The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-28 00:00:00

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happy
taken
ground_ __
That, however, of itself, appears to have caused no
immediate harm to the people stationed at the point
where it occurred ; but there arose instantaneously
a cry of" Fire !" which was caught up from mouth
to mouth by the crowd above, and conveyed into
the galli::". lf. From there, in one moment more,
there ~ .. v,i Iby the people downstairs so great
as to (lei) all attempts to resist it. They opened
or tore down the barrier at the top of the stairs
opposite the check-taker's box, rushed down in mad
haste to the next landing, where again the money-
taker's barrier offered but a feeble resistance. There
the advanced guard of the crowd waiting on the
stairs, sharing in the panic, turned round to swell
the. descending torrent and to effect their escape.
This was the crisis of the calamity. On reaching
the last landing-place from the ground in their
downward course more than a score of people were
thrown down, and the greater part of them literally
trodden and crushed to death. Some there were
_ -

PRICE 4D• STAMPED, SD.

have made a further outlay ;of nearly £6,000,000.
Consequently, we have invested in these ships
nearly £28,000,000. Now, any radical change in
the construction of war ships must tend to render
this enormous sum of money lost to us, and entail
upon us a fresh expense of like or of greater amount.
No other power has so large and expensive a navy,
and, therefore, no other nation has so much to lose
by sweeping Changes. As good economists, we
should not then be over hasty in developing new
means of naval warfare in times of peace. The de-
fence of our coasts is, of course, at all times a legi-
timate subject of improvement, and no necessary
pains should be spared in rendering that com-
plete. But that may be best done by man-
ning a sufficient number of the ships we
have, rather than by devising new ones ;
and the existing Government will deserve
great praise if they provide the means of doing this.
There is no sign of weakness now visible in the
navy of England save in its lack of men. The ships
we possess carry no less than 15,140 guns, and could
these be all discharged at once, would, at each
round,< project 254 tons of iron ! In one day of
twelve hours, firing but one round per minute, they
would therefore project 914,000 tons, enough to
form a solid cannon ball 120 feet in diameter. To
fully man all these ships, and bring all their powers
into play, we should require but 162,000 men, and
if we had but a fair proportion of these to call
upon in an emergency, our defence would surely be
complete. It will probably be objected by some
that the French and Americans are building a new
class of formidable vessels, and that we must, there-
fore, do the same. But the assumption of such
objectors requires proof. The "ram's nest," lately
discovered in America. is very much like another
kind of nest which some peoble are vtry often find-
ing. The " yarn" that it contains heed occasion no
alarm. It has already cost the American Govern-
ment 800,000 dollars, and a committee appointed to
examine it is said fo have reported that it will take
800,000 more to complete the operations begun. It
is, therefore, exceedingly likely to remain in its
nest for very many years to come ; indeed, an
American scientific paper some time since pro-
nounced it fit only for exhibition to visitors, at
three cents, a piece, as a monument of folly. As
to the French, they have, like ourselves, many
inducements to refrain from great innovations.
Where we have sixty steam line-of-battle ships
they have thirty ; where we have 330 steam-ships
they have 229 ; and where we have 600 ships in all
they have 400. Further, much that we have
heard of their proceedings is not only false, but
ridiculous. The rumour that they were build-
ing six polished'steel•frigates, by which some per-
sons were recently plunged into deep distress, was
manifestly put forth to excite our foolish fears ;
and. statements less evidently absurd are doubtless
often started with a like object. The French navy
itself, though too costly to be thrown lightly aside,
is greatly inferior to ours, as we have just seen ;
and the Emperor can be doing nothing that our
Government are not advised of, and which they are
not, therefore, at liberty to do also ; and, doubtless,
would do, were it anything formidable. Certainly
nothing yet made public need excite our appre-
hension. Give us a strong'Channel fleet, liberally
manned and well disciplined, and no power that the
French, or any other Government, possesses would
dare to menace our coasts ; nor would any man
venture to say, with Sir Francis Head, that no-
thing but the will of a foreign Emperor kept Lon-
don secure from a foreign army. Let it not be
thought that the economical considerations before
alluded to should be suppressed in the discussion of
this topic. Certainly, economy should not be car-
ried so far as to cripple the Government in defend-
ing either Great Britain or its dependencies ; nor
should it be permitted to impede those researches
and experiments which may be essential to the full
and prompt development of our strength in the
time of war, should that arrive. But surely this
country, with no offensive or aggressiue ends to
attain, and yet possessing a navy worth 28 millions
of money, and crowded, as it is; with a fearless and
patriotic people, need not wince at every hostile
whisper, or spend another million on war ships every
time a foolish foreigner boasts ; nor can it be
amiss for such a nation to count the cost of so time,
rous a policy. But if we are resolved on advancing
at full speed in these matters, we have need to pre-
pare ourselves for such navy estimates as we have
never before known. For there never was a period
when the art of naval warfare was more susceptible
of change than it is at this moment. Fifty years
ago the dimensions of vessels were, by common con-
a 7 assmasacw
was practically stationary; the winds of heaven
were our only propellers, and blew on all fleets
equally. But now 'we build frigates much larger
than the line-of-battle ships of that day, and know
of nothing to hinder us from building them twice
as large if we will. Our guns are incessantly im-
proved—now by one, now by another, and the
breech-loading rifled cannon which Mr. Armstrong
has just given us, and which ranges, I am told, four
miles, may be quickly succeeded by another of twice !
its range. The paddle-wheel has made us independ-
ent of sails ; the screw has made us independent of
the paddle-wheel ; and the 200-horse power engine
of the Rattler has been followed by the 1,000-horse
power engine which is: to drive the Mersey, and
that may speedily be replaced by one ten times its
power. A single improvementin the manufacture of
iron, which hundreds are now seeking to improve,
may at any moment give us the means of carrying
our steam pressure to unheard-of heights, of resist-
ing shells with the utmost ease, and of augmenting
the strength of our ordnance tenfold."

_ ..
who precipitated themselves over the balustrades
from one landing to another, on the heads of the
affrighted mass below, and either saved their lives
or perished in the attempt..

There is a rumour abroad, to which at this
moment we know not what amount of credit is
due, that the alarm within the theatre originated,
not from the explosion of gas on the stairs, but
with a boy in one of the boxes who had sat down
on his coat pocket, in which :he carried some
fusees, and so ignited them. The accident is cer-

tainly referred-to this latter cause by some of the
people connected with the theatre, who, accounting
for it in that way, deny that the explosion of gas
on the landing-place of the gallery stairs had any,
thing to do with the calamity. They also state
that knowing a crowd always assembles on such
occasions on the stairs leading to the gallery before
the audience at the carlsier performance has left the
theatre. they provide ntlipr innring of exit f..r +b.
departing body than the ordinary descent by the
stairs, and that could the people who left the gal-
lery on the panic have availed themselves of that
arrangement, the result would probably have been
harmless.

It remains to be told, that in spite of this fright-
ful calamity the entertainment at the theatre in
the evening went on as if nothing uncommon had
happened, and that long before the doors opened
an immense multitude congregated at all the points
of entrance waiting for admission. It may be as-
sumed, in charity towards our common humanity,
that few of them could have been cognisant of the
melancholy event which had happened only an
hour before, but the conduct of those concerned in
the management of the theatre is not susceptible of
any such construction.
Up to an advanced hour last night only two of
the dead had been identified by their relatives. One=
is a boy about 15 or 16, named Wm. Jones, of 12,
Wellington-place, Waterloo-road, whose body lies at
the Lambeth dead-house ; the other is a youth of

17, named Wm. Cooper, who resided with his
parents at 7, Anthony-street, Salisbury-place, Ber-
mondsey, and who. was recognised by a younger
brother who had accompanied him to the theatre.
He lies at St. Thomas's Hospital, with the body of
another, which, at 9 o'clock yesterday evening, had
not been identified. It is a noteworthy circumstance
that among the whole fifteen who have lost thei
lives, there is not one woman ; and that they are
all boys and youths whose ages apparently run
between 21 and 14. Ten of them were taken in
cabs by the police to the Lambeth workhouse, the
master of which, Mr. Piercy, promptly secured the
attendance of Mr. Bullen, but without avail, for
they were all dead on their arrival there. It was
a touching spectacle to witness the whole ten as
they lay side by side, just as they had been brought
in from the scene of the calamity. Though they
had all met with a violent death, the features of
every one of them were remarkably composed.
Their lineaments, indeed, were slightly discoloured
and swollen in places, but they bore an expression
so placid that one might have fancied them asleep.
While we were there several half-frantic men and
women who had sons missing came in to see if they
were among the dead, but at 8 o'clock last night
none of them had been identified. By their dress
and appearance they all evidently belonged to the
very humblest class. The dead body at Christ
Church workhouse is that of a fine looking lad of
about 14, and it too had not been recognised at the
timed_ouz Ile_wpa s_e_e_nbyAlr. Bianchi, a
surgeon, shortly atter he was brought Into the
house, but he was then quite dead.
To the ten who were taken to St. Thomas' Hos-
pital, eight of whom were living, Mr. Gervis, the
house-surgeon, and Mr. Bone, the dresser on duty,
promptly attended. The names of those who were
able to give them were, Richard Hodge, 30,
Walnut-tree-place, Lambeth ; Edward Churchill, or
Churchman, 11, Green Dragon-court, King-street,
Snow-hill • John Stone, 29, Fox-court, Holborn ;
William Barnes, and Benjamin Romaine. There
were two other lads, names unknown, suffering from
concussion. Barnes was insensible last night, as
was also a lad about 14 years of age, not
known. Mr. Gervis and Mr. Bone sought to
restore life to the two bodies apparently dead
by the application of galvanism, and Marshall
Hall's method of artificial respiration, but without
avail. Several other persons who had sustained
injuries in the accident were brought to the hospi-
tal in the course of the evening, but after receiving
the attention of the house-surgeon and dresser, were
enabled to be taken to their homes.
Messrs. Johnson, Donohoo, Dodd, Brookes, Bate-
son, and several other surgeons residing in the
vicinity of the theatre, rendered prompt assistance
to many of the poor sufferers, several of whom, how-
ever, were either dead or beyond the reach of all
human skill when brought under their notice.

APPALLING ACCIDENT AT THE
VICTORIA THEATRE.

Yesterday afternoon a most distressing event, the
intelligence of which will deeply wound the public
feeling throughout the whole country, occurred in
the metropolis in connection with one of its great
places of popular recreation, resulting in the
violent death of 15 human beings, and injuries
more or less serious to many more. Ten of the dead

ANOTHEIt ACCOUNT.
, In order to prevent any confusion or accident
arising from the egress of the visitors to the after-
noon performance at a time when the evening fre-
quenters of the play might be expected to arrive,
it was arranged that the people in the gallery at
the first performance should, instead of leaving the
theatre by the ordinary staircase, descend through
a lobby leading to the boxes, and go out by the
principal entrance. The object of the manager in
making this arrangement was twofold—to avoid
any collision between the ascending and descend-
ing people, and at the same time to enable the gal-
lery doors to be thrown open at a much earlier
period than usual, so as to prevent any very great
crush at the entrance. The doors were thrown
open about 1 o'clock for the morning performance,
and the theatre was, as is usual, almost immediately
crammed, and everything went well throughout
the performance nearly up to the time of the con-
clusion, when the calamity occurred. A compact
mass of persons, principally young men and women,
of the class which usually frequents the gallery of
the Victoria, were packed together on the stairs,
and the crowd was being continually augmented
by fresh arrivals from below. The entrance at
the top of the staircase was locked for
the purpose of preventing confusion and en-
forcing the clearing of the crowd before the
evening visitors were admitted. It was about
20 minutes to five o'clock, while the people
were packed together on the gallery stairs in the
manner described, that a strong smell of gas was
perceived, and it became evident that some rupture
had taken place in one of the gaspipes in the stair-
case. No alarm was at first felt, though the strong
smell of the escaping gas at once attracted the at-
tention of every one. Immediately afterwards,
however, a slight explosion took place on the
second or third landing, which was distinctly
visible to those crowding that portion of the stair-
case. Then arose the fearful cry of " Fire ! fire !"
" The place is on fire !" and a scene of horror en-
sued baffling all description. The whole mass of
people on the upper portion of the stairs, where the
explosion took place, in their anxiety to make their
escape, precipitated themselves on the ascending
crowd below, while those on the stair leading to
the first landing, unconscious of what had occurred,
kept ascending. The result was that more than
100 people became compactly wedged between the
two masses, and were unable to move. This ter-
rible scene, it is stated, lasted from ten minutes to
a quarter of an hour,
was found
create the dreadful loss of life itthattne
followed of
had taken place. The harrow
a time amply
.sufficient to
were all found crowded
were insensible, and 1
bringing out the dead bodies, iansgms-ell as those who
and motionless mass. This
in one densesiekningmr.
together on the first. lawnd'ion,,, and crushed together
Inspector Byron, of the
was accomplishedhad
L d received almost immediate in-
; formation of the catastrophe, and proceeded imme-
diately bybody of
a large
diately to the spot, accompanied. the
ivision, who ady
scene as heart-
rending, constables. He describes
policeand his exertions were made in. the midst
( f the groans, shrieks, and lamentations of the
crowd outside, as one dead body or other was re-
cognised by some friend
or relation. The first duty
of the police was to secure all the passine, cabs al d
vehicles, and send off the persons who were injure d

lie at the Lambeth Workhouse, one at Christchurch
Workhouse, in 'the vicinity of the accident, two
others at St. Thomas's Hospital, and two at the
deadhouse in Lambeth. Of the wounded eight
were taken to St. Thomas's Hospital, while
many others who sustained injuries less grave, and
the number of whom may never be known, were in
a state which admitted of their being conveyed to
their OWJI homes.

The accident of which these are the deplorable
results happened at the Victoria Theatre, situated,
as most of metropolitan readers know, at the point
of intersection of the Waterloo-road and the New-
cut, forming the centre of a densely populated and
generally poor district of Lambeth. There a
Christmas pantomime, as at all the rest of the
theatres, is invariably produced, and on Boxing-day
crowds of the humbler classes, and especially of the
young of either sex, rush from the whole surround-
ing neighbourhood to witness the performance. So
high, indeed, does the popular curiosity run in that
direction in those parts that the managers of the
theatre find it necessary, not to say lucrative, to
repeat the pantomime on the same day ; and the
entertainment yesterday was announced to take
place first at half-past one in the day, and again in
the evening at half-past six. During the perform-
ance in the afternoon the theatre was well filled,

though not so densely as it ordinarily is at the
evening entertainment on the great Christmas
holiday. The gallery, however, was the part of
the house most crowded, and, as usual, chiefly by
boys and young men, many of them of the very
lowest class. The pantomime, of which a notice is
given in another column, had proceeded well nigh
to its conclusion at the afternoon performance. The
time was about half-past four or five, and, although
the audience had not left the theatre, an immense
crowd thronged the stairs leading to the gallery,
waiting for the evening performance, and to take
the places of those by whom that part of the building
was already occupied. On this flight of stairs, which
are of wood and of great width, protected by a secure
balustrade, there are several landing places, and

two barriers were thrown across, one at the money
and the other at the check taker's box, previous
to the gallery being opened, to lessen the pressure
of the crowd at those points. The staircase runs
up the sides of a large square shaft in easy flights
from the different landings. This, then, was the
state of things immediately preceding the calamity
—an unruly rabble was packed nearly to suffoca-
tion on the stairs as far as the money-
taker'sbox
where a barrier impeded its further ascent, and a
kindred rabble within the building was on the
point of making its exit into the air. At that un-