him to animation. He had
been floating with a spar under his arm. With regard to the
second boatswain, I inu,t say I never saw more heroic con-
duct. Reacted in every way as a man, and was the means
of a great many ladies being saved, He would not allow
any of the men to enter any of the boats before the women
were all got out."

A lady passenger on board the rommerania has made the
following statement :—" I had embarked without being
accompanied by any friend. I intended leaving the vessel
at Cherboarg, but not heing able to put in there I decided to
go on with the vessel to Hamburg. We had a good passage,
and I believe the ship was a good one. At any rate I can
say that the captain and officers were kind and attentive.
All went on well until Monday night. I retired to rest abent
ten o'clock, being very tired. Not long before twelve
o'clock one of the officers came to my cabin, which was
shared by another lady, and turned down the light. Very
soon after that I heard a great noise, a sort of grating
sound, and great confusion on the ship. lat once got up
and quickly dressed, calling the other lady, who did the
same. I went on deck as quickly as I could, and I found
that a large number of passengers were on deck, but it
was too dark to see what was going on. I saw the captain
up above giving orders to the men, and the crew had
lanterns, and were trying to launch the boats. I and the
lady with me ran to one boat that they were trying to
launch. There was some difficulty, owing to its being so
dark. I held a lantern, and when the boat was cast
away I gave the lantern to an officer, and clambered over
the side and got into the boat. There were about five and
twenty in the boat with me, and the crew seemed
to do their beat to save the passengers. There was
nothing to complain of about the gentlemen passengers.
They were most naturally anxious to save themselves. We
were not long in the lifeboat. An English steamer came
up to us and took us on board. There was no other lady
In my boat. I cannot tell what became of the lady who
ran up on deck with me to the boat, but while the men
were cutting it away she became impatient, and ran to
another, and I saw her no more. I saw a good many men
picked out of the water; one was nearly drowned. We
stopped near the scene of the wreck until daylight, and
men were brought here. If the passengers had been
awake I should think there would have been time for them
all to come on deck As near as I can guess, the ship
floated about fifteen minutes after I came on deck. Just
as soon as we were placed on the English steamer I saw our
ship go down. I did not see the barque that ran into us.
All the time that I was on the deck they were sending
rockets up and making other signals of distress. I thought
as far as I could see that the captain and all the officers did
their duty well.

The Idoel Etllan is a new ship, which sailed from Sunder.
land for Bombay with coal, and brought a cargo of linseed
from Bombay to Rotterdam. She was going round in sand
ballast from Rotterdam to Cardiff. She belongs to Mr. W.
E. Jones, of Camarvon, and was under the command of Cap-
tain Pritchard. She arrived in Dover at 115 on Tuesday
afternoon, in tow of the same tug, the Granville, which
brought in the unfortunate shipwrecked people. The
Mod l F.ilian's appearance at Dover was a source of great
wonderment among the spectators who witnessed her
arrival, most of whom were seafaring men. Although
her watertight compartments had kept her afloat, the
substantial iron plates which shield her prow were
completely shattered and torn asunder down to the water's
edge. Had it not been for her watertight compartments
nothing could have saved her, for the force of the collision
had opened out a terrific breach in her bows right through
to her bulkhead. It appears from her condition that she
struck the Pommerania with her strongest part, her stem'
The Pommerania received the blow amidships—in the vital
portion of a steamship, the part which contains the bunkers
and the engine-room.

The collision occurred within a few miles of the scone of
the Grosser Burftirst casualty. The unfortunate 'victims
were mostly of the working classes, who were returning to
Germany to spend the Christmas holidays in their Father-
land.

The horrors of such an appalling disaster are greatly
mitigated by the testimony of the officers and crew of the
ill-fated vessel, as well as of the gentlemen passengers. From
all that can be learned, every one did his duty to the utmost.
—The rest of the survivors from the Pommerania, who
stayed at the Sailors' Home at Dover on Tuesday night, left
on Wednesday morning for Ostend by the ordinary mail
packet at ten o'clock. Large contributions of clothing were
received from the townspeople, and all were well clothed
when they left England.