The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-13 00:00:00

THE CALAMITY IN THE CITY.

In the course of yesterday the bodies of the two
young women, who, with four others, were crushed
or trampled to death in the city of London, on the
night of the general illumination. and who had re-
mained unrecognised during Wednesday, were
identified. One, which lies at. the National Re-
freshment-rooms in Farringdon-street, is now
known to be that of Mrs. Elizabeth Grobe, a widow,
28 years of age, who resided at 9. Lower Park-
street, Islington. The other, which remains at
St. Bartholo.nev•V's Hospital, was the body of Ellen
Giles, 19 years of age, who had lived as a domestic
servant with a sister of Mrs. Grebe, at Denmark -
grove, Barnsbury•road. Mrs Grobe and the girl
Giles, with a sister of the latter, had
gone into the city together to see the illumina-
tion. They had reached the foot of Ludgate-hill
when the sister, who survives, was separated from
them in the crowd, and the inference is that the two
perished together. A•tl the six women who were
crushed to death have now been identified by
f iends or relatives. It is said that a woman named
Bradley, residing at 3, Oak-lane, Limehouse, went
into the city on the evening of the illumination,
taking with her a child at the breast, and that both
were severely crushed in the crowd. On her way
home she was horrified to find that the child was
dead.

Yesterday Mr. Payne, the coroner for the city of
L .ndon, and a jury of 16 of the principal merchants
and whatfingers of the ward of Queenhithe, of
whom Mr. Teede was chosen foreman, held an in-
quest at. the Crown and Sugar-loaf Tavern, Garlick-
hill, on the bodies of Pnoaqe Crystall and Charlotte
Donigan, two of the six unfortunate women.
The jury went first of all to view the bodies,
which lay at a dead-house in Huggin-lane, close by.
It is said there were no marks of external violence
on the woman Don:gen, but the features of Mrs.
Crystall were disfigured by patch of blood, which
had flowed from a fracture of the back part of the
skull. The deceased was well dressed and had been
a lady like person.

With respect to the woman Donigan these were
the facts stated in evidence :—She was 24 years of
age and resided with her husband, a porter, at 27,
Fort-street, Spitalfields. Her husband and she left
home together about half-past. 7 o'clock oft Tuesday
evening, to see the illuminations, he carrying their
baby, about 12 months old. They went by way of
Bishopsgate and Threadneedle-streets to the open
space in front of the Mansion-house, and, mingling
with the crowd there, they proceeded in the
direction of the Poultry, the wife walking behind
him. The carriage traffic was then advancing in a
siegle line along Cheapside towards Cornhill, and
the people on toot, of whom there was a great
crowd, occupied the rest of the roadway. As the
Donigans were passing the end of Charlotte-row,
which abuts upon the space in front of the Man-
sion-house, a cab-horse started from the line
and began to plunge and kick, causing the
crowd at that spot to rush backwards alarmed.
The man Donigan in trying to save his wife was
knocked down and trampled undtr toot, by which he
was rendered insensible and did not know what be-
came of her. That, according to his account, was about
8 o'clock. One George Bissmire, a silversmith, living
in Duke-street, Smithfield, was on the spot at the
time, going in a contrary direction towards London
bridge, and he saw a woman, which turned out to be
the deceased, lying in the road under a cab, with her
feet towards the horses' heels and between the wheels,
which:did not appear to have touched her. The line
of carriages was then perfectly still. There was some
discrepancy as to the child. The father thought he had
passed it into a van at the time he fell, but. the wit-
ness Bissmire saw au infant lying acrossthe deceased's
breast as she lay under the cab. The child, at all
eveats, was r scued and afterwards taken to the
Bow lane police-station alive. Bissmire, wi, la the as,
sistance of a friend, managed to raise the woman up
and carry her to an open doorway opposite St. Mil-
dred's-court. From there she was conveyed to the
Bow-lane police station, where she was seen by Mr.
May, a surgeon, who pronounced her to be dead.
The evidence of Police-sergeant Gilsby, who was on
duty in Mansion-house-street and the Poultry,
threw some additional light on the utter. Seeing
a great gap in the crowd where people had fallen,
he made towards it, and found tnem tour or five
deep, or, as he expressed it, level with his chest.
He laid hold of the wheel of a van and raised him-
self into it, and from there he shouted and gesticu-
lated to the people behind not to press forward, A
child was at that moment handed to him, and he
gave it into the care of some one in the van. The
pressure of the people had caused the cab horse to
swerve from the rank; the woman was the first to
fall, and she lay for some time below those who had
fallen over her.

It was proved as regards the deceased woman
Crystal! that she was 58 years of age, the widow of
a cabinetmaker, and resided at 9, Bridge-street,
Hammersmith. She had come into the city on the
Monday to see the illumin,tions, and with that view
had staid over night at the house of a friend, S rah
Part ridge, the wite of a harnessinaker, in Long-lane,
Strait hfieid. About 8 o'clock on Tuesday evening she
and Mrs. Partridge tat home together, and made
their way to the front of the Mansion-house. On
reaching St. Mildred's Church, at the east end of the
Poultry, the crowd became very dense, and there was
a good deal of shouting and screaming. Mrs. Part-
ridge urged her friend to go back, but the latter
wished to press forward, and they continued their
way, the crowd as they did so becoming greater at
every st* p. The two, who did what they could to
keep themselves from falling, were driven back
against some iron gates by the crowd ; the deceased
at that moment heaved a few sighs, and then they
fell together below a waggon, which was standing
still at the moment, the deceased, as was believed,
striking against a wheel with her head. The wo-
men were afterwards dragged out and taken first
into a little court and then to the Bow-lane police
station. Mrs. Partridge had since safer recovered
as to be able to give evidence at the inquest.
At the request of Mr. Watson, a juryman, In-
spector Foulger was called to explain the police
arrangements on the night of the illumination. He
said that all vehicles in Cheapside were required
to go eastward in a single line, and that those pro-
ceeding westward were to go by Cannon-street, the
object being to avoid two lines of traffic going in a
contrary direction.
Mr. Watson asked if any instructions were given
for the regulation of the passenger traffic.
Witness sad none, except that the police were to
keep them moving as much as possible.
Mr. Wa son—Don't you think, after the expe-
rience in front of the Mansion House on Saturday,
some barriers ought to have been erected P
Witness—No; we wanted as much room as pos-
t sible for the people to circulate. If barriers had been
put up, many people must have been suffocated from
that cause alone. There was only one row of efki'-
riages, anti we allowed no cross traffic at all. In the
Poultry, which is so narrow that only three car-
riages can go abreast, barriers would have been
impracticable except at much risk to life and limb.
Mr. Wilson—lt may be in your recollection that
at the Duke of• Wellington's funeral several people
were killed on the first day of the lying in state,
but bafflers having been afterwards erected no
more fatal accidents occurred.
Witnese—The mischief on that occasion arose
from the pressure on a particular entrance, and
these barriers were practicable and useful, but iltat
was not the case where the police had to deal with
a crowd stretching over whole streets. The fact
was that the streets in the city were not wide
enough to meet the emergencies of a great crowd.
Mr. Watson—You knew very swell the streets
were narrow, and therefore greater precautions
to
t
should h tve been taken, and a greater number of
menWitness—We
employed
maintain
took
all eWthought necessary, ohred er
precautionssong th e
that er o wd.
we
but the people congregated in
such vast numbers as to defy all attempts to control
them. In the Tuesday whole line on evening there
was not a carriage out of its place, and we tried to
regulate the foot-passengers as far as we were able.
The foreman, Mr. Teede, thought great credit was
due to the police under the circumstances. (He
did not say in what way.)
Mr. May, surgeon, who had been called in to see