The daily gazette., 1881-05-27
A CALA1xIrY-THR REsuLr O.
.-The terrible disastar whio]


A CALA1GIrY-THR REsULT OF
SroR2, The terrible disaster which
happsasd to the steamer 'svictoria, I"
on the river Thames, near London,
onlaEia In The Dominica Of Canada,
il On awful admonition against the
ovsrcrowding Of excursion steamers,
evan On river trips where the vessel is
mot sxpsctsd to bs far from shore at
any time during the trip. The trouble
b NOT cccasioned by the weight Of the
Load IN . promiscuous crowd like
thaten thu 'svictorio," there are nearly
always : lev reckless people who, hav-
Ing no regard fsr the timidity of
Others, And pleasure in increasing the
danosr On PURPOSE to witness the
alarm 81 women and children. Those
who hare passed the rivers at any of
The tsxries Of Philadelphia or New
York on galn days. when the boats
were crowded, may have witnessed
just sush actions 90 caused the ca
lanitT ON the ''yictoria." Young
men and boys whose spirits were ex-
cited ~ the occasion, who feared no
danger psyond 4 ducking from being
toassd into tho water, purposely move
from one aide Of the boat to the other
70 make the vessel careen, having
thus created sn alarm under which the
whole crowd are frightened, and press
too much to tho right or left until the
umall, shallow vessel Is 90 far oareened
over - mot to right itself. Such &C.
sions have often bean witnessed, and
lad they been ON boats drawing as
little water - the "Victoria," their
passengers would, like those ON the
"victeria, !" have been emptied into
the wster. The voice Of the captain
and officers have no influence on the
reckless fsw who indulge in such dan
gsrous hilarity net unfrequently oc-
casionsd by too much drink. In the
case of the @victoria,'' by which 2ss
psrsons were drowned, and perhaps
more but 90 many bodies have been
recovered; where 1--WE or SIX hundred
people were cot TO moving from side to
aide, on both deckA the efforts of the
captain could not be heard or under
stood ~ many. This boat drew but
two fsss OF water and was built to
run on Q rlyer that was shallow when
the tide was low. As the "Victoria"
lurchsd IN Its progress aleng the river,
the erowd % both decks surged to |
one aidS of the boat, the stanchions |
the upper deck gave way,
and tho structure collapsed, crushing |
with IL load Of human beings upon
thoss who wers below. Many were at |
once precipitated into the water. A
wild scramble for lifs followed, but
many ware rendered powerless to
s0eape, and the vessel settling on its
sids deeper and deeper in the water,
carried down those who were stunned
Or disabled, while such as were free to
act TOOK their chances as best they
might. 3 There was . concurrence of
circumstances that does not always
happen bat the cause Of the calamity
wes tho overcrowding Of q small river
boat Of shallow draught, and that set
tied to the edge Of tho water when
she lsft the wharf, from the weight Of
the passengers she carried. The dis
tAnce 70 b run 70 tho water works,
was only four nilss, and other excur-
sion ateamefs we're plying up and down
TIE river at the time.
A. the excursion season is now upon
NJ 1t will be well to take note Of this
tsrribls accident in the Canadian
waters. and be careful that nothing Of
tbs kind shall happen on the Della
ware. FiN Hiis3sfa ~
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