QUOTE
The terrible disaster at the launch of a newly-built vessel on the Clyde, on Tuesday week, by which the lives of nearly a hundred and twenty working men were suddenly sacrificed, has occasioned great distress. It took place at Linthouse, Govan, below Glasgow, at the shipbuilding yard of Messrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons. The Daphne, a small steamer of 400 tons, built for the Glasgow and Londonderry Steam-Packet Company, was there launched into the water, just before twelve o'clock, having on board nearly two hundred men and boys who were to finish the internal fittings of the vessel. Somehow or other, the hull proved top-heavy on reaching the water, instantly turned over to the port side, and sank in the middle of the river. All the persons on deck were in a moment left struggling for their lives, and some escaped by swimming to the shore, or sought to cling to the upper side of the capsized vessel; some got hold of floating pieces of wood, or were picked up by the steam-tugs and a few boats that were near at hand. At high tide the hull was completely submerged, and the work of searching for the dead bodies, with grapnels from boats, was plied for some hours without much result. At low tide,. . . the vessel was seen lying on her port side, half the hull above the water, so that part of the deck hatchways could be opened and entered by the men engaged in this painful task. Eighty dead bodies have been recovered, some from below deck in the vessel, others from the bottom of the river. . . .
Messrs Stephen have launched 280 vessels, without any accident or loss of life. . . . Some of the dead are supposed to be still on board as there are many not yet found or accounted for. They are carpenters or joiners, riveters, engine-fitters, and plumbers, with their apprentices, caulkers, riggers, and labourers, many of whom have left wives and children, most of them belonging to Linthouse, Govan, or Partick. A subscription for the relief of the distressed families has been opened in Glasgow, and already amounts to between �8,000 and �9,000.
Messrs Stephen have launched 280 vessels, without any accident or loss of life. . . . Some of the dead are supposed to be still on board as there are many not yet found or accounted for. They are carpenters or joiners, riveters, engine-fitters, and plumbers, with their apprentices, caulkers, riggers, and labourers, many of whom have left wives and children, most of them belonging to Linthouse, Govan, or Partick. A subscription for the relief of the distressed families has been opened in Glasgow, and already amounts to between �8,000 and �9,000.
GG.