, 1881-05-27
RANKIN.
THE 1sEsl'OSsIitf.E MAN.


LONDON, Ont, May 2U.-i'ankin, the |
Captain Ut tho steamer Victorin, who had n |
narrow escapo from meeting tho sat1le watory |
grnyo which welcomed 200 Of his passengers, |
was sufficiently recovered this morning to
submit to atl interview viii. tho following |
result:
"Nvl,at were tho first symptoms of danger
tint you noticrtt?''
"lneyer noticed my until near the place
where We went over. know we hatl gonl
load on, but, after lcaying tho wafer.
works, tic peoplo were all sftttng
quietly In tho boat. At Springbank.
however. / told tho people who were crowtt-
lilg oil bUard TINT unless SONS Of them got Oft
/ shouat! not leave tho dock.'
"lou thought there woro too many got
ting on"'
"Ycs; but after we got fifteen or twenty
persons Oft. lid not feel 80 anxious. She
was crowded there Is no doubt, and still there
was Qutto n bit OF room loft OH the malls or
lower dock. There were perhaps twenty
live or thirty there, and
NOT OVER FOUR NuNnnED PASSENGERS IN
AL1."
"Whcn you reached tho point wl,ero the
accidunt took placo wtlat was donop'
."Ohl there was something tlono before
renchlng there. On cunning Rround the bend
ut tho cemetery, n lot Of those OIL hoard
rushed over to ono sfle to SEQ the Princess
Louise 60 BY. The Victoria listed over badly
Mt TINT poiMt, and did not right until wc had
reached Elliott's Creek. She Strengthened
,lp then, and VIC started for tile C0yo trIlgc,
Theu Just ns we reached tho point Of tho
Incident she lurchcd again."
"Itow MUCH WAS sllE LEANrSG ovEn?"
''Weli. tho engineer said thero wns ten
inches Ut wnter on one sitlo alld tic boat
about two feet out of tho water on the other"
"What wns done then 9''
II sent u little boy down to ask the cngi-
neer II there was hny danger. Iiu sent word
Dnck that unless We got her straiglltened up
there was great danger. Wowero then With
in sight OF the Cove bridge"
"Was there any excitement among tho
passcngcrs"
"Not tho slightest"
'"Diln't they seem to recognize tho dan
gor"'
"Not bit of 1t. Then young Parish cauc
to me and said; we cannot get the boat
Strengthened. The more we try to move the
people over to the otlor sIdo, the more per-
sistently they cling to their present
places Tho dcck-hand has slnco told
mo tho snnlo thing. The people who
AGt9 cF0hEA " paI3 f3AfQ l NahEA
several gentlemen near tho ptt0t-h0Mso to 20
| down aud got sonlu nlen WllO Were
4 LITTLE THE WORST OF 1.rQUo1t
| 10 70 oyor to tho othor sidu. Tho engineer
also snys that tl,osO parties laughed at him
when l.o went out and told them of the dali
| ger. Soinu ut thoml Ba1d, III n Joking why.
Got yn,lr lffe-boat CUT The Franchlna1,
who acted as deek-ha,u told them thoro was
great danger, anl uiey Just laughed ut hin,
mud said, 'frhen we'll 20 down with her. ;
When the little boy came back to mo lie antA
they would not get over, Mr.. Wilson, WHO
was llear 1ae, tried Ills bust to got the ineli
and women 0yor and near tho pll0t.box.
They moved when We were within about two
lengths of where, tl,is accident took plnce.
Two row.boats passed. by, ant! tlle cry being
ratscd down below, "Thora's raeo!'
THERE WAS 4 n!1 HUSH .
made over to tho sld1 by tho people down
stairs. She took Il sudden lurch then and
went clean over"
"NV'lat 1ollowcu?'
"rllo boflur. which In aomc manner got
loose, won't nut through tho sltlo Of tho boAt
Tho lcck did not slve away until this time
and woultl ncyor tnyu moved hal the bpllu,
remained fnIts placc. but when 1t went ou
the Btanchtons wore carried away mud TIT
decks slid clear out. was in tho plIot
house, md ~ st.u want over Jumped out"
"Dla the bo!lor carry ally puople with 1t p
"Yes, 1t must ilaya carried those On the
lower deck. Tll0re was u gErl WHOM know
Of who got burned by tho boiler a. 1t went
but she was sayel."
"What was
THE scENE, AZ YOU saw 1T?''
"Wheil tic bOlaer. went out 1t broke TIL
stea,n connections, a1Ni there wss quits /