Connecticut western news., 1881-06-01
THE VICTORIA DISASTER.
The Loss of an Excursion Steamer
 with Nearly 25O Lives.

with Nearly 25O Lives.
 The disaster to the Victoria on the Thames, near London, Ontario, was most serious affair. The loss of life was nearly 25O. There were number of excursions from London to neighboring towns, it being not only the Queens birthday and beautiful spring day, but the first day of business for the excur- sion steamboats. Trips were made about four miles down the river to place known as Spring Bank, popular resort, where the city water works are. Three or four steamboats took down large ex- cursion parties at in tervals throughout the day At about four o'clock in the afternoon the Victoria, of the Thames Navigation Company's line, left her dock on her fourth and last trip for the day with large load of passengers, variously estimated at from 400 to 600 in number. The down trip was made without accident, although the boat was so heavily loaded that she occasionally shipped small quantities of water when too many of the crowd got on one side. On the return trip, when more than half way home, there was some commo- I tion on board. It is not quite certain what this was. Some of the rescued passengers say that some boys were cutting innocent capers on the lower deck, and others say the boat struck a snag. Whatever the cause, something drew large number of the passengers to one side of the boat. With this ad- ditional weight on that side the boat ca reened, and volume of water fully an inch deep poured over the side. This frightened the people on the lower deck and those on the upper deck who saw it, and a majority of the passengers on board made'a rush for the other side of the boat. The weight thus transferred to the opposite side produced, of course, the same result there, but to greater and more dangerous extent. The side so weighted down went two or three feet under water. The steamboat would no doubt have righted herself again after this trouble, but, while the crowd below were struggling iu the water, try ing to save themselves from being washed overheard, the stanchions of the upper deck gave way, and the entire upper part of the boat and several hundred people were precipitated upon the un- fortunate people below, crushing them to the deck and rendering escape i'm possible. The boat continued to settle on it's side deeper in the water, taking with it many of the passengers who were stunned or injured by the fall of the upper deck and who were unable to help themselves. Scores of people sank i'm mediately, utterly unable to make any effort to help themselves. Many who were pinned to the lower deck by the weight from above were drowned before anything could be done for them. Many others, thrown uninjured into the river, rent the air with their cries and vain appeals for the succor that those on board and unhurt could not render to so many drowning people at once. The utmost exertions were put forth to res- cue as many of the drowning passengers as possible, and large number were saved from death.
 As soon as possible help was secured, and the work of recovering the bodies from the river and from the wreck was begun. The bodies were put on the steamboat Louise as fast as they were secured, and then taken to the com pany's docks, where the sorrowful task of Identification began. The accident happened at about 6:15 o'clock, and it was midnight before the bodies recov- cred were brought to the city. There were many heartrending scenes on the dock where the bodies were laid. They were put in rows on the grass by the river side, all dressed in holiday attire, and by the aid of torches, which made the scene even more ghastly, the faces were eagerly scanned by hundreds of anxious friends looking for their missing ones. A large proportion of the drowned were men in middle life, and many were children of tender years. The cries of friends who recognized loved ones among the corpses, echoed across the river all night. Wives inquired anxiously for their husbands, mothers for their chil- dren. One man was seen whose four children were missing. As fast as bodies were recognized, they were taken away and prepared for burial.
 As to the cause of the disaster on the Victoria the Captain says :-" After we started number of people on the lower deck began singing and moving around. Presently I noticed slightly different action on the boat, and I sent boy down to the engineer to ascertain if there was any danger. He returned with word from the engineer that unless we could straighten the boat there was danger. I was looking forward to Q sand bar about two hundred yards ahead, on which I intended to beach the boat Just then two rowboats came alongside, the occupants of which were racing The crowd rushed to the side of the boat to see them. The engineer then sent up word that the water was com ing in. Just then the crowd made a rush to the port side, and as they did SO, the vessel took lurch and went with the port bow down. Then the boiler shifted from it's position and went through the side, and as it went it car ried away the main deck, and that let down the upper deck with the crowd on it. There was not 100 people on the lower deck. because the space below was