The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-10-26 00:00:00

LOSS OF A LARGE PASSENGER
STEAMER.

A deplorable catastrophe, involving loss of life and
the foundering of a magnificent steam vessel, occurred
in the River Thames on Saturday afternoon. It ap-
pears that the Balavier, paddle passenger boat, the
finest and most commodious of the steamers of the
Netherlands Steam Packet Company, left Blackwall
soon after noon, with passengers and a valuable cargo
for Rotterdam and the Rhine. On arriving in
Balking Reach, near the pumping station of the
Southern Outfall Sewer, the large Turkish screw man-
of-war Charkee came up the river. The screw,
a fine vessel of some I.SOO tons burden, had
been sent over by the Turkish Government to
England to be fitted with new engines and boilers,
and had gone down the river from Millwall Docks
the day before to try the speed of her engines at the
measured miles in Long Reach and on the !Amelia
Sande. She carried the Turkish ensign, and, favoured
by the tide, wit, steaming up through Barking Reach,
the river being unusually free from other craft, when,
either from the fact of steering with large screw
steam-ers being difficult at flood tide, or from a win.
understand* on board the two vessels as to each
wher's intentions, a fearful collision ensued. The
Turki.h man-of-war penetrated the Botarier eight feet,
striking with such force that every one on board the
two steamers sprang to their feet, and rushed on deck.
The passengers and crew of the Bat arier, which was
shipping water very fast, immediately saw their perilous
position, and the appalling cry of "We are going
down !" was heard on all sides.

The consternation and alarm; is dsscribed as intense,
some shrieking, some falling on their knees in prayer,
terror being depicted on every face, and all expecting
speedy death. The engine fires were immediately ex-
tinguished by the inflowing waters, and it was evb
dent from the first that all attempts to save the steamer
and cargo would be fruitless. The boats of the two
steamers were instantly lowered. The women and
children were placed in the first boat, those left in
the Batarier anxiously conjecturing, as the water got
higher and higher, whether they could be saved before
she went down. They were, however, all rescued in a
few minutes, a tug coming up matelially expediting
their escape.
The sinking ship was abandoned as the water came
sweeping over her deck, and the passengers witnessed
the solemn and awful scene of the splendid steamer
going down, and of the waters closing over her. After
foundering, the escaping air in the doomed vessel
bubbled up, and a quantity of jute and whatever was
buoyant floated from the deck and came up from below,
and in a short time the river was strewed for two
miles with broken timbers and floating merchandise
from the wreck, and were picked up by watermen.
The disaster threw a complete gloom over the dig.
trict, though it was a source of congratulation that,
though the ship and merchandise were lost the pas-
sengers and crew were saved. Nearly all lost the
whole of their luggage, and some Dutch Jews lost all
their earthly possessions, one of them losiug a large
sum of money he waa taking over to Holland.
Operations were almost immediately commenced to
raise the sunken vessel or to remove her nearer shore.