The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-09-16 00:00:00

THE BLOWING UP OF THE STEAMER

"OCEAN WAVE."
re NVW V 011; papyri e Nino rlb taih 1 the terrible
h. ger UNT`l,,:ollnet the. .tounter Octal. Watt', Wiliell
11.1,0p0 lo the aft ruu of Saturday, the 27th ult A
~

At Si,: :•.• the explosion occurred there were about
200 ex.... • on I,.ard, of which between 50 and GO
were ei:; • or woundmb The following is an
account, ...ould he gleaned up to the despatch.
of the if the catastrophe. The Ocean
Wore left Mobile on Sunbay morning, the 27th ult.,
with about 200 persons on board for an excur-
sion to Fish River, about twenty miles from the
city. The passage to Fish River was unat-
tended by any mishap, and MI the return trip
the steamer reached Point Clear at five o'clock in
the evening, and was made fast to her moorage. The
Iran,! and a portion .1 the pamengeni went ashore for a
ramble, and after the lapse of half an hour the steam
: whistle was blown, andall returned to the Weaa Ware.
They had just got on board when the boiler exploded
with great force, followed by arumbling hissing sound,
and fragments of the timbers of the boat and the metal
of the boiler were blown in every direction. The for-
ward path in the cabin wascamed away, and the funnel
fell upon the after cabin runl smashed it in. 'lnc boat
sank almost immelliately in deep water.

Me Nage ReryWer says :
Sixty or Reventy persons were killed or injured by
the explosion. S., far the bodies of nineteen dead,
eight of whom are ladies have been recovered. Twenty-
eight of the wounded have been brought to the city;
one of them, a giel,..has since died. The Wells
appalling and heartrending. Wilder exhibitions of
grief have been seldom witnessed. The frantic cries of
the survivors, in lamentation for their lost wives,
children, parents, brothers, and sisters, were agonising
to the fast degree. Many of the passengers were

little aildren, and little hats and bonnet, mine
ashore to tell of the beneath the waves. The
Captain, Mr. Wm. Eaton swam for some time
with both legs broken. A twat reached him OA too
late, and he went &WU. The two pilots wore killed;.
the firemen were all killed, and the engineer and hist wife
severely bared. It impossible to estimate correctly
the loss of life. By some it is supposed that at least 30
or 40 persons are still buried in the debris of the wreck
or at the bottotu of the bay. A diver hue gone to the
scene of the disaster. The accident low east a ghoul
utter the whole city, and universal sadness pre, ails.
Streets are crowded with people, aw I the exciteroset awl
feeling are intense. 'the ocean Wore has been for sunie
time considered an unsafe bout, awl has always 6,1 an
unlucky one. A criminal respseisibility rests stenewhere,
and it u:licuuld be visited nisei those to whose reckless
fo.s and incapacity the slisaater is attributable. The
appearance of the boiler hellcat.' that it had yielded
through rottenness at. it had been tin, apart in a long
seam. Haul it exploded with greater violence the des-
truction would have been more general. The free of the
explosion was directed upward anul forward. Thecause
of the disa.ster has not linen ascertained, and an inves-
tigation will Ire made. (let of seven persons compris-
ing one Creole family six were killed. The captain,
engineer, and pilot were killed. Only three of the
officers escaped.