The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-06-02

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held his head above the water he could feel
drowning children, whose little heads were
swept under the water some seconds before
his own, clutching at his legs in what he well
knew were their dying struggles. Drowning
mothers grasped him frantically, and piteous-
ly implored his help. Montgomery asserts
that there was no teetering Of the steamer
from side to side. She was listed to the star
board all the way up the river, till just at the
time Of the accident, and then she rallied sud
denly to port and went to pieces, just as one
would swoop house of cards off table.
Montgomery is of the opinion that the upset
would not be attended with half such fatal re-
suits had the steamer been properly construct
cd: f Many or perhaps nearly all might have
swept down by the sudden collapse of the
upper works and buried in the wreck. Strong
men and prattlng children were alike helpless.
Farther Particulars.
Special kilograms to the Chicago Times
give the following facts incidental to the
horror:
The city to-day was the scene of a disaster
tnat orlngs more woe to single community
than any accident that has ever before occurred
IN the Dominion. The steamer Victoria
foundered in the Thames and over two hun
dred lives were lost. The faces bore all va
rlety OF expressions, but none were unpleasant
to look at in themselves, however horrible
the whole spectacle. In few cases a thin
| stream OF blood was streaked across the face.
and and the eyes have the glazed stare of death.
ihe clothing was bedraggled, and the toilet
| dlsarraDged. In few cases there were cnts
on the back part of the head As body after
body was taken out there was a rush of the
crowd who had gathered about where the
bodies were identified: A vail, a sigh, or a
sympathetic comment bespoke the feelings of
the relative or friend. Where identification
was not possible, the body was laid aside and
the crowd respectfully fell back IN the presence
| of sorrow.
| TO DESCRIBE THE SCENE
as it actually was is not possible in the time
allowed to hastily written sketch, and indeed
with the sounds OF woe still in ones ears, the
agonizing cries of the bereaveds relatives fresh
in the air, and the sight of dead friends whom
one LETT an hour before in the enjoyment Of
health and bent only on froiicking constantly
before me it is no easy task to depict the mis-
cry of the evening by the river side. Nor Was
it there alone that the cry of anguish was
heard. At every street corner and every door
way lnnumerable little groups gathered about,
and the sobbng and wailing touched the hard.
est heart. No one could walk in the street
unmoved, and thes ympathetic tear trembed
on the lid OF many one whose own house
hold was untouched by the disaster. Mr..
Thomas Stevens, who
LOST HIS ENTIRE FAMILY
by the sad affair would not give up hopes of
one little boy until couple of hours had
elapsed. He kept rubbing away, saying: II
know he will survive it. Keep at it for Gods
SAKE SAKE At last he gave up in despair, and
said: 81 guess III. Jump over too" HI
have met the same fate as his loved ones.
A mother whose child had been torn from her
blythe crash, saw the little thing appear above
the water. With cry Of There's INV dar.
ling" she rushed waist deep into the water
and clasped her dead child in her arms. A
couple OF men dragged the mother and child
ashore with considerable difficulty. This was
no sooner done than the mother pressed her
babe to her bosom, and with cry rushed I'D
the shore and was soon lost to view. It was
| quite evident that the poor WOman's reason
was temporarily dethroned by the catastrophe.
Nicholas Wilson, who was on the Inflated
boat with his wife, had a hard and desperate
AsTRUGGLE FOR LIFE.
MIR. Wilson was thrown completely Under tbe
water and almost suffocated. On coming to
the surface, he saw his wife struggling in the
water, and went to her assistance. With the
aid Of some onl COOKERS, the couple managed
to reach the shore, thoroughly exhausted.
AN IN, incident that some may regard as prophetic
| ~ ~ JOuHE VIII went down
with his cousin. They had spent the day
very pleasantly and were in high glee, laugh
ing and chatting with all the freshness of
youth. Suddenly the young girl grew grave,
and looking at her companion, she said :s'Oh,
J,m' would it be judgment on us if we
shoula oe crowned, as we ran away from
home this morning?" Her companion made
laughter had scarcely died away on the even.
ing air when crash came The girl was
crushed to her death in the water. and thc
young man, who is printer of the city, was
pressed against the machinery, and rendered
almost lnsensible by the escaping steam. By
desperat. effort he succeeded in gaining the
water, and more dead than alive reached the
shore.
MIR. X. Dolbear, wife, and two children were
on the upper deck of the ill-fatcd steamer at
the time OF the accident. He states that at
Spring Bank before leaving he heard of an or
der being given by the captain to allow no
more passengers on board, otherwise he would
not be responsible for her safety. A few min
utes aiter they started and owing to the
until her arrival at the point of death, when,
running we'll in toward shore, the movement
OF passengers became too great, and an order
was given to all hauds to Keep STEADY, other
wise they would capsize. This appeared to
be warning to take the other side :of the
boat, which was done, and the effect on the
upper deck was general giving way of the
supports, dropping the whole party into the
river: He with the baby, got over the wire
into the hull. His wife and little daughter
jumped after, the latter falling into the Water.
but caught a gentleman's coat and was lifted
up beside her parents, after which they were
rescued all right.
! THE PRINCESS LOUISE
arrived soon after the catastrophy, and nj moorcc'
against the north shore and close to the wreck
A gangway was projected from her deck to
the shore, and at about O'Clock the bod
les as fast as they were received, were RANGED
in sad array on the upper decks of the Princess =
Louise, which was soon covered with dead
bodies to such an extent that in some instances
the bodies of children and infants were placed
on top of the admit corpse. The scene on the
upper deck was sight which sent a shudder
| through the spectator, stout men turn aside
and weep. In one spot two babes lay side by
side, their faces turned toward each other. and
were it not for the terrible and heart-crush,np
surroundings, one would imagine they were
sleeping peacefully. In another place a grey
| haired man lay mOtiOnless in death. and a
fair.haired girl alongside of him, while in
another direction lay woman with fearful
cash in her forehead caused no doubt by the
crashing timbers of the upper deck Of the
Victoria when she capsized. In another part
Of the vessel was noticed one or more of the
bodies which have traces of being crushed and
mangled among the wreck. In many in
stances the faces of the dead were
FRIGHTFULLY DISTORTED,
and suggested the fearful struggle which
must have taken place as they lay in the river
piled on each other, and struggling, either
with the drowning mass or the broken
timbers. So soon as the upper deck of the
Princess Louise was covered with the fast
arriving corpses, the lower deck was used as
a spectacle for the dead bodies, and all those
| stretched on the grass and on the banks O
the river were carried aboard.
person who was standing at the other
side when the accident occurred, says he had
hailed the boat for passage, but she could not
get within few feet OF the shore where he
stood, and he did not care to run any risk OF
jumping. He says that at the cemetry land
ing the Louise met the Victoria, and the lat
ter steamer rushed to the side next to the
Louise to see her passengers. This caused
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