The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-07-30
The Turning ef the Henry Ciny-Whnt Is
20 he Done


boet Henry Clay ID is the all absorbing topic of |
conversation ia every circle and it has spread gene
raj alarm throughout the community. Aa inquest I
has been held, and ind gnation meeting has pro-
nounccd its opinion upon the that led TO this
terrible catastrophe, which has rendered so many
heartbs desolate, shrouded so many families in the
emblems Of mourning and woe, and filed at classes
with sorrow and gloom Nor is the fearful extent
Of the calamity yet ascertained. There is no list
Of the passengers; and it is only when the dead,
whose bodies have not been as yet recovered, are
missed by their friends-some of them per-
baps at great distance from New York
that we form correct estimate of the loss
Of life, aud realize the full of the
melancholy disaster. Probably there We're some
strangers or board the as-starrcd steamboat whose
tate viii never be known in this world.
The travel is now so great the Hudson river,
between New York and Albany and Troy, and the
various intermediate points, that there is scarcely
single man. woman, or child in the community, TO
whose bosom the sad event does not come home
with terror and apprehension for the present the
future But all this is unavailing, unless the occa
sion is seized and 50 improved that recurrence Of
these accidents will be prevented hereafter. Their
nun Der has iearfully increased within the last
two three years, that something must be speedily
done to arrest the progress Of the evil.
Our readers have not as yet forgotten the Hague
street explosion the Greenwich school acci-
dent the fall Of block Of new buildings up town,
burying the workmen beneath the ruins; the acct
dents 10 the steamer Swallow, and the steam
er Empire, Of Troy, at Newburg the falling of
the bridge at the Staten Island ferry and the al
most countless accidents from explosions of boilers
on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, within the last
two years. All of these have been attended with
awful loss of life, and together with the fatal results
Of railroad accidents, present an accumulation OF
wad destruction Of human beings unparaleledin
the history of the civilized world.
There is not one OF the accidents we have enume-
rated that is not directly traceabe to the most Gull
! pable negligence, the most reckless trfing with
| human life. As each has followed the other, al
most in quick succession as the train of ghosts
that passed in review before the arghed Macbeth,
temporary alarm has been created an inquest has
been held. an indignation meeting has been Called
an indignation letter editorial article has ap
| peared in the newspapers, and sometimes grand
| iuries have indicted the accused parties but
there the matter all ended The tempest sub
| sided into calm, till the Of the next
| tastrophe came like mighty wind, and again
dashed the popular mind into " sound and fury,
signifyng nothing" Hitherto. nothing has been
done to put stop to these massacres, as we must
call them. The Staten Island tragedy, which is the
most recent, is case in point. Great excitement
prevailed, inquest held upon the dead bodies,
and it very clear that the bridge was INSULT
cent to support the weight Of human beings who
permitted to crowd upon it Yet the excite
ment and indignation have all ended in smoke. No
steps have been taken by the officers of the law to
bring the guilty parties to justice.
What is the cause Of this delinquency on the part
of the authorities !! Let the sad truth be told The
proprieors of steamboats, and the directors Of rail-
roads, and other wealthy capitalists, have too
much influence over juries and coroners and dis
trict attorneys, and they unwilling to do their
duty to the community. The owners, directors,
captains, pilots, conductors, and engineers of steam
boats and railroads, finding that punishment fol-
lows the destruction of human life. by their culpa
bic neglect criminal recklessness, become careless
Of consequences, and the result is, that these aec
dents every day increasing and multiplying.
We Iecollect very well that in the case of the
! Empire Of Troy, jures sat at Newbrg, and sat at
Fishkil at the opposite side of the river, for weeks
investigating the of the fatal accident and
the Grand Jury and United States Marshal Of this
city, had also finger in the pie but the
whole affair terminated in nothing. In the of
the school house calamity the jury made such
mess of q verdict that legal action could be
i taken upon it. In the case of the Hague street
/ plosoD, the jury did their duty most manfuy; but
/ the Grand Jury and the District Attorney did not
perform their part, and thus the matter vanished in
vapor. in the of the Staten Island accident,
on the 9Th Of July, Staten Island jury rendered
the ludicrous verdict that " deceased came by
their deaths by accidental drowning, by reason Of
breaking of the bridge"-thus passing opinion
upon what was question of great public interest
whether the bridge not constructed with
due regard to the safety Of passengers, and whether
due diligence exercised in keeping chains in
proper order and in preventing the bridge from be-
ing over crowded. 1t was stated at the time, that
| they considered this more subject for the Grand
Jury than for them. But we have mover heard that
the Grand Jury paid the slightest attention to the
matter snce and verify believe they never will.
In the present case, meeting Of passengers, held
at the Astor House yesterday, expressed the deep
est Indignation, as will be seen by reference to an
other part of this day paper. They say that they
desire to "express their dsapprobation, 10 the most
unqualified terms Of the apparent reckessness Of
human life, in the system of racing practised by
steamboats, generally-that they will adopt such
measures ms VIII secure them rom pecunlary loss,
and, if possible bring the offenders to punishment
and to protect the travelling public from such like
occurrences, so far their influence and action
may cxtend-that the meeting is credbly in
formed by one Of the passengers, that he as
sisted in extinguishing fire on board previous to
the disaster at Yonkers-that the Henry Clay and
the Armenia had been racing, from the moment Of
their leaving Albany until the time Of the Disaster
that they learn with the deepest Indignation, that
tar, or some such ingammable Ingredient was freely
used to make steam, while racing with the Arme-
MIA, and that the safety valve was actually tied