The Sun.
London, England, 1837-11-15 00:00:00

STEAM-BOAT ACCIDENT.

Yesterday morning, soon after H o'clock, a most disas-
trous accident occurred in Blackwall-reach, by the running
down of a collier's boat, containing five persons, by the
Mercury, a Gravesend steamer, on her way to London.
One man was almost cut to pieces by the padd'e of the
steam-vessel, and another was drowned. The captain of
the collier was severely injured, and a fourth man had his
skull fractured. It appears that the Mercury, commanded
by Captain Turner, who was collecting the fares from the
passengers when the accident happened, left Gravesend with
passengers at half-past nine o'clock, and had proceeded as
far as the lower part of Blackwall-reach, nearly off the
West India Dock buoy, when she met with a "
(a Yorkshire vessel with one mast) with a boat containing
Captain Robson, of the collier brig Bells, of Heaton
Sluice, and four men, towing astern of the " billy boy."
The steamer, which was going at full speed, was
within a very short distance of the ship's-boat before
any person on board saw her, and the " hilly-boy"
at the time was standing over on the starboard-tack.
The people in the boat immediately called out to the
steamer to stop, and Captain Robson exclaimed " Stop !
Stop her ! Are you going to run us down ?" The boat
and the steamer were within a few yards' distance of each
other, and some persons on board the Mercury called out
to hold fast by the boat's painter, and others to let her go.
A youth in th boat let go the painter, which separated her
from the billy-boy, and brought her under the bows of the
Mercury, which had never slackened her speed, and she
went right over the boat. One man never rose again, and
was drowned. The captain and a man who received a
severe wound in his head rose, after the steamer had gone
over them, about 200 yards from the Mercury, and
were taken into a boat which put off to their assistance
in a most exhausted state. The steamer brought up as
soon as possible, and some persons on the river having
called out that a man was in the larboard paddle wheel, search
was immediately made for him, and one of Captain Robson's
men, a youth who was recently out of his time, was found
in the wheel quite dead ; his clothes were torn off, the limbs
were frightfully mangled, and the head was all but severed
from the body. The corpse of the unfortunate man was
immediately lowered into a boat and taken ashore. There
is no doubt that the man was taken up by the wheel in its
revolutions, and carried round with it. Only one man in
the boat escaped uninjured, who, when the collision took
place, seized hold of the iron rail at the stem of the Mer-
cury, and got over the bows on to the deck. At the mo-
ment the Mercury struck the boat Captain Robson got up,
far the purpose of laying hold of the iron rail, and suc-
ceeded in doing so, but the shock was so great that he was
forced away, and went under the steamer. He was carried
to the Dreadnoughl hospital ship, with his man, where their
wounds were dressed. The Captain was enabled to pro-
ceed to- his own home in Ratcliff during the afternoon.
The man remains on board the hospital ship, and we heard
in the evening that ho was going on favourably. The cir-
cumstances of this deplorable accident have caused a good
deal of excitement on the river. The names of the de-
ceased are Young and Robson. They are both-young men.