The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-27 00:00:00

water washed another body out from the wreck, and
a fourth was found by a waterman floating towards
`Waterloo• bridge. With the exception of the call-
boy not one of the unfortunate persons are known.
Those at the hospital are so severely injured as not to
be able to tell who they are.
The last party picked up is well known to the
people on the pier as being a daily passenger. He
had 1/. 10s. in gold in his pocket, and 103: in silver.
He wore a gold chain and silver watch. Some of
his linen was marked J. N. B. There was a letter
in his pocket, which may possibly lead to his identity.
It was dated Wednesday, and commenced thus :
"Dear John,—l am going to Walton's this after-
noon," and ended, " I shall expect you to-morrow
(Thursday) without fail."
(Signed) " W. N. SMART."
One of the parties who was going by the boat to
London-bridge, and who had just taken his seat when
the disaster occurred, thus related the affair to the re-
porter. He said, " I had barely seated myself on the
fore cabin deck than a scene which I shall never for-
get took place. The boat at first seemed to heave
up and then down, and whilst I was considering what
it could be I saw the whole of the middle blow up
with a frightful noise ; at the same time I saw one of
the passengers, whom I had noticed standing at the
side of the chimney, ascend into the air with the
boiler. The rush of smoke and steam that followed
prevented me from seeing anything else, and I im-
mediately leaped over the side of the boat, and
by laying hold of one of the chains of the pier
I got on to the dumb lighter, and by that
means saved myself. I have no doubt that con-
siderably more persons were driven into the river
than have yet been found. lam led to this conclu-
sion from the number' I saw in the boat, and the
comparatively few that I saw afterwards leaving. I
should think that there were from 100 to 150 on
board, and I don't think more than 80 left."
There is no doubt that some of the ill-fated pas-
sengers were carried away with the tide, which was
running down very strong at the time.
(LATEST PARTICULARS.)

Shortly before the fatal catastrophe the captain
and crew, and engineer, left the engine-room, where
everything appeared in its usual state of safety, and
left the vessel to proceed to the pier, for what is at

present unexplained, when in an instant a loud and
rumbling noise was heard, like the first breaking out
of a volcano, which was immediately followed by a
terrific explosion,, which was distinctly heard for
miles round the metropolis, and many persons ima-
gined that it was the roaring of distant thunder.

At this moment the vast concourse of persons
who had assembled on the pier were forced back in
all directions by a dense mass of smoke arising,
and by heavy weights falling upon and striking
them. By the time -the dense smoke had cleared
away, those who were 'fortunate enough to re-
main unhurt soon discovered that the boiler had
burst on board the vessel, and that the decks,
and all the passengers on them, were blown
almost to atoms. A most frightful scene
here presented itself on the after part of the
vessel. The deck had been smashed into a thousand
pieces, and all persons there were more or less hurt ;
some were literally cut into pieces—legs, arms, and
heads were seen flying in all directions. The screams
from the persons on the bridges and piers in the vici-
nity were of the most heartrending character. Some
of the persons on the pier had just seen their friends on
board, and were only waiting for the vessel to depart,
and in an instant they were blown in all directions.
The scene is described by a person who was on board
at the time es being of a most extraordinary character.
The following is the statement of police-constable
F 111, who was on board at the time :

I went on board at about twenty minutes to ten.
When I had been on board about five minutes I heard
a terrific explosion, and before I could recover from
the shock I was quite stunned by finding my
wife and two children, who had accompanied me on
board, had by some means been torn from me, by
what means I could not tell ; all I knew was that the
boat appeared to be sinking. Large missiles of all
description kept dropping for some seconds, and
when the smoke which the explosion had caused had
cleared- away, I succeeded in rescuing my family;
and thew I saw that the' dftelFsrol the _vessel had been
.shattereci to-pieces; fuicityarfieirly all the passengers
who had not been thrown overboard were either dead
or dying. The hull ‘f the vessel was then filled with
water, and was sinking fast.

Only one body has been identified, it is that of Mr,
J. Blunt, of Vauxhall-road, watchmaker.

The drags are now actively engaged in endeavour.
ing to recover the other bodies.

It is expected that above 50 persons have lost their
lives in the cabins, but as the tide was fast flowing,
it is impossible to search for them until after the tide
goes down.

(FROM ANOTHER REPORTER.)

THREE O'CLOCK,

It appears, on further inquiry, that but four
deaths have been caused by this distress-
ing accident =at least, only four have been
found ; but it is presumed that several
will yet be found. It was currently re-
ported that two bodies were found, soon after the oc-
currence, at Blackfriars-bridge, they having been
carried thither by the tide, which was
running down at the time of the accident,
but we cannot vouch for the correctness of the infor-
mation. The boat is completely shattered, and al-
though every means were taken to buoy it up with
barges, the greater portion of it has sunk. It is a
complete wreck.

The call-boy died shortly before three o'clock, in,the
presence of our Reporter. His widowed mother,
and some friends were at his death-bed. They
were overwhelmed with grief, as may' be ima-
gined. His head presented a frightful spectacle.
There were several severe gashes, each in itself suffi-
cient to cause death. He died from fracture of the
brain.

Up to the time we write the following will be
found an accurate list of the persons killed:—

The Call-b'

A man dressed as a sailor—name unknown.
John Littleton, 6, Bloomsbury-street.
John Blunt, jun., watchmaker, 3, Vauxhall-bridge
road.

Two, we understand, are lying in a dangerous
state at the hospital.

The engineer's statement is to the following
effect :—He says he was in the engine-
room at the time, and that he did not re-

cover his consciousness until he found himself
lying on the pier !!! There must, to all appearances,
have been considerable neglect. We are informed
that the sister of the unfortunate boy at the time the
disaster happened was waiting on the pier with his
breakfast.

('We shall give further particulars in our Third
Edition.)

POST•OPFICE NOTICE.—VIGO, OPORTO, LISBON,
CADIZ, GIBRALTAR, MEDITERRANEAN, EGYPT, INDIA,
AND CuLNA.—The Iberia, for the Peninsular, &c., mains
on the morning of the 27th (this day). The next mails
for Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian Islands, Egypt,
India, China, &c., via Southampton, will be dispatched
from hence on the morning of the 3d September. The
Erin, for the Mediterranean, Egypt, India, &c., mails of
the morning of the 3d September. The next mails for
the Mediterranean, Egypt, India, China, &c., and Mar-
seilles, will be dispatched from hence on the evening of
the 7th September. Madeira, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres
—Her Majesty's brig Crane, for the mails of the 4th
September (from August to January inclusive, the
packet touches at Pernambuco and Bahia on her out-
ward passage to Rio Janeiro, and the other six months
on her homeward). Sydney, New South Wales—The
Kelso, for the mails of the 31st instant. West Indies,
&c.—The Forth, for the mails of the morning of the 2d
September. America—The Britannia, for the mails of
the evening of the 3d September.
The King of the Two Sicilies has just promulgated
a decree, which, after setting forth the reforms he has
effected since his accession to the throne—among others
the paying off of the floating debt, the reduction of the
public debt, and the lowering of the duties on grinding
corn, on meat, on the exportation of olives, &c.—orders
that from the Ist of January, 1848, the fiscal duty on
grinding corn shall be abolished, that the civic duty on
it shall be greatly reduced, the duty on salt shall
be reduced one-third, at.d that the duties on the wines
of Sicily shall be reduced nearly one half. The reduc-
tion of the duties on salt and
on grinding corn will
lessen the burdens on the people to a very large extent.
FIRE AT NORTIILEACIL—On Saturday last a lad,
in the employ of Mr. Garn, of Broadmire farm, incau
tiously nit d a lucifer match for ligntivg his pipe in the
immediate vicinity of his toast. is hay ,tack; a spark
from the match set fire to one of the ricks, and in the
course of a short time two stacks, containing about forty
tons of prime hay, were totally destroyed.—Cheltenham
Examiner.