Elizabeth daily monitor. [volume] (Elizabeth, N.J.) 1868-1880, 1868-11-16
TERRIBLE CALAMITY.

that has happened for many years, III
volving the loss of one life and the
manning of number of male and fe
male pas sen gers, occurred on Saturday
morning. At seven and half O'Clock
the Union Ferry Company's boat Ham
ilton left Brooklyn laden with nearly
twelve hundred passengers and number
of vehicles On nearing the slip at the
foot OF Fulton street, on the New York
side, the propeller Columbia. lying just
below the slip, let go her stem line and
swung around in such manner as to
partially cover the entrance to the ferry
slip. John W. Albertson, the regular
pilot, was eating his breakfast in the
pilot house at the time, having temper
arily given the wheel to a deck hand
named Atlantic White, who holds a
certificate as ''relief pilot, and who
has, at intervals during the last two
years, taken charge of the wheel in the
absence of either of the regular pilots.
Seeing the propeller swing around,
White called the attention of Albertson
to the fact and asked him if there was
room to enter the slip. The latter re-
piled in the affirmative, and the boat
was allowed to continue on her course.
The course of the boat, on entering IL e
slip was such that the tide caught the
boat which was very low in the water,
owing to the number of persons crowd
ed on that end eff the boat, rendering it
doubly difficult to steer, and in spite of
the wheelsman to prevent it, carried
the bow of the Hamilton under the
guard of the Union, another ferry
boat lying in the slip, and ready to
depart on the arrival of her consort.-
Those of the passengers in the vicinity
of the bow of the Hamilton saw from
the coorse of the boat that collision
was inevitable and attempted to fly
rom the impending danger. So closely
wedged in was the crowd, that this
could not be done. Men, women and
children were thrown down in the mad
efforts of the crowd to escape, trampled
upon and seriously injured. When the
boats came together with a crash, the
now of the Hamilton passed underneath
the guards of the Union, and the heavy
timbers composing the latter swept
away the rail, hood, and portion of
the ladies' cabin of the Hamilton as
though they had been made of paste
board. George Brewer, a lad of Is
years, residing with his parents at the
corner of Fifteenth street and Tenth
avenue, Brooklyn, was sitting at the
time of the accident on the forward raj il
of the Hamilton. 1t is conjectured
that his feet were interlaced in the rail
in snch way that he could not at
once extricate them. His right
leg was severed from the body
his skull fractured. and his body
otherwise badly mutilated. He was
killed Immediately. A large mum
Der of passengers were struck By the
broken woodwork, or jammed between
the timbers Of the demolished hood.
The excitement ON board was for time
most intense, but was at length quoted
down somewhat. The engine was re-
versed, the Hamilton was backed out
and run into her slip, and such Of the
frightened passengers as could do SO
hurried ashore, thankful to have es-
capped the calamity that had overtaken
SO many others,
The work of removing the dead and
wounded was at once proceeded with.
The body Of the dead boy was remov-
ed to the ferry -house, and shielded from
the gaze of the curious. 1t was at
tended by the father OF the lad, who
was also passenger on the boat, and
was standing but short distance from
him when so suddenly sent into etern-
ity. The parent escaped unhprt. Car
riages We're provided by the Ferry
Company, and such Of the wounded as
desired it were removed to their resi-
denees in Brookly. ..