and rea
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of imprimat of others.
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have the honor the
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humble servant
The Daily Press.
HONGKONG, November 23rd, 1877.
1
EXPLOSION ON THE “YESSO.'
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.
A gloom was thrown over the town yesterday morning by the occurrence of a terrible accident on the steamer Yesso, Captain S. Ashton, from the Coast Ports. The vessel was being moored alongside Messrs. Douglas Lapraik & Co.'s wharf, between half-past seven and eight o'clock, when a terrible explosion took place, and the forward part of the ship was enshrouded in a dense aloud of steaThe pressure of steam at the time was 14lbs., One of the back plates of the starboard boiler had given way and was blown out. The steam rushed into the Chinese cabin and forecastle, and worked ter- rible havoc there. Twelve men were killed on the spot, and sixty-four were taken to the Hospital, the injuries of all of them being most serious, and deaths occurred hourly during the day. Many more are expected to die. Several others, who were also much sealded, were taken to the Tung Wah hospital, and others less severely injured went to their homes. One man was taken by his friends into a sampan, where he died in the afternoon. Only one European was hurt, the second engineer, Mr. W. Haggat, who, however, is not very seriously injured. It was a ghastly sight to see the dead and wounded lying about, and crowds soon collected round the steamer and at the doors of the Civil Hos. pital and the dead house. The wratched vic- tims of the explosion were fearfully disfigured. | and on the deck of the steamer the skin from their hands, feet, and legs was to be seen scat. tered about. Persons who have witnessed many appalling catastrophes were heard to say that! they had never witnessed so sickoning and! distressing a scene before. All the corridors in !
the Hospital were filled with the wounded,Į whose piteous cries and groans resounded on all; sides, and made up a most distressing scene.s As the accommodation in the hospital was in- sufficient, the European mess-room in the gaol
a5
was fitted up as a temporary hospital, and the sufferers were removed there. As soon the Admiral board of the accident he signalled for all the men-of-war in port
to render medical assistance, which they promptly did. Assistance in removing the bodies and extricating the wounded was afforded by the officers of the ships, the police, and a num- ber of gentlemen who promptly hastened to the scene, and oil was obtained from Messrs. Lane, Crawford's store and freely used on the sufferers. The general cry amongst the scalded was snij (water). Most of the unfortunate people were in a state of complete helplessness, and several | scarcely fived to reach the hospital. The number of Chinese brought down by the Yeeso was a hundred and seventy-two. Two old women hud the presence of mind to wrap themselves up in their bod clothes, and thereby escaped injury, while many round about them were badly scalded. One Chinese family who wore in a cabin between decks had the forethought to shut the door, which kept the steam out, and they escaped unhurt. Numbers of those who were scalded were coolies who, on the steamer ar- riving at the wharf, rushed on board to obtain a job to carry the luggage for the passengers. The bulkhead on the end of the boiler is partly blown down, and the tea, which was stowed in the forehold, was scattered in all directions in the hold. The steam burst open the hatchway to the between-decks and the skylight on the upper deck. The boiler was built in Hongkong about three years and a half ago. The European paš- sengers brought down by the Yesso were Dr. and Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Doagal, and one European deck passenger.
One of the fire engines was got out, under the superintendence of Inspector Orley,
rance.
also the engine from the, Hongkong Fire Insu- The latter one is playing into the fore hatch where there was great heat. The police were actively at work toprevent robbery of the
passengers' luggage during the confusion con-t sequent on the disaster, and only one known case- occurred. Every possible help was rendered by the naval and civil medical men, and one of the naval surgeons remained to assist the Colonial Burgeon all last night. His Excellency the Go- vernor visited the gaol, the Civil Hospital, the Tung-wah, and the steamer Yesso. He gave orders for relays of attendants at the Gaol and. Hospital, and for the relations and friends of the victims to he admitted in detachments of a dozen at a time to see them in order that there should be no crowding. He also, when at the Tung-wal Hospital gave directions for the place to be pro- perly ventilated, and otherwise looked after the comfort and well-being of the poor creatures.
THE INQUEST.
The inquest was opened at the Civil Hospital at four o'clock in the afternoon, by Mr. Russell, Coroner, Messra, J. A. Moseley, V. L. Meyenberg, and R. H. Radecker being sworn as the jury.
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The Coroner said-I presume you are all aware, gentlemen, of me irenstances under which we meet here to-day. A most unfor.1 tunate and sudden catastrophe occurred by the bursting of one of the boilers of the steamhip Yesso when she arrived here this morning. Shortly after she came in and while lying alongside the wharf, a plate of the boiler gave way and was thrown off with great violence. The steam went into the hold, burst open the hatches, and burnt to death a great number of people. The return made by the police of the number of people brought up is eighty-nine, and there are now lying in the dead-house here thirty. First the wounded were brought here, but there being accommodation, they were taken to the Eu-
in room
where the ropean
grol, as many as still survive are now lying. There were sixty there. Eleven have died since, and there are now remaining there, looked after by a number of surgeons, forty-nine. There are two men upstairs living, eight were taken to the Tung-wah Hospital, one of whom has died, and up to the present there are thirty-seven deaths. The whole number of persons accounted for is sighty-nine. At present I have only been able to get four bodies identified, one Ma- lay and three Chinese.
the We will seo bodies here, then go to look at the steamship, then to the Tung-wah Hospital, and then we will adjourn until to-morrow. It is a very deplorable thing. Of course we don't know how it occurred, but in the course of the inquiry we will probably find out all about it, and it is perfectly useless to speculate about it now.
The jury then commenced their paintal task of viewing the bodies. They first went to the dead- house in Hollywood-road, where the dead bodies| ranged on the floor and on benches, presented a fearful spectacle, the skin hanging from parts of the bodies or being completely stripped off. A still more painful sight was that in the impro vised hospital in the gaol, where forty-nine sufferers lay moaning on their beds. All that could be done to make them comfortable had been done, they had had the best medical at- tendance and their pain had been alleviated! to the full extent of surgical skill, but it was heart-rending to hear their groans and ob serve their fearful sufferings. Most of thera appeared unable to move at all, and it is feared that only very few of the poor fellows will survive. It was not only their external wounds they suffered from, but they had inhaled the steam and thus scalded their lungs. Having viewed a dead body here which had not yet, been removed to the dead-house, the jury wont to the Yesso, where Captain Ashton pointed ont how the accident had occurrel, The plate was blown out and thrown forward against a beani on the foreside of the balkhead, which it had broken in the middle. The steam had forced up the hatchway to the between-deck, where about half the Chinese passengers were, sodi also the skylight on to the main dook. This skylight was thrown a considerable distance) in the air. The main deck had boon cleared, but the between-dock and hold remained in thei saine state as they were after the removal of the bpdias. There were still lying about the skins of hands and feet, which had come off like gloves. Leaving the ship, the coroner and jury went to the Tung Wah Hospital, where they visited the injured who had been taken there and ¦ viewed three dead bodies. From the Tung Wah they proceeded to the Civil Hospital, where they want to see the two men under treatment there, one of whom is a Fat-shan mandarin. The in- quiry was then adjourned until ten o'clock this morning.
At a late hour last night the deaths numbered sixy-two.
15元
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