The Sun.
London, England, 1838-09-14 00:00:00

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

WATcnET, SEPT. 11.—Mr. Cape was busy harvesting his
corn, and the evening being unusually clear, serene, and
beautiful, Mrs. C. said she would go to the beach and bathe
the children. Her husband observed that they were too busy,
but she remarked that she should not be long away, and ac:
irdingly took six of the children and the servant with her,
Leaving the eldest boy to assist his father; this was about six in
the evening. About half-past nine Mr. C. having come into
his house from the yard, and not finding his wife and family
returned, became alarmed for their safety, and sent to a neigh-
bouring farm-house to see if they were there ; but not hearing
anything of them, he proceeded, with two or three others, to
the beach in search of them, continually calling out to his
wife by name, but received no answer. The tide had now
receded some way. At length he heard a sound near
the cliff, and on coming nearer he found his wife and
servant with three children. Mrs. C., on recognizing
her husband, exclaimed, " 0 Joseph, I. hope you will for-
give me—l have lost three of your children." The moon had
now risen to some height, and the calmness and serenity of
the evening were remarkable. The distressingly weakened
state of Mrs. C., her children, and the servant, and the ago-
nised feelings of the father, are only to be conceived from the
appalling nature of this distressing calamity. It appears that
Mrs. C., on reaching the beach, and selecting the intended
place for bathing, acted from the idea that the tide was ebb-
ing. After having bathed and dressed her children, still
thinking the tide was ebbing, she went up to one part of the
cliff and sat down, unconscious of her danger, to look at the
interesting scenery that surrounded her. After staying
with her children for some time, she observed that the water
was washing the two points that formed the extremity of the
bay she had selected for bathing, and immediately becoming
alarmed, went to the point nearest to her, but found she
could not get round it, and immediately returned to that
part farthest from the water, thinking that the tide would
presently recede. The water, however, still kept rising, the
waves rose successively, until at last the stone on which they
stood was under water, when one of her children, a little
boy about five years of age, requested his mother to put
him up into a hole in the cliff just above them, as he said he
was sure that all of them would be drowned. His mother,
with some difficulty, complied with his request, and in a few
minutes a tremendous swell of the tide washed them all from
the stone. Mrs. Cape, the servant, and two of the children,
regained the place they were washed from, but three of the
younger ones sunk to rise no more. The servant had a
child • in her arms, about eighteen months old, and in
an endeavour to save another, it was washed away from
her and lost. She, however, succeeded in saving one, by
holding its clothes firmly in her teeth. The eldest that
was lost was a girl about eight years of age, and the next a
boy about six, and the infant 18 months old. Had there
been any sea in the channel all must have inevitably perished,
but it was extremely calm, to which circumstance the sur-
vivors owe their safety. It happened to be one of the highest
tides of this spring, and the water rose to an unusual height.
Two immense swells were observed to pass Watchet Quay
about the time of the above disaster, which are supposed to
have washed the unhappy family from their place of supposed.
safety. They were thrown off their feet three times, but suc-
ceeded in gaining their position on the rock, with the excep-
tion of those lost. The eldest girl who is lost said to her mo-
ther—" 0, mother, let us pray, for we shall all be drowned ;"
she then repeated the Lord's Prayer, and just as she had con-
eluded the fatal swell came which washed them from their
footing. Neither of the bodies, save the girl, has yet been
found, and all hope of their recovery is now given up. The
boy, who was put into the hole of the cliff, when taken out, was
fast asleep. Mrs. C. has remained in a distressing state of
mind, and a very weakened state of body, ever since. She was,
however, pronounced a little better yesterday (Monday). The
servant, when found, was quite black in the face.

On Wednesday morning, about eight o'clock,
a respectable young man named Henry James, aged twenty-
three, who resided in Upper Eaton-street, Pimlico, was bath-
ing in the Thames, opposite to the White House Tavern,
Chelsea, when he was seized with cramp and was drowned.
The deceased was unmarried.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 183

CUSTOM-HOUSE NUISANCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR—I have seen repeated complaints of the unnecessary in-
convenience to which passengers are put by the miserable,
drivelling, and tedious way in which luggage is passed through
the Custom-house ; but I had no idea of the real extent of the
nuisance till I became a personal sufferer. The facts are sim-
ply these :—1 arrived yesterday in the Queen Adelaide
steamer from Boulogne, about twenty minutes past four, and
was obliged to wait three hours before I could get a carpet-bag,
which the searcher examined in less than half a minute. There
were more than a hundred passengers on board, and probably
not more than thirty of them had passed before I left. How
long the remainder had to stay I cannot tell ; but, if the autho-
rities went on at the same rate, thirty more would have occu-
pied another hour, making at least four hours delay on a voy-
age of twelve hours, in passing mere luggage, for, with one
or two exceptions, there was little else. The Batavier steamer
arrived a short time after the Adelaide, and at half-past seven
I saw crowded together in a room some thirty or forty passen-
gers, waiting with anything but willing resignation for the
hour of their release. According to the present absurd system
no other result can be expected. The luggage is taken in a
barge from the wharf to the Custom-house—the packages
are hauled up one by one by porters, who seem
to be under no authority, and who, on this oc-
casion, actually quarrelled with the Custom-house
officer on duty about the best way of taking the
tallies—and till the whole is deposited in the Custom-house
not an article, however small, is passed. At least two hours
elapsed before any name was called, and possibly another half
hour might have been lost but for the repeated knocks at the
door, and the loud and indignant exclamations of the passen-
gers against such wanton delay. One poor Frenchman, who
had been sent by his master on some mission here, was all but
crying. He had only one petit sac de nuit, as he called his
carpet bag, and was directed to return by the vessel next
morning, but owing to the delay he would be compelled to
remain in London till Saturday. I appeal to you, Sir,
whether in these times, when rapid communication has made
such progress, and has proved so beneficial to trade, such con-
duct on the part of the Commissioners of Customs is not only
injurious but disgraceful to the country, and whether Mr.
Poulett Thomson might not have been better employed in cor.
reefing these abuses in his department, than in concocting the
Trading Companies Bill ? I know these Commissioners are
very great men ; but Government, if they acted with spirit,
could roach them ; and I intreat you, who know what the
value of time is, to prick them on for the sake of the hundreds
of daily sufferers at the Custom-house, and in order to get rid
of a disgrace and a nuisance. Can we rail at the French
system of passports, when a Frenchman may be detained here
a day or two, because these authorities take three hours in
Passing his night bag through the Custom-house ?
Sept. 13, 1838. A TRAVELLER.