Fearful accident in the Regent's park

FEARFUL ACCIDENT IN THE REGENT'S PARK. - A fearful accident took place on that part of the Ornamental Water in the Regent's-park immediately opposite Sussex-terrace, by which a large number of persons lost their lives. On this part of the lake, which is the broadest, several thousand persons had been skating during the forenoon, without any accident taking place, although the ice was looked upon by the experienced icemen on duty as very unsafe, from its being principally snow ice. About half-past three o'clock in the afternoon there were near the same spot about 500 skaters, among whom were many ladies, there being at the same time on the banks from 2000 to 3000 spectators. Suddenly, and without any warning, the ice at the sides of the bank became loosened, and was drawn from the edge. Within a minute the whole sheet of the ice over the full width of the lake gave way, and split up into fragments of a few yards square. The consternation and alarm of the skaters and other persons on the ice may be well imagined, and a general rush was made for the banks. Unfortunately this broke up the soft ice into still smaller pieces.

Numbers of persons fell through the crevices into the water, which is at least twelve feet deep, and several appeared at once to be sucked under the ice. At least 200 persons were struggling in the water, and screaming for help. A few, with great presence of mind, threw themselves flat upon the surface of the pieces of ice, and were thus not only instrumental in saving the lives of many of those in the water, but preserved their own until assistance came to them. The screams of those struggling and sinking in the water, and the shouts of the people on the banks, added to the horror of the scene. The icemen, of whom the full number were on duty, did all that it was possible to do under the circumstances, and three of them narrowly escaped from drowning, having, when in the water helping the people out, been seized by others drowning, and pulled under the ice. Several of the park-keepers and spectators rendered all possible aid, and more than 100 persons, within a few minutes of the accident, were got on shore, the greater number of whom were so much exhausted that they had to be taken to the Humane Society's tent and placed under medical treatment. While this was going on, several persons who were in the water in the middle of the lake, and whom it was impossible for the icemen to reach, the ladders and boats being rendered almost useless owing to the state of the ice, were seen to sink back exhausted, evidently benumbed with cold, after vainly endeavouring to support themselves by clutching at the rotten ice, which crumbled away in their grasp.

What made the scene the more dreadful was that the female relatives of many of those who fell into the water saw their struggles from the bank without the possibility of saving them. One lady saw her husband sink and lose his life, while two sisters were sending forth piercing screams and calling on the people to save their brother. He was drowned, and the two ladies were taken away in the most pitiable state, and sent to their home in a cab.

Shortly after four o'clock a strong body of the D division of police, and an additional number of icemen from Hyde-park arrived, but too late to render any aid, except in getting out the bodies of those drowned, all the persons alive having by this time been rescued and taken to the tent. Some had suffered simply from the immersion and fright, but forty were lying more or less exhausted. Several of the medical men in the neighbourhood had hastened to the scene of the accident on hearing the news, and by unremitting attention on their part, under the direction of Dr. Obre, of Melcombe-place, Dorset-square, the surgeon of the district for the Humane Society, the sufferers had sufficiently recovered by five o'clock to be taken away in cabs, some to their own homes, some to the hospital, and others to the workhouse. The inhabitants of Sussex-terrace vied with each other in sending over to the tent all the necessaries required by the medical men.

As soon as the ice was cleared, a body of icemen and labourers with great difficulty got out the boats to that portion of the water where it was known several persons had sunk. Before dusk seven bodies had been recovered, but it was known that there were many more under the ice. The bodies, as they were brought one by one to the shore, were taken to the tent, and their pockets searched for the means of identification, but in no case was this successful. One body was that of a gentleman aged thirty. The others were those of young men, apparently in the middle class of life, from eighteen to twenty years of age. All the bodies when recovered had skates upon their feet. At seven o'clock the bodies were removed on stretchers to the Marylebone Workhouse for identification.

The work of breaking the ice, in order to search for the bodies of the numerous persons still buried under it was proceeded with the next day, and for several days following. This work was one of no small labour and difficulty. The ice was frozen hard and thick — so obstinate, in fact, was its resistance that fifteen, sometimes twenty minutes' hard work was requisite, with tools suitable for the purpose, before a narrow passage could be made allowing a boat to advance its own length. Seven boats, punts, or skiffs, were engaged at the portion of the lake where it was believed that the majority had fallen in; and it was as much as the men in them could do to make and keep sufficient openings clear for the purpose of using the drags. Along the edges of the lake, others co-operated by cutting and breaking pieces of ice as far out as they could reach, or by floating away fragments from the tracks and narrow canals left by the passage of the boats. By the evening of the 18th, no less than forty bodies had been recovered.

An inquest was held on the bodies of the deceased persons by Dr. Lankester, at the Marylebone Workhouse. Evidence of the identity of the bodies having been given, several witnesses who were present at the time of the catastrophe taking place described the circumstances which attended it.

George Frederick Caunt, one of the keepers in the Regent's park, said he was present at the accident, but that he could not tell the cause of it. He had nothing to do with the cutting away of the ice; he only saw that it was cut away round the two islands, but not all round the edges of the lake. He was not aware that it was broken all along the north side, nor near the mound. The ladder which had been spoken of was placed in its position in consequence of the people making to a part of the lake where two or three persons had fallen in. The order of the constables was to prevent persons from breaking the ice, but there were many thousands of people on the ice, and there were only thirteen constables to watch all round and upon the lake. Witness never saw that the ice was broken on the terrace side.

William Archer, of 19, Henry-street, Portland-town, said he was a boat-builder in the employ of Mr. Searle. He had to attend at the park on the 15th; he was on the ice, and saw the accident, and he thought the cause of it was that the ice was not of sufficient thickness to bear the pressure. There was no ice at all on the previous Sunday. He could not give any opinion as to the effect of breaking the ice. Ever since he had attended the park the ice had always been cut round the islands, but nowhere else. It was done to keep persons from getting on the islands. The breaking of the ice would make it dangerous to a certain extent. Although the persons did rush to the ladder, there were other places where they might have got off the ice. The last man he recovered walked with him on the ice to the land. The people got drowned by the ice closing over them. Those who got a footing were saved. If the man with his two children had not been a tall man, he and his two children must have been lost. He saved nine lives, but got ten persons out. If there had been more boats, more lives might have been saved. The icemen did their duty. He did not think that any other class of men would have done their duty better. The appliances of the Humane Society were quite sufficient, but they could not be got at owing to the general break-up of the ice.

Mr. Ernest Bunsen, of Abbey-lodge, Hanover-gate, Regent's park, said he witnessed the accident. Three young men left his house to go on the ice about two o'clock on the 15th, and he followed them shortly after. They reached tho ice about ten minutes before the accident. When he arrived he looked out for them, and, not seeing them, ho sent his servant to find them. At that moment he saw three men engaged in breaking the ice round the South Island. He said to his servant that he did not like their cutting the ice. He said, "Why, they are doing it because the water has sunk." It would have been very rash at that time for any person to attempt to got on the island, as the ice was entirely broken up. Witness then left that end of the South Island, when, on turning round, he saw a skater fall into the water; he got out again, and tho ice being strong enough to bear him he reached the land. On getting to the other end of the island he stopped, and almost instantly after the whole ice gave way. Witness then stated that he returned home to see whether the young gentlemen were there, but, not seeing their hats in the hall, he gave no alarm, but returned to the park, and ultimately he had the satisfaction of finding all three of the young men safe. Mr. Bunsen, then said that when crossing the suspension-bridge on the previous Sunday he observed that the ice was covered very thickly with pieces of ice, which had apparently been chopped off by boys or any body, and thrown on to the water.

Alfred Smith, of 8, Burton-crescent, deposed that he was on the ice on the 15th when the accident happened, and was immersed in the water. He tried to swim, but after a short time was taken into a basket-boat. If he had not been taken out, he must soon have died, for the water was so intensely cold that his limbs began to stiffen. He thought the cause of the accident was that the ice was completely worn out. It had been too much used. He was frequently cautioned by the icemen as to the insecurity of the ice; but he foolishly took no notice — nay, he rather laughed at them. He thought from what he saw that the icemen did all they could under the circumstances, and he was very grateful to the Royal Humane Society.

Mr. Thomas George Otley, who had lost a son by the accident, said that his boy was a good swimmer, and lost his life by assisting to save others. His body was found jammed between two pieces of ice. He then propounded a theory by which he accounted for the accident. He considered that the earth beneath the lake contained a large quantity of latent heat, which operated upon the mud composed of vegetable and other decayed matter till it had generated gas, and that this converted the water of the lake into what he called a great bubble, and on the ice being broken the bubble burst, and the accident immediately followed.

Dr. John Randall, chief physician of the Marylebone Workhouse Infirmary, deposed that on the 15th fourteen persons were brought to the infirmary alive, and one on the 16th; and they all recovered except James Crawley. He was brought in in a dying condition; he lived for about three quarters of an hour; he did not breathe after the first five minutes, but the pulsation did not cease for fully half an hour after that. The other persons were not suffering severely. They appeared to suffer more from delirium and excitement. Dr. Silvester's plan for resuscitation was tried in the case of Crawley, but it did not produce respiration; they also tried Dr. Marshall Hall's plan, but without effect. Death in Crawley's case ensued from asphyxia, immersion, and cold. The marks on the body were produced by the remedies applied. None of the sufferers were severely cut by the ice. The process of Dr. Henry Silvester was simply the raising up and down of the arms. It was a very simple method, but he approved of it. The witness said that, as some reflection had been cast upon the men employed by the Royal Humane Society, he thought it due to them to state that two of those men were brought to the infirmary in a very precarious condition, and that many of them had risked their lives in trying to save those of others.

Charles Edwards, superintendent of the Regent's-park, said: The ice was dangerous on Monday (the 14th), and he ordered the park constables to keep off every body that they could. They, however, had merely power to prevent depredations. On the 15th, I gave directions to have it cut for the sake of the water fowl, and to prevent people going on the islands. Never had any complaint respecting it, or that there was any danger about it. The inhabitants do cut the ice, but I don't know whether they have any right to do so. I don't interfere with them. I have no doubt I could interfere with them if I thought it was proper. I believe the ice was cut towards the houses. It has been the practice for many years. They cut it to prevent people from injuring their gardens. My predecessor practised cutting away the ice. It had been done for several years. By the sewer it would take a month to empty the water. The lake covers eighteen acres. From six to eight acres of the ice were broken out of the eighteen. There is a sewer passing from South-villa under the water. It is about three feet two or three inches. I believe that would empty the whole lake. I do not know the depth of the sewer. I should say that it was sixteen feet or seventeen feet under the bed of the water. A trench might be made in a day.

Mr. George Edward Douglas, the master of the Marylebone Workhouse, said he was not at the immediate scene of the accident, but he was about 100 yards from the broad part of the lake when it happened. It occurred to him that the appliances of the Humane Society were too limited to cope with so serious a calamity, and it was to him a wonder how their medical officer could assist so many sufferers. He met the police coming from special service from Marylebone Church, and he suggested to the inspector that it would be wasting time to take the persons from the lake to the tent, but that cabs should be hired, and take to the workhouse infirmary at once. He immediately went home and sent for their medical officer, and made arrangements for the reception of the sufferers. Referring to a list of the persons who had lost their lives by the catastrophe, Mr. Douglas said, to the best of his knowledge, it was a faithful record of the number of the dead. Thirty-nine bodies were brought to the house dead, and one person died after he was brought there. They had had numerous applications from the country, making inquiries for missing friends, but he did not think there was any probability of there being other bodies in the water. He thought that all those who had inquired for their relatives were satisfied that they were not in the lake. He had attended the lake from day to day, and he considered that it had been sufficiently dredged and examined; so that he thought they really knew the whole extent of the loss of life by the accident.

The Coroner then addressed the jury, and said he would not detain them long, as they had thoroughly attended to the evidence. He would just observe that, with regard to the deaths of thirty nine persons out of the forty whose bodies had been brought to the Marylebone Workhouse, they would have to deliver the same verdict, because there could be no question that they had met their deaths by the same accident; but, with regard to the fortieth person, James Crawley, he having died after he had been rescued, they would have to deliver a separate verdict. After they had arrived at a conclusion as to the immediate cause of the deaths of these persons, it would then be their duty to inquire as to what was the cause of the accident itself which had led to so lamentable a loss of life. They would have to consider whether any person was criminally responsible for it, either by an act of commission or of omission, in having neglected to do that which he was legally bound to do. Now he was not prepared to say that there appeared by the evidence to have been any breach of duty on the part of any person officially employed in and about the park. On the contrary, there had been no interference whatever either by the police, the park constables, or the icemen. It was a place of public resort, and the people seemed to have taken the whole responsibility of venturing on the ice upon themselves; therefore the jury could not throw the blame upon any of the persons who were there present in their various official capacities. If the law in this country were such as it was in others, by which it would be a trespass for a person to get on ice, or to allow others to get on ice which was not in a safe condition, then no doubt certain persons  in this case might be made responsible; but in this country they had no such law; and he, therefore, thought, that although it was a case for a special verdict, no criminal verdict could be made to apply to it. At the same time, it was for them to consider whether any change might be introduced by legislative enactment, and that there should be both police laws and park laws which should prevent persons going on the ice when it was in a dangerous condition. It was not at all contrary to the genius of the British Constitution or to the law of the land that such regulations should be made. They could interfere to prevent persons from committing suicide. If a person were to be seen attempting to jump over a bridge, he might be dragged back by a policeman. Therefore, it was not at all contrary to the liberties of the people, or to the spirit and genius of our laws, that the proper authorities should have a right to prevent persons going on the ice to the danger of their lives.

It seemed to him that the time had come when there should be some such legislative interference. It was well known to these people that there was danger; they were told that the ice was dangerous, and were warned off it by the icemen. They would, in their verdict, say generally what they considered might be the cause of the accident, and what steps they thought it advisable to adopt to prevent similar accidents in future. With regard to the cutting away of the ice at the edges, he thought there was this justification for the belief that the weakness of the ice led to the accident - namely, that by taking away the ice from the sides, the lateral pressure which was given by the earth was diminished on every side, and therefore it was taking away that support which might have saved all these lives. It had been stated that there was a practice of cutting away the ice at Paris and Berlin; but those cases and the present were not parallel, for in the two former cases the water was not of an unequal depth. There was, however, no doubt that the ice was unsafe at the time. There had not been two days' frosts acting upon it, and the ice ought to have been protected against the people going on it. There seemed to be no doubt that if the water had not been more than four or five feet deep no person would have been lost; and it would be competent for them to recommend to the Chief Commissioner of Works the desirableness of reducing the depth of the water. The assistance of the Royal Humane Society had been brought before them prominently, and they might like to allude to what had been done by that Society. There could be no doubt that the nineteen men on the spot had rendered great assistance, and they might feel disposed to incorporate that subject in their verdict.

The verdict of the jury was as follows:—

"We find that James Jukes, and thirty-eight others, named, met their deaths by immersion and drowning, in consequence of the breaking of the ice in the Regent's-park water, on the 15th day of January. We find that James Crawley met with his death through immersion and exposure to cold. We find that the accident arose from the overcrowding of a large body of persons on the ice at the same time, while in a most dangerous state, caused by rottenness and partial thaw."

"Further, we would recommend the Legislature to consider the propriety of investing the police or other authority with power to prevent the public venturing upon the ice when in an unsound state, as the evidence adduced at this inquiry clearly shows that mere verbal warning is not heeded in such cases."

"We cannot too strongly urge upon the Government the necessity of reducing the depth of the water in the same manner as already adopted in St. James's-park, so that a repetition of this terrible calamity should be rendered impossible for the future."

"We cannot separate without speaking a word of praise in favour of the icemen, park constables, police, parochial authorities, and others, for their efforts to save life on this occasion."

"We commend the Royal Humane Society to the public consideration."

"It now only remains for us to proffer our deepest sympathy to the unfortunate friends of the deceased - a sympathy that will, we are sure, be shared by the whole of the nation."

The Coroner said that the first part of their verdict would be, in effect, that of accidental death, that would be recorded; but the second part - namely, the resolutions - —would not form a part of the verdict, but they would be recorded and communicated to the proper quarter.

The proceedings then terminated.