The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-03 00:00:00

Heathcote (1852), having only joined recently for study,
was not examined in the middle of last month, and con-
sequently continues to study steam here, preparatory to
being examined on the next occasion that the officers
come forward for that purpose.
Commander Henry G. Harston (1845) has also been
appointed to study steam at the factory at Woolwich
dockyard.
The Cyclops steam frigate, in charge of Mr. Pope,
Assistant-Master-Attendant at Sheerness, left Woolwich
to-day for Devonport.
The Rhadamanthus steam storeship, Master• Co-
mmander Belam, will leave on Monday morning for Chat-
ham, with the boilers, &c., of the Euryalus, 50, screw
steam frigate, at that port.
The Pigmy steam-vessel, having been thoroughly re-
fitted in her machinery and received new boilers, went
down the river to-day to ascertain their efficiency, and
is to be taken round to Portsmouth for the purpose of
being employed as a tug vessel at that port.
Contracts have been called for by the Admiralty for
six pairs of new marine steam engines, two of them to
be of the same nominal power as the Agamemnon's, of
600-horse power
QUARTERLY NAVAL OBITUARY.

The following officers' deaths have been officially re-
ported since 20th June, 1853.
Flag Officers.—Admiral of the Fleet.—Right Hon.
Sir George Cockburn, Bart., G.C.B. Admirals.—Sir
Charles Adam, K.C.8., Sir Charles Bullen, G.C.8.,
K.C.H. Retired Rear Admirals.—James Gifford, John
Gore (a).
Captain.— Peter M`Quhae. Retired Captains.
Barton, John J. Arrow, Sir William C. H. Burnaby,
Bart.
Commanders.—George R. Wolrige, Arthur Sansum,
Charles Turner. Reserved half-pay.—Hon. Arthur R.
Tumour, John R. Blois, James Gordon (b), George
Williamson. Retired.—Charles Royer, James Spratt,
Henry Bird, Benjamin Dutton.
Lieutenants.—Thomas S. Scriven, Gustavus S. Baker,
Robert O'Brien, Henry Warren, George Walker, William
C. Coffin, Wellesley P. Chapman, Guy C. Campbell, Frank
H. Lambert, William B. Mason, George A. Pidcock,
William R. Bent, Willoughby J. Smith, Hugh Alan
Hinds. Reserved Half-pay.—Charles Hammond, George
Barker, Thomas Strange (a), Edward Hunt.
Masters.—Thomas Earl. Reserved Half-pay.—Augustus
Dalby, Sir William Bain, Kt., Edward R. Wylde, William
Reed.
Mates.---Richard Onslow, Thomas C. Smith.
Medical Officers.—Surgeons.—Robert A. Bankier, Mar-
maduke C. French, William H. Bent, William M`Malion.
Assistant Surgeons.—James Muirhead, John Angus, M.D.
Paymasters.—William Wilkins, George S. Singer, Ben-
jamin W. Tribe. Retired.—John Macleod, Harry Niblett,
Bryan Wilson, John Bannister, Michael C. Stephens.
Royal Marines. Captain. Henry Bryant Skinner.
First Lieutenant.—Henry N. Gell.

THE PREVENTION OF WRECKS AND SAVING

LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK.

We have, on different occasions, remarked on what
we conceived to be the imperfection, when taken as a
whole, of the present system for rescuing shipwrecked-
persons from drowning ; that whilst, in some localities,
most creditable exertions have been made, and much
success has attended those exertions, yet that at no
place perhaps has as much been done as was possible :
and that at many little or nothing has been attempted•-
where the storm seems to have been regarded as a mon-
ster who, as a matter of course, will prey on those that
have the temerity to venture upon his domain ; or as
the deity of the watery wilds who needs to be propitiated
by this periodical sacrifice from amongst his votaries.
The consequence has been, that a waste of human life
has taken place, which, even in a single year, presents
a melancholy picture to the view ; but which, if con-
templated in the aggregate, over a lengthened period,
will be found to have been the work of a power far more
devastating in its effects than the cannon and sword of
the enemy

We do not mean to imply that any human efforts
could have subdued this power, or altogether have neu-
tralised its effects, but that much more might be done
under the working of a well-organised and comprehen-
sive system, which should insure-
-Ist. The adoption of all practicable precautionary
measures which might lead to the prevention of ship-
wreck.

2d. The employment of every available means on
board merchant vessels for saving the lives of their
crews, and effecting communication with the shore, in
the event of their getting stranded.
3d. The establishment all along our coasts of the most
perfect system which can be devised, for affording them
timely succour from the land.
The first of these heads, indeed, embraces a wide field
for cultivation, in which much has been already done,
and well done, but where more yet remains to be accom-
plished. It includes all that can facilitate the safe navi-
gation of our coasts ; the exact surveying of every part
of them, and the publication of charts, on which shall be
clearly pourtrayed and defined every danger which lies
us the mariner's way ; the establishment of the most per-
fect system of lighthouses, buoys, beacons, and sea-
marks ; the creation of harbours of refuge, and the im-
provement of natural harbours, and the mouths of navi-
gable rivers ; the enactment of a rigid system of surveil-
lance, which should prevent the sailing out of port of
vessels that are leaky or unseaworthy, half-manned, or
ill found, and which should require sufficient proof of
the qualifications of masters and superior officers as sea-
men, navigators, and commanders of others ; the im-
provement of the mode of calculating the tonnage of ves-
sels, and of the scale according to which the levying of
tolls, harbour and dock dues, &c., are calculated, which
systems have hitherto acted as premiums on the con-
struction of bad sailing ships, and have by that means
been prolific sources of shipwreck, since a fast-sailing
clipper vessel can readily beat off a lee shore, when one
of the more prevailing form of colliers, coasters, and
other merchant craft, would infallibly drift bodily on to it.
On the second head,but little or nothing has been yet
done. It has possibly been considered that the owner
of a ship, if not actuated by motives of humanity, or a
sense of duty to those in his employ, would at least be
prompted by self-interest, to provide as far as possible
for their safety, as well as for that of his vessel. The
Legislature of the country has accordingly hitherto
scarcely interfered in the matter ; and, strange to say,
public opinion has not been directed to it. The ship-
owner has therefore had, as his sole motive power, his
own sense of the moral responsibility resting upon him
to urge him to do unto others, and those his own ser-
vants, as if, similarly circumstanced, he would have
wished them to do unto him.
The manner in which this provision for the safety of
ships' crews might be effected may be shortly defined
as follows :

Ist. Every merchant vessel should carry one or more
boats, so far fitted as life-boats that they should have a
sufficient amount of extra buoyancy to support the whole
of the ship's crew in the event of getting filled by a sea,
and of a form calculated for landing through a surf.
Such a boat can readily be thus fitted without materially
interfering with her stowage-room, or disqualifying her
for all the ordinary uses to which ships' boats are put.
2d. She should be provided with an efficient life-buoy
—and one of the best descriptions of circular cork ones
can be procured for the small sum of 12s. 6d.
3d. She should likewise be provided with as many
good cork life-belts as there are persons in her crew,
which should be kept secured to the bulwark, or other
convenient situation on deck, where they could be readily
got at in the event of the vessel getting ashore, or her
crew having from any other cause to take to their boat.
A belt of this kind, having sufficient buoyancy to make it
impossible for a person having it on to sink, and yet not
interfering with the free use of his limbs, may be also
had for a small sum, and which might often be the sal-
vation of a man's life if upset from his boat, in attempt-
ing to land through a surf.
Lastly. She should also be furnished with some means
for conveying a line to the shore, in the event of her
getting stranded sufficiently near to make it practi-
cable. The rocket and mortar apparatus are unsuitable
for the purpose, as they would probably seldom be ready
for immediate use ; and as a vessel on taking the ground
is in general immediately subjected to such violent con-
cussions by the waves striking her, that it would inmost
cases be unmanageable. The flying a kite from the ves-
sel to the above has been suggested by Col. Dansey,
R.A., and it might sometimes be available, although
there would probably often be difficulty in getting it to
ascend in the first instance clear of the rigging and of
the eddy winds under the vessel's lee. The most feasible
plan would at first sight appear to be to float a buoy,
with a line attached to it, to the shore ; but it is gener-
ally found that the drawback of the retiring waves, to-
gether with the weight of the line, prevents a buoy from
quite reaching the beach. We think it probable, how-
ever, that a very light buoy, which would expose a large
surface to the wind, and have but little hold on the water,
and having a small manilla, or other floating line at-
tached to it, would, if the wind were sufficiently on shore,
be in general carried so close to it that it might be grap-
pled by those on the beach : it is, at all events, a matter
worth making further experiments upon. A buoy of
this character, formed of waterproof cloth, which folds
up and self-inflates on being distended, was some years
since invented by the Rev. James Williams, rector of
Llanfairynghornwy, in Anglesea—an old friend and
zealous coadjutor of this institution, and we think it
would be admirably adapted for the purpose.
By the general use on board merchant vessels of such
means as those we have recommended, we believe that
numberless valuable lives might be saved. The adop-
tion of them, however, cannot be secured by any power
of less magnitude and authority than the Legislature of
the country. The voices of societies of individuals have
no weight whatever in such cases ; we may raise them
as loudly as we will, it is of no avail ; ships and boats
will continue to be badly built and ill-suited for the
work they have to perform ; they will still be ill-fitted
ill-manned, ill-found as hitherto, unless self-interest, or
some other power more cogent than humanity and love
to their fellow-creatures shall urge those possessing this
kind of property to see the necessity for a change.
As a striking instance of the heartlessness which exists
on this subject, we have been informed by respectable
boat-builders in this metropolis that on more than one
occasion, when old worn-out boats have been brought to
them to be repaired, and they have stated they were not
worth repairing, they have been asked seriously, in
reply, whether they could not make them pass muster
as life-boats, by concealing the decayed and worn-out
parts behind the air-cases and other fittings, the vessels
they belonged to being included in the category of those
that are compelled to carry boats, which, at all events,
should have the appearance of life-boats.
Although, however, we cannot interfere on these
points, and our opinion may have no weight with those
who have the power to do so, yet, on our third head,
viz., the establishment of measures for affording succour
to shipwrecked persons from the land, something may,
and we trust more and more will be done by a charit-
able society like the National Shipwreck Institution,