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Finally, they moved to one side to watch once more the occupants of passing small boatsâ€"two racing shells. Again the Victoria careened. Constant movement had weakened the boiler supports. ‘This time the boiler beâ€" came loose, rolled over smashing the supâ€" ports of the upper deck. /‘ The Victoria could safely accommodate 300 and in a pinch 400 passengers. That trip, it carried 500, perhaps 600. As the boat proâ€" ceeded upstream, they moved from sideâ€"toâ€" side, careening the steamer each timeâ€"waâ€" ter sloshing onto the lower deck. In addition, the Victoria apparently damâ€" aged its hull by hitting a snag on the way up from Springbank. The causes were three fold. Overcrowding, a crowd which moved to the side and a boilâ€" er, insecurely fastened in terms of today‘s safety measures. One man who had worked on the Victoria‘s steamfitting said it was fasâ€" tened down by bolts, rather than being held in place by iron bands. Stanchions supporting the upper decks were held by spikes. The toll might have been higherâ€"some have placed it at about 200. That is the numâ€" ber given on an historic marker which stands now on the banks of the Thames. The marker, incidentally, is some distance downâ€" stream from the actual scene of tragedy. One unofficial, estimate at the time placed the toll at 215. The graves were only a small percentage of those which were to hold bodies of Victoria victims. Accepted death toll in the capsizing of the craftâ€"described by some as little more than a scowâ€"has been set at 182, the number of known burials in London and outâ€" ofâ€"town cemeteries. In addition to Woodland, there were 66 burials in Mount Pleasant, 25 in St. Peter‘s. By the end of the week there would be 51 newly dug graves in Woodland Cemetery. They were those of Victoria passengers who were to die less than 30 minutes after the boat had moved slowly past Woodland. It was late on the afternoon of May 24 1881â€"a Tuesday. (This year marks the 90th anniversary of London‘s greatest disasterâ€"the loss May 24, 1881, of the little excursion steamer, the Vicâ€" toria, in the: Thames River. This is the first of a, twoâ€"part article recalling the tragedy.) By L. N. BRONSON The little river steamer, the Victoria, moved upstream â€" from Springbank. past Woodland Cemetery. Passengers aboard waved to those on the wharf there, unable to secure passage, and to those on the Princess Louise, another of the tiny craft which cruised up and down the Canadian Thames. Victoria Day sinlking in Thames in Nearly every family felt disaster Saturday, May 15, 1971 One priest, it was reported, conducteg services for victims; another remained on duty at the cemetery to officiate at graveside rites, One elderly man came from Rochester, N.Y., to claim the bodies of his son, daugh. terâ€"inâ€"law and two grandchildren, Service, it was recorded, was held in a "desolate house" before the bodies were moved to Rochester for interment. There were ones. One involved five personsâ€"a 1 girl (bride of less than 2 hours) yearâ€"old brother, an older marric and the latter‘s two young children ried the mourners) were the situation. Sometimes delivery wagons. TS tâ€"vâ€"â€"O~9,, wads Nneld in . a "desolate use" before the bodies were. moved to ochester for interment. There was extensive newspaper Ccoverave Within hours of the May 24, 1881, Victoria disaster on the Thames, the Canadian TMlustrated News, had commuissioned artists to prepare a series of sketches and also had made arrangements for the purchase of other available Thames scenes. Those at right were made by William Lee Judson, of London (Paul Peel‘s first art teacher) and were identified as: (5) View toward the City from Springbank; (6) Springbhank below the dam; (7) the dam ét Springbank and (8) H ungerford Hill at Byron. Mr. Judson was noted_ for his sketches of Thames scenes, some aPDearihg under his OW! name and others under the nomiâ€"deâ€"plume of Prof. Blot.. His wofk, Kubhleborn, or a Tour of the Thames was published in 1881, based on a trip by Prof. Blot and a friend, down the Thames, 3P parently in 1880 as no mention was made of the Victoria tragedy. Some portraits (above) were secured from the John Cooper studio. They were: (1) Capt. Dan Rankin of the Victoria, (2) Pugald H. Roberts, the engineer, (3) Nick Forkey, a deckhand, all of whom survived and (4) Al Wastie, 15â€"yearâ€"old ticket taker, who was drowned. He was the son of Thomas Wastie f61'111e1‘ London fire chief and a oneâ€"time captain of the Victoria, who at the time of the disaSter’ was in Manitoba. Photographer Cooper‘s 19â€"yearâ€"old daughter, Fanny, was among the Vietoria victims â€" it was 08 her death the formal inquest was held. In addition to Mr. Judson, a Mr. MacEvoy was identified b as m amons anrtist o. nrmarnsepnccicls Lanl o t . Ond less than 2 hours)fi uhve”r‘ triple funerals and double unable to cope with mourners rode in nours) her 19. married sister, uest was held. In addition to Mr. Judson, a Mr among artists commissioned to prepare sketel 19â€"yearâ€"olq 1881 claimed 182 to 215 lives r on the Thames, the Canadian IMlustrated NeWs sketches and also had made arrangements for the 2 at right were made by William Lee Juds0N; of identified as: (5) View toward the city frO® . Judson, a Mr. MacEvoy was prepare sketches, Brown‘s Corners Mesdames . Marion Connie Switzer, Elsic and Merle Kirk attel Tulip Festival in Mict weekâ€"end. _ _ s rion Munrd, Elsie Hutton attended the Michigan last By