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But this by no means discloses the full seriousness ot such a debacle, because
if we examine the ages at which these persons died the terrible fact is
revealed that no less than 4,361 out of these 6,154 deaths were persons
between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five. They were, in fact, at the wageearning
period of life—that is to say, at that age when their lives are most
valuable not only for family reasons, but also for commercial and national
considerations.
When we use figures, such as these, I wonder if we rightly appreciate
their full significance. I doubt it very much, judging by my own personal
experience. I will tell you why.
Years ago, as I stood by a colliery pit-head after an accident, I saw
body after body carried thence to the colliers' homes; and although I knew
that some 300 men and boys lay dead in the colliery village, I did not
grasp the full significance of these deaths. It was not brought home
me.
Again in 1878 (March 24th) I stood with a friend on the cliffs of the Isle
of Wight one sunny Sunday in March watching a beautiful frigate with all sails
set and glistening in the sun, manned with young men eagerly looking forward
to a reunion with their friends that night in Portsmouth, when suddenly
the sky darkened, and a fearful squall, accompanied by blinding snow and
sleet, in an instant obliterated both sun and ship. And when once more
the sun shone out in all its brilliancy, no ship was there, for H.M.S.
" Eurydice " had gone down under those usually pleasant channel waters with
more than 600 men and boys. Yet although I knew that this was so, I
did not truly realize the awfulnessof that catastrophe.
Again, on a pleasant Saturday afternoon (June 16th, 1883), in the borough of
Sunderland, a terrible disaster befell many children in the Victoria Hall,
where, owing to the rush of the little ones down a wide staircase to reach the body
of the hall to obtain some prizes from a showman, as well as to the improper
fastening of a door on the staircase, over two hundred little ones met their
death ; and they, who were so eager to gain the hall for their prizes, only
reached it at last by the aid of the friendly hands of those who had hastened
to their assistance, and whose melancholy duty it became to lay them out, row
after row, for the purpose of identification. Who can describe such a sight?
Who realise its horror? I know it moved me, as it moved harder hearts than
mine, to tears; and many, who had never shed tears before, shed them then ;
it caused men to rush from the scene, unable to bear it; and it left an impression
on the minds of all the men who were there which can never be
effaced. 'Why was this? Many of them, medical men like myself, had often
seen deaths in the hospitals and in people's homes, and well understood what