The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-09-10 00:00:00

AT WOOLWICH.

A reporter of the Doily Telegraph, describing the scene
st Woolwich, says :—Walking al mly into the lame room
which has for the nonce hwri utilised for such sad per-
poses, I am struck by • sight calculated to unnerve the
strongeet. Heaped up at one end of the apartment are
the tables and chairs which usually occupy the centre and
side of the chamber. At the other end, beneath the atrong
lied of the window, and Iwotiebt into painful and glaring
contrast by the rlare of the son shining brightly In and
upon them, lie the bodies of thirty-to, of the haw,es
excursioni-ta who yestcrday crowded the decks of the
Princess Alice. A shocking and sickening sight. "The
sleeping and the dead," says our immortal dramatist. "are
but as pictures." But here before me was a reality, a
horrid fearful reality, such 48 no mind, however efrOUill
constituted, could gaze upon unmoved. The most unimagi-
native of mankind could not have looked upon • single
corpse, placed upon the grow with which the floor was
covered, wtthrt acknowledging that the spectacle before
him was • hideous reality of death in its most repulsive
form. Placid and peaceful in expression the faces of the
dead were almost sal to with • sickening ruddy
colour indicative of death from asphyxia, and
approaching decomposition. The extremitir, the hands,
and other ports of the body, where exposed,
were pale and colourless as wax, and the contrast
between the coppery hue of the swollen features and the
pallid ashen tint of ttie limbs was a. horrid as It was pain-
ful to the beholder. There were 26 men and 4 women.
of whom, at three o'clock in the afternoon, only 6 had
been identified. All were lying Peacefully and calmly on
the fire, but in every case the hands clenched, treed and
distorted, too plainly indicated the violent death they had
suffered. One had the left hand below his hips, but the
flat tightly clenched, while the right was raised • foot
high, as if trying to amp something at the moment of
death. An unfortunate woman, aged about 60, presented
a sickening spectacle. The (see swollen, the blood slowly
,etsing from the clammy nostril., the hands upraised as if
irnplinng assistance. all were horribly suggestive of the
onnatura death which had overtaken the poor creature.
The most composed looking of those in the Town Hall was
the corpse of • man, evidently a gentleman, well dressed
in a light suit, sallied and spoilt by the muddy river in
which he met hie untiinely end. Apparently • gooddook-
ing man when alive, his features bore scarcely any trace
of death upon them, and, but for • knowledge of the sad
reality. I might have taken him for • sleeping and Heine
being. Some handrine rings were upon his angers, and
these were, when I entered, being noted down for the
minxes ef subsequent identi 6cation. With the •geeption
of this solitary body, all those 'mg upon the straw.
strewn floor bore upon them the unmistakeable impress
of death by drowning. If the dead were a painful
sight, still and silent, • thousandfold more painful
was the opectacle arnoni me of the agonised
Ii who came for the melancholy purpose of identifying
the bodies of mother or daughter, husband or
terrible'
wife or son for all hail equally perished lathe
diaater which overwhelmed so many. With the sickening
foreboding of well-founded apprehension, a poor, ill-clad,
and aged widow enters, and is slowly conducted by a
considerate policeman to where the bodies are lying. A
smothered sob for the Poor creature has net strength
sufficient to scream and she, is carried from the room LOBOS'
sible. She has recognised Um body of a friend only, but
her son is also miming, and hen she recovers from her swoon
she will seek his corpse among those lying in other parte
of the town. Leaving the TO•ra nail, I drive to the officer
of the Steamboat Company at the pier gate- The gates ar. all cloned and guarded by policemen, who permit on y
three or four ate time to Pre Tread. ar gain admittance
to the board room of the company, whichtsalooconyait,j
into a temporary mortuary and deedhouse. Rare are
nineteen bodies, ten in the room itself, and nine out on
the verandah looking upon the river from which thy
have so lately been taken. It s iodated a piteous sight Hem,
too, the most ago Mains Ai ht I witnessed took place, the
recognition of • may • few months old by Ito mother—a
'Pentacle I never withered before, and certainly never
wish to see again. Of the nineteen bodies here, fifteen
ham teen identified. In the rather am 11 sp ce of the
board-room Its ten comma ; over eight of them is stretched
the friendly covering of • white b anket, denoting the
fact that they have been identified. They are In srtktn,l
Centred to thaw in the TOWII Ha L They lie so naturalli
and seem intheir attltudesolittledistorted heir fac
Wingless m dY tho' those I Infers son , hat they appear
not • thetanding the tiuml t ikable sign s of riolent d ath:
much lees repulsive in asp.ct than any I have yet come
stepping n t the verandah I for clam fall beets,
fe boa for • m mat ni Cr than Overcome. hf re
ma
lies a y sag girl of tender years. is ly dreamed. evidently
tor the pl asure ',oilmen, which was no doubt so
happily anticipated mid Odorously lora. forward to, and
by si • Sc 'SAW four littl- babies, tiny morsels of
home •111, wlt waid k.• &tura' wan in death. and 'h.
in.:. an •ic ening smile of Used a I permanently lined
upon their features. A Ipit ful sight as they lie by Um
side he hapless young maiden their face. opt ,rui
to the blue, • u ny -ky their glared e/et Shall n. vet ;ha
behold. Almost overcom., I tarn 0,.
half r_ ,sd wad • t
lees
I.
attlett,eretairtg:Laegedinei:::::dashishlt'::.Af7bulhaeitures: 1 it
faith
irounitllatni.:::ll:::chsa.ttindi.torudsofP7, :::r:aiandC.Mtv,tehewo,oTitPekbdrc.:::fallt
this..
h°re.
"warceoill
afftl;Pealeraitlet'rigu'ardiltiloodif .litraehemitliedisylisrealletanlea:erislflanheirPrin°Neffic.odrtruisi
holiday
her Mess bedraairlek her features swollen, and bac
complexion kora The blood, too, begins slowly to
trickle from the nostrils, and sickened, I am forced to turn
said.. Standing • little book. I watch tha entry of those
canine to "seek their demi" Thanks to the adrairab'e
way in which the police officer Walton has the
ndeniaapmn on 4 two or three at • limo. intraXd
badia, in compliant* with tbe reiterated "
whets you have seen the bodies," NI on
they quietly quit the
room. Here come two ladlea, wall dressed. mid of good position evidently. One, gifted with
nerves theta
bee COCIIP..I.G, enters, glandes rountrdaMt, delimited,
mires use friend nervously clutches the hand- of the
constable in charge, walks slowly foew_ard,m angstaese at
—it can scarcely he called rieww—the bea shakes
her bead and withdraws- Se It goes. on. Soldiers ester
their Angling sperm sounding strange In Use ua
quiet of the c.ber of death, bogies forfu=
Be is not among them. Neva-tholess, the sight le osse
that unnerves them for • time. They pale visibly, sad
hurry from the room. &trona men, who ham beheld
death in many forme, staad subset before an arm, of
corpses such as they here see, and tears are in the eyes of all as they Pass and stand before the poor you ins
on the verandah. and the four Implies infanta
Losliri
bY
her side.

mom
The Princess Aloe is Imam' at Lloyd's In her fall
mount, irhich le said to be Cit,lloo. Her saloon, whi&
has Wen detached from the hull, ham been reseed mhos',
al Rainham, end there remains.
IS The cook of the Petaseet Abms was in the water for
salnuatws.rit twQ men and two women holding him
Yu*, witagezlirtimately saved.
MN Thuds hag saistaima the ad

ralanst Übe wreak, mad rill dit about it imaisdiarly, r
the vessel lies ex wily in the waterway. and greatly
impede* navigation.
A diver ebo has been down L 3 the lb rock say IP thet
is in :bras pleosa and that the .tern pan has Inds* an
the middle.

.—Abroot to-os years ace • ablp called the Metes was run
doe n at oe.fr:y the. eanie spot u that of the present
cola an
.1 oevere were 100. IS is regarded es a
.Ia gr .sce, awl Lee hue the Kane of other cell.
siot.,.. Involriog fatal r tI.(IW.TS.S.
The ,opt .111 of the Prinness Alice is said to have been
oue ni thy ,hoyt trusted eilicers, and the company state in
proof of the gore and caution with which the passenger
co.„l,rte4 by thew, that as shown in the last
vapivrt of the directors, "during the last UM YOU. Me
company's bvamen have carried over two hundred
pnasengeni, irreepective of Me tares number on
the three hundred ezeursioes annually made by pfiTof,o
rartille ; and it is worthy of remark that out of thla enor-
mous number not • single life bin been loot by neglect on
the part of the captains or other mervants of the oosirsay."
Large sums of money and valuables have been found on
some ef the deceased.
Searcher@ are at work m far up as Weetminster_ ,tirbithar
the rising tide may yet sweep some of the dee& and as
far down aoi Gravesend. where some may yet bfe fount
Mr. J. C. Lever, founder of the Steamboat Company,
hao regulated the Lord Mayor of London L 3 Open a sub:
scription for the necemitous sufferers, and has beaded the
list with a th ousand
A little boy named Everest, who is the only survivor
out of • family of eight persons says lam eight years
of age, and lived with my father and mother and three
brothers, with a little baby. We left our house aad teak
the train at Woolwich for Sbeernesa My uncle we@
coming with um, but did not come. I was with ley father
all dm day, and the last that I saw of him was on the
boat. I have null seen him or my mother and brothere
since. I think they are all drowned." The poor little
fellow was picked up in a boat • few minutes alter the
accident, but the rest of the family have not since been
heard of. .. . . . ..

A touching incident ooeurred with reference to the
saving of a little girl about four years of age, named Mat.'
Hepburn. As the wife of Mr. Edwards, one of the overseers
of Woolwich, was walking along the pier, she saw a child
lying on the pier. All that she could say was that she
came up from Sheerness with her Aunt Lune, that she
had been down to Sheernevs to see her uncle, who was
employed is loading at the 4 ickyard and that her mother
kept a sweetatuff shop in London.
Mrs. MOM, who keeps a public-house in the neighbour-
hood of barnsbury, made a most gallant effort to rescue
her husband. He was a very heavy man, and was held
up by her until the last, and she only let go when she
found that Ids exhaustion was bearing leer down. At the
rams time the unfortunate woman observed her three sons
drowning beside her.
The engineer was saved, but the captain, William
Grinstead, and all, or nearly all, the remainder of his
crew are amongst the lAA in the dark river.
• • "

The doctirsu, the mlice, the pariah officials, and
others render,' aid, and the whole population of
Woolwich seemed oongregated in the Wrests about the
waterside eager to hear • scrap of news or gain a shad*
of comfort.

One young woman, now at the workhouse, says
that her bAby wee wash/ I out of her arma, and
has lust her husband and titres little oust.

One men reached he north chore with a y-buo
round him. He states that he jumped overboard.
after telling his wife to throw their children and
jump after him, hut he lost them all.
The vessel which ran into the Princes' Alice la s& id
to be a 'crew collier going to the North Light in ballast,
and she was in charge of a pilot said to be named
Dicks.

Captain Grinstesd was not soon sitsr tits saddest,
but be was observed at his poet shortly before the
collisios. _ _ _

A largo proportion of the pommels were on the
upper or saloon deck, and must have men beforehand
their impending doom but those in the stern of the
vessel hail no warning until they heard the crush sad
found the fore passengers running aft.
Beyond the fact that the tide was about two hours'
ebb, which would enable the Princess Alice to ewe
and loop sooner than the screw, which would be bores
on the tide, it is inr.esible to discover an of the
ci•cumstancee immedia,ely preceding the collision.
Before the boats struck there were cries from one to
the other to keep out of the way, but,.. usual in such
cases, the accident is probably due to • misunderstand-
ing, the one misinterpreting the intentions of the other,
and all the rules of sailing cast to the winds In •
moment.

---
Another young lady, a governess, from Queen's
College, took MIMI young ladies for the trip. They
are all drowned. aLd she was only saved after going
under water three times.

_
The cook of the vessel (Merriman) was saved by
holding on to a rope. He was in the water for 20
minutes, with two men and two women holding him
by the clothes, hut was ul imately saved. Hs was not
able to give any connected account of the accident, as
be was in the forecastle talking when the collier
struck her. When he got on deck the other vowel
was apparently completely over them. She rendered
every assistance. The Princess Alice was cut almost
in half, and sank directly.
Perhaps one of the widest scenes was a poor young
girl named Palmer, who had lost father, mother, two
sisters and a brother, and who had been left at home
to mind the house. She had not even money to pay
her fare to Wo.lwicb to identify her lost relative*,
end Mr. Tome, the secretary, gave her passes to and
fro.

--Mr. William Catlin, of the Cow-cross Mission,
writes 'Among the passengers on board the Princess
Aline we had 30 poor mother', members d e Bible
clue connected with our mission at West Smithfield,
who were returning from Gravesend accompanied with
Mi.. Lane, th.- lady superintendent As far as I could
ascertain at Woolwich on Thursday only ono of our
number is saved

LATIST.
It is now certain that the loss of life by the Thames
catastrophe is fully equal to the wont fear* rannesed
immediately after the lamentable affair. Down to &edam
afternoon no fewer that 454 corners had been fished out of
the Tonne, and the ghastly work we. still rAag on.
There is renon to believe that nearly • thousaad men,
women, and children were on board the Princess Alias
when the went down, of whom the known survivors
number only 150. Many of the drowned people ban, it le
thoueht„ been washed into the holes which aril numerona
in that part of the river where the collision occurred, net
will therefore Dever be recovered. The altersortion of the
wreck, which was raised on Saturday, will probahly he
beactud Monday.
The mournful event was the subject of many !sermon
yesterday, especially in &nth London, the locality that
has suffered most severely. The Prince and Princess al
Wales has sent 50 guineas to the Mansion Rouse Fund,
accompanied by a letter expressing the deepest sympathy
for the relatives of those who were drowned, •monnt
the other donations received on Saturday we. on of £5O
from the Committee of the Cornedie PraoSain. The
Nal now amounts to shut £1,700.
Mr. A. Byrt, proprietor of the Winton Malin Anneal,
has suffered • terrine less. HU daughter Yon" with
her husband, Mr. Baker, who had only been married •
week, were in London spending their honeymoon. Thsl
went to Gravesend instead of to Brighton in they at first
intended. They are amongst the dead.

(By Telegraph.)
The Mansion House Ptuid this (Monday) morning
exceeded £2.000.
The Aust ralinn cricketers will probably play a watch
for the sufferers benefit.
The total number of bodies recovered.,, now said to
be 101, and no doubt remains that the calamity
exceeds the largest estimate yet made.

THE GREAT STORM IN HIINGSAIt.
Heartrending details continue to arrive fro. the melee
of the recent catastrophe in Hammy. Th. toen of
Miek due is one heap of ruins. What ware once the
resets and public squares are still bestreene with dl..
Stored cornea, elthough a whole t end the lon'
Sr. bajada have been at work for the bat two den re•
remaining inlialbtants are to deadly fear of. fresh die-
eater, the sky bang still thickly overclouded. One corres-
pondent writes that words cannot depict the sight that
met his eye, on arriving at Miskolc'. The once thrifty
commercial town no looser exista. A pile of brieks and
mortar now stands In its place. The survivors are almost
without exception utterly ruined. The mischief wee dot.s
not by an ordinary flood but the iastanteneona rupture of
• colonel waterspout over the very bead of the popelation_
The shock was terrific. Furniture was honed to ever 7
directiom The boom" reeled for a moment from their
heamenta, and then row- (mien with one tremendous
creak. In the allege of Mad the greatest damage seam
to have been done by the flood that ollowed the breekin"
of the waterspout Mtn masses of water were sodas/elf
men rushing down the lade of the hills behind the al ege Ilk, lava vomited iy a vo cano. The panicetacken
habitants fled in wild disorder, many of than to most
death • few Verde b.OO their threttiolds. Forty betas,
d.......,•rer• Completely destroyed, and the rest all more or lea
The total number of victims is n t see known-
Th7i-leaTperiar has seat an aide-de-camp 'rid' 5,0101 t to
V. the most urgent mem

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