The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-17 00:00:00

TFtB QUEEN AND THE "KENMURE

CASTLE."

The following telegram has been received by the
owners of the Kenmure Castle, Messrs. Thomas
Skinner and Co., of East India-avenue, London :
"Sir H. Ponsonby to Messrs. Skinner and Co.
"The Queen is anxious to know how the survivors
of the Kenmure Castle are progressing, especially the
poor ladies, after their terrible sufferings. Could you
kindly inform me?"

They have replied as follows :—" We are pleased to
say all the passengers are recovering rapidly, and,
excepting one lady, were able to visit St. Paul's
yesterday. They all suffer from pains in their feet,
but the doctor considers they will be able to return
to their homes in a few days. They desire us to
express their grateful thanks, in which we cordially
join, for her Majesty's kind inquiries and sympathy.
They are receiving every attention wkich we can
bestow, and are comfortably lodged at Cannon•street
Hotel."

The Daily Telegraph has published statements by
the lady passengers who were saved from the wreck of
the Kenmure Castle. One of the ladies, Mrs. Mann,
in the course of her narrative, says :

"Land my three daughters were passengers by the
A-cloture Castle, for Shanghai, where I was to rejoin
my husband. On the night of Thursday, February
1, the ladies on board the vessel were very sea-
sick in the cabins. The water was coming in,
and we heard much noise and were greatly
frightened. The steward came in and assured
us that there was no danger. Presently the car-
penter mended the door, which had been broken
open. Six times did the door give way, and at half-
past eleven o'clock the water came in with a great
rush, so we left our beds and went into the saloon,
where we found the settees and eouzhes floating about.
At this time Mr. Horrocks, one of the passengers,
came to the saloon door, where I was. I said to him:
' If you could only make your way to the captain and
tell him the state of affairs ; ' whereupon he left
us, and we got on the saloon tables, which
were rocking about fearfully. Then Mr. James
Holness, the second officer, entered the saloon,
and Mrs. Horrocks cried out, 'Save me, save
me ; let me go ! ' He took her away, but
we did not know where at the time. Some one picked
up Victoria, my youngest little girl, six years old, and
the carpenter came into the saloon and said : Come
with me I I will get you into a place of safety, if I
can.' We opened the door, but were thrown back by
a wave, and the carpenter told me to take care.
We succeeded in getting to some ropes, and to these
we clung for a long time, the waves washing
over us. After an interval we made a dart
to the engine-house door and descended to the
engine-room, where were Mrs. Henry and my
little girl and another daughter, and Mr. Hol-
ness. As we were in our night-dresses some men's
clothing was brought us, which we put on. We
stayed in the engine-room until about ten o'clock in
the morning, as far as we could tell, when Mr. Henry
came down to us and said there was no time to be
lost, we must get to the boat. Mr. Henry carried
Victoria and the fourth engineer my daughter Annie.
We mounted the ladder, and I looked to the deck
where our cabin was, but could not see anything of
it. The captain saw me standing there and he
took hold of one arm and one leg anethrew me
as lightly as he could into the boat. That was
the only way to get into it then. I suppose he
thought I should be too late. They were in the
act of launching the lifeboat as the ship went down.
The next thing I knew was that, on turning round, I
saw the end of the ship. I hid my face as I could not
bear the sight. Some one said she was going down,
and another cried, She's gone!' I noticed the sun
was shining splendidly at the time. All this happened
at about eleven o'clock, The boat was steered accord-
ing to the directions of the second officer. There
were no provisions or water in the cutter. Mr.
Holness tried to get the ladies to sing, 'Pull for
the shore, boys ! ' and A life on the ocean wave ! '
There were in the boat six ladies and two gen-
tlemen, with the second and third officers and seven
Chinamen as crew. At about four o'clock I remem-
bered reading that flannel was a good thing to Chew
in order to assuage thirst, our suffering from this
cause becoming very great. Mr. Harrocks foun I
a piece, which we divided into fragments about liin,
square, and these we sucked. Our tongues were
very much swollen, and we felt thirst more
than hunger. I should mention that after we had
been in the boat some little time Mr. Holness
was washed into the sea, and the ladies were
very much frightened. Mr. Henry threw an oar to
him, and the second officer swam back. On the
second morning the third officer (Mr. Higgins) went
out of his mind, and asked to lie down at the bottom
of the boat, and one of the ladies held him there; but
soon he jumped up and commenced throwing the oars
into the sea. Once he jumped overboard, and was
rescued, but he jumped again and was drowned. • .
My little girl sang " Eternal Father, strong to save ! '
and cried, lam sure we shall be saved, mamma; I
am sure there will be a ship coming soon.' 'We did
indeed sight two or three vessels and one steamer, and
saw the people en deck, but they did not appear
to see us. Finally, we were sighted by the French
steamer lifontataire, of Rochelle, after being in
the boat three days and two nights. As they
approached the French sailors cried out to us, Shut
your eyes—don't look,' meaning that we appeared
so ghastly they could not bear the sight. When
we reached the ship Mr. Holness had blood and froth
on his lips. The ladies were all handed up as soon as
possible, and the second mate left the cutter last. In
less than five minutes the tables were covered with
eatables and hot tea and wine; but we could not take
anything, only a little water. We were there from
Sunday until Wednesday morning, when we were
landed at Boulogne."