AWFUL STEAMBOAT DISASTER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 155, 1 July 1881, Page 3

AW FUL STEAMBOAT DISASTER.

Our San Erancieco mail . telegrams reported the collapse of the excursion steamer Yietoria with €000 passengers on board, 2000 of whom were reported to be drowned. Theee numbers, it appears, were exaggerated tenfold, still tbe calamity was awful enough, as will be seen by the following report condensed from tbe Auckland papers : — London, Onfc, May 26. The Btory of the wreck of the Yictforia, as told by competent witnesses T^ho were on board, shows that the i,lfated vessel was on her last trip, on Queen's Birthday, and that on setting out from Spring Bank to return to the city she had nearly all her passengers <on the way down, aad, in addition, a Uarge number who were waiting on tbe wharf to be conveyed home. The number on board on the return trip is estimated at 700, a burden out of all proportion to the strength and capacity* of the vessel Shortly after passing Woodland Cemetery the boat began to rock and the crowd surged from one side to the other with each oscillation, rathf, c enjoying the fun than being in aD / way jJarmed. One passenger Seated that & number of youths on the ■upper deck took delight in keeping up the rocking motion by moving from one side to the other, while others shouted gleefully, " Let her sink ; we'll only have to wade aßhore." It is said by gome, though denied by others, thiu tbe officers in charge endeavoured to induce the passengers to remain quiet, but their efforts were unavailing. The crowd surged from side to side, and "with each movement the vessel took an increasing quantity of water in the lower deck, to the terror of some and the delight of many more. No one seemed to foresee danger, {suddenly the position became alarming. When nearly opposite Coverbridge the wate< to a depth of a foot or more rushed in on the south side of the beat, and the crowd surged again to the north, the boat slowly following the movement, listing over to that side. This time the vessel almost turned on her edge and the deck floor became elevated tc an angle not far from perpendicular. -All at once the supports of the upper deck gave way with a terrific crash on account of the unnatural position and great weight imposed over the railings, and the people tumbled in hundreds aieadlong in deep water, and to make the situation more terrible the whole of the upper decks and supports went crashing down on the people below. The sceno that followed beggars description. Between the wreck and the shore could be &een scores of human beings who had become liberated from the tnasa of debris, and were battling w^h the elemeni into whose crue grasp they were so suddenly thrown, and slowly yielding to its power. Many who were so stunned by the crash as to be unconscious, sank without an effort The work of recovering the bodies was then begun, and has continued unre mittingly ever since. It is said oc good authority that the steamer's boiler was not properly secured, and it shifted with the rocking boat. The captain ol the boat^has made a statement of thc-<ii-aßter, but it throws no additional Mght on the catastrophe, He says, however, that he ordered a number oi people to leave the boat before she Btarfced, but they failed to obey. B. G. Montgomery, a passenger, says tbe b-;at was greatly overcrowded. The passengers were quiet and orderly. There was no chasing around the boat, fend there wfes considerable water on the deck at the Btart, which accounts for her listing to one side. When the lurch came, the stanchions snapped like pipe-stems, and the whole wreck slid down to the port or shore eide into the water, hanging only to the iron supports. He saw scores of men, women, and children being drowned like rats in a hole, and heard piteous shrieks on every side without the power of rendering any aid. Mothers with eyes starting frem their sockets would madly beat the water while their children hung about their neckt shrieking 1 , until at last, smothered by tne water, they went down with a sickening gurgle beneath the flood. May 27. There are many strangers on the streets from country and neighbouring towns. In several cases entire families, with one or two exceptions, have been exterminated, among the most striking instances being that of Joseph Koughlin, whose children and godchildren, numbering five, are lying dead in his house. Every kind oi coffin is in use, and the dead are being conveyed to the burying place by every ekes- of vehicles. Men can hardly speak to each other without breaking down. Scenes in thß afflicted households are terrible, and trying to the strongest nerves. The clergymen who have worked nobly all through, are tired out, and cannot reach the graves faßt enough. In many cases members of different families are put in one grave. Different societies are on hand, and doing their utmost to facilitate burials. Searchers for dead yesterday morning raised two little girls clasped tightly in eac'i other's arms, as they had no doubt fallen together. Several cases of robbing the dead are reported. Among the articles ! missing is a gold watch and chain which Mr Wallman had worn, and a gold necklace of a young lady. The "for hire" wagons were busily engaged, and, in some cases, to make money and count as much as possible, corpses were hurried into houses in an unceremonious manner, and the drivers hurried off for another load. In one instance a driver brought a body to a certain number, and finding no person in and the door locked, pitched the body through the window and left it until the people came home. ' Tbe Captain said the boat was a > 19-ton screw, flat-bottomed, with a capacity of 400 passengers. He didn't think be bad oyer 450, and she was well stanchioned but not braced. Had life-saving apparatus for 400. The boat leaked, and the engineer said it had h If an arm's length in the hold. Tbe upper deck load were agreeable when afcked to keep quiet, but on the lower deck there was a number of unman nerly boys who could not be restrained. The engineer, fireman, two deck hands, purser, and Captain, were $c esfcirf # ew ? Nobodf ae&cl bj» to