The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-19 00:00:00

THE WRECK CHART.

We have lying before us a remarkable map,
he Wreck Chart of the British Isles for 1858.

It is to be found in a return to Parliament, care-
fully prepared by the Board of Trade. The chart
is of the same appearance as an ordinary map of
these islands, except that the whole line of coast,
from the Orkneys to the Land's End, is dotted
with a series of black marks. Each mark indi-
cates either a shipwreck or some casualty to a ves-
sel nearly approaching to that disaster. A most
melancholy effect has this chart when this key to
its object is given. The whole coast, particularly that
approaching to our great commercial cities, bristles
with the dottings which indicate clearly the site
where some noble ship has gone to destruction
with her human freight, the tidings of which has,
alas, too frequently brought woe to many a home
and counting-house. All round our coast, with the
aid of this valuable map, we can trace clearly the

frightful work of destructtion during the past
year. The total number of British merchant ships,
including steamers, is supposed to be 27,097, giving
a tonnage of 4,555,739: These ships are handled
probably by no less than 300,000 men and boys.
The nature of the disasters to British and foreign

ships is thus epitomised :—ln 1858 the number o
vessels wrecked on the coast and in the seas of the
United Kingdom, was 1,170 ; of these 354 were total
wrecks, 50 sunk by collision, making the number
totally lost 404. Vessels stranded and damaged so as
to require to discharge cargo 515, by collision, 251,
total 766 ; making the whole number of wrecks
1,170. By these disasters the lives of 1,895 per-
sons wcreimperilled,of which number 340 persons or
18 per cent. were actually lost. This is the dark side
of the doleful map. It has, however, a bright side,
and on that we find that by the lifeboats of the
National Lifeboat Institution, those of local bodies,
and various other craft, 1,555 of our fellow crea-
tures were, during the past year, rescued from a
watery grave. The red dottings on this unique
chart are cheering marks, as indicative of the
places where lifeboats and the life-preserving ap-
paratus are to be found in the hour of distress.
The latter are under the control of the Board of
Trade, and as the firing of the apparatus requires
some knowledge of gunnery, they are principally
in the charge of the coast guard. It is very gratify-
ing to find that the lifeboats on dangerous points of
the coast have, of late years, greatly increased in
number and efficiency under the management of the
National Lifeboat Institution, whose energies in
this good wook are untiring. It has now 82 life-
boat establishments under its management, and we
only wish that we were able to report that it had
'twice that number, for there are still too many ex-
posed points in nccd of these arks of mercy ; and
although shipwrecks will occur, notwithstanding
all our precautions, yet if lifeboats were more nu-
merous on the coast, and if shipowners paid more
attention to the condition of their vessels and crews
before they sent them to sea, much might unques-
tionably be done to lessen the melancholy catalogue
of disasters on the coasts of the British Isles, which
s our painful duty to report from time to time.