Located on
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), Saturday 23
November 1872, page 7
Explosion of the Steamer
(From the Deniliquin
Chronicle, Nov 21)
The post from Wentworth has brought an account of a fatal explosion of
the boiler of a steamer, by which the lives of the Captain, engineer, fireman
and
cook were sacrificed. On Saturday, the 9th inst., the
similar freight, bound for
On board the steamer were the captain, E Sparkes (engineer), J
Roach (fireman), Thomas Gunn, the Chinese cook, Charles Seymour and a
man named Trevanoak; on the
barge were two other men and a boy. When about nine miles below Menindee,
Captain Davis was heard to sing out
“Stop Her”, something then being supposed to be amiss with the paddles.
That order was obeyed and then he called out “One stroke ahead” and
immediately after “Stop her”. Scarcely, however had this order been
given when the boiler burst and fragments of the steamer were hurled in all
directions.
Captain Davis, Sparkes, Roach and Gunn were killed by the explosion;
with a broken leg; while Trevanoak,
who was in the cabin at the time, escaped uninjured, and those in the barge
were also unhurt. The bodies of Sparkes
and Gunn were recovered much mutilated, but up to Monday, the 11th,
when the inquest was held by Mr J Mair,
J.P., on that of Sparkes, those of
the captain
and Roach had not been found. The force of the explosion was very great,
and fragments of the
river. From the character of the disaster-ending fatally to all who
might have given evidence as to its cause-the magisterial inquiry terminated
obscurely, but
we understand that there was a very strong impression that the boiler
was very heated, and nearly empty and that the melancholy accident arose
through
cold water being suddenly introduced therein. The steamer is reported to
belong to Messrs. White, Counsell and Co.,
and to have been uninsured. The wool on board, 200 bales, however, was
covered from risk.
The
The River Steamer
whose boiler exploded below Menindee on the 9th inst. All the bodies have been recovered-amounting
to four, the Captain, engineer, mate and Chinese cook.
An inquest is being held. One sufferer who was taken on shore, with both
legs broken, and who I am informed was a compositor in your office, named
Jones, died through the
injuries received on Friday 18th. The
safe on the barge-Central Australian, Bourke, Nov. 30
NSW Death Indexes and
Registration numbers
JOHN DAVIS, age 34 years, died
Menindee, 4914/1872
EDWARD SPARKS, aged 50 years,
died Menindee, 4911/1872
JOHN ROACH, age 32 years,
died Menindee, 4913/1872
THOMAS GUNN, age 26 years,
died Menindee, 4912/1872
The below information has been copied from the Aust Govt website – Department of Environment, Climate Change
and Water
to provide further information on the tragedy and on Kinchega. It is
only a small extract of information, from this site
Paddle steamers opened up
trade along the
transportation and increased
the profitability of wool in the Darling region. Transport costs were three
pound ($6) per ton by paddle steamer
compared with twelve pounds
($24) per ton by bullock wagon. Paddle steamers needed high water to travel the
Darling, and the Menindee
lake system emptied slowly
after floods, keeping the river open for steamer traffic. Sometimes as the
river level dropped steamers would become
stranded. The
continued its journey along
the river towards Kinchega station. Tragedy struck once again when the boiler
exploded, throwing one crew member
(Gunn, a Chinese cook) into a tree, and killing the crew John Davis (Captain), Edward Sparkes (engineer) and John Roach (fireman).
Gunn was rescued, but later
died of his injures. All the crew died and are buried by the old Kinchega
homestead. The only survivor was
Henry Trevorah,
a miner from Wilcannia travelling to visit family. The boiler remains on the
banks of the Darling, and can be seen if you take the
Kinchega station holds a
special place in explorer history. In 1860 it was the place where the ill-fated
Burke and Wills expedition picked up
the
infamous William Wright, the then newly appointed manager of Kinchega
Station and a young man by the name of Charles Stone. Burke was a
police superintendent and was
in charge of the party. Second in command was Landells the camel man and Wills, a surveyor and meteorologist,
was third in command. They
were in a race to be the first European men to travel
Landells resigned from the
expedition at Kinchega after an argument with Burke. Wright joined the party as
the new third in command.
His failure to meet the party
on his return to