The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-11 00:00:00

THE CANADIAN STEAMBOAT
DIS ASTER.

The American papers received in England give details
of the terrible disaster which occurred recently near London,
Ontario.

Mr. R. G. Montgomery, a leather merchant, living
in London, who escaped (from the wreck, has given
an account of the occurrence. He says that when
the bciat :went down she was not more than 40ft. from
the bank, and went down with astonishing rapidity. To
save themselves, those on the promenade deck clustered
round the stanchions that supported the awning over-
head, but these snapped like pipestems ; a second later
the supports of the promenade deck gave way, and the
whole wreck slid down the port or shore side of the
hull into the water. Mr. Montgomery caught hold of an
iron rod or bracket of some kind in the awning, and
holding to this managed to keep his 'lead above water
for some seconds after the collapsed promenade deck
beneath his feet had gone into the water. His
position at this time was a terrible one. Below
the deck which had sunk from under him
he knew that scores were perishing, drowning like
rats in a hole while the awning to which he was cling-
ing was rapidly sinking and burying beneath it men,
women, and children whose piteous shrieks rent the
air on every side. With children clinging about their
necks, they would beat the water madly with their
arms, and, with eyes starting from their sockets, utter
shriek after shriek, until at last a half-smothered cry,
that ended in a sickening gurgle, told that they had gone
down beneath the waves. But even this was not the
most horrible of Mr. Montgomery's experiences.
While he still held his head above the water,
he could feel the drowning children, whose little
heads were swept under waters some seconds be-
fore his own, clutching at his legs in what he well
knew were their dying struggles. Drowning mothers
grasped him frantically, and piteously implored his
help. His coat and waistcoat were almost torn from
him. At length the awningsank so low that he.too went
down overhead in the water' and then by aprotracted and
desperate effort, during which he was more than once on
the point of giving up, he dragged himself band over
hand along the iron rod to which he had been clinging,
and finally crawled on the half sunk hull of the
wrecked steamer. One or two who clung to him were
saved. As soon as he found himself on the wreck he
caught a piece of rope lying near him and flung the
end of it to a rnan, whom he saw swimming on the
starboard side of the wreck with a boy on his
back. This man had jumped into the river with
the boy just as the wreck was falling in the
opposite direction. The brave fellow was nearly
exhausted as he was hauled to the side of the
wreck, but he managed to gasp out, "Save the
boy ! " They did save the boy and his gallant pre-
server, too. Those working on the wreck, including
Mr. Montgomery himself, now managed to raise up
the awning of the upper deck, the edge of which still
rested partially upon the sunken hull, and from
beneath this many women and children were rescued
alive, but below this again and deeper in the water lay
the promenade deck, which had swept down beneath
it scores and scores of victims. None of these could
be resuscitated.

Mr. William Duffield gives an account of the dis-
aster, in which he says :—" When the boat careened
the boiler and connexions slipped into the water, cut-
ting away the timbers supporting the upper deck,
and carrying it along. There was just one great
screech mingled with a hissing sound as the
boiler went down, and then an appalling silence
ensued. The transformation that took place was
almost like a flash. I found myself standing up to
the middle in the water on a small part of the steamer,
which formed a raft. My boys were near me. One of
them said, 'My God! Pa; look at those few saved out
ot such a crowd!' I turned round and saw two small
groups of survivers—one on a portion of the wreck,
the other on the shore. The number altogether looked
very small as compared with the crowd on board.
I felt nerved with the strength of a lion, and suc-
ceeded in raising with my back a portion of the
deck, and had it propped up with a piece of
board. Then I put my hand down and picked up people
in all conditions, one after another. While standing
in the water I felt my legs grasped by numerous hands,
which seemed to be reached out wildly for something
to seize hold of. One of my sons told me he had the
same experience. After a while I could see the bodies
coming up to the surface in every direction, some
from among a lot of the matchwood into which the
steamer's hull had been splintered, some from under
the deck resting on the water. I thought at one time
that I should be dragged under by the weight of
persons who had hold of my legs. I could not get
released until they must have died, and I was power-
less to save them.

Alexander Hardy, a medical student, says :—" I
was on the bow of the lower deck of the Victoria when
the accident happened, and when I saw that the boat
was sinking I climbed to the upper deck and dived
from there to the London side. I threw a post
to a man coming behind me. He grabbed it, and
I got him to the shore, when he again fell into
the water, and I pulled him out. When I looked
around, I saw the people crowding on the' hurricane
deck, and in one instance a little bcy caught a woman
around the neck and pulled her back. Mr. English
and I threw some long pieces of fence into the water,
by which means several were saved. I cut my shoe-
laces and threw my shoes off and swam back to the
wreck and saved a Mrs. Reeves. Procuring a boat, I
saved Miss Meredith, of London, and also Mrs.
Nicholas Wilson, whom I took off at the same time.
The sight was frightful ; wails of despair filled the
air, and people were continually coming to the surface
in a half-choked condition. The scene was one that I
shall never forget."