The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-06-28 00:00:00

THE FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE RIVER.

In our last we gave an account of the fatal accident which
occurred on the river on Monday afternoon. We are sorry
to say that it has resulted in the death of Duncan Dallas,
another of the men in the boat, who was removed to the
Northern Hospital.
An inquest was held on Wednesday on the bodies of the
deceased, before P. F. Curry, Esq., the coroner, but the evi-
dence taken was so voluminous that it is impossible to insert
the whole. We give a detail of the unfortunate occurrence,
principally from the evidence of Captain Roberts, master of
the Victoria steam-boat.
Captain Roberts said—On Monday afternoon the two de-
ceased men, another man named Thomas Williams, and I
were going on board the, Victoria, which lay in the river, off.
George's Dock. We started from the stage, where iere
were then lying the William Stanley (Eastham,) the Monk's
Ferry, and two or three other steamers. After we had got
two or three lengths of the steamer towards the Victoria, I
observed all the steam-boats start. I calledout to the William
Stanley, the captain of which, John Gillespie by name, was
standing on the larboard paddle-box. I held up my hand, and
shouted out, " Now, John, don't run over us.' We kept
still pulling away, and he was mending his speed. I then got
up again, and called out stop her engine, but nobody an-
swered. She still seemed mending her speed, until she got
within two or three of our boat's lengths off us, on the packet's
starboard bow ; then I observed the Monk steam-boat re-
versin as far as possible. By this time the head of the
William Stanley was about S.S.W. At the time of the steam-
boat's starting, the Monks' Ferry packet and the William
Stanley were lying heads and tails at the stage. When I last
called out to the captain of the William Stanley, she was
going with her head, and the Monk stern foremost, up the
river. Our position was between the two boats, which were
apparently going full force up the river. When they got quite
close to us, I observed that we must be run down, and I pre-
pared to jump on board one of the packets, as I found that I
should be between the paddles if I jumped overboard. I
jumped on the bends of the Monks' Ferry boat, and was
hauled up by gome of the passengers. I turned round imme-
diately on getting on board, and saw the small boat which I
had left, but observed no one in her at first. Directly after,
however, I saw one of the men in her bow. The starboard
quarter of the Monks' Ferry steamer struck against the star-
board bow of the William Stanley, directly after I had jumped
on board the former. As soon as the collision had taken
place, I observed that the engines on board both the steamers
were stopped, and I jumped into the small boat for the pur-
pose of picking up the deceased, as I saw some hats floating
in the water. I and Williams hauled Kachan and Dallas on
board. They were both alive, but appeared very much hurt. •
They were taken to the Northern Hospital. I think the col-
lision might have been avoided if the master of the William
Stanley had eased or stopped the engine. The first time I
hailed him he appeared to see me. The Monks' Ferry boat
might have stopped sooner, and turned,a-head. I had no time
to hail the Monks' Ferry boat, and I do not know whether
she had any look-out or not. There was nothing to prevent
the Monks' Ferry boat going a-head, by which means the
collision would have been avoided. We were about half a
cable's length off the Victoria when the collision took place.
Mr. Grocott, solicitor, who attended on behalf of the pro-
prietors of the William Stanley, cross-examined the witness.
Mr. Wright, who attended on behalf of the Steam Tug Com-
pany, re-examined him, but nothing important was elicited.
Thomas Williams corroborated the evidence given by the
preceding witness. He stated that the two steamers came
into collision with very great violence, and as far as he could
say, the William Stanley went against the other. He was
somewhat bewildered, but he recollected the paddle of the
William Stanley touching the stem of the boat. He rushed
forward, with the intention of jumping overboard, as he ex-
pected to be smashed to pieces, but he fell under the thwarts.
The paddle must have been going round, or there would not
be the mark there was on the stem of the boat. As soon as
he got up, he looked about, but there was no one in the boat
except himself. He saw Dallas in .the water, and immedi-
ately laid hold of him ; and Captain Roberts, and a passen-
ger from the Monks' Ferry steamer, who seemed to be a
tradesman, leapt into the boat, and came to his assistance.
Dallas seemed to be so nearly dead that he was like a piece
of wood. Kachan was shortly afterwards taken from the
water, which was quite red with his blood. He was cut from
side to side, and his bowels were protruding. Witness did
not see either of the deceased men jump out of the boat. In
his judgment the William Stanley was coming at a very fast
speed ; but if her engine had been stopped when Captain
Roberts called out, the boat would have been clear enough.
Until the collision was on the point of taking place, witness
did not observe the Monks' Ferry boat, as he was pulling as
fast as he could. From the time of the William Stanley
starting from the slip until the collision took place, the boat
was on her starboard bow. The steamer appeared to be fol-
lowing them up until the time of the collision.
George Millard, chief clerk to the Liverpool Gaslight Com-
pany, was one of the passengers on board the Monks' Ferry
steamer, and saw the collision take place. The Eastham
steamer ran foul of the Monk just at the moment that the
small boat was under the starboard bow of the William
Stanley. At this juncture witness saw one of the men in the
small boat jump up the side of the Monks' Ferry packet,
and escape. Another endeavoured to escape in the same
way. He jumped from the small boat on to the starboard
quarter of the Monk, when he was caught by the bow of the
Eastham packet, which had to this time been going on at its
usual rate, and was rolled several times round between the
bow of the Eastham packet and the starboard quarter of the
Monks' Ferry packet. When the Eastham steamer bounded
back, the man dropped into the water. That was the only
man witness saw crushed. When taken up, his bowels were
exposed to view. He (witness) was decidedly of opinion that
the captain of the Eastham packet was very much to blame,
and that, under the circumstances of the course not being
clear, he was going at a very improper speed, though the rate
was probably about that at which the steamers generally go
in crossing the river. He considered that there was no
blame attributable to the captain of the Monks' Ferry boat.
The Rev. Charles James Hamilton, curate of Birkenhead
Church, was also a passenger on board the Monk. He cer-
tainly thought there was blame attached to the Eastham boat,
as she never slackened her speed at all up to the time of the
collision. He did not think that the speed of the Eastham
boat was greater than the usual speed, for she was only just
starting. The Monks' Ferry boat was backing parallel with
the shore, and therefore was not at all to blame for the col-
lision. There was plenty of room for the Eastham boat to
pass, had she gone parallel, but she came obliquely.
• Mr. G. N. Arnott, one of the surgeons of the Northern
Hospital, stated that on Monday afternoon Kachan and Dal-
las were brought to the hospital. The former had his body
torn across, and his bowels protruded. He died in about five
minutes after he was brought into the hospital. Dallas was
in a state of collapse, in which state he continued until
Tuesday morning, when he died. There were no marks ex-
ternally, from which he (witness) could judge of the imme-
diate cause of death. He has since made a post mortem
examination of the body, and found a small quantity of
blood on each side of the chest, and also in the abdomen. It
was evident he had received some severe injury internally,
which had produced such a shock on the system, as to
cause death.
Mr. Grocott here stated that he had a number of witnesses
to bring forward, whose evidence, as he was instructed, would
tend to put the matter in a very different light to what it then
stood. He had no wish to dispute the respectability of the
persons who had been examined, or to call their sincerity in
question ; but he hoped that the jury would not allow them-
selves to be influenced by what was, after all, an ex-parte
statement. The witnesses to whom he referred were persons
who were on board the Wm. Stanley at the time the acci-
dent occurred ; he should be able to bring them forward in
the morning, and he therefore hoped that the inquiry would
be adjourned.
The investigation was accordingly adjourned until ten
o'clock yesterday morning, when Mr. Grocott called
Samuel Jones, master mariner, of Chester, who stated
that he was on board the Eastham packet when she
left the slip about three o'clock, and was not aware of
any danger until he heard the captain of the Eastham
boat call out, " Stop her !—Hard a starboard !"—when
the engine was stopped immediately ; he then saw the
Monk ferry packet coming with her quarter towards the
starboard bow of the William Stanley, and, having gone to
the side, observed two men apparently endeavouring to get
on board the Monk, when the two packets closed together,
and caught one round the waist, when the Eastham packet
seemed to move and crush the other man, and they both
fell into the water. Both packets were moving, and it was
the work of an instant. The Monk boat was proceeding
very speedily, with her stern canted towards the shore, in
the direction that a vessel would be placed if about to pro-
ceed to Monk's Ferry. Witness did not see the small boat
until the collision had taken place. The Moule was about
eight yards distant when the captain called out " stop her,"
and in witness's opinion there was sufficient time for the
William Stanley to have answered her helm a little, but not
sufficiently so as to avoid the collision—did not hear any
person hail the captain, and if the Monk's Ferry boat had
not had any way upon her, the William Stanley would have
cleared her, though probably not the boat which had touched
the Monk before the collision took place.
John Cardea, draper, confirmed the evidence of the last
witness in several particulars. He stated that he was a pas-
senger on board the Eastham boat, and his attention being
attracted by the captain directing the engine to be stopped,
he looked out and saw the Monk boat apparently intending
to cross the bows of the William Stanley, and obstruct her
passage ;—the Eastham packet was stationary, and in wit-
ness's opinion if it had not been stopped the accident might
have been prevented, though the captain appeared to be
active, and to do every thing to prevent it.
Thomas Griffith, of Holywell, coachman, deposed that
after the captain of the Eastham boat had given instructions
for the stoppage of the engine, the paddles of the Monk
continued moving. Having gone to the side of the William
Stanley, he saw Captain Roberts scrambling into the Monk's
boat, when the stern of the Monk came in contact with the
fender of our packet, and another man endeavouring to get
on board, was crushed between the packets—the Monk's
engines were stopped when we struck, but they went longer
than the William Stanley's ; but, had they stopped when we
did, they would have cleared the Monk's boat. The Captain
of the William Stanley was on the paddle-box from the
time we started to the time when the accident occurred, but
witness did not observe the captain of the Monk or any
other persons giving directions on board that vessel. He
thought that the William Stanley would have cleared both
the Monk and the small boat, had they stopped the engine
of the former.

Catherine Burgess, of Drury-lane, corroborated the evi-
dence of the preceding witnesses in every material particular,
in other respects her evidence was unimportant.
Mr. Grocott expressed a desire that the inquest should be
adjourned, with a view to obtain the evidence of a person who
was in Mold, and who could not be produced until to-morrow.
Several of the jury were, however, adverse to the adjourn-
ment, and complained that much of the evidence was merely
repetition. Besides, they added, if Mr. Grocott thought
such a witness would serve his cause, he had had plenty of
time since Monday last to bring him up. It was finally agreed
that the inquest should go on, and the following evidence was
accordingly taken :

Mr. William Parry, draper, of Shrewsbury, sworn.—l was
on board the William Stanley at three o'clock on Monday,
and was sitting close to the wheel within half a yard. I did
not see where the captain stood. I heard some one from the
forepart of the vessel cry out, " Stop her—starboard !" and
then I heard him say, Hard over !" The engines were
immediately stopped. When the word " Starboard" was
given, the handles of the wheel were turned towards the land.
This turned the bow of our vessel a little to the left ; but a
very little. I saw the " Monk" ferry boat while I sat by the
wheel. She was some distance from us going backwards.
She was coming towards us with some force. I did not see
the boat till after the accident. I first saw the small boat
with one man in her only. I afterwards saw two hats float-
ing. I did not observe a bank on the left hand.

By a juror.—When the engines of the William Stanley
stopped, she was ten or fifteen yards from the other. I can-
not say within five yards. I have seen none of the witnesses
who were examined here yesterday.
John Mathews sworn.—l am a coachman, and live in
Wrexham. I was on board the William Stanley on the af-
ternoon in question. I saw the captain on the left hand pad-
dle-box next the shore. He called out, " Stop her, starboard
—hard over"—twice. The engines were instantly stopped.
The vessel's head went to the left, in shore. I saw the
" Monk" boat, she was turning back. I saw the collision.
Had her paddles stopped when ours stopped, we should have
passed her clear, and no accident would have occurred.
By Mr. Wright.—There was no one on the paddle-box
of the Wm. Stanley but the captain. She was going in a
slanting direction before the collision, with her head from
the shore. She was obliged to do so or get on the bank.
When the collision took place, her engines were stopped.
By Jurors.—The William Stanley was going at the usual
speed. The Monk's boat had her paddles in motion when
ours were still. I did not hear any one call out keep clear.