The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-12-03 00:00:00

AWFULZfAIh,

DECEMBER 3, 1833•

.STRUCTIVE STORM. -

On Thursday night last ttl*-town was visited by a hurricane
equal in severity to those which occurred about twelve monthis
i
ago, and produced at that time such deplorable effects.
hursday lob barometer fell lower and more suddenly than
of
had been served to do for many years. Many masters or
vessels which were ready for sea consequently remained in
dock, and the event has shown the prudence of their con-
duct. In the course of the afternoon the storm came on, ana
raged with uncontrolled fay, from the N.W., throughout the
night. It attained its greatest height between nine and eleven
o'clock on Friday forenoon, but moderated towards evening..
It was high water at half-past twelve o'clock. The tide should
have risen eighteen feet, but, we understand, it exceeded that
altitude by about six feet, being the highest tide known for seve-
ral years. At this time the river presented a grand and in:.
teresting spectacle, the water dashing over the pier-heads WiLu
alarming fury. A good deal of damage was done in the ship'
builders' yards, loose spars, timber, boats, and in one instance
the frame of a vessel being swept away. A number of boats
and a quantity of old timber belonging to Mr. Atherton, of New
Brighton, were also carried off. These materials, being borne
along by the tide, gave the river the appearance Of beinrf.
covered with wreck, and -the most alarming. reports
disaste:s among the shipping were speedily circulated.---:-
While the storm was at its height, all intercourse between this
and the Cheshire shore was suspended, the steamers not daring
to attempt the passage. The Abbey, for Wexford, and the
Nottingham, for Dublin, both steamers, which had sailed on
Thursday, put back and ran into the Sloyne, but were unable to
effect any communication with the shore until Saturday. The
Levant Star, for Waterford, also put back. In short, nearly
all the vessels which put to sea .on Thursday have been forced to
return. On the ebb of the tide, the river, in addition to the
wreck we have mentioned, was covered with trees, grass, 84e-t
all indications that the country above Runcorn had been inun-
dated either by the encroachments of the tide or by heavy floods
from above. We need scarcely say that many of the vessels in
the (locks have sustained partial injury. The steam-boat em-
ployed to tow the flats belonging to the Duke of Bridgewater 's
canal actually sailed over their dock! In consequence
of this,
her paddle-box, wheels, &c. must be taken off to permit her re-
turn to the river. Great damage has been done to the quays.
of the Duke's Dock, and among the merchandise deposded
there. In the shipbuilding yards to the westward of the Salt-
house Dock considerable damage also has been done. Tbe,
stern-frame of a vessel building in Messrs. Mottershead and
Co.'s yard had been completely torn away; providentially the
men had left the stages-a few minutes previously. The loss to,
many of the shipbuilders is said to be very great, a good deal or
the timber in the yards having floated into the river-
In the town there were abundant indications of the
violence of the storm, in the slates, bricks, chimney-1
pots, &c.. with which the streets were sewn. Seve"
persons were more or less injured by the falling materials,
but we have heard of no fatal or very serious accidents.
Several yards of a wall in Moor-fields were blown down, and
we understand that a butcher's boy, who was passing, Iv"
briEJ...l7 r•....+Part of the palisading which encloses the Zoo-
logical Gardens was also torn away, and the copingstones of a
house erecting in llygela-street in. that neighbourhood were li-
terally blown off. It would be endless, however, to enumerate
all the instances of damage of this sort which has been sus-
tained. The ball and weathercock on the spire of St. George's
Church were observed to be loose, and it is said that the upper
part of the spire is shaken from its perpendicular. We believe
it has been caused thus :—The vane (whose extreme length is
4 feet 11% inches, and extreme height 3 feet 4 inches,) work;
on a pivot attached to a metal rod, which runs through the bah
and into the upper part of the spire, which is 223 feet high.
From some cause, the action of the vane has ceased, it does not
turn with the wind, and now stands to the weather. The con-
sequence is, that, from the repeated gusts of wind against so
large a body, the top of the spire vibrates.
At sea the storm has been particularly destructive. Persons
who were out during its continuance describe it as having been
one of the most violent they ever experienced. Several vessels
have been wrecked on the adjacent coast, and a great number
of valuable lives lost. The most awful occurrence is the loss of
Pilot-boat No. 1, the Good Intent, which was wrecked on Ft.
day morning, at Formby, when thirteen persons were drowned'
The particulars will be found below.

MELANCHOLY LOSS OF THE PILOT-BOAT NO. 1,

AND THIRTEEN OF HER CREW.

FORMBY, MONDAY.—This village, situate about thirteen
miles from Liverpool, on the north shore, has presented
since
Friday last, it.inost melancholy and heart-rending scene, from
the distressing wreck of No. 1, Pilot-boat, with the loss f the
greater part of her efficient crew, four of whom were picked
ep dead and deposited iu an out-house adjoining FoFormbyChurch, to await the result of a coroner's inquest, which took
place this day ; the bodies of the remaining nine of the crew,
who fell victims to the tempestuous and unruly storm, which
visited this part of the country on Thursday and Friday last,
have not yet been washed ashore. On Sunday the scene wit-
nessed was very affecting from the circumstance of the mourn-
ing relatives of the deceased crew pouring into the village to
seek their own, some weeping bitterly for the loss of fathers,
and others for the loss of brothers and husbands, and inane
without even the gratification of finding. their mortal remain'.
four only being rescued from a grave in the deep. The boat
which was exceedingly welt manned and rigged, was one of the
class of pilot-boats belonging to this port, a comple-
ment of twenty-one men for her crew, which had been engaged
on the night of Thursday last in piloting vessels outward
bound, stud, in consequence of the foggy state of the weather,
they were unable to ascertain their true situation, at which time
the storm raged terrifically, the sea rolling .mountains high-
In this dangerous situation the vessel was driven towards the
Lancashire shore near to Formby. About half-past six o'clock
on Friday morning signals of distress were perceived by the
inhabitants on shore, but the state of the weather was such that
no person dare venture out to their rescue. About seven o'clock
the sea broke violently over the vessel, and washed overboard
Edward Webster and Henry Hughes, who, ,although good
swimmers, sank to rise no more. At this time the punt got
adrift of the chocks, and the sea washed away or unshipped the
main boom, which was thrown across the deck, and the main-
sail, in consequence, became of no service. The hapless crew,
having thus been deprived of the management of the teasel,
did all they could to keep her before the wind, ie order to
endeavour to reship the main boom, and clear the deeksi; but
although manned (it is said) as well as any boat on the river,
they failed in doing so, as the sea was running strong and
mountainous. Suddenly another terrific sea broke violently
over the vessel, washed away the skylight, and filled the cabin
with water. The exhausted crew immediately applied their
feeble strength to the pumps, in the. hope of bailing, her out.
but without avail. They were then before the wind, the gib
and foresail were blown to fragments, and shortly afterwards
she struck upon Formby beach. This was at no great distance
from the shore, and the inhabitants could plainly perceive
the whole of the devastating and distressing work of the !aging
elements, which now appeared more boisterous than the most
experienced seaman or pilot of the river ever recollect it to
have been. Immediately on the vessel striking, which was be-
tween eight and nine o'clock, the inhabitants on shore per-
ceived seven of the unfortunate men climbing to the rigging, t°l
which they appeared to cling, and about twelve others contrived
to get the punt (a small boat attached to the vessel) alongside,
into which they jumped, but they were no sooner in it than it
swamped, and eight of the number perished. Four, with great
difficulty, Succeeded in swimming to shore, and at the edge
the 01
the water they were dragged out more dead than alive by
villagers. Shortly after the punt sinking, the unfortunate men
who had been clinging to the rigging dropped from exhaustion
into. the water and were never seen again; one of them, named
Bates, who had stationed himself at the top of the rigging. was
seen to jump overboard into a raging sea, and it is considered
by some of his surviving companions that he did so in a fit of
delirium; the people on shore, when he plunged into the water,
fancied le had left the top of the rigging to speak to the Ine.n
in the, lower rigging. At this period (about two o'clock) 11%
were seen, apparently alive, still holdingTast to the rigging,
which situation, with the heavy seas continually washing over
them, the wretched sufferers had remained since half-past eight
o'clock in the morning, no one daring to brave the tempestuous
billows to succour them; and when the storm began to subside.
although nearly one hundred spectators stood gazing at the
wreck and the sufferings of the crew, none seemed inclined to
proceed to their rescue. At length Mr. Richard Sumner,.
a surgeon, of Formby, stripped himself, and, with a bottle or
rum tied round his neck, plunged into the sea and swam to-
wards the wreck, which, with great difficulty, he reached. He
succeeded in getting on board, having first encountered in the
water what he supposed to be a human being, which, however,
turned out to be a huge black bird. On boarding the wreck,
Mr. Sumner found one man lifeless, enshrouded in the rigging,
(Underwood,) and the rest (excepting Lancaster) almost dean'
and foaming at the mouth. With the assistance of Lancaster,
a stout man, who appeared quite fresh, he administered runt,
from the effects-of which they partially revived, but remained
quite senseless. He then got the punt righted, and, by its at ,
succeeded in bringing the sufferers to shore. During the whole
time Mr. Sumner was exerting himself, the listless spectatoras
did not appear anxious ,to lend the least assistance, ari,
even when the ruin was, required, he had to pay sixpence to
person to fetch it from a neighbouring public-house. On being
brought to shore, the seamen gradually recovered ; but they bar
previously been in such a torpid state of insensibility that they
were not aware by what means they had been got ashore. I.'
is considered by many persons that if the life-boat, which is
kept about four miles from the place where the pilot-boat wait
wrecked, had been on the spot, the two that dropped from
the rigging, and others, might have been saved. The survivors
say, that the reason for the punt upsetting the moment they
got into it, was, that she was entangled with the painter, from
which, with all their exertions, they could not manage to release
her. They also state, that if they could have contended with
the current or channel called the swells, and have crossed it
with the pilot-boat, they would have been all safe. The pilots
sadly complain of the•want of a watch-tower, or some building
near Formby-point, where, in cases of wreck, accommodation
might be found for the sufferers, and where flint and steel conk`
be procured for the pilots. It is said there have been mall
wrecks about Formby-point, and that there are no inhabitants,.
within a considerable distance. On Saturday last the wreck Of
the pilot-boat, which is called the " Good Intent," was visited
by Mr. Edwards and Mr. Williams, master-pilots, who found
that from boating about in the sea, she had worked a dock for
herself in the sand, about six feet deep, and seventy feet lonF,
from which there will be some difficulty in extricating her;
was fullnf water, but from all outward appearance was not tiut
injured; she was lying on her starboard side, and jud.ging
water which oozed out of her, it is supposed she is injured ton
that side, the lee rigging appeared to have been carried
with herboom, and the starboard channel plates were complaetely
wrenched off. The above is the substance of the evidence ad:
duced at the inquest we attended yesterday, (Monday,) togethe_r,
with some additional rarticulars. There were none of the soft.
vivors examined in consequence of the precarious state of th,ciln
health from the effects of cold, and other injuries sustaineon.
the wreck. The coroner, in summing up the evidence, paid a wet
merited compliment to Mr. Sumner, the surgeon, fur his almost
unexampled exertions and humanity on behalf of the survivors;
which the master pilot present cordially joined in. The jury,
course, returned a verdict of " Accidental death." We heal
of other wrecks which took place in the gale on Friday last, net_
Formby. One was a sloop laden with butter, wrecked off Scan.
port, and all hands perished. The sloop was called the Duke °A
Wellington, ellington, and is supposed to be a west-country vessel. .L.,
great quantity of butter has been washed on share near Surt°_,.
b port, the barrels bearing the Cork brand. Another vessel, f
Liverpool to Ostend, was wrecked on Friday, crew saved;
wreck now lies on Charles's Bank, five miles from Formby• -
large American timber ship now lies a wreck near the Grang°'
from the effects of the Thursday's and Friday's gale.
pore„-
Wm. names of the deceased pilots picked up at Formby,
Wm. Webster, the master pilot, John Underwood, the aPP
tice, Edward Richardson, and Thos. Pendleton. The following
are the names of the drowned and saved :
SAVED.—George Bark and Ellis Hughes, No. 8; Geergret
Roberts and Henry Hughes, No. 10; Wm. Lancaster, Bob
Bispham, and Edward Bridge, No. 9; Robert Taggart, an
boy, No. 1. , rd
DROWNED.--William Webster, master, No. 1 ; E"sca:,-
Webster and William Howard, journeYinen No. 1; John
,joi,
derwodd, Thomas Bates, John Jones, and 'Samuel Needli
apprentices, No. 1; E. Richardson, journeyman, No. 9'
MorriS'and Joseph Roberts, apprentices, No. 9; Thomas r_r•4.
dleton, jourueyinan, N0..5; Henry Hughes, appscutice, INT°•