BREAKING OE THE ICE IN REGENT’S PARK.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 14, 8 April 1867, Page 79

BREAKING OE THE ICE IN REGENT’S PARK.

geeat loss of life. . 1 (From the Home News, January 26.) ' Regent’s Paee, on Tuesday, January ! 15th, was the scene of a heartrending ca- j lainityi'caused by the sudden sinking of a ■ portion of tbe ornamental water opposite 1 to Sussex-place, known as the Broadwater, ■ which, from its width, is the favorite ska- * ting ground of the Loudon public On 1 this portion of the ice great numbers eii- 1 joyed the sport during -the forenoon without the occurrence of auy'accideht; but as ! 3 o’clock approached several cracks in the 1 ice wer.e observable. Nevertheless the ] sport went on joyously. - Of the terrible 1 ealamity-which shortly afterwards ensued 1 we subjoin a narrative:- ! On a sudden, at about 17 minutes to A 1 o’clock, the ice. gave way, not merely at one point, but it snapped at all. parts, and be- 1 came 1 shattered into fragments. Numbers 1 of people fell into the water, which was 12 feet Several persons were at once 1 sucked under the ice, and at least 200 ! people were seen struggling in the water 1 and screaming for help. There were about l 2000 spectators on the..banks, and, the 1 tirst shock over, men rushed wildly about, seizing upon everything Un the shape of a 1 rope or spar to throw to the struggling ; and drowning 3 but by this time all dujpct : communication with them was cut off by the breaking-up of : the ice, -aiid very few 1 were reached for a long time! Hundreds ; ran off to return, .with the hoats.on their shoulders, but when they got-, them into the'water it was difficult to through the ice. Ropes were rapidly i joiued, and then one end ,of each being carried across the bridge-they were'streched from shore to shore and; dragged along A few person's managed to grasp them, but they could not be dragged and had to remain holding on them-till the- boats picked them up. But the ropes Broke. One man, at' the niost imminent risk, plunged in and .brought out seyeral children, safely. ■ A gentleman, who: broke through ;near the south-western s;hore, fell so that bis head and' chest rested on a large block of-ice, while his feet-were in the water. There he lay smoking his pipe, for a long time. While the boats were larther out .-picking,up. as fast-as possible, those in a worse : position.- He ;began,;however } to realise his positionj and, removing the pipe from his mouth, he called for help. „ Several vain'Attempts were made to reach Him with ropes,: poles, and ladders. A man .with the, aid' of a. ladder, reached a small, piece of sound iee, and endeavoured to throw! a rope to.. him,; hut .it ieli short; He then managed; to push the. ladder ,on to A piece; of. ice further outj and standing i oh" the former he Again'threw thie^rope. 'Tu dbihg!sO;.he and:ih:clihgi,hg!;iio f lthe ; ladder--hei hurt himself, and was drawn , aahpre, ;V'A;!gentieman into an , escape fittod up !with; harrels' at to 1 pushed' out aa far as -possible he%ot 1 into the Water ' ahd i the escape along,'but he did hot.'succeed. , Eventually a man stripped to his shift and i trousers); hayihg 'bto fixed-to - through the: : skaten

land ; hihid tremendous; cheers. A man

very active, and saved several! persons. Just aa ;bhe; of the boats Ajiproabhed afßUfferef, he sank, but a young iman i ih J the' -hbat’ plunged .after, him into the, water,.and brought him up. ( They were both got intp'flxe'hpafc' Mr. Archer) the: manager of the boats, was most" energetic in his efforts, and many 1 persons are indebted to himrfor!their lives. A; young man stood on a‘solitary piece'of icejin the' cenpre of the lake for an hour ancl.a half,! and was at'last fetched off by. a man who reached him in a boat. Several persons who were in-the water in the middle "of the lake, and whom it was impossible for the! icemen to reach, the - ladders : and boats J being rendered almost useless owing to the state of: the ice, were seen to sink back exhausted, evidently, benumbed with cold, after vainly endeavouring to support them* selves by clutching at the rotten ice, which crumbled away in their grasp. The female relatives of many of those who fell into the water saw their struggles from the bank without the possibility of saving them. / "Inedady saw her husband sink and V His'life, while two sisters were sendii . -’h piercing screams, and calling on t!. j -JL® to save their brother.' He was dsov ficff, and the two ladies were taken away in the most pitiable state, and sent to their hoMe in a cab. Shortly after 4 o’clock a strong, body of police and an additional number of icemen from Hyde Park,, arrived, but too late to render any aid , except in getting out the bodies of those drowned, all the persons alive having by this time been rescued and taken to tiie tent. Some had Buffered simply from tbe immersion and fright, but forty were lying more or less exhausted. Several of the m'edical men iu the neighbourhood had hastened to the scene of tbe accident on hearing the news, and by unremitting attention on their part, under the direction of Dr. Obr6,. of Melcombe-place, Dorsetsquare, the surgeon of the district for the Humane Society, many of those rescued had sufficiently recovered by 5 oclock to be taken away in cabs, some to their own homes, some to the hospital, and others to tbe workhouse. The inhabitants of Sussex Terrace vied with each, other in sending over to the tent all the necessaries required by the medical men.

; As soon as the living were saved, the rescuers, having provided themselves with drags, directed their efforts to the search for the dead. One by one twelve corpses were drawn out, and were brought ashore and taken away. Many in the last stage of; exhaustion had been conveyed to the Humane Society’s tenfcand to the MaryieBone Workhous, andf two to St. Mary’s Hospital. At the end of the passage in which the rooms containing the dead were placed, was a decoration bidding the inmates, “ A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” When darkness came on the search for the dead was suspended. Morning dawned, and with it came fresh horrors. The search the dead was resumed, and body after body was carried down by the police, till at 3 o’clock the number was more than thirty, in addition to thosejbrought up on the previous day. Many of these were well and even fashion ably dressed young men, with watches and sums of money in their pockets. Some were mere boys. Of those belonging to the classes nearly all had skates upon their feet. The countenances of all taken out of ;the water the night before were not greatly discomposed, nor were their clothes dirtied.

On. Wednesday morning, the 16th, at daybreak, the .excitement which had existed ' without intermission throughout nearly the whole of the night in the vicinity of Marylebone Workhouse, St. Mary’s, and other hospitals, to which it was supP os fd either the dead bodies of those who perished and others admitted as patients bad tjeeri taken, was,’ if possible, increased Qfl the part of relatives and friends of persons iipisamg. By 9 o’clock thousands of anxious spectators crowded , the shore on the. public side, and it was found necessary to post '.large bodies of police / round the enclosure; to keep the people off, and here some distressing scenes took place. Mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters of many who were known to have lost their lives on the previous evening, assailed the police on every, hand, begging of them to be allowed to pass into the enclosure, so that they might have the first opportunity of seeing whether the bodies brought up belonged to those they had lost, but all these applicants were told they must wait till the bodies reached the workhouse, where they would be taken for the purpose of identification. The Royal Humane Society’s boats, Beveral .broad rowing boats, and the;,stage to which the rowing boats are moored, were all .fitted up and manned for the search. This was - slow, for the searchers had;to break their way through the-ieehy hard, manual, labour. - Up to Thursday night, the 17th, the numbers of - dead, bodies recovered amounted to 35. ; The excitement at the Marylebone Wbrkhouse , continued unabated) arid several huudred persons were admitted,- about. 36 of whom said they came;in. .search of. missing relatives and friends who were known to have been on the: ice’-, at. the time the catastrophe oc’curred!;::;.:. : " • •• • • -\ • ‘ The; recovery of five; bodies wais the resuit Af" the dragging;!on Jahuary. i f lßth) sWelUng: the tbtffiofyictims alreadyknown tMe - jnipiaaixig; portionately large concourse qf speotatow

j the parkj' fbrtHe .of watching.]the , for the recovery of : ihe bodies drojvbbd. ; The bank was crowded by ‘ about 3,oooiqr. 4,000, persons, and there was also alarge number on the- moiind ; on thb opposite side. .The greatest interest seemeA to be concentrated in a man wbaririg aired cap, who, with about a dozen park-keepers and icemen, was standing in a barge lying towards the south of the ornamental water. He was/ a diver, to descend Under water 5 And the preparations made shortly after 11 'o’clock, previous to:his unenviable duties, were eagerly watched. The barge hawing been moored in a channel, between two extensive blocks of ice, a ladder was jlowered from tbe side, and, amid such exclamations as “He’s putting on his helmet,” “He’s on the ladder,”' the diver, disappeared. Ten minuses or a quarter of an hour elapsed, during the course of which the probabilities of success were canvassed by the "spectators. His reappearance was eargerly looked for by all: as suddenly-he went down he came up, and it was certain that the first ettempt at any rate had been unavailing- For about five minutes he rested on the ladder, and then the search was renewed, but without result. The*dragging was only earried on by two boats, and the.difficulty experienced in makings way. through the ice appeared insurmountable.

The same operations that were resorted to on the 19th aDd 20th were continued on the 215 t.;,.. The drags were supplemented by the use of fishermen’s nets 3 and in the afternoon the divers again 'searched: No bodies were found. " The divers,-of whom there were three, brought up two hats, a pair of boots, and a wulkingstick, which were handed ovee to the park constables.* Thb represent the bottom of the lake to be in such a state as to place great obstacles in the way of their progress. In one part at. whice one of the divers descended, hufound the mud to have accumulated tp the extent of 5 feet and the average depth of the. muddy bottom througlfwbicb he traversed he pronounced to be 3 feet’ 6 inches. They described the bottom as composed of soft, yielding, black mud, and into this they sometimes sank to their knees, and sometimes considerably deeper. Except where the wate was shallow 1 ) they could see nothing—“ it was like being in a dark room.” The lake varies so much in depth that at the point there may be only four feet clear space between the ice and the ground, though immediately beyone there may be a pooh 14 feet deep. The interest which, the disaster .has evoked is .apparent from the fact thatydurjng the 21st every position from which a view of the.operations.upon the lake could be gained was crowded by lookers-on, wlio,~in --roßching the islands and other promiuent points betrayed their usual indifference to risk. The police and icemen warned them as long as waiving seemed of the slightest avail, and. then lay by for a time arid waited the result, those who bad reacned solid ground there was little use in disturbing, but hundreds of men and lads, not content wish, quietlylooking on, and engaged in skating and sliding close to the points where the drags were at work -and the ice was actually being broken and pulled to shore! The secretary and several members of the committee of the Humane Society at once went upon the ice, and by dint of expostulations and remonstrances, induced the majority of those present to quit a position so full of danger. ; Numbers, however, chiefly lads proved refractory, and had to be cleared off by, a concerted movement of tbe police and-park-keepers who succeeded for the remaender of the day. ..in keeping the ice clear. In running off to avoid the keepers six lads fell in near 1 the side, and their well merited ducking obtained for them little commiseration from the spectators. ...

The search for . the.bodies was continued on.the 22nd and but ho. more were werejound. On the latter day Lord John Manners, Chief. Commissioner of the Board of . Works, gave, orders for the lake to be drained. Numerous -stories are told of hairbreadth escapes, and of acts of 'courage ahd daring, of harrowiug. sccnes in tue water, of instances in which the ludicrous and the serious were strangely commingled; A coincidence in life of a .Royal Humane Society’s man named Sheridan, is worth notice. Sheridan, like many of bis countrymen, of the Sister Isle, served in the Federal army in America, and having received twelve wounds at the battle of Bull’s Run, was returned in the official list as among the killed - He was resuscitated, however) and lived to burn many a cartridge in defence of the Union. On January 15,- Sheridan, while endeavoring to " rescue a boy, became submerged, and was lor several minutes an~er the ice. He was with much difficulty got out, and for the second time .in his life he was returned among the dead. In two hours and a-half he . was resuscitated, and 'has since recovered. . Although at the- time of the accident there were several women walking on ; the ioe, and sotne skating, all yet! recovered are of men. -Two" poor., girls who were on the ice selling, oranges, are r believed to have been drowned; • Their bonnets we.rd left on the.ice aV the spot where they were seen to sink. ; -V"’‘V