THE
A Weekly TABLET Newspaper and Review.
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONST IN TER MANEATIS.
From the Brief of His Holiness Pius IX . to T he Tablet, June 4, 1870.
V o l . 61. No. 2253. London, June 23, 1883.
P rice 3d., by P ost, s % d .
[R egistered a t th e G eneral P ost O ffice as a N ewspaper.
C hronicle of th e W eek :—
Page
The Sunderland Disaster— Lord Salisbury and Mr. Chamberlain— Mr. Bright’s Defenee—The Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill in the Lords—Undue Spiritual Influence —The Anti-Vaccination Craze— The Irish Sea Fisheries—The Irish Viceroyalty— The War in Madagascar— France and ChinaDisturbances in Tunis—Affairs in South Africa — The Reported Massacre in Borneo—Whydahand the King of Dahomey—The Nihilist Manifesto — The Informer .Carey—The Irish Mail Contract — The Monaghan Election—The Conservatives at Greenwich .. 957 L eaders :
The Holy See and Ireland .. 961 Considerations by the Way and the Primary Education Question 961 The Lunatic Poor of Ireland .. 962
CONTENTS.
L eaders (continued):
1783 and 1883.— How Far a
Page
Parallel? .. .. .. .. 963 Mr. Bright on the Channel Tunnel 964 The Prussian Church Bill in Com
mittee . . .. .. .. 965 Canada .. . . .. .. .. 966 N o t e s .................................................... 967 R eviews :
Decrees of the S. Congregation of
Indulgencies . . .. .. 969 The Leofric Missal.. .. .. 969 The Essays of Elia .. .. 970 Maxims and Counsels of St.
Francis de Sales .. _ . . .. 970 The Return of the King .. .. 970 The Key to the Missal .. .. 970 The Public School French
Grammar .. .. .. .. 970 The Bastilles of England.. .. 970 The Bibliographer .. .. .. 971
R eviews (Continued) :
Page
Without Beauty .. .. .. 971 The Wild Rose of Lough Gill .. 971 Selections from the Writings of
George Savage Land or.. .. 971 Rome and Fenianism .. ..9 7 1 Correspondence :— Rome : —(From Our Own Corre
spondent) .. .. .. .. 973 Paris :—(From Our Own Corre
spondent).. .. .. .. 975 Dublin (From Our Own Corres
pondent) . . ......................... 976 L etters to th e E ditor
Mary Queen of Scots andher Mar
riage with Both well .. .. 977 The Catholic^ Institute and the
Catholic Union of Great Britain: 1840 versus 1883 .. .. .. 978 Confraternity of St. Joseph for
Peace .. .. .. .. 979 A Plea for the Deaf and Dumb.. 979
L etters to the E ditor (Con
Page tinued) : Association of Perpetual Adora
tion and Work for Poor Churches 979 The Papal Circular in Ireland .. 980 The English Pilgrimage to Lourdes 980 Departure of Religious for Natal 981 Money and T r ade.............................. 982 Social and P olitical . . . . 982 O b ituary ........................................... 982
SUPPLEMENT. Decisions of Roman Congregations 989 N ews from th e Schools.. . . 989 E ngland :—
Westminster . . . . „ 991 Southwark .. .. 992 Hexham and Newcastle . . .. 993 Northampton .. . . .. 993 Portsmouth.......................................993 Another Tyrolese Passion Play .. 994
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
ATERRIBLE accident, and one which in the memories of men will ion" be sadly d is a s t e r . separate from anything of its kind, took place onSaturday last in the townof Sunderland.
Some 2,000 children had gathered into the Victoria Hall, attracted by a cheap conjuring performance which was to conclude with a general distribution of toys and presents ; and all went well till the end. Then the several hundred children away in the galleries, seeing the toys being given away to the children below, made a rush downstairs to get into the body of the hall. There was no fear, no panic, nothing but a happy childish eagerness to share in the good things that had been promised; and so down they raced from one landing to another, and along the corridor and down the stairs again until the foremost of them were stayed by a door which had been only partly opened and then bolted. The narrow space, only wide enough to admit one or two at a time, was instantly choked, but still the excited children poured on from above and then those against the door went down and other little ones were piled upon them until there was a living heap of dead and dying children six feet high, in a space of 14 feet by 7 feet. The children who reached the door first, must have been crushed and suffocated almost instantly, and one would try to think painlessly, but there was a terrible struggle for life among those who followed, and in the death agony of that vain clutching and tearing, and grasping, clothes were torn to ribands, and even shoes were forced from the feet of the victims. And all the time the cries and screaming that came from that living, writhing mass were drowned and unheard in the rush of the laughing children who were still pouring down to their doom ; and it was not until 300 of them were heaped upon the top of one another at the bottom of the stairs that the opening of a door upon the landing above stayed the tide. Then came the work of rescue, made difficult because even strong men sickened at the scene, and then the unpiling and the counting of the dead. As each little body was brought up it was recognised and claimed by parents and friends, and now it is known that no less than 182 children were killed. The sunshine has faded away from many a home in Sunderland, and yet it may be there was no one to blame. The accident is unique in its horror, but we seem helpless in its presence, for there was in this case no panic, no sense of fear behind as in the case of the burning of the Ring Theatre, driving men into a selfish struggle for life. It was only a happy eager gladness that caused all the disaster. The door was built upon the most approved principle, and would open either way. It had been bolted ajar to prevent crowding on entry, and seems not to have been unbolted, and that slight neglect— the sort of neglect no human care will permanently guard against— because those children were happy and eager for their promised toys, has brought mourning upon Sunderland and cost nearly 200 little ones their lives.
After the banquet comes the reckoning,
lord SALISBURY anc[ t h e R aciic a i chiefs have had to answer mr. chamberlain, ^or, or slip out of, in Parliament what they declared with emphasis in Birmingham.
Lord Salisbury asked on Monday night whether the Cabinet were prepared to stand by Mr. Chamberlain’s declaration in favour of manhood suffrage, equal electoral districts and payment of members. Lord Granville made answer that Mr. Chamberlain was of course speaking only for his single self, and not for the Ministry of which he is a member. As for the main question, the Cabinet thought that existing anomalies in the distribution of seats and regulation of the franchise ought to be removed, but precisely to what extent they were prepared to go he had really not inquired, and it was of the less moment because Bills dealing with these matters more or less exhaustively would socn be before the House. Lord Granville had the same indefinite acquaintance with the views of his colleague upon the question of the payment of members. Lord Salisbury then rose and. saying that he gathered that the Cabinet was not yet prepared to go the lengths indicated by Mr. Chamberlain, though they might agree with him in a modified way, commented with a bitter ridicule upon the advantages of the divided individuality attributed to Mr. Chamberlain. This plan of splitting a. Minister into two allowed Mr. Chamberlain to demand manhood suffrage in Birmingham and decline it in Downing-street, and in either case he must win. It was like a man betting on his own horse, and' reminded the noble lord of the process familiar to many as hedging. The Minister would be safe against either event; for if manhood suffrage should be carried it wou!^ be carried by the splendid exertions of Mr. Chaiftberlain speaking as an agitator at Birmingham. If it is not carried it will have been prevented by the prudent Government of which Mr. Chamberlain forms a part. Finally, Lord .Salisbury said that, in presence of such deep penetrating
N ew S e r ie s , V o l . XXIX, No. 761.
