The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-28 00:00:00

EITVITing 4ittit

LON.)ON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1847.

The dreadful accident which yesterday startled the
ieOlabitants of the metropolis illustrates in a very
dis tressing manner the necessity of bringing to a
sI reedy conclusion the arrangements which have been
so long pending between the Government and the
co rporation of the City of London, in regard to the
Coi sservancy of the Thames. That question proves to
be lot merely one involving considerations of public
convenience, but likewise of public safety. By esta-
b lithing a properly-organized association for the
s uperintendence of matters appertaining to the river
ss .hich flows through the capital of the country, it is
no w manifest that we shall be affording greater secu-
rikv to the lives of the community, as well as con-
ducing to the facilitation of traffic upon the Thames,
and the improvement of the most neglected and
dilapidated quarters of London.
Although the majority of the reports already cir-
oso of the catastrophe of yesterday are egregiously
vaggerated and absurdly contradictory, there can be
n. question that the investigations of the Coroner
m ust corroborate many of the more mournful parti-
ct Oars published by ourselves. Some such statement
as the following must be viewed as accurate. One of
tht halfpenny steam-boats, named the Cricket, plying
be tween London-bridge and the Fox-under-the-Hill
171.9r7 was partially destroyed at about half-past nice
c1"i(
yesterday morning, by the explosion of its
oiler.b At the moment of the explosion the deck and
c abins were crowded by the average complement of
p assengers, amounting to nearly 150 individuals • and
.hen the smoke and steam which issued from the en-
gine-room had partiallyseungr
subsided,
as d;a comparatively
5: mall number of these pass
discoveredmtand
-rescued—some of them clinging to the re.
the vessel ; others remaining, stunned, but uninjured,
on on the portion of the steam-boat which had not been
,demolished; and others floating in the water, or
scrambling into the barges. As yet, it is, of course,
impossible to estimate the precise amount of lives
4 acrificed, and property destroyed. Still, it is mani-
fi :st that lives hare been sacrificed, and property has
b een destroyed, through an accident which, with
roper precaution, could never by any pos-
sibility have happened. The perfection to
w hich the great invention of the steam-
Sine has been carried by an extraordinary
4combination of ingenuity and experience precludes
the chance of any such catastrophe as the one which
yesterday scattered the timbers of the Cricket over
the Thames, with the most moderate care and the
;most ordinary precautions. Accidents like this,
y from therefore, can arise solel fro culpable negligence
.67 from the diabolical freaks of insanity. It would
appear, moreover, in this particular incident, that
Bome time ago the public were
warned
the
dangerous construction of the three halfpennyies steam-
oats--the to
e am-
xtats—the Ant, the Bee, and the cr, kat
—l.nsnte Instead
little publication about locomotive engines.
.of having low-pressure condensing engines, thesea
boats were moved by engines, working at an average
pressure of 361bs. on the square inch. This circum-
stance alone implied an existence of danger, unless the
engineers and stokers guarded against peril by a
more than customary vigilance. In the first place,
therefore, the company which is the proprietor of these
halfpenny steam-boats acted most injudiciously, to
say the least of it, in selecting engines of such a
hazardous construction. Again, at the period of these
explosion it would seem that the men immediately in
charge
The meof the engine-room were not in attendance.
..ocircumstance of their escape from destruc-
ri is sutlicient proof of this, and corroborates, in a
striking manner, thes..tat t
htement made before Mr.
JARDENE, at the
i3ow rolice-court, shortly
after the time of the catastrophe. This statement
Naas made by a man named J.Pa.NI: Etawa,aos, for-
merly employed upon this
e
Y a st
leca naa
n-db oat
horrible, th e
Cricket, and it is at once 5 remrarkb
that we transcribe it entire.
JAPRET EDWARDS declared
t
lie had been engaged on board until b
months back, when he was reported by his superior u three
peorior aad
discharged, for having pointed out the improper manner

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