The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-18 00:00:00

his coadjutors. He advised them in future to listen
to the counsel of their instructors as their guides and
friends. After a few more remarks. the president sat
down amidst much applause.
Dr. Iliff then briefly returned thanks, after which
the audience separated, highly gratified with the inter-
esting proceedings of the day, which proved to all
present

" The feast of reason and the flow of soul."

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.-THREE YOUTHS
DROWNED IN WAVERTREE LAKE.

On Tuesday last a melancholy accident took place at Wa-
vertree. Several boys were amusing themselves with sliding
on the Pool in that village, and one of them happening to
come in contact with another, they both fell, and the ice
giving way, they were precipitated into the water. John
Wright, a youth of the age of sixteen, the elder brother of
one of these boys, immediately went to their assistance, but
in stretching out his arm to reach them lost his balance, and
fell in also. The names of the youths were Thomas Davies,
William Wright, and John Wright.
Davies had a short time before accidentally broken his
arm, and had it in a sling at the time. A young sailor and
old schoolfellow, named Edward Wilson, who also resides in
Wavertrec, was on the margin of the lake, and was about to
join them, but having gone a few paces on the ice and find-
ing it insecure he returned, and earnestly besought them by
no means to venture towards the middle. His remonstrances
were, however, unavailing. A considerable number of per-
sons had gathered round the lake when the elder Wright fell
imto the water—some of them tall, strong men, who could
have rescued the whole of them without personal danger ; but
not one of them had manhood enough to go to their assistance,
with the honourable exception of the young sailer, Edward
Wilson, who went in in the hope of rescuing them. As soon
as he got into the water the whole three clung to him. He
bore them up for some time, and would no doubt have saved
them all had he been assisted by a rope, which, however, was
not then at hand. He broke a considerable quantity of the
ice, making way for them towards the shore, but they one by
one became exhausted and dropped their hold of him. He
continued to break more of the ice, and they struggled
after him some distance towards the shore, when, lamen-
table to relate! they one by one, exhausted by cold and
exertion, sank to rise no more. This occurred about
ten minutes after the ice broke. Poor Wilson, left to strug-
gle for his own life, had now been in the water nearly a
a quarter of an hour, and continued to work his way, though
much benumbed, towards the shore. It was seen from the
shore that he could at length touch the ground with his feet,
but none of the people round the lake came to his assistance,
and he might have perished also, but for the humane assist-
ance of Thomas Smith, gardener to Mr. Poole, of the neigh-
bourhood, and a youth of thenarne of John Potter, who came
to the spot provided with a rope, which was thrown out to
him. The poor fellow contrived to twist the rope round his
wrists, and was eventually drawn on shore, after having been
about half-an-hour in the water. As might be supposed, he
was much exhausted, but, to the surprise of all who were pre-
sent, he was able to walk home. The effort, however, was
too much for his strength, and when he got in he was unable
to speak, and was so much overcome with cold and fatigue
that he was nut to bed, and attended by Dr. Latham. On
Wednesday he had considerably recovered.

As soon as it became known that the poor lads were in the
water, a boat was kindly sent down to the lake by Thomas
Crossly, Esq., of Olive Mount ; but it did not arrive at the
spat in time to be available. In about a quarter of an hour
after Wilson was got out, the bodies of the deceased were
drawn out by grappling irons.
The parents of the deceased are in respectable, though not
affluent, circumstances. The father of Thomas Davies is a
shopkeeper. He was, we learn, an only son, and attended
the schools of the Mechanics' Institution in this town. The
Wrights are sons, by a former husband, of Mrs. Hampton,
wife of Mr. Hampton, daily carrier between Wavertree and
this town. Another son, named Wright, was drowned at sea,
a little more than a year ago, and the same couple (who are
both very ill) buried a young child about a month ago.
At the inquest held upon the bodies, by John Heyes, Esq.
the county coroner, when a verdict of accidental death was
returned, the following was handed in by the foreman of the
jury to the coroner.

`1 The jury cannot separate without expressing their regret
at the apathy and want of humanity exhibited by the by-
standers, in not endeavouring to rescue the drowning boys ;
and they are also of opinion that had the county police of the
district been active in their duty, and prevented persons
from going upon the ice, at a place so dangerous as Waver-
tree Lake, this deplorable accident might, in all probability,
not have happened."

The young sailor, Edward Wilson, is an apprentice in the
schooner Dora, of 209 tons burthen—the largest in this
port, and the property of Messrs. Martin and Havam. He
had been with the vessel up the Mediterranean, and latterly
at Valparaiso. He is one of seven children, son of Mr.
Wilson, who keeps a tea and provision shop in Wavertree.
An elder brother is also a sailor. Edward is a fine, intelli-
gent, and modest youth, and though he did not succeed in
his humane endeavours to save his old schoolfellows, •he did
his utmost, at the imminent risk of his own life ; and we re-
spectfully recommend him to the consideration of the
Humane Society of this town.