A FEARFUL BOAT ACCIDENT.

Evening Star, Issue 3400, 14 January 1874, Page 3

A FEARFUL BOAT ACCIDENT.

Corio Bay, near Geelong, on Boxing Day was the scene of an accident as calamitous as that which occurred in our own bay on Christmas Day, three years ago. Large numbers of plea-sure-seekers had been visiting a tea garden at Point Henry, to which many persons were taken by steamer, but owing to the shallowness of the water the steamer could not approach nearer than a quarter of a mile from the shore. A rope was used to assist the boats in proceeding through the surf, the weather being extremely tempestuous and beating with full force on this exposed portion of the coast. As the day wore on two boats full of passengers put off from shore with passengers for the steamer. The person in charge of one took the precaution to attach his boat to the rope provided for the purpose, and waited for the steamer ; the second proceeded out to sea, beatinar against a strong head-wind, for the purpose of reaching Geelong. What happened is thus narrated by one of the survivors of the accident that resulted “Wo left the gardens in the boat Fanny at about three o’clock on Friday, as I had never been there before and was desirous of getting away early,f there being drunken men about. Our object was to reach the steamer in which we came to the gardens, but I think we mistook the Melbourne steamer for it. The water came into the boat a quarter of an hour after wo started, and they had to keep baling it out. We were frightened at this, and the man Blashki, who was lost, offered to pay all the expenses if they would take us back again or on to Geelong, but Sharpe laughed at him, and said he was paid to meet the steamer, or something like that. As near as I can rememberthere must°have been about twenty in the boat, and I believe most of them were from Melbourne; they were strangers to Geelong. The men steered the boat across to Cowie’s Creek. I think they were both diunk, and I said to one of them, ‘We shall never get ashore,’ as the wind was blowing strongly, the sea was rough and I was frightened. He only laughed, and i said, ‘jl will report you to the first policeman I meet when I get on shore.’ Sharpe again laughed at me, and said, ‘lf ever you do get on shore again.’ J replied, ‘ I don’t think we ever will*’ We sailed across the bay until about four o’clock ; my reason for thinking it was four o’clock was because the young man’s watch stopped at four o’clock—l mean ono of the young men in the boat. I can’t remember, or tell what distance we were from the shore ■vyhen they tried to make the sail go from one side of the boat to the other (to wear the boat) ; the sail gave a sudden jerk, the boat went over on its side and seemed to sink from under Rs, When I rose I just managed to catch bold °f the bpat, , and there held on. Of the twenty persons who entered that boat eight were drowned, viz,—Hyman Blashki, aged eighteen, _ son of a Melbourne jeweller • Kate Watts, sixteen, housemaid to Mr Franks,’ news agent; Alfred Shugg, fifteen, newspaper runner; Frank Sharpe, boatman, aged about forty-five, who was in charge of the boat: Mr •Philpot, timber merchant, of St. Kilda and Melbourne; Rose Walker, a girl living in Ashby ; a boy named Williams, and one person unknown.