The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-28 00:00:00

SHIP WRECTS IN 109— •
-• ,xt.yirFPA. ;--)E it.
i'he year 1859 was a sad year Lac -44-4-as .-
~,,
of England who guard our native4o4o;'`'. 711. . W.:‘,l-
-wrecks and the loss of life on thes.`aggiejle.' '.• 1,'1"
. ... „ ~......,,. , s ...s,
United Kingdom during those tvtelvn - : .t-
-greatly in excess of the numbersysti,rda- '.'-'• s-s/';'
71)..
.
previous year. As compared with t,/
year, there were more than 1,500 cash 8 ailtins
rather more than 1,100, and more than 1,500 lives
lost against 340. The violent gales at the end of
last October and at the beginning of November
were the chief agents in this excessive destraiction
of life and property. In the storm or hurricane of
October 25 and 26 there were more than 130 wrecks
and BO casualties resulting in serious damage, and
800 lives (minus two) were lost, the wreck of the
Royal Charter alone causing nearly 450 deaths.
The losses in November were also far above the
average, and as many as 480 souls perished in : two
vessels alone—in the Pomona at the end of April, and
in the Blervic Castle in the middle of December last.
Such are some of the details of the reports of wrecks
and casualties lately published by the Board of
Trade. This report contains a new feature, in the
shape of a memorandum on the gales of October
and November, from the pen of Rear-Admiral Fitz-
roy, the chief of the Meteorological Department.
Unfortunately, this memorandum is not accom-
panied by any diagrams, which would have made
it more intelligible to the reader than it now is. It
appears from the observations made at lighthouses
and various other observatories that the storm of
October 25 and 26 was a complete horizontal cy-
clone. The area of its .sweep was scarcely more
than 300 miles in diameter, and as it travelled
northwards, it affected only the coast of France
and the breadth of our own islands, exclusive of
the west of Ireland. The central portion of the
storm advanced at an average rate of about 20
miles an hour, from the south-western part of Eng-
land northward and eastward to the North , Sea.
Thus, when the Royal Charter was wrecked, Aber-
deen and Banffshire were not disturbed, by the
wind ; but when it blew hardest on those exposed
Scotch coasts, the storm had abated or almost
ceased in the Channel and on the south coast of
Ireland. So much for the general movement of
the storm. The actual velocity of the wind, circling
as it were against the motion of watch-hands about
a small central "lull," varied from 40 to 80 miles
an hour. North-west of the centre the wind
" backed," shifting round from south-east, through
north-east and north to north-west; and, in a cor-
responding manner, eastward of the centre, the
veering was from east, through south-east, south,
and south-west, to west. The storm of November 1
was of a similar character, except that its central
portion passed just to the west of Ireland's south-
west coast, and thence northwards. From these
observations, and from scientific considerations
respecting equatorial and polar streams of air, some
plain and practical conclusions are drawn by Rear-
Admiral Fitzroy. The first and most important
is, that in a gale which seems likely to be near
the central part of a storm, which should of
course be avoided, a seaman facing the wind knows
that the centre is on his right hand in the
northern hemisphere, and on his left in the south-
ern, and he is, therefore, informed how to steer
to avoid danger. The next valuable result i 4, that
telegraphic communication can give notice of a
storm's approach, and vessels in ports hundreds of
miles distant from the part in which it is rs ging
at a certain moment may be forewarned as ,oner
than by the alterations in the barometer and ther-
mometer. The third deduction is that all. high
winds move in directions more or less curvilinear,
not in permanently straight lines. Further,, very
strong gales are not only very much curved in.-their
progress, but they are more violent as the eircles
diminish in diameter towards a central lull or sud-
den shift, and weaker as they increase in ditty neter
and recede from it. These conclusions may be of
great practical use to seamen. It is true that they
scarcely merit the title of laws, in the scientific
sense of the word, but even as contributions of
science they are of the utmost importance. In a
subject like meteorology, in which so many causes
are at work, co-operating and conflicting with one
another—causes, too, that depend not merely on
the phenomena of this earth itself, but on general
cosmical arrangements—in such a subject it in only
by the slow and laborious collection of numerous
observations, by the tedious path of accurate, and
painstaking, and long-continued induction, that
we can hope to arrive at any large body of scie itific
truth. In the physical sciences, at least, it a eems
to be the rule that empirieal generalisations 'shall
come first, to be afterwards confirmed and expls tined
deductively. In meteorology, as formerly in a stro-
nomy, we must have inquirers performing the
functions of a Kepler, inferring general ruins by
induction from the observation of particular phut's-
mena, before a Newton comes to give their infe-
rences a new value and a scientific character by
deducing them from higher and more universal
laws.—Post.

DEPUTATION TO SIR CHARLES WOOD

ON INDIAN FIBRES.

Yesterday afternoon a deputation waited -upon
Sir C. Wood,!at the India House, for the purpose:of
procuring his assistance, as the Secretary for Lodia,
in obtaining a supply of Indian fibres for thestaple
manufactures of the United Kingdom. Thtsjepu-
tation was understood .especially tiz.rmesent the
Oriental and Colonial: Cotton, Flax, and nihres
Company. It was introduced by Mr. W. Ewart,
M.P., and comprised Mr., Wyld, -M.P., Mr. Brad-
bury, Mr. Bashford, Mr. Bonney,- Mr.- Ilolroyd,
Mr. Spensley, Captain Strickland, Mr. Ariiivismith,
and Mr. Hardwick.

Mr. Ewart opened the subject by remarking that
he believed the reason why he had been selected
for that position was, that he had been some time
ago the chairman of a committee of the House of
Commons, which bestowed a great deal of atten-
tion on the question of the development of Indian
resources. The principal object of the deputation
was, he added, to exhibit some specimens of Indian
fibres, out of which paper and various textures
might be manufactured with advantage, and to ob-
tain such assistance from Sir C. Wood as, in the
capacity of Indian minister, he could render—of
course solely on public grounds—in the proccuring
an adequate supply of useful materials for English
manufactures.
Mr. Spensley then produced several specimens of
Indian fibres made from the rheea, the aloe, and the
pine apple, and explained their various peculiari-
ties. Among the articles exhibited were fibres,
dressed and undressed, thread for making lace,
dyed thread, plush, a lace covering for the shoulders,
and paper. Sir Charles examined them all very
attentively, and entered freely into conversation
with regard to their origin and adaptation. In
reply to the right hon. baronet's inquiries, it was
stated that the Punjaub was a very prolific source
of supply as regarded the rheea, and that jute, of
which there was in this country a very great scar-
' city, might be obtained thence in abundance if
there were but adequate facilities for its exporta-

tion.
It having been stated that it was the communi-
cation by way of the Indus which especially re.
quired improvement,
Sir C. Wood observed that a good harbour was
already being constructed, and that everything that
was practicable was being done by means of rail-
roads and in other ways to facilitate the convey-
ance of Indian produce westward.

To the remark of Mr. Spensley, that an impres-
sion prevailed that some difficulty was being inter-
posed in England,
Sir Charles replied that he was not aware that
such was the case, adding that the Minister for
India naturally desired to develop it resources, and
thereby to improve its revenue as far as possible.
A Member of the Deputation said the company
represented had orders for 50,000 tons of Indian
fibre to be supplied during the next year; and for
100,000 tons to be supplied in each of the five sub-
sequent years—a statement which the right hon.
baronet received with satisfaction, on account, as he
said, of the benefits which it promised both to India
land to England.
The deputation then withdrew.