The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-05-28


viii probably not survive the night.
The dead and wounded were removed
to Leadyille.
THE DEAD ExCURsIONIsTs.
borrowing Details OF the sad Cata-
strophe.
London, Ont, May 27. y In several
cases entire families with one or two
exceptions are wiped out. Instances
in that Of Mr.. Jos. Coghlin, whose
children and grandchildren, number
ing Eve are lying dead in the house. His
daughter Jennie was married to the
young named Swazzie the day before
the accident. The couple. were both
drowned.
The family ofW. Hall loses five in one
house. Every kind of coffin is in use,
and the dead. are being conveyed to
burying places by every class of vehicle.
The remains of Mr.. VIM. Mcbride were
carried in light wagon, followed by
procession mile long. The men can
hardly speak to each other without
breaking down. The scenes in afflicted
households are terrible. The clergy
men who have worked nobly all through
are tired out, and cannot reach the
graves fast enough. The different So
cieties are on hand and are doing the
utmost to facilitate the burials.
The longest procession to-day was
that attending the remains of Willie
Gloss and Miss Cooper, who were en-
gagged to be married next month, and
who died together in the water. A
couple Of hundred well filled vehicles
followed the hearses which passed
along side by side. The searchers for
the dead this morning raised two little
girls clasped tightly in each others
arms as they had no doubt fallen to-
gether.
The search continues for the bodies,
many OF which are terribly crushed
and bore evidence of a heroic struggle
for life.
- The Cause OF the Disaster.
London, Ont, May 27.-The number
of persons on the Victoria are now
known to be nearly seven hundred,
which was burden out of all proper
tion to her strength and capacity. The
crowd at first enjoyed the oscillatlng of
the vessel, which they increased by
moving from side to side, shouting ''let
her sink we'll only have to wade
ashore. Each motion caused the YES
sci to ship water to the terror of some
and delight OF others. When the sup
ports of the upper deck gave way all
was over, and with terrible crash the
whole thing collapsed.
At this time the upper deck was very
nearly perpendicular, causing a tre-
mendous strain on the supports. Many
were crushed at once, many thrown
into the water and drowned, and many
were rendered unconscious and dazed.
The steamer Princess Louise was along
side in a few minutes and her decks
were crowded. ~
The Victoria is complete wreck.
1t is stated that her boiler shifted with
the rocking of the vessel.
Captain Rankin says that there was
a very light load going down, but he
could not keep back the crowds that
sbesieged her ON khe return trip. He
tried to make them leave the boat but
could only induce 10 ors20. He also
tried to make them leave the upper
deck in vain, even threatening them.
He noticed the peculiar rocking but
could not leave his post.
The engineer sent word to the cap
tain that unless the boat could be
Strengthened there was danger. He
had determined to beach the boat on a
sand bar 200 yards ahead, when the
crowd on board rushed to one side to
see a race between two row boats, and
the boat with twich went port bow
down. The boiler shifted and went
through the side which ended matters.
as it carried away the main deck and
let down the top deck. There were
not over one hundred people below.
Many persons were imprisoned between
the water and the top deck, but they
had breathing space which would have
saved many had not others climbed on
the floating deck, crushing it down and
smothering them.
Many persons were saved by swim
ming out under the deck at the side
or end.
Business has been resumed, although
some houses are closed yet. Nearly
all the funerals have taken place. The
police are still searching for bodies, but
fruitlessly. A melancholy collection
of personal effects is still being viewed
in the police headquarters in the: hope
of obtaining mementos. The investi-
cation will probably be closed soon. A
solemn mass was said to-day in the
Catholic church.
Preventing Land Meetings.
New York, May 27.-The Herald's s
Dublin special says: There is a well
grounded rumor tonight that Mr..