The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-29 00:00:00

The DISASTER on the BERWICKSHIRE
COAST.

The Lord Mayor of London on taking his seat with
Alderman Sir Robert Carden, M.P., at the Justice'
room of the Mansion House on Friday in last week,
said, addressing the Chief Clerk (Mr. Gresham) :—I
have been requested to draw the attention of my
fellow citizens of London and the benevolent public
to the terrible misery occasioned on the east coast of
Scotland by the unprecedented hurricane of Friday
last. It will be enough, I think, to state that in
four villages in Berwickshire 31 boats representing
an aggregate value of at least £lO,OOO, have been
lost, and that 167 men have perished, leaving 91
widows and 302 orphan children, besides, in many
cases, aged fathers and mothers, or other relatives,
dependant upon them for support. Those poor fel-
lows who so miserably perished were, I am told, not
only among the bravest, but among the best in their
respective communities. The storm in which they
were lost was beyond all previous experience in respect
of suddenness, duration, and violence. I feel sure
that the public will gladly help to mitigate the distress
caused by the sad calamity, and I shall have much
pleasure in receiving here any funds that may be
entrusted to me, and in remitting them to the relief
committee in Berwickihire. I may add that in Scot-
land £3,000 has been already subscribed, and that her
Majesty the Queen, with her usual gracious sympathy
with the distressed, has headed the list with £lOO.
may also mention that the Fishmongers' Company
yesterday voted £52 108. to the fund."

On the above subject The Times has published the follow-
ing letter :
Sir,—l shall esteem it a favour if you will allow me
to supplement the remarks of the Lord Mayor of
London on the terrible calamity that has befallen the
fishing community on the Berwickshire coast. A
more heart-rending disaster, destroying half of the
working fishermen of twenty miles of coast, has
scarcely been recorded hi the annals of storms, and
the distress arising from it is so great that it requires
immediate attention.
The fishing town of Eyemouth was a few days ago
one of the most prosperous in the kingdom, but the
losses of the 14th of October have put a stop to the tide
of prosperity, and upwards of 100 families are now
utterly ruined. Many of the boats were engulfed
within 50 yards of the harbour, under the eyes of the
families of those who manned them. A more painful
scene of woe and distress than the little town now
presents cannot be imagined. Although some of the
boats were insured, it will do little to make up for the
loss of the breadwinners. The losses of men, so far as
they can be ascertained at present, are—at Eyernouth,
136; at Burnmouth, 24; at Coldingham, 3. at Cove,
11 ; total, 174 men, leaving upwards of 400 persons,
widows and children, behind them.

Mr. David Milne Holme, Convener of the county of
Berwick, has formed a relief fund in Eyemouth, and
the Mayor of Berwick-on-Tweed has formed another
in Berwick, the honorary secretary of which is Mr.
Robert Douglas, Town Clerk. I may add that many
of the families are totally unprovided for. Between
£20,000 and £30,000 will be required. In the neigh-
bourhood of Eyernouth and at Berwick nearly £4,000
has been raised. I trust that all who take an interest
in our fishermen will contribute something towards
the relief fund commenced by the Lord Mayor, who
has kindly offered to forward the sums received by
him to the Berwickshire Committee.—l remain yours,
&c.. JAMES H. CROSSMAN,
Brewery, Mile-end, London, Oct. 22.