 The
Times, Thursday, April 6, 1882
THE
LOSS OF THE DOURO
The following official statement was posted outside the
Royal Mail Companyís premises in Southamton yesterday;-
" List of persons still unaccounted for from the Royal
Mail steam packet Douro. -- E.C. Kemp, commander; A.H. Tongue,
first officer; O.S. Bateman, second ditto; F. Luce, third
ditto; P.G. Atherley, fourth ditto; Henry Whitrow, purser;
John Marshall, boatswain; Anthony Jones, quatermaster; Edward
Bury, AB; William Yon, AB; H.E. Symonds, captainís servant;
William Young, chief engineer; Richard Child, second engineer;
John T. Miller, fireman; Eli Adams, coal trimmer; H. Anderson,
assistant baker; George Senior, scullion; The following men
are reported as saved, but their names do not appear on the
ships articles:-- J. Andrews, A.B.; Lewis, A.B; and Brown, A.B."
The total loss of life, therefore, as far as the Douroís
crew are concerned, is now known to amount to 17, supposing
that none of
those missing have been picked up by some other vessel. Of
this some slight hope may yet be entertained, as on of the
telegrams stated that "another steamer (besides the
Hidalgo) and a sailing vessel were in the vicinity at the time
of the disaster." Now that the worst is known and that
the number of deaths has happily fallen so far below the
earlier telegraphic announcements,
the public excitement has calmed down, and people are awaiting
with interest the details which must soon come
to hand of the sad disaster itself and the causes which led to
it. Attention has been drawn to one of the telegrams received
at Lloydís, and published in The Times. The ill-fated
steamer was supplied with eight boats, and it is justly
remarked that
if seven of these could be got away safely with their human
freight in the short space of ten minutes from the time of the
collision, there
could could not have been much confusion in regard to lowering
the boats, and authority must have been maintained in the
brief interval. Supposing that one of the boats did foul the
tackles and was stove in or swamped, this was a very small
percentage of the whole number. That so many persons
(including the ladies and children) were saved, while the
captain and his
executive officers were all lost, is good proof that those
gentlemen nobly preserved the traditional reputation of
British seamen,
and stood firm to their posts to the last. Captain Kemp was
generally considered to be one of the most skilful and
experienced commanders in the companyís service, and his
principal officers are also highly spoken of by all who were
acquainted with
their nautical qualifications. Widespread sympathy is felt for
all who have fallen victims to this sad disaster, and
attention is already being directed to the question of
relieving the suffering relatives of any among them who will
hereafter require pecuniary aid. The Mayor of Southampton (Mr.
W.H. Davis) will open a relief fund for that purpose after
conferring with
the Royal Mail Companyís representatives.
The steamship Lillie, from Huelva, with a cargo of iron
pyrites, came into Catwater yesterday morning. The master
reports that on Sunday last they came through a quantity of
wreckage, and passed five shipís boats, apparently tight and
in good condition. One of them had a mast standing. No doubt
is entertained that the wreckage and boats belonged to either
the Douro or Yrurac Bat, but no name was discernible on either
of them. The wreckage met with consisted of spars, portion of
a deck and
cabins, and the fittings generally of a steamer or of
steamers. Captain Webber states that throughout the night of
Saturday the moon
shone beautifully. There was little wind, but the night was
fine and clear, with a rather strong sea. Occasionally there
were showers, which, however, were not thick, and lasted only
from three to four minutes.
Read the next news report The Loss
of the Douro - Saturday, April 8, 1882
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