Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-07-18 00:00:00

THE WRECK CHA ,RT

We have lying before us a remarks: ble map,. the Wreck
' Chart of the British Isles for 1858. It is to-be found in a
return to Parliament, carefully preparei I by the Board of
Trade.. The chart is of the same. appears once: as an ordinary
• map of these islands, except that the R 'holaline of coast,
fro:n the Orkneys to the Land'S End, is d otted with a series.
of black marks. Each mark indicates. eitl ter a-shipwreck or
some casualty to a vessel nearly al:Tread ling- that disaster.
A most melancholy effect has this chart when. this key to
its object is- given. The whole- coast, particularly the
approaches . to the whole. -of. , our o seat commercial
cities, bristles with the dottings which inc lieata dearly the
site where. some noble ship had gone toeslest ruction: with her
human freight, the tidings of which,has, ala s, too frequently
' brought Wee to- many. a home and (tenni ling-house. All
round our coast, with the aid of, this, valual tle map) we can
trace clearly the frightful work[of destruct Lion during the
pastyear. The total number of. British r aerchant ships,
including steamers,, is supposed'to be "27,091 ', giving a ton-
nage of 4,55.8,..30... These ships...axe handled probably by no
less than 300i000 men and boys. . The natter eof the disas-
ters to British and:foreign shipsisthus ePiton tised;.:- In 1858
the number of4essele wreckedomthe•coastlia ed in. the-seas
of the Unite& Kingdom, WM- 1,170'T: of the ;e 3;354 were
total -wreckse 50 sunk by eollision, =Lin 7 the- number
totally lost 404.. Vessels. stranded- turd a amaged so, as
,to 'require to -discharge cargo e 51.5, by i 3ollision 251,
total 766 • making the whole. number of i wrecks 1,170.
By these 'disasters, the lives of 1,895 pers ens were im-
perilled, of which number 340'persons or -18 were actually
'lost This is the- dark side- of -the doreful n lap. It has,
however, a bright side, and) on that we- find I that. by. the
life-boats of the-National Lifeboat Institut ion; those of
local bodies, and various other craft, 1,555 I d our- fellovr
' creatures were, during -the • past year; rest elect from a
• watery grave. : The- red dotting& on.this. waiq ue chart are
. cheering marks as indicative of the places where life-
-heats and the life-preserving apparatus are to, be found in
.the hour of distress,. The Latter, are under th 9 control of
the Board of Trade, and, as..the firing of tl to apparatus
'requires some knowledge or gunnery, they art 3 principally
in the charge of the coast guard. It is, very ;ratifying to
find that lifeboats on dangerous points. of tin • coast have,
of Tate years, greatly increased in number at id efficiency
under the man-agentent of thee National Lifet -oat - Institu-
tion, whose energies in this- good work, are r mtiriiug. ' It
has, now eighty-two. lifeboat, establishments."; under its
management, and we only wish that we were a ble to aeport
that it had twice- that number, for there are stall too many
exposed points in, need. of these arks of: mercy ; t tad although
shipwrecks wale occur, notwithstanding all onr precautions,
yet. if life-boats were more numerous- on the coast, and .if
shipowners ptiid• more attention to the condi tuna of their
vessels and crews before they sent them! to sea, much might
unestionably be- done tot:lesson the inelanchi )1y catalogue
of disasters on the coasts of the, British Isles, which it is
our painful duty to report from time to time.