The strength of the current

Manchester Gazette. - A coach driver, late on the twenty-sixth of last month, (near the hour of twelve) drove his vehicle into our river, near the Old Bridge, for the purpose of washing; when the current being strong, the horses were soon driven into the centre of the stream, forced under one of the arches, and, in that state, (too shocking almost to conceive) they swam, with the man on the box, through Blackfriers-bridge, fighting and struggling for their lives, till one in the morning.

The poor fellow, in his endeavours, had entangled his legs in the reins; but from them he extricated himself with a knife; when, fortunately coming nearly in contact with a dyer's flat, he, by an astonishing effort, jumped from the box upon the same, where he lay several minutes in a state of insensibility. The horses, after swimming about the river some time, followed their master to the flat, and attempted to raise their fore-feet upon it: the poor man, with the little strength he had left, held up the head of one of the creatures, till, with a convulsive groan, it expired in his arms.

From the active assistance of several persons, attracted by the cries of the coachman, they had so far succeeded in rescuing the other horse as to extricate him from the reins, and had got him nearly half up Mrs. Duxbury's steps, when, owing to the tempestuousness of the night, he slipped from their holds, and again plunged into the river; after which nothing more was seen of him.

Happy would it have been had the calamity ended here: curiosity (early on the morning following) called crowds of people together to see the bodies of the horses floating; among others, a group of nine or ten women and children very incautiously got together on a dyer's stage, hanging over the river near the New Bridge; when, shocking to relate, the bottom of the stage gave way, and they were all in an instant precipitated into the river.

Three were recovered before life was gone; the strength of the current rendered every endeavour to save the others ineffectual, and they were all swept away. On how slender a thread does human life hang! The insecurity of these stanges, from the number of years they have been erected, renders it a matter of astonishment that even an individual will trust his person thereon.

The following are the names of the unfortunate sufferers: Miss Martha Rhodes, Miss Anna Reed, Miss Jane Holiday; Ellen Neild, Sarah Petty, (Mrs. Duxbury's servants) and Richard Boardman. A woman and her child are also said to have perished.

A boy, who was saved, was fetched out by a dyer's dog. The sagacious animal returned for a woman, but, it was too late.