The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-03 00:00:00

r THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 3, 1866.

facts, and continue to direct public attention to this
important subject. Our object is, to some extent,
accomplished in thus calling general attention to it ;
but our main purpose at present, is to make a few
remarks on the distressing loss of life which these
various and inexcusable causes of disasters inevit-
ably produce.

We find that the total number of ships reported
to have foundered, or to have been lost on our
coasts from unseaworthiness, in 10 years, is 423 ;
and that the number of casualties caused through
unseaworthy ships, unsound gear, &c., and resulting
in partial damage in the same time, is 499. With
these 423 vessels sank, probably, one million ster-
ling's worth of property, and several hundred valu-
able lives.

In 1865 there were 98 casualties to fishing-smacks
and vessels. There can be no doubt that the wea-
ther must have been most severe to produce such
havoc amongst our fishing-craft ; but even in these
cases, the indications of handy, trustworthy weather-
glasses, or barometers on the plan of those so use-
fully employed by they ational Life-boat Institution
at nearly all its numerous life-boat stations,
might probably have saved many a fishing-
vessel and her hardy crew from the terrible fate
which overtook them, not without unmistakeable
atmospheric warnings, during the fearful gales of
last winter.

But excluding these 98 fishing-vessels, the num-
ber of ships employed in the regular carrying-trade
that have suffered from wreck or casualty during
the year is shown to be 1,914. If this number be
again subdivided, it cannot fail to be observed that
more than half of it is represented by the unsea-
worthy, overladen, or ill-found vessels of the collier
Blass, chiefly employed in the coasting-trade. In cor-
roboration of this remark it is only necessary to cast
a glance at the Wreck Chart which accompanies the
Wreck Register. We observe that the north-east
coast is, as usual, completely covered with the sad
results, in too many cases, of unseaworthy, over-
laden, and ill-found vessels in the coal trade.
The wrecks are thus specified in the returns to the
Board of Trade :

Vessels. No.
Fishing-smacks 98
Colliers laden ~. 535
Colliers in ballast... ... ... 140
Metallic ores ... ... 150
Stone ores... ... 109
Ships with other cargos, and other ships in ballast... 980

Total vessels...

~. 2012

It is a remarkable fact that, taking the past seven
years as our guide, we find that casualties to compa-
ratively new ships continue to bear a very high, pro-
portion to the whole number of disasters ; thus :-
908 casualties happened to nearly new ships ; and
1,701 to ships from 3 to 7 years of age. Then there
are casualties to 2,086 ships from 7 to 14 years old ;
and 3,477 from 15 to 30 years old. Then follow
1,267 ships from 30 to 50 years old. Having
passed the service of half a century, we come to
the really old ships namely, 230 between 50 and
60 years old ; 102 from 60 to 70 ; 48 from 70
to 80 ; 14 from 80 to 90 ; 6 from 90 to 100 ;
and 4, 101 years and upwards. The ages of 3,002
are unknown. The state of rottenness and the
want of repair of some of the ships above 20 years
old often call for remark. Even at the age of 25 to
30 it sometimes happens that a ship is so rotten as
to fall to pieces immediately on touching the ground,
without giving the crew the slightest chance of get-
ting out their boats. In one case, an old ship, a
foreigner, which went to pieces as soon as she
touched the ground, it was found that her seams had
been payed with clay and red ochre, to keep the
water out. It seems to us that the Merchant Ship-
ping Act has failed entirely to controfthis sad state
of things ; and, indeed, its authors contend that the
provisions of the act never contemplated touching
them ; for they argue—and there is much force in
their observations—that the common law of the
land should be brought into operation to compel
shipowners, like all other owners of property, to be
answerable for wilful or overt acts of carelessness.
Of the 2,012 vessels lost or damaged in 1865, 82
were rigged as ships, 130 were steam ships, 542
schooners, 419 brigs, 187 barques, 187 brigantines,
and 196 smacks ; the remainder were small vessels
rigged in various ways. Of the 2,012 vessels referred
to 902 did not exceed 100 tons burden, 793 were
from 100 to 300 tons, 210 were from 300 to GOO
tons, and 107 only were above 600 tons burden.
From the table showing the parts of the coasts
011 which the casualties happened, it will be seen
that, as usual, the greatest number occurred on the
East Coast. The numbers are as follows :—East
Coast, 868 ; South Coast, 187 ; West Coast, 386 ;
N.W. Coast of Scotland, 46; Irish Coast, 146 ; Isle
of Man, 15 ; Lundy Island, 3 ; Scilly Isles, 5.
As regards the loss of life, the returns show that
the number lost from shipwreck on or near the coast
of the United Kingdom in 1865 was 698. 'These
lives were lost in 164 ships ; 124 of them were laden
vessels, 33 were vessels in ballast, and in 7 cases it is
not known whether the vessels were laden or light ;
131 of these ships were entirely lost, and 33 sustained
partial damage. Of the 698 lives lost, 275 were lostin
vessels that foundered, 53 on board vessels in colli-
sions, and 335 in vessels stranded, or cast ashore.
The remaining number, 35, were lost from various
causes, such as being washed overboard in heavy
seas, by explosions, &c. The loss of life in 1864
was 516, which was less than the number in any
year since 1855. In that year (1855) the National
Lifeboat Institution began to take most active steps
to provide our coasts with lifeboats, having during
the previous 30 years struggled hard for support to
carry on its great and national work on our shores ;
but in that year the late Capt. Hamilton Fitzgerald,
R.N., left the society .the munificent legacy of
£lO,OOO. Its committee most wisely and promptly
decided to spend the whole of the money in placing
new lifeboats on the coast. Since that period the
Institution has contributed to the saving of 5,758
lives from shipwrecks. How many of these persons,
in addition to their wives, children, and other rela-
tions, have reason to bless the name of this and
many other benefactors who have given the cost of
lifeboats, and who have thus aided to accomplish
such a large amount of solid, palpable, good work.
The greatest loss of life during the seven years
ending in 1865 occurred in the Irish sea, which is
one of our principal highways to and from America.
The number of lives lost on the coasts and sand-
banks of the Irish sea, during these years, is more
double the number lost on any other part of
the coasts, although during the year 1865 the num-
ber on the East Coast of England was very slightly
in excess of the number lost on the coasts of the
Irish Channel.

The most fatal winds during the year 1865 are
thus given :—N., 61; N.N.E., 59 ; N.E., 90 ;
E.N.E., 58 ; E., 55 ; E.S.E., 56 ; S.E., 97 ; S.S.E.,
60 ; S., 94 ; S.S.W., 133 ; S.W., 192 ; W.S.W.,
102 ; W., 73 ; W.N.W., 91; N.W., 101; N.N.W.,
59=1,381.

It will thus he seen that westerly gales are far
more destructive to shipping than gales from any
other quarter.

Again, we find that distinguishing the casualties
of the past seven years according to the force of the
wind at the time at which they happened, 678
occurred when the wind was at force 6 or under,
that is to say, when the force of the wind did not
exceed a strong breeze, in which the ship could carry
single reefs and top-gallant sails, and that 810 only
happened with the wind at force 9 and upwards,
that is to say, from a strong gale to a hurricane.
Thus we observe that in the last seven years, 118
took place in a calm ; 176 in light air or just suffi-
cient to give steerage way ; 450 in light breeze ;
120 in gentle breeze ; 781 in moderate breeze ; 1,280
in fresh breeze ; 1,217 in strong breeze ; 441 in
moderate gale; 836 in fresh gale ; 1,873 in strong
gale ; 1,444 in whole gale ; 505 in a storm ; 693 in
a hurricane ; 50 variable ; and 400 unknown.
During the past year the number of collisions re-
portedanwdas243os4a,
tofniigVhhite.h 11104 1 08C6C41 rt
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351, that being an excess of the number of collisions
reported in any year since 1855.
We know of nothing more distressing than a col-
lision between two powerful ships far out at sea.
On a recent occasion, when the screw steamship
Osprey, of Liverpool, and the steam sloop-of-war
Amazon, came into violent collision, nothing but
the calm that brooded upon the waters off Start
Point saved hundreds of lives from being lost. In:
deed, if the survivors had not fallen in, after the

collision, with some fishing-smacks about 12 miles •
outside Torbay, when they were pulling their boats
about the channel, with a compass which had gone
wrong, and with no food or water on board, we
should have had to-day to lament a frightful addi-
tion to the list of deaths.

Amidst this desolation and havoc, it is very satis-
factory to find that the means used in saving life
from shipwreck on our coast have made, and are
making, the most encouraging progress. There are
now nearly 200 lifeboat stations on our shores, and
nearly the whole of them belong to the National
Lifeboat Institution, whose activity and usefulness
commanded not only the admiration of the British
people and Parliament, but also that of nearly every
maritime power throughout the world. Indeed, it
is a remarkable fact that during the past few years
kindred institutions have been established on the
coasts of many of these nations ; while at one of our
thriving colonies in the antipodes, it is reported to
the institution, they have built self-righting lifeboats
equal to the mother country.

-Again, the Board of Trade support 249 life-saving
rocket-apparatus stations, which are worked by that
valuable body of men the Coastguard. These, in
conjunction with the provision of lighthouses and
floating light-vessels, and lifeboats on nearly all of
the most difficult points of navigation on our
coasts—the gradual improvement of natural har-
bours of refuge ; the decoration of the Albert medal
by her Majesty the Queen, and the rewards of the
National Lifeboat Institution to our boatmen and
fishermen for noble efforts to save life from ship-
wreck ; all these admirable provisions testify to the
unceasing skill and liberal care for the safety and
deliverance of our tens of thousands of seafaring
men, which their perils, acting upon a benevolent
public, have drawn forth.

At present nearly every class co-operates with the
Institution. The resident gentry and others, at its
lifeboat stations, give their superintendence ; the
boatmen give readily their personal services for
stipulated payments ; the railway and steam-packet
companies convey the lifeboats carriage free; and
the public support the institution liberally.
The Lifeboat Society is infinitely more than an
office or an agency. It is an organisation of intel-
ligence, a focus to which information converges,
and a centre from which it radiates. By the circu-
lation of facts which it maintains, it interests the
whole public, awakens sympathy, excites to effort,
and is continually submitting itself and its work to
general supervision. It lives on its proper merits,
and every shilling it receives may be said to be
given under the valuable law of " payment for
results." Thus, though it may be possible at the
present moment to say that the institution has not
reached this or that place on the coast to supply its
wants, we are to remember that it is chiefly owing
to what the institution has done to interest the pub-
lic in the subject, that isolated cases of deficiency
attract even casual notice ; while the principle of
progress at work in the institution is a guarantee
that at no distant date every want when pointed
out, or as it arises, will be promptly supplied.
All this conies of private benevolence, energy,
and zeal ; and so striking is the result that the
principle has, as we said before, commended itself
to every other maritime country in the world.
We feel assured that an institution of such na-
tional interest will continue to receive a large
amount of the sympathy and support of the British
public, in aid of the maintenance of its noble life-
saving fleet of one hundred and seventy-two boats ;
and that no society has a stronger claim for that
sympathy and support than the National Lifeboat
Institution, is testified by the gratifying fact that
its lifeboats and other means preserve every year,
under Providence, hundreds of our hardy sailors
from a premature grave, and many homes from the
desolation of widowhood and orphanage.

We may add, that contributions in aid of the
great and important work of the National Lifeboat
Institution are received by all the bankers through-
out the United Kingdom, And by the Secretary at
the Institution, 14, John-street, Adelphi, London.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

(From the Registrar-General's Return.)

In the week that ended on Saturday, Sept. 29,
the births registered in London and 12 other large
towns of the United Kingdom were 4,574 ; the
deaths registered 3,176. The annual rate of mor-
tality was 27 per 1,000 persons living.

In London the births of 1,057 boys and 1,089
girls, in all 2,146 children, were registered in the
week. In the corresponding weeks of ten years,
1856-65, the average number, corrected for increase
of population, was 1,977.
The deaths registered in London during the week
were 1,418. It was the 30th week of the year, and
the average number of deaths for that week is, with
a correction for increase of population, 1,239. The
deaths in the present return exceed the estimated
number by 179.
One hundred and seventy-seven deaths from
cholera and 67 from diarrhoea were registered dur-
ing the week. Of these 12 deaths from cholera
and 9 from diarrhoea occurred in the west ; 36 from
cholera and 17 from diarrhoea in the north ; 28
from cholera and 17 from diarrhoea in the central ;
55 from cholera and 18 from diarrhoea in the east ;
46 from cholera and 12 from diarrhoea in the south
districts. During the last 13 weeks, 4,174 persons
have fallen victims to cholera, and 2,298 deans
were caused by diarrhoea.
The cholera matter is now diffused very equally
all over London, and as the waters of the upper
Thames, of the Lea, and of the wells become in-
fected, the utmost exertions of the authorities will
be required to ensure its decline. Each health offi-
cer should consider that the safety not only of the
people of his own district, but of three millions of
people depends on his activity. It is to be regretted
that these inadequately paid officers cannot devote
the whole of their time to the duties of their office.
The annual rate of mortality last week was 24 per
1,000 in London, 23 in Edinburgh, and 44 in Dub-
lin, 22 in Bristol, 18 in Birmingham, 47 in Liver-
pool, 28 in Manchester, 26 in Salford, 18 in Shef-
field, 29 in Leeds, 26 in Hun, 36 in Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, and 25 in Glasgow. The rate in Vienna was
55 per 1,000 during the week ending the 22d ult.,
when the mean temperature was 5.3 deg. Fahrenheit
higher than in the same week in London, where the
rate was 23 per 1,000.
The fatality of cholera continues to decline steadily
in Liverpool ; last week of the 437 deaths 116 were
referred to this disease, while in the previous six
week the numbers were respectively 157, 146, 225,
145, 182, and 159. In Dublin, however, the num-
ber of fatal cases is still increasing ; the 268 deaths
including 98 from cholera, whereas in the four pre-
vious weeks they were 41, 52, 55, and 65. Manches-
ter even now appears to be threatened with a visi-
tation unless the danger can be averted by strenuous
, exertions on the part of the local authorities ; last
week in Manchester and Salford of the 248 deaths
14 were referred to cholera, of which several were of
a severe type. In Vienna an epidemic of cholera is
raging with increasing violence ; in the week ending
Sept. 22, of 586 deaths 274 were cases of cholera,
showing a large increase upon the three previous
weeks, when the numbers were 64,
107, and 201.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.677 in.
The barometrical reading increased from 29.21 in. on
Sunday to 29.87 in. on Tuesday. The mean tempera-
ture of the air in the week was 55.5 deg. which is 0.9
deg. above the average of the same week in 50 years
(as determined by Mr. Glaisher). The highest day
temperature was 71.0 deg. on Friday, and the lowest
nighttemperature was 41.3 deg. on Tuesday. The en-
tire range of temperature in the week was, therefore,
29.7 deg. The mean of the highest temperatures of
the water of the Thames was 55.6 deg. ; that of the
lowest was 54.7 deg. The difference between the
mean dew-point
temperature and air temperature
was 3.1 deg. The mean degree of humidity of the
air was 89, complete saturation being represented
by 100. The rain which fell on Monday, Wednes-
day, and Thursday measured 0.23 in. On Monday
the rainfall at Wakefield was 0.77 in. and at Bir-
mingham 1.17 in.; on Thursday, at Clifton, 0.61 in. ;
and on Friday, at Manchester, Eccles, and Clifton
rain fell to the amount of 0.77 in., 0.76 in., and
0.71 in. respectively. The general direction of the
' wind was south-eait. The mist was observed on
- nvo days of the week.

The Saturday Half-Holiday Movement.

A numerously attended meeting was held last .
night at St. James's-hall, under the auspices of the ,
Saturday Half-holiday Committee, for the purpose
of publicly thanking the employers who have recently
adopted the Saturday half-holiday, as well as re-
porting upon the present position of the movement,
and promoting its further extension. Mr. B. Bowen
(Shoolbred and Co., Tottenham-court-road) pre-
sided, and in opening the proceedings said he would
not occupy the present position in which he had been
placed if he did not believe that the interest of em-
ployer and employed in the movement were iden-
tical. From the experience of the past three months
they found that the same business could be done
up to 2 o'clock on Saturday as was done 20 years
ago up to 9 o'clock in the evening, and when such
was the case it was to be hoped that the employers
would make a concession which was so much needed
and desired. On the 13th of July 42 houses closed
at 2 o'clock on Saturday, and since that time the
number had increased to 84. In Islington, some of
the houses which had transacted business up to 9
o'clock on Saturday evenings had begun to close at
5 o'clock ; and the shops in the Burlington-arcade
now closed at 4 o'clock, instead of a much later
hour. Mr. Larkin (Messrs. Hitchcock, Williams,
and Co.) moved the first resolution, as follows :
" That the sincere thanks of this meeting be offered
to those employers, who, by closing their establish-
ments at 2 o'clock on Saturdays, have conferred the
benefits of the Saturday half-holiday upon a large
number of persons in various trades, and have led
to an abridgment in the hours of business on Satur-.
day night in the late shopping districts of the me-
tropolis." In the course of his remarks he expressed
the hope that the employers of the metropolis
would further their own interests by countenancing
the movement. He said the young men to whom a
half holiday was given on Saturday entertained
grateful feelings towards their employers for the
much-needed boon, and in the end those employers,
instead of losing by the concession, gained by it.
Mr. Ferry (Messrs. Goode, Gainsford, and Co.),
who seconded the resolution, entered his protest
against protracted and continuous labour. He said
the trade assistants in their efforts to gain the Satur-
day half-holiday did not want to do less work than
they did at present, but they wished to do the same
amount of work in a shorter space of time—(cheers)
—and they wanted to be enabled to devote the
Sabbath to its legitimate use. (Renewed cheering.)
The resolution was then put and carried amid ac-
clamation. Mr. St. Clair (Messrs. Marshall and
Snellgrove) proposed the next resolution :—" That
this meeting presents its sincere thanks to her grace
the Duchess of Sutherland, whose generous exer-
tions, with those of the Countess Ducie and Lady
Elcho, have secured the co-operation of a large
number of the metropolis for the support and ex-
tension of the Saturday half-holiday." He said it
was insinuated by some rersons that the majority of
the trade assistants did not sympathise with the
movement, and by others that the assistants wished
to force the employers info submission. He wished
to repudiate both of these insinuations, and to assure
the employers that no such sentiments were held by
the assistants. Mr. Hyde seconded the resolution, and
it was carried with enthusiasm. Mr. llamer (Messrs.
Dewar, Son, and Sons) proposed the third resolu-
tion :—" That this meeting respectfully solicits the
public to support the. Saturday half-holiday move-
ment by not shopping after two o'clock on Satur-
days, and thy to promote the abridgment of the
late hours which still prevail on Saturday even-
ings in various parts of the metropolis. Mr.
Bryant (Messrs. Debenham and, Freebody) seconded
the resolution, which was unanimously adopted.
The Chairman acknowledged the receipt of nu-
merous subscriptions given in support of the move-
ments, and said that as £l,OOO was required to
carry out the programme adopted by the committee
on a recent occasion, he anxiously hoped that M-
I creased aid would be afforded. The proceedings
terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.