FATAL BOATING ACCIDENT AT GEELONG.

Kumara Times, Issue 2860, 2 December 1885, Page 2

FATAL BOATING ACCIDENT AT GEELONG.

The following particulars of the boat accident at Goriu Bay, Geelong, on Sunday, the 18th ult., previously referred to, are by a correspondent of the Melbourne Argus:— A party, consisting of John Craig (aged 52,years), Ernest Craig (his son, aged 11 years), William Matthews (aged 24 years), Michael Deegan (aged 17 years), Thomas Armstrong (a married man), and Patrick Deegan (aged 21 years), went to sail in a boat on Corio Bay this forenoon, and when returning to Hutton's wharf, Craig, senior, who had charge of the boat, suddenly jibed the vessel, with the intention of getting to the wharf about half a mile away, in order to land three members of the party. The heavy jerk of the mainsail had the effect of throwing the boat over on one side, and it quickly filled with water and sank. With the exception of Thomas Armstrong and Patrick Deegan, all the occupants were drowned. Assistance from shore was promptly sent to the men struggling in the water, and Armstrong and P. Deegan were picked up in an exhausted state. The bodies of Craig, senior, and Matthews were found floating in the water face downwards, and were brought to the morgue, but the bodies of Ernest Craig and Michael Deegan have, not yet been recovered. Messrs Craig and Matthews were employed at the ropeworks in Geelong West, and were not altogether sober at the time of the accident, which occurred at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. Every effott was made for twelve hours on the following day by the water police to recover the bodies of Ernest Craig and Michael Deegan, two of the persons who were drowned. In the forenoon a magisterial inquiry was held at the Morgue by Mr Heron, P.M., on the bodies of John Craig, sen., and Wm. Matthews, which were recovered after the accident. The evidence of the chief witness, Thomas Armstrong, oue of the occupants of the boat who was saved, was to the effect that after the two Craigs and himself had been sailing in the boat they look on board the two Deegans and Matthews, whom the}' found in the Nugget Hotel, at West Geelong, about one o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Prior to going on the bay, Armstrong and the elder Craig had some beer at the Steam Coach Hotel, and they took with them a lemonade bottle full of rum. At the Nugget Hote 1 in the afternoon all the paity, with the exception of the boy Craig, had three glasses of beer each, and they took away from that hotel a quart of beer and a lemonade bottle tilled with rum. The witness considered that Michael Deegan and Wm. Matthews were intoxicated when they got into the boat, and after sailing about the bay and drinking the beer and part of the rum, the two named became drunk. Patrick Deegan, another of the party of six in the boat when she capsized, gave evidence, but denied that his brother and Matthews were drunk. Both, however, agreed that the bad steering of 'he boat by Craig, senior, was the cause of the accident the sharp turn, made in jibing the boat causing the vessel to capsize. The police magistrate severely commented upon the fact that the persons in the boat were drunk, and were responsible for the death of the boy Craig. The magistrate gave a decision to the effect that the deceased men were accidentally drowned. Mr Superintendent Toohey intimated that he would prosecute the publicans concerned for selling drink on Sunday.