SEVENTY-THREE PERSONS SUFFOCATED IN A STORM. (From the Liverpool Times, Dec. 7.)

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 302, 21 April 1849, Page 2

SEVENTY-THREE PERSONS SUFFOCATED IN A STORM. (From the Liverpool Times, Dec. 7.)

ON the night of Fridty last, a dreadful accident occurred on board the steamer Londonderry, on her paswe from Sligo to Liverpool, by which upwards of ieventy peraous-men, women, and children-lost their lives by Buffocation, under circumstances which recal some of the worst horrors of the Black Hole at Calcutta. As this sad event has been most grossly misrepreiented in tome of the letters and telegraphic Accounts forwarded to Dublin, and from Dublin sent to England, we think it only justice to the peasantry of Sligo, who have been accused of piracy, murder, and Tobbery, without the slighteit founda turn for anyone of the charges, to give «• much publicity as posaible to ?he true version of the facti. The captain, crew, and all the remaining passengeis, have, it is said, been reSoved to the gaol at Londonderry, but it w» merely because it w thought proper to ascertain til he fact, ejected with so dreadful a catastrophe, before any IZ capable of giving information respecting them was Xwed to leav! the" place of inquiry. The following account of the circumstances hai been communicated £ rSby Captain Coppin, who wa, in the Cty of Londonderry, when the steamer arrived there, and who went oTbowd soon after her arrival :-It appear, from Contain Coppin'i Uatement that the vessel left Sligo on P F? day affernoon, with a great number o deck a.ul Jteeraw paasengeri. They appear to havo chiefly conSof the "rLhed and destitute class who are pour. of these poor creatwxi took «(uge in the fore part 01

the vessrl, under hatchen, where they were found lying, three or four deep, piled on each other, when the vessel nr rived at Londonderry. It appeais that the Water burst into the place whore they were thus lying crowded together ; that a tarpaulin was put over the entrance to shelter them, and that this tarpaulin was either nirili'd, or in some other minner so firmly and closely fastened down, as to exclude the air. The consequence of this exclusion of external air, and of the consumption of the little air in the vessel, was the suffocation of nearly all the persons under hatches. In some caies they appear to have struggled violently, but in most to have swooned away, and to have died without being able to make an effort to save themselves. It is said that no noise wt< heard whilst all these unfortunate creatures were thus pasting f.om life to death, uml that only one person had strength to mount the ladder. Such is in subitancc the account of the facts which we have received from Captain Coppin, and it will he seen that it agree* with the following from the Londonderry Sentinel:— " Scntiuel Office, Deny, Monday, Dec. 4, 6 o'clock, a.m. j " About nine o'clock yesterday mornin<r, the inha« bitantsol this city were startled on hearing the astounding intelligence that the Londonderry steamer, Captain Johmtone, which plies between Sligo and Liverpool, had reached our quay, with a number of dead bodies onboard. Great excitement was manifested through the city, immediately after the arrival of the vessel. 1 hereupon we hastened to the spot, and found that the steamer, crew, cargo, and surviving passengers, were in the hands of the authorities. Fifty men of the 95th Regiment, under Major Raimcs, supported by the city con«tabulary, were piesenr, and prevented the egress of any prraons from the vessel. Alexander Lindsay, Esq.. the Mayor, and several of the local magistrates, were also in attendance. The scene, on entering the steamer, was truly heart-rending-, and such as no human being could witness without feelings of the most poignant description. In the steerage the terrible speciacle presented itself, of seventy.three in* dividuals piled mdi criminatelyoneach other, deprived of life. Though various rumours, ai lo the cav e of death, h«d got into circulation, instantly after the vessel arrived, it was quite apparent, from the appearance of the; bodiei, that death was caused by suffocation. After the lapse of some time, a respectable jury was empannelled before Mr. Lloyd, coroner, and they proceeded to hold an inqueit on the body of one of the sufferers, Ann M'Laughlin, a little girl of about eight years of age. Two witnesses were then examined, at the conclusion of which, it being six o'clock, the coroner adjourned the investigation until ten this morning It appeared from the evidence, that the Londonderry steamer left Sligo for Liverpool at four o'clock on Friday evening, having on board, betides cattle, &c, nearly one hundred and fifty steerage passengers — the greater number of whom were on thrir way to Arne» rica ; and that the evening became so boisterous that none but ihe crew could keep the deck. The passengers were ordered below— the hatch, or companion, was drawn partially across, but it appears that sufficient space was not left for the purpose of ventilation, which caused the unfortunate people below to suffer all the horrors of suffocation. One pas-enger, more fortunate than the rest, succeeded in gaining the deck and j alarming the mae, when he, with some of the crew, ! hastened to their relief; but alas ! too late — seventythree human beings had ceased to exist. It would be premature to go further into the matter at present, as the inquest is pending. The captain and civ.w have j been taken inio custody." The Belfast News Letter of Tnesday says that 150 petsona were crammed into the steerage cabin. Nearly all were poor farmers, some but half clothed, and small sums of money were found on several. The bodies had been frightfully disfigured in the struggles of the poor creatures to get out — it took three hours to remove them. A private Irtter in the same paper states that i the mate at first refused to relieve the sufferers, atid a ! little girl, whose mother and five brothers and sisters had perished, asserts that she was robbed of 2». 6d. by a man as she was going up. The two first candles that were taken down were extinguished by the foul air. The inquest commenced on Monday, but was adjourned. The Coroner's Jury subsequently returned a verdict of manslaughter again»t Captain and Mate, severely reprobating their want of humanity, and justly censuring the want of ventilation and adequate steerage accommodation for the less wealthy clasi of passengers.—[And well they might ! Let any one compare the superb cabin fittings of the Liverpool and Glasgow steamers with the hideous steerage pigfcties of the same vessels, and contemplate humanity there I— Ed ]

To the Editor of the New Zenlander. Sir.— l request you will insert the enclosed letter from Mr.CroiBthe Pilot, in contradiction of the false assertion published in your paper of the 18th init. Any comment from me on 10 groundless a statement it unnecessary. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant K. H. Hams, Cammander of " Lallt Rookh."

Sir. — Having sp«» in the New Zealander of this day an assei turn that I bad offeied my services to the Lalla Ro ikh, I beg to observe that there is no founda ioa for thu assertion, as I did not reach the ship till after j ■he was ou shore, when I found they had a kedge and warp out for the puipose of heaving her off. You are perfectly at liberty to make what use you think proper of this letter. James S. Cross, Pilot. To Capt. Hams, of the " Lalla Rookh" Auckland, April 18, 1849.

Married, at Wellington, on Monday the 2nd April, Francis Dillon Bill Esq , to Margaret, third daughter of Abraham Hort, Esq.