A calamity almost unequalled in the history of this country
occurred on Tuesday evening in the Thames. The Princess Alice,' a large saloon steamer, built of wood, and very slight in construction, was returning from Gravesend at eight in the even- ing, with a crowd of passengers, probably exceeding 700. Among them were some hundreds of women and children, taken out by the heads of households to enjoy on the river the un- usual beauty of the day. While slowly crossing the river, opposite Barking, the Princess Alice' came in contact with an iron screw-steamer, the Bywell Castle,' built for the coal-trade, then making its way down the river. This vessel struck the pleasure-boat amidships, crushed in her thin sides, and in fact divided her in two. The stern rose slowly into the air, the crowds of passccrrs rushed up the rising deck, and then vessel and people
sank in deep water together. Within five minutes nearly six hun- dred souls had perished, amid a scene which seems to have bereft many of the survivors of their senses. Barely a hundred were saved, and in numerous eases entire households were suddenly swept away.
