The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-06 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE EURYDICE.

Experiments, with the view of ascertaining the best
method of slinging a submerged vessel, are being made
with a number of models in the rigging-house in Ports-
mouth Dockyard. It is expected, however, that nothing
can be attempted in this direction on the Eurydice for
fully a fortnight, even should the weather be favour-
able. The Rinaldo and the Pearl, which are to be
employed in swinging the Eurydice, are two old screw
corvettes which have been lying in harbour for three
or four years. Their ports are being sealed up, and
they will have to be ballasted to meet the strain
which will be brought to bear upon them. The
dead weight of the Eurydice is estimated at 300 tons,
which is not a very heavy weight, so that a certain
success may be expected to attend the attempt to float
the vessel. It is proposed to drag the ship into San.
down Bay, and there to lighten her by pumping.
In most of the churches and chapels A Portsmouth on
Sunday the disaster was referred to, special sermons
being preached or collections made on behalf of the
relief fund.

It has been considered desirable to have a number
of coffins in readiness, for the reception of any bodies
that may be recovered. Should they not be re-
covered for the next few days it will be neces-
sary to bury the bodies in their clothes. A large
number of graves have been dug in the plot of ground
marked out for the reception of the bodies. They will
be buried in a square, the officers in the centre, close
to the long line of graves containing the fifty victims
of the explosion on board the Thuuderer.

On Sunday a large number of visitors was attracted
to the shore at Veutnor in hopes of seeing some traces
of the wreck, but their curiosity was unrewarded.

One poor woman, whose only remaining son went
down in the Eurydice, lost her husband and her other
son by the capsizing of the Captain,

On Saturday afternoon the remains of Captain J.
G. L. Ferrier, R.E., of Bellside, Linlithgowshire,
who was drowned by the sinking of the Eurydice,
were interred with military honours in Greyfriars'
Churchyard, Edinburgh. The burial service was read
in St. John's Episcopal Church by the Bishop of
Edinburgh, after which the procession went by way
of Pirinces-street, the Mound, and George IV. bridge
to the place of interment. The coffin, which was
covered by the Union Jack, and on which were the
deceased's hat and sword, with wreaths of immortelles,
was conveyed on a gun-carriage drawn by six horses.
Detachments of the 50th Regiment, the 6th Inniskilling
Dragoons, and the Royal Artillery took part in the
procession. The streets along the route were crowded
with spectators.

The remains of Lieutenant Tabor, which, after the
inquest at Ventnor, were conveyed to Cheam, Surrey,
the residence of the family, were interred in Cheam
churchyard on Friday afternoon in last week. The
corpse was followed by the Rev. R. S. Tabor, the
father, and the brother and sister of the deceased,
Mrs. Tabor, the wife of the gallant officer, being pre-
sent at the church and grave. The coffin was covered
by the Union Jack, a fitting pall, flowers forming a
cross, and immortellas. The service, Which was pattly
choral, was conducted by the rector, the Rev. C. H.
Rice, assisted by several other clergymen. Despite
the terrible weather, a large number of persons were
present, comprising many of the resident gentry.
Captain Fellows, of the Royal Navy College, repre-
sented the Admiralty.

The body of George Arthur Bennett, the captain of
the quarter-deck of the Eurydice, was interred on
Monday afternoon. It had been conveyed from
Ventnor to the dead-house at Hasler Hospital, where
it had remained for several days, in the hope that
other bodies would have been recovered from the sea
and been interred together. Up to Monday, how-
ever, only three bodies of the 323 who went down in
the ship have been found. The proceedings were of
a very simple character and attracted compara-
tively few spectators. The body, which was con-
tained in a strong oaken coffin, was conveyed to Hasler
Cemetery in the hospital hearse, preceded by a firing
party, drawn from the Royal Marine Light Infantry, in
open rank, and was followed by the wife, brother, and
friends of the deceased, and about a hundred bluejackets,
who had volunteered from the various ships in harbour
to take part in the procession. There were also a few
naval officers present and the brother of the Hon. E.
R. Giffard, one of the sub-lieutenants of the ill-fated
ship. The whole of the arrangements were in charge
of Lieutenact R. H. Stewart of the Thunderer.
On arriving at the cemetery the corpse was
borne to the grave by a party belonging to the
Thunderer, the funeral service being read by
the Rev. Mr. Nickoll, chaplain to the hospital.
The firing of the usual three volleys over the grave
completed the ceremony. The grave in which Bennett
is buried forms one of about 30 which have been
opened for the reception of the bodies of his. mess-
mates as they are recovered from the wreck. The
spot, which is situated at the eastern corner of the
cemetery, is enclosed by a roped barrier, and adjoins
the ground in which the sufferers by the Thunderer
explosion of 1876 were buried and which is now
marked by a handsome obelisk. •

A message from the Queen has been forwarded by
the Admiralty to the relatives of the officers who were
lost in the Eurydice. together with a letter conveying
an expression of their Lordships' deep regret at the
sad event.

The divers who are at work at the place where the
Eurydice.was lost made two descents on Monday, one
in the morning from nine until eleven, when the tide
began to slacken, and the other from two to five
o'clock in the afternoon, but the rough weather made
their work very difficult. The foretopma.st and stud-
ding-sail boom was cleared and brought to the surface,
and also a small boat which was apparently nzed by
the officers. In consequence of the rough weather
the Eurydice has at times rolled in the heavy seas, and
has slightly changed her position.—On subsequent
days operations have been continued. On Tuesday
the lower masts were cleared to the lower yards and
were unrigged in readiness for removal. But no
bodies were recovered.

The Lords of the Admiralty hale offered a reward
of £2 to any private person who may find and bring
the body of any man belonging to Her Majesty's ship
Eurydice to a Coastguard station.

That the men of the Eurydice lying dead in the
waste of waters have left troops of attentive friends
behind them to mourn their tragic fate has been
touchingly proved. On Thursday more than a thou-
sand letters addressed to men on board the ship passed
through the Returned Letter Office. They were sent
on from Bermuda marked 'Sailed for England,' and
redirected to Portsmouth. There they arrived three
days after the anxious spirits who had been waiting
for news from home had gone to their last rest, and
were sent back to the General Post Office ominously
stamped with the words 'Ship foundered.' The com-
mittee formed to relieve the relatives of the dead men
have been puzzled to find out the whereabouts of the
mourners, and I learn that the benevolent idea has
occurred to Lord John Manners to keep the addresses
of the writers of the doubly Dead Letters' addressed
to the men of the lost Eurydice.—The World.

The loss of the Eurydice occurred not far from the
scene of the catastrophe rendered historical by
Cowper's poem of the sinking of the Royal George
(says the Court Journal). One verse is not inapt to
many a wish concerning the Eurydice
"Weigh the vessel up,
Once dreaded by our foes!
And mingle with our cup
The tears that England owes."

The Daily News publishes the following letter :
Observing in your issue of the 27th inst. a notice relative
to there being a Good Templar Lodge established on hoard
the Eurydice, allow me to say that the lodge was in charge of
Corporal Curtis, who was a useful and good man
among those young lads just cominz up in their profession.
It was started on the ship being put in commission, as a means
of benefit in endeavouring to win o ver to the cause of tem-
perance the young ship's crew before they had got into
other habits, and receive' every support from Captain Hare,
who always took a deep interest in the youths committed
to his charge. I had often to correspond with him when he
commanded the Boscawen training ship at Portland, to which
many of the boys from the Warspite were drafted. From
the interest be took in them: and from their own account of
his kindness towards them, as well as from the progress in
seamanship they made while under his command, I always
felt happy when my boys were sent there. It is not my place
to remark upon the dreadful accident that ended the career
cf one so worthy and upright; but I should like to offer this
short explanation. I remain, sir, yours faithfully, W. HUGH
PHIPPS, Captain, R.N.—No. 6, Rue Sourdan, Brussels,
March 29.