The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-19 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 19, 1848

The LORD MAYOR—Such is the meaning of one of the
bye-laws, but many difficulties have occurred in the
legal construction and application thereof; and in that
dilemma we are placed with regard to the overcrowding
of the vessels. The Court of Aldermen has not been in-
attentive to the important subject which you have so
properly brought forward; and within the last few days
the question - has been again introduced to the special
notice of a committee.

Mr. John ilotson, who stated himself to be one of the
proprietors of the Fire liin steamer, here presented
himself, and said it was quite impossible to keep the
public out of the steam-vessels this fine weather. It
appeared as if they oared nothing at all about the
danger, which certainly was great, and if the authorities
(lid not adopt forcible measures it would be quite out of
the question to think of checking multitudes from
risking their lives. That very morning presented
several exhibitions in steamers which might seem
calculated to deter people from crowding on board,
for females lost their shawls and bonnets, and part of
their dresses were torn from their backs, all occasioned
by the rush to get on board. Some opinion might be
formed of the public appetite for steam from the fact
that one of the vessels landed 1,140 passengers. The
proprietors and the persons employed in the steamers
had made the most active efforts to keep the vessels
within the limits of the registration, but were completely
overwhelmed by the multitude.
The LORD MAYOR said he had received a letter that
morning from Greenwich, stating that the Fire King
steamer had 1,000 persons on board on Sunday, when
the machinery broke down, that the persons employed
in the engine-room were drunk, and the general con-
sternation was dreadful in the extreme.
Mr. Mason said there was no foundation for the
report. He had himself seen the accurate return of
passengers on board the Fire King, and the
number did not exceed 753. It was true the
stoker had been made drunk by some of the
passengers, and it was to be regretted that the fellow
had not been given into custody at Greenwich, but the
statement was a gross misrepresentation.
The LORD MAYOR said he believed the statement to
be correct, and he referred to the following letter, to
which he had just made allusion, as confirmatory of
some of the material allegations:—
" Surveyor of Steam-ships office, Greenwich,
17th July, 1848.
" My Lord,—The crowded state of the steam-vessels
on the Thames yesterday imperatively calls for some
immediate regulations.
" The steam-vessel, Fire King, under a new name (a
very old vessel, and properly named the Prince George,
according to register), to which vessel I directed your
Lordship's attention a few days since, had double the
number of passengers on board a vessel of her class
should be allowed to carry, crowding the tops of her
paddle-boxes and bridge. I counted ten persons
crowded on a short bowsprit projecting beyond the stern
of the vessel, and every other projecting part equally
crowded.

" In the confusion such a state of things occasioned in
the vessel, the machinery broke down, caused, it is said,
by the drunken state of those in the engine•rcom; and
the cries of females and children might be heard
from one side of the Thames to the other. The vessel
was so deep that in this dilemma sbe could not be got
alongside the pier at Greenwich, which she had reached
in this distressed and dangerous state, after four hours
and a half passage from Gravesend. The consequence
was, that small boats were called into requisition to land
the passengers, whose proper destination was Hunger-
ford-pier, and boats licensed to carry only eight passen-
gers, took in sixteen and eighteen persons, thus consti-
tuting another danger by the over-crowding of those
boats, to the risk of life. And the only wonder is, my
Lord, that if, as reported, owing to the drunken state of
those in charge of the machinery, a proper supply of
water was not maintained in the boiler, a much more
fearful sacrifice of human life did not occur than took
place when the Cricket blew up, as there were between
ten and eleven hundred persons on board.—l have the
honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient
humble servant,

" El). SMITH, Surveyor of Steam-boats."
The LORD MAYOR said he was convinced there was no
foundation for the statement of the proprietors of the
Fire King, that it was impossible to prevent the public
from overcrowding. He believed prevention to be quite
practicable, and the conduct described by Mr. Hawkins
appeared to him to be a sample of the general practice of
the steam-vessel commanders. It should be his study to
adopt the best means of protecting the public ; but he
could not forbear from expressing his apprehension that
an effectual remedy was not likely to be administered
until imperatively called for by the voice of some awful
calamity.