THE SYDNEY HORROR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8541, 15 April 1891, Page 5

THE SYDNEY HORROR.

TERRIBLE CALAMITY" AT MIDDLE HEAD. A BOAT'S CREW BLOWN UP. DISTRESSING SCENES. STATEMENTS OF SURVIVORS. Sydney, April 3. The military manoeuvres in connection with the annual encampment of 1891 will be sadly remembered, for, following closely upon the terrible disaster that occurred at Queenscliff on Saturday last, an accident more appalling in its nature happened here to-day off Middle Head, when a submarine mine was prematurely exploded, and four men were killed and seven injured.

THK CATASTROPHE. To-day had been Selected by His Excellency the Earl of Jersey as the date of his oflicial visit to the Middle Head Encampment, and an oflicial mess was given by the officers in his honour. Lady Jersey accompanied him, and a large number of society people, as well as of the general public, took advantage of the occasion to visit the camp. Special arrangements had been made in the way of display, and, amongst other items, was the firing of several large and small submarine mines. Two of the large ones were attached to a battery fixed on the heights of Middle Head, and this was to have been discharged by Lady Jersey as a grand finale to the day's proceedings. Another large mine was attached to the same wires, and it was fixed first to try if everything was correct, and the discharge was a great success, the crowd gathering round and cheering loudly as they saw the results of the explosion. To add variety to the proceedings a long boat was sent out to lay and explode some mines, the boat containing Lieutenant Thomas Hammond (an old and experienced officer of the Submarine Mines Corns), Lieutenant Rupert Bedford, Corporal M'Keo (of the Royal Engineers, who was brought out by the Government under engagement to the permanent submarine miners), Bugler Charles Bennett, and ten privates named P. Brentnall, G. Wailes v J. Adams, W. Borland, G. Blakeman, W. Tully. J. King, J. 11. Bowman, J. Grant, and 3. Bolin. They took with them two charges, one of which they trailed from the stem of the boat, and the other was hanging on to her quarter. After they had pulled about 300 yards from the shore they dropped the first charge, and then rowed as far as the wires connected with the first mine would allow them, a distance variously estimated at from 200 to 300 yards. Here a stoppage was made, and it was at first proposed to lower the second mine, then discharge the first, and pull ashore and discharge the second. Fortunately this course was not adopted, but the second mine was left hanging on the boat's quarter, and as everyone in the boat thought the wires of the first one were attached to the battery, the order to fire was given, and as the handle was moved a terrific explosion occurred. The battery, by some terrible mishap or error, had been attached to the mine hanging at the boat's side, and the boat was blown completely in half, the stern end being shattered to countless splinters. The bodies of the officers and the bugler, who were sitting in the stern sheets, were torn into unrecognisable fragments, and the debris was blown fully a hundred feet into the air.

RIMCUTNG THE SURVIVORS. When the explosion occurred, the people on shore were of opinion that it was only what had been arranged, but as the smoke cleared awav and they saw the remains of the boat gradually settling down, and several of the men struggling in the water, they realised that a terrible accident had taken place. Two or three boats were at once put off to the rescue, and they succeeded in picking up all the privates who had been in the boat, but the three officers and bugler were missing. Small fragments of clothing and pieces of flesh, scorched and blackened, floating on the water, told only too plainly what had happened. Some of the men picked up were terribly injured, and the boats therefore hurried to the shore and the men were taken to the camp hospital. Here it was found that Brentnall, one of the crew, was so badly injured that from the first no hopes were entertained for his recovering, and after lingering in great agony for some hours, ho succumbed. Of the others, Waites, Adams, Borland, Blakeman, Tully, King, and Bowman were more or less severely iujured, and all of them were taken to the hospital. The other two, Grant and Bolin, escaped with severe shocks.

A HEARTRENDING SCENE. Amongst the crowd of spectators on the shore were Mrs. Hammond, wife of the lieutenant in charge, and her five children. When she saw what had happened she hurried about in an almost distracted manner, asking to be told whether her husband was sate or not, but no one had the heart to break the awful news to her. When Lady Jersey heard that Mrs. Hammond was in the camp, she sought her out, and with true womanly feeling comforted her in her distress, and told her in the gentlest manner possible that her husband had met with a terrible death. The strain on her nerves told at last, and she broke down utterly, and as she sat there in the midst of her weepitnt children, even those who had witnessed the accident and heard the ghastly details with scarcely a shudder felt grieved. Lady Jersey remained with the newly-made widow till she was able to persuade her to go home with her friends.

TIIE KILLED. Mr. Hammond was superintendent- in - charge of the New South Wales Telephone Department,, and was always regarded as a most careful and competent electrician. He has long been connected with the submarine mines corps, and was quite an enthusiast in his work. Those in authority can scarcely believe that he should have made such a terrible mistake as to attach the wrong wire to the batterv, but as all who can throw any reliable light on the cause of the accident have been killed, officials do not care to enter into any discussion on the subject or attempt to attach blame to any particular one of the victims.

Lieutenant Rupert Bedford, who was second in command, is one of the managers of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. He has also been connected with the corps for some time, and was supposed to have a thorough knowledge of the working of submarine mines. lie was not on duty, but in order to oblige Lieutenant Arthur Logan, who had a number of friends down at the camp on a visit to him, he consented to take his place in the boat. Mr. Logan is one of the record clerk of Parliament-house, and though he is deeply thankful for his miraculous escape, he feels very keenly for the death of his friend, who lost his life while doing him a service.

Corporal McKoe, the third victim, was a member of the Royal "Engineers, and was quite a young man. He was brought out not very long ago by the Government, in order to act as instructor to the members of the Permanent Artillery force, and had already established himself in the good opinion both of his superior officers and of the men. He leaves a young wife, who is just recovering from her confinement, and to whom it will not be possible to impart the dreadful news for some time. Charles Bennett, the bugler, and the last of the 'victims whose bodies have not been recovered, is little more than a lad. He is a son of Quartermaster-Sergeant Bennett, of the volunteer staff, and having been imbued with military notions from his childhood, he joined the Permanent Submarine Miners. A WORSE DISASTER ESCAPED. The one small gleam of comfort in the whole painful business is that the first suggestion of sinking the second mine was not adopted, for had such been done, only one fate could have awaited the whole boat load. As it was, there was little or no resistance to aid the explosion, and only the stern end of the boat suffered. The sad event of course put a stop to all the other proceedings of the day. The great mine, which Lady Jersey was to have exploded, was forgotten, and the gaily decorated table on which stood the battery that was to have generated the necessary spark, and which was shortly before surrounded by a smartly-dressed crowd, was now deserted, and people pressed eagerly round the camp hospital, anxious to glean the least information about the wounded men, and sentry and other duties were forgotten amongst the soldiers for the time being. When the excitement had somewhat subsided, boats went out to endeavour to find some portion or portions of the bodies of the four missing men, but it was no use. Nothing could be obtained, they had been literally blown to atoms. THE SURVIVORS RENDERED DEAF. One feature of the disaster has been to render most of its victims deaf.. Those who are in the hospital are able to make their wishes known, but some of them cannot distinguish in the smallest degreo the sound of the human voiiie. The two doctors who are in attendance are hopeful that the infliction may only temporary, but at-present the loudest sounds, even the firing off of a gun, have no effect upon them. The most seriously injured or the eight who are under the care of the medical men is Brentnall. He is not only suffering from a very severe shock to the system, but he has a deep wound ovor the left eye, while his lip is very badly cut. He has also a number of lacerated wounds on his leg. The cut over the eye had to be sown up with three stitches. Two or three of the men were for- ■ tunate to get off with little more than the

shock to the system. After the first effects of the accident had passed away, and they had had a little rest, th?y began to brighten up and to-night, they are talking and shouting. Looking at them you would hardly think that only a few hours ago they had been literally rescued from the jaws' of death. A GHASTLY AND SHOCKING SIGHT. It did not appear to be an ordinary explosion as viewed from the shore. The water shot up to an immense height, but it was evidently tinged with some kind of discoloration, and the struggling in the boats a few seconds afterwards, coupled with the strange appearance of the meu, led to the instant conclusion that something had gone wrong. Lady Jersey is said to have been the first to observe that ail accident had occurred. She communicated her fears to an officer who was standing by, but before he had time to speak the sinking of the boat, the commotion of those on shore, and the piteous cries for help from the-men us they jumped into the water or endeavoured to reach a little dingy close by showed" that there had been a horrible termination to the day's proceedings. Several members of the - party mado & rush to the spot. A most ghastly and shocking sight met them as soon as they could get near enough to obtain a good view of the surface of the water. Pieces of dead bodies were floating about or just sinking, almost infinitesimal in size in some cases, and in others the larger portions of the internal viscera. A liver, the lungs, a portion of the head, were observed by the men who had survived the shock. It was a truly sickening sight. Scraps of the shattered boat and lumps of flesh were for the moment all intermingled or thrown about the water, and those who had survived had to make their way through pieces of sinking human limbs and a mass of debris to get at the first boat which was pulling towards them. It was lucky that just at the time there was a dingy close at hand in which some of the men had been gathering fish that lay in the water after the previous explosion. As soon as the accident was reported Lieutenant Logan went out in a whaleboat with a crew to search for the missing men. Before proceeding far lie recovered a part of the leg of the trousers, which were recognised as those of Lieutenant Hammond, together with a portion of the coat of the same officer. Searching more closely he came across a ghastly sight. Lying in the water he saw two arms stretched out, with the head completely wrenched from the neck. He pulled over to pick them up, but the limbs sank and he was unable to recover them afterwards. A little further on, however, he saw the heart and lungs and windpipe of apparently a youth. The doctors made an examination of the parts, and, judging from their appearance, they surmised that they must be sections of young Bennett, the trumpeter. What supports this hypothesis is that Bennet was the only young fellow in the boat, and the pieces of the body were unmistakably those of a person not very advanced in years.

WHAT THE MEN SAY. Conversations with a few of the men throw very little light on the occurrence. They all seemed to have been so terribly shaken by the awful and unexpected character of the shock that for the moment they scarcely knew where they stood. It was all so dreadfully sudden that they could scarcely believe that where they were a second before, in a place of comparative safety, thev could see nothing but great quantities of water streaming upon them, with jagged lumps of human flesh scattered over the bay, and the boat in which they were standing in danger every second of going to the bottom. " I don't know what we did," said Sapper Grant, in relating his experiences; "I was so dazed, so dumbfounded, so utterly bewildered, that I could scarcely believe I was alive. It was an awful experience—so awful that I don't think I could go through it again and live. We saw Brentnall looking ill and worn, so three or four of us jumped—including Kin?:, Adams, Boland, and myself— the water to lighten her. One of the number couldn't swim himself, but fortunately he was got safely in a boat, aud then landed all right. The dingy came up shortly after we had taken the plunge, and then we saw a steamer drawing near. The cutter rapidly filled, but fortunately we were all clear in time. We had laid three mines in the morning, and they went off at night. The last I saw of Lieutenant Hammond and Mcßae were endeavouring properly to secure the lead for the explosion. We had already fixed two 25's and one 501b during the day, so that this made the fourth."

COLONEL DE WOLSKI'S OPINION.

Colonel de Wolski, in the course of some conversation, said : — Corporal McKee, who was in the boat, was a very reliable man indeed, and one who thoroughly understood his work. Both Lieutenant Hammond and Lieutenant Bedford were two experienced and able officers. They had orders to leave one charge and fall off to a safe distance and fire it, and then to fire the other. It appears that they connected the cable with the wrong charge, and fired the one which was alongside their own boat. The charge going off in this way, the stern of the boat was smashed to atoms. The thing ought never to have occurred. Major Walker was out this morning with a party, and we fired several charges to accustom the men to them. The Colonel referred, during his remarks, to the practice of having demonstrations of this character not for the benefit of the men from a military point of view, but to enable the general public and others in official positions who might attend to obtain an idea of the men's capabilities. " I deprecate them altogether," lie said, " they are entirely an illigitimate pastime. This banqueting and junketing which, goes on in consequence of all this business spells ruin to solid work. In this case there was some bungiing, and those in the boat evidently got hold of the wrong end of the cable. So long as the men fire these hasty charges merely for the purposes of a picnic, merely for the purposes of a public demonstration, you must expect the possibilities of accident. The fact is, we ought not to do anything which is not in the service. We should not do all this and run these risks merely to give ladies a lino pleasant afternoon.,'