The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-29 00:00:00

BLOWING UP OF THE EARL GREY

STEAMER.

(Further details, from the Greenock lntelligencer of Saturday.)
Yesterday evening, a few minutes before six o'clock, a
dreadful accident took place, occasioned by the bursting of the
boiler of the Earl Grey steamer, while she was lying at the
steam-boat quay, on her way from Dunoon to Glasgow. The
Earl Grey had been moored at the quay about fifteen minutes,
and was just on the point of starting, the bell having been
rung, when an explosion happened of so dreadful a nature that
the boiler was rent completely round, the roof forced up into
a perpendicular position, the upper flues driven into the cabin,
and the lower part of the boiler and under flues removed from
their situation, blowing the deck completely off from the fun-
nel to within eight or nine feet of the stern. The unfortunate
persons who were standing on that part of the deck were blown
into the air; two of these, Mr. Hugh Watson, shoemaker,
Dunoon, and Angus Wilkie, of Tarbert, belonging to the ves-
sel, fell upon the quay, both of whom died immediately after,
the rest fell into the sea. The water from the boiler was
blown nearly to the west end of the steam-boat quay, ever the
shed, on board two vessels, the Jean and the Rebecca; the
rope which fastened the steamer's stern to the quay was blown
on the top of the shed, also camp stools, large pieces of wood,
&c. A part of the boiler, 6or 8 feet square, was driven by
the force of the steam a distance of 100 feet and upwards. A.
great number of persons standing on the quay were much in-
jured by the scalding water and by pieces of coal, wood, &c.,
falling on them. It is impossible at present to state the pre-
cise number of the sufferers by this dreadful occurrence, as it
is believed that some of those thrown into the water have not
been found. The steward of the vessel informs us that before
the accident occurred he counted twenty-seven persons on the
quarter-deck, and considers that there were about forty per-
sons on board at the time of the explosion. The following
are the names, as far as has been ascertained, of the
PERSONS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES.—MISS Stevenson,
George-street, Glasgow ; Angus Wilkie, one of the men of
the vessel, belonging to Tarbert ; Mr. Morrison, clothier,
Greenock ; Mrs. Smith, Tradeston, Glasgow ; Mr. Hugh
Watson, shoemaker, Dunoon ; a Gentleman apparently about
46 years of age, who had been taken on board the Clarence
steamer, died on the passage to Glasgow.
PERSONS SEVERELY INJURED.—Mr. Robert Mitchell, from
Aberdeen, wounded on the head, and scalded on different
parts of the body, but not dangerously ; Mr. John Wilson,
spirit-merchant, Paisley, scalded over the whole body, and
severe bruises ; Captain James M'lntosh, of Rothesay, com-
pound fracture of the left leg, and scalded ; Daniel Munro,
son of Mr. Munro, baker, Glasgow, scalded on the head,
face, and shoulders; M'Kellar, son of Capt. M'Kellar, of
the steamer Sultan, scalded over the whole body; James
M'Neil, step-son of Mr. Wyse, grocer, Greenock, severely
scalded ; Mr. Thomas Carmichael, merchant, Greenock, ancle
dislocated, and head much cut; Orr, son of Mr. E. Orr,
mason, Shaw-street, Greenock, cut severely in the cheek, and
scalded from head to foot; Duncan M'Kay, aged eleven years,
scalded on the back, head, legs, hands, &c. ; Donald M'Kay,
aged eight years, scalded on the fdce, head, and shoulders ;
Mary M'Kay, slightly scalded on the face, and cut on the fore-
head. (The three M'Kays above mentioned are of the same
family, and reside in Bread-Gloss, Greenock.) Mrs. Clark,
Mile-end, near Glasgow, scalded on the legs, with several se-
vere contusions on the head ; Mrs. D. Mitchell, of Glasgow,
scalded and bruised in the face, but doing well ; Mr. Mon-
crief, cut in the head, and Mrs. Moncrief, scalded and
bruised ; both doing well.
PERSONS SLIGHTLY INJURED.—Mr. Thos. Lang, wood
merchant, Greenock, injured on the leg by a piece of coal ;
Mr. Gumpreicht and his son, scalded ; Mrs. Cassels, of Glas-
gow, slightly scalded; Miss Forrester, Wellington-street,
Glasgow, scalded on the shoulders and heels ; Mrs. Waters,
Greenock, contusion on the shoulder ; Mr. Taylor, of the
Ship Bank, Glasgow, scalded on the face and head, slightly ;
Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, Trongate, Glasgow, scalded • Mr.
Matthew King, of Port Glasgow, and his wife, slightly in-
jured; Mr. Harkness, spirit dealer, East Quay-lane, struck
on the left leg with a piece of coal while on the quay, and
knocked down. On recovering himself he leapt on board
the vessel and rendered assistance to a number of persons who
were in great danger. He then went into the cabin and
assisted two ladies into a boat alongside ; Mr. Innes, Port
Dundas, Glasgow, scalded in the face, bands, and different
parts of the body : Mr. James Farquhar, vintner, Vennel,
slightly scalded.
The steward of the Earl Grey, while standing on the pad-
dle-box, was knocked overboard by a large piece of coal,
but got out little injured. Excepting the steward and the
seaman Wilkie, who was killed, no other person connected
with the vessel was hurt. The young lady, Miss Stevenson,
whom we have before mentioned, had gone on board the ves-
sel, accompanied by her sister and a young genttleman, a few
minutes before the accident took place. The young man had
gone forward to the bow, leaving the two young ladies stand-
ing abaft the funnel, at the moment the explosion occurred.
When the steam and smeke had cleared away he discerned one of

the Misses Stevenson in the water at a considerable distance
from the vessel, and although an indifferent swimmer he plunged
overboard and saved her. The body of the other sister was
got out of the water an hour and a half after the accident, by
the boats which were employed in trauling, but no other body
has as yet been found, although exertions under the directions
of the Provost and Magistrates were used till a late hour last
night, and during part of this morning. Mr. Matthew King,
of Port Glasgow, who, with Mrs. King, was blown overboard,
saved himself by clinging to a block attached to a rope which
hung over the vessel's side. While in this situation he saw
Mrs. King floating. He immediately got hold of her, and
while supporting himself with one hand and holding his wife
with the other, some person seized hold of the rope Mr. King
was clinging to, and nearly pulled it from his hand. Mr. King,
with great difficulty, got him to desist until a boat came to
their assistance, and rescued them just in time, as Mr. King
had become completely exhausted. Mr. Hugh Watson, who
is mentioned among those killed, was on the deck at the time of
the explosion, the force of which blew him and Angus Wilkie,
who was loosing the stern line at the moment, a great height
into the air. They both fell on the quay, and the bruises they
received from this, together with the effects of the steam and
scalding water, caused almost instant death to both cases. The
body of Wilkie was sent this morning to his friends in Tarbert,
by the St. Mun steam-boat.
Mr. Peter Somerville, of Glasgow, one of the passengers,
who saved himself by his singular activity and presence of
mind, described to us in the following manner the circum-
stances connected with the blowing up of the vessel, as far as
his own observation had extended. He had gone on board the
Earl Grey at Gourock, with the intention of proceeding to
Glasgow, and on the vessel's arriving at Greenock, he had
stepped ashore for a few minutes. On his return to the quay
he found the steamer preparing to start, and he went on board,
and descended to the cabin just as the vessel was about to
leave the port. On entering the cabin ho found only one
individual in it—a gentleman, who was sitting, apparently
asleep, at the end of the cabin nearest the engine. Mr. So-
merville was surprised at perceiving the cabin to be full of
steam, and, becoming apprehensive that something was wrong
he advanced to the farthest end, where he had only had time
to lay down his hat and umbrella when a hissing noise which
he heard convinced him that an explosion was about to take
place, and he sprang suddenly out at one of the cabin win-
dows, breaking the glass, a pane about fourteen inches
square. Instantaneously as this was done, the explosion oc-
curred before his legs were quite out of the windows, and his
feet were scalded by the hot water or steam rushing into the
cabin. Fortunately, Mr. S. succeeded in catching hold of
an iron rod projecting from the stern by which he hung until
the stern boat had been lowered, when he was drawn up to the
deck of the vessel. While thus hanging to the steamer's
stern, Mr. Somerville looked down into the water, in which
he thinks he observed about thirty persons, many of whom ap-
peared to have been hurt by the explosion, and were stream-
ing with blood. He saw six or seven couples clinging to each
other as if resolved to be saved or lost together. On being
hauled up on the stern Mr. Somerville found that the greater
part of the deck had been torn up. On the only portion of it
which now remained—namely, a few feet at the stern, he ob-
served an old gentleman evidently much hurt, and a lady of
apparently about forty years of age, who was either dead or
had swooned. All the other cabin passengers appear to have
been blown off the deck by the violence of the explosion.
The quay at which the vessel was lying at the time of the
accident was in an incredibly short time crowded by persons
of all descriptions; the alarm having been spread by the peo-
ple running to call medical assistance, and by the appearance
of the young man running homewards along the streets,
with only a rug thrown round his body, his clothes having
been torn off, in order to relieve him from garments which
were completely saturated with the hot water from the
boiler. The excitement was also much increased by the
wounded sufferers being borne along the streets to the Infir-
mary, and various other places. The steam-boat quay, about
seven o'clock, presented a scene of horror happily never be-
fore witnessed here—mangled and bleeding bodies carried
to places where aid could be administered—the boats em-
ployed in trauling for the bodies rowing backwards and for-
wards, anxiously watched by the spectators whenever the men
aboard hauled up the creepers, to which, in almost every
case, were hanging pieces of clothes, shirts, :handkerchiefs,
&c. But the most fearful spectacle of all was the vessel her-
self—the roof of the ponderous boiler being raised up, over
which the funnel lay crushed and broken; the uptorn decks
exposing the cabin, into which the upper flues of the boiler
had forced their way ; while hats and portions of male and
female attire were strewed around, telling too truly of the
fearful destruction that had taken place. It may be consoling
to the friends of those who were injured to know that every
thing which humanity and skill could devise was done to alle-
viate the agonies of the unhappy sufferers.
Great praise is due to the medical Gentlemen of this town
for the activity and zeal they displayed in rendering assis-
tance, and it is but justice to mention that Dr. M'Naught, of
Helensburgh, who was on board the Clarence steamer, which
was lying at the quay at the time of the accident, was the first
to give assistance to those who were hurt, and that his active
exertions in relieving the sufferings of the injured excited the
admiration of all present. We understand that before return-
ing to Helensburgh he left his address at the Tontine Inn,
with instructions to the landlord to attend to the wants of
some of the sufferers who were left there, and that he would be
accountable for any expense which might be incurred.