The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-14 00:00:00

FURTHER RECOVERY OF BODIES.

The following are extracts from the Daily News of
Monday:—

"Up to six o'clock last night the total number ot bodies
recovered from the Thames was 458—men, women, and
children—of whom fewer than 350 had then been identified.
Day by day and hour by hour the difficulties attending
identification increase. The arrangements at the Dockyard
where the bodies are laid out are of the most ample and
complete description; but, from the effects of prolonged sub-
mersion and subsequent exposure to the atmosphere, the
features of the drowned that are now brought up are alto-
gether unrecognisable. Articles of clothing or particular marks
on the person are the only means of establishing identity.
Outer clothing and Jewellery are removed by those on duty
at the sheds, descriptions taken down in writing for refer-
ence, and the articles open to the inspection of those in
search of their friends. Many have attended day by day
ever since Tuesday last, and are still unsuccessful in the
recovery of the remains of the lost ones. The work of bring-
ing up the bodies, chiefly below the scene of the wreck, was
most vigorously prosecuted on Saturday and Sunday, with
the result already stated. Contrary, happily, to what was
anticipated, and almost dreaded, the incursion of curious
people not directly concerned in the calamity into the town
of Woolwich on Sunday was but little in excess of the throng
on previous days. Outside the Dockyard gates some hundreds
of people stood watching the distressed persons who entered
and returned. Acting on instructions by Captain Baines,
the police exercised a certain amount of discretion in
admitting persons whose saddened aspect betokened the
sincerity of their mission, and rejecting those who were led
by morbid curiosity. Within the yard the duties of
receiving the bodies from boats and steamers, carrying
them to different sheds, and preparing them for inspection,
were rapidly but decently carried out. Very many sorrow-
ing relatives followed each fresh batch, sometimes to
experience fresh agony by success, more frequently to
deepen despondency by failure. The spectacle pre,enteil
even by those who were laid in coffins was altogether too
dreadful to contemplate.

"Operations at the wreck under the general superktend-
ence of Captain Fitzgerald, of the Thames Conservancy, have
teeu carried out by Mr. Wood and Lie staff with remarkable
success. Having brought the fore part of the ship to land,
they were able on the neap tides of Sunday and Saturday to
bring the after-part four hundred yards nearer the shore
than the place where it lay, and at low water on Sunday
afternoon the upper portion of the saloon deck was several
feet above water. She lies just now above Tripcock's Point,
but she will. If is hoped, be landed on the beach in
the course of this morning. This being the place of
chief attraction a vast throng ol people lined the bank
on the southern side, and, unchecked by the deep
nand, pressed down to the water's edge. Hundreds of
rowingiboats absolutely swarmed arpund the wreck, loaded
chiefly with rough-looking men, but carrying also an inter-
mingling of soiesaingly more refined people and a sprinkling
of women. At least one pleasure launch held up for some
hours at the scene of the wreck. There were also the steam
launchca of the Thames Conservaney, the fitPamhnat Cem-
pany, and that of the river police, from which Superintendent
Austin directed the work of-his intelligent and able force. It
was their melancholy duty to explore as far as possible the
cabins of the half-sunken ship in search first for human remains,
and next for the flotsam and jetsam of the wreck. As in the
fore part of the boat, the evidence of the nature of the col-
lision is in the after part strikingly apparent. The Bywell
Castle evidently struck her first at the entrance of the star-
board gangway, the platform where passengers enter and
leave the boat, and crashing through this drove her sharp
bow no less than twenty-five feet into the body of the saloon
boat up to the engine-crank, the first solid piece of resist-
ance, all the rest in the presence of that enormous
force breaking up like egg-shell. The gap pro-
duced in the side of the saloon boat as the iron
steamer withdrew could not be less than 16 feet
In width, cutting out, or rather breaking in, a space
of that diameter from top to bottom, and casting the forward
boiler out of its place into the bed of the river. The Bywell
Castle would weigh in bulk not less than 1,800 tons, and even
if going only four miles an hour through the water, must
have struck an almost irresistible blow. The damage to her
own bows consists only of the scratching off of the new paint
to the extent of a few feet. -- . .

"Although struck so violently and completely cut in two
the actual structural damage to the saloon boat is limited to
the exact area of the impact and the ten feet of fracture
consequent upon that, extending diagonally to the port side
of the vessel. The Princess Alice is about 361 t. wide be-
tween the outer rims of her paddle-boxes, and 211 t. across
the deck at midships, and 221 ft. in length. The fore part of
her starboard paddle-box is stove in and smashed; the fore
part of the port paddle-box is also damaged; the after
parts of both paddle-boxes are uninjured. The starboard
paddle-wheel is crushed and the flanges bent. On deck the
binnacle and most of the lower and smaller iron fittings re-
tain their places; the bridge, funnel, awning, and support-
ing rods have been torn off, presumably by the Bywell Castle
driving laterally over her, and almost scraping her from
midships to stern after the collision. The body of a young
lady was found under the funnel. The sheathing of the
funnel was twisted and torn, and dragged along the deck,
the light hand-rail along the upper deck broken, but
below this, on what is visible of the main deck, the
after-sponsons and bulwarks all round seem to be
intact. Heeling over to the starboard side, the windows
of the upper saloon stood right above low water, leav
ing three to five feet of water in the saloon. In more
than one of the windows the glass was not even cracked.
Dark crimson curtains were still hanging as they might have
been when the ship was struck—wet and bedraggled, of
course, but not even stained by mud. On the deck the police
found the battered and half-unstrung remains of the harp of
one of the bandsmen. Other than this, the personal relics
were few, and none so suggestive of the rapid change from
music and gaiety to disaster and death as the battered
harp.
"Seven bodies in all were drawn out from the upper
saloon, and from the careful search made with poles the
probability is that no more will be discovered in that part of
the ship. Five had been obtained in the morning, all well
dressed, and furnished with jewellery. In the afternoon the
body of a rather stout woman, dressed in striped silk, and
wearing black kid gloves, floated out at one of the windows.
A minute later the body of another woman was taken
out. After this came cushions and benches, lamps, and
fragments of wearing apparel. From the close proxi-
mity of many of the bodies -found it is concluded
that in the agony of the moment the majority of
those thrown into the water clung together in groups,
and so went to the bottom. In ten minutes after the occur-
rence, says a spectator, not a ripple disturbed the surface
of the river on the very spot where so recently night had
been made hideous with shrieks and struggles. The work
of searching the upper saloons was suspended at six
o'clock, and the ghastly freight of bodies from this
and other quarters laid in a powder boat was placed in
tow of the police steamtrig, and rapidly drawn up to
Woolwich. Just as she was moving off a boatman came
up with two more, which he announced to be one male
and one female. On removing the covering and passing
them over into the dead boat, they proved to be
a little girl of live or six years, and a still less unbreeched
boy of three or four. And so all day through had the Thames
cast up its dead. It now appears that a considerable pro-
portion of the crew were able to save themselves. One
of the stewards jumped out of the saloon window, and
swam nearly to Beckton, where he was picked up by a
boat. He lent a hand in rowing to the scene of the wreck,
and was instrumental, with others, in saving seven persons.
For some time during the evening, as the Princess Alice was
coming up, a young man and woman were sitting at the foot
of the paddle-box on the port side, apparently engrossed in
each other's society. They are believed to have been married
only that morning, and who have not since been heard of.
John Rattail, second pantryman, was saved by getting up the
flagstaff and clinging to a rope from the Bywell Castle. He
assisted in lowering and manning a boat, and was instru-
mental in saving Mr. Nares, the son of Captain Sir George
Nares. Mr. Nares was taken to Woolwich, and has since
been down in search of a female relative who is missing.
"The body of a person, presumed to be one of those lost on
the Princess Alice, was picked up on Sunday morning at
Chelsea, fully fifteen miles from the scene of the catastrophe."

The following particulars are from Monday's Times
"Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of the in-
habitants of London testified their interest in the collision
and its victims by flocking on Saturday and yesterday to the
scene of the accident. Along the Phunstead road and across
the marshes to Margaretness there was all day the tramp of
a great army. The steamboats came down filled with men.
Trains followed each other rapidly but every one was
vastly overcrowded. Many of those who flocked to Wool-
wich were contented to stay in the town, were ser-
mons in the churches and chapels, talk in taverns
and private houses, and the cries of little children in
the street recur with distressing monotony to the one horrible •
event of Tuesday. The boys run to see whether there is a
coffin in every cart that passes; cabmen and watermen,
strange to the town, have come in from the surrounding dis-
tricts to convey visitors to the Dockyard, where the bodies lie,
or to the marshes off which they are found. In the marshes, at
the point where the property of the War Office in Woolwich
Arsenal ceases, the people stood along the bank in many rows, I
although this spot is three or four miles from the nearest
of the Woolwich railway stations. Plumstead station
Is somewhat less far. At the same point little boats
lined the shore, and thither wherries and steam launches
made their way during all the afternoon. On the bank here
lay the fore-part of the Princes: Alice, and a little further
out was the yet sunken wreck of the after-part. . . No
sooner was the top of the saloon a foot or
.two. above
through the eur f
atchee
the water than a woman dressed all in black and wear-
lofivoesa,tedwaas drawn
beoleuwt
in her
Jewelry
shrivelledhin ilg
windows,
edwowaPfollowed by the body of another woman clothed
km black
askidshog
girdle and gold ringfingers. A
from tins interior of the saloon. Then
noisome odour came
all in black, with
on
bgiuoledan
the men began to probe the lower cabin through a raised
grating for other bodies, drawing up among the first spoils
f the tter to swim for his We. Not many bodies
himself e e
a coat which a male passenger had..throw n off to prepare
They are thought to
In all were found in the saloon. There was time for men
and women to viola out of this. The
14) t'Aeker in the lower cabin, A is noticeable that

worcees bodies are chiefly disoovered In the wreck.
Those of the men are hooked from the bed of
the river. bloat of the men had a struggle for life.
Many of the women seem to have remained in the
boat, some huddled in a corner clutching their children,,
others fighting with each other for egress through the
narrow doorway. The principal fishing ground for bodies is
Just below Tripcock point. The main tide sets off the point
but an under tide carries the corpses in and deposits them
on the beach. Of the 78 c,,rpses which were picked up in
the Thames between eleven p.m. on Saturday night and
eleven a m. yesterday morning, the greater number came
from this spot.
"A sergeant of police has been employed all day and
daring a great part of the night in sending telegrams to
different parts of the country. The behaviour and industry
of the greater number of the police is beyond all praise.
Other officials labouring busily in the Dockyard at pre-
sent are the undertakers' men. Their tap upon the
coffins was yesterday beard all day. There has been
the greatest difficulty in getting a sufficient number
of coffins of adequate size. Telegrams were sent by
the parish authorities round London for them, and the
Steamboat Company are now making such coffins specially
in their own yard. There is urgent need for them, for the
poor swollen corpses are already offensive, and even
dangerous, to the living. It will be long before those who
have been enaged in any capacity in the administrative or
other work which this calamity has rendered necessary, will
cease to fancy they perceive in everything they smell or taste
a horrible savour which has been familiar to them every
ordinary day this week and on the day of rest."

Mr. William Driscoll, of 147, Crisp-street, Poplar, has made
a statement to us (The Times) which shows, inter alix, that
the life-buoys on the Princess Alice were not utterly unser-
viceable. Re says :—" I and my little girl remained at when
my friend Mr. Fisher left us. When I found the vessel
sinking I jumped into the water with the child; While
there I saw a man close by me putting a life-buoy over his
head, and he in struggling to get through it came near me,
and I stretched out my left hand and grasped it. The
child Rose was in my right arm. I then saw a boat coming
towards me, I called, For God's sake save my child ! They
rowed towards me, and one man put a scull out for me to
take hold of. They picked up seven of us; one we held on
each side of the boat and one at the stern. Then a large
boat came near and took the three who were hanging on nut
of the water. We rowed towards the shore, and remained
In a sailing barge while our boat was being baled out. A
man on the barge took the child to the cabin fire while the
boat was being baled. We landed at Beckton Gas Works and
had to walk a mile to a house. The people gave us every
assistance."

Philip Hilson, 46, Wandsworth-road, assistant foreman at
the Vauxhall Gasworks, makes the following statement : -
On Tuesday I went down to Sheerness with my wife (Mary
Ann fiilson, aged 34), my cousin (Arthur Hasrgar), his wife
(Hannah Haggar), and their child (Elizabeth Haggar, aged
five years). We went down in the Duke of Cambridge to
Sheerness, and returned by the Princess Alice. I lido
not consider that she was overcrowded. When we
went on board our party took their seats on the saloon
deck, and we joined another party of five persons.
We had been singing on the way up, and en-
joying ourselves very rationally and comfortably. Just
as we neared the bend of the river opposite Beckton I
noticed a large ship coming towards us. I did not think
that she was going to run into us. I said to my wife,
"Polly, look at this big vessel coming round; see her red
lights burning." I said to her, "Come, Polly, give us
another song." She had been singing, and her voice was a
sweet one. She replied, "I have sung enough, I think ; but
give me a little rest." She, however, struck up a favourite
song of hers, "Come, buy my pretty flowers," and just as she
had finished and our party had applauded her a cry arose in
the bows that a ship was upon us. I jumped up then, and I
saw a ship between 50 and 60 yards distant. I saw immediately
that nothing could prevent a collision, so I told her to put
her arms over my shoulder and to hold on tight. She said to
me, "Philip, if we are to go, let us go together." The
steamer then crashed into us, and I got my right hand
smashed. We fell on the deck, and seeing a rope hanging
from the ship I twisted it around my arm and hand. By
this time I could feel the ship going out from below us. I
swung by the rope in front of the bows of the Bywell Castle,
my wife still hanging around my neck. I was swinging clear
of the water and slipped to the end of the rope in the hope of
touching the water, but I was unable to do so. My wife never
said a word all the time I was hanging by the rope. I tried to
pull myself up, and I got my feet against the side of the
ship, and walked up hand over baud. When I had got
my right knee on the gunwale I put ore hand behind me
to support my poor wife and to give some relief to
myself as I was almost being choked. I said "Thank
Heaven, Polly, we have got to the top." She had then
, eased herself by releasing her hold of my neck.
Sue said, "Oh, Philip, I cannot hold on any longer," and
she then dropped back into the water. After I had some-
what recovered, I got hold of the rope and slid down again
to the and of it in the hope of seeing my poor wife, but she
had disappeared. I cried for help, and I was pulled on
board by some members of the crew. My cousin, Arthur
Haggar, was saved; the body of his wife, Hannah, has been
recovered, and the body of their child is missing.

Mr. William Bishop, of Grosvenor-street, Camberwell,
commercial traveller, who was saved from the wreck of the
Princess Alice, made the following interesting statement
to our correspondent (says the Daily Chronicle):—" On
Tuesday I had business at Sheerness, and, for a change,
instead of going by rail I resolved to go by water. It was a
beautiful morning, and when I reached London Bridge the
boat (Princess Alice) was just about starting. I should
say there were between 700 and 800 passengers
on board after leaving Woolwich. I include the
children who were on board. On arriving at Graves-
end a large number of passengers got off the boat. I
reached Sheerness, and to return to town again went on
board the Princess Alice. The vessel, after leaving Grivesend,
appeared to have as many people on board as she would hold;
I did not see a vacant seat anywhere. I was on the fore part
of the ship. A lady having three children with her was on
my left, and just before we got to the place where the
accident happened, I made the remark to the lady; 'The
beautiful morning has done good for the Boat Company to.day.'
The lady replied, 'Yea; but ill had known so many people
were coming on board, I would have come back by train ;
for I am always nervous when the boats get so crowded.'
replied, 'But the water does the little folks so much good.
It I had been on pleasure to-day, I should have brought my
wife and children.' At this time the band was playing, and
children and adults were singing. I left this part of the
ship, and had a chat with the captain .We had just passed
the Becktou Gas Works on our right. It was very dark,
and I had left the bridge to get refreshment. We
were about mid-stream, when suddenly I heard the
captain shout out. I looked out, but before I could see
the approaching vessel, I heard a voice exclaim, Good
God ! we shall be run down.' I could see the
Bywell Castle, which was then only a few yards
off. The Bywell Castle was carrying a green and
mast-head light I heard the whistle from our
boat, which stopped in a second or two; the big
ship was then just close to the Princess Alice. Con-
fusion then commenced. People were shouting, Stop,
stop I ' The Bywell Castle crashed into our ship near
the starboard paddle box. 1, then heard our poor
captain say, 'Good God Almighty! what is to be
done ? ' Our vessel appeared to separate and commenced
to go down. The sight here on board was awful.
Women with babies in their arms, and fathers rushing fran-
tically about with little children. The lady I had been
sitting near called out, 0 pray, dear sir, give help to the
children ; ' and another female exclaimed, I will give any
sum to anyone who will save my gild. The Princess Alice
was then going down, and I shall never forget the scene. I
leapt from the boat, after waiting till the last moment, and
while there a man with a woman came on to the top of me.
I was struggling for some minutes before I could clear my-
self from the man. I heard the woman say, as she
was falling, Heaven save us!' and she seemed to dis-
appear. I was a good swimmer, but before I could
reach shore I seemed to be getting exhausted A boat came
up with people, and I was saved. Before the ship went down,
I heard one man say, 'I can save one, but not all.' He had
a lady who, I suppose, was his wife, and round him were five
or six children crying and shouting for help. There was no
time for anything to be done. I don't think four minutes
elapsed between the crash and the sinking of the vessel.
When I was swimming, I heard the whistle from a ship; it
must have been the Bywell Castle, for the Princess Alice had
gone. The whistle was kept open for a long time, and
even when I was ashore I could hear shouting for help.
When I was on land a gentleman, who had lost
three children and a wife, was there; he was in his shirt
sleeves, and was in fearful distress. He said, •My dear
daughter wished me not to go on the water ; now they are
all gone. What can be done? Oh, I fear it's too late.' One
poor fellow who was with a young lady on board jumped
int.) the water, and I saw him disappear; the lady was then
calling out, Save me; save me.' Before the Princess Alice
quite disappeared I heard a loud report, as though the
boilers of the ship had blown up, and there was a great
rush of steam. When ashore I saw one poor creature
of a woman brought in dead with a child grasped
In her arms. I recognised her as being on the same part of
the vessel as myself. She had two children I think. I had
given them some biscuits. I remember one of them saying,
' This is my birthday; lam six years old.' This poor little
fellow was the one grasped in his mother's arms. He was
an intelligent boy, and when I offered him the biscuit on
board he turned round to his mother saying, 'May I take
it?' At the time of the accident, I thought the ship I was
on was going at usual speed."