The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-09 00:00:00

STATISTICS OF WRECKS.

The following is a synopsis of the wrecks and
casualties which having taken place during tho past
year on the coast and in the seas of the Britiih Wes.
The Register, which is accompanied by an engraved
coloured chart, distinguishing the site of each casu-
shy, was presented to Parliament by the Board of
Trade, and a more complete and interesting docu-
ment has never been published :
"In the year 1850 the first Wreck Register in this
country was published. It was compiled, we believe, at
the suggestion of Capt. Washington, R.N., the present
bydrographer to the Admiralty, The startling facts which
the Register has in each successive year since disclosed
have awakened general attention, have several times been
discussed in both Houses of Parliament, and have re-
sulted in the establishment on our coast of a system of
lifeboats for the preservation of the lives of unfortunate
shipwrecked individuals that has never had a parallel in
this or any other country. In this philanthropic work, in
which the Royal National Life Institution has taken se
prominent a part, much remains still to be done ; and, if
we expound correctly the views of the committee of ma-
nagement of that institution, we believe that it is their
fixed determination, if aided by the support of the pub.
lie, to leave no exposed point on our dangerous coast
unprovided with an efficient lifeboat establishment.
"The following list gives some details of the work of
destruction the past five years :

Wrecks and Colli. Total
Casualties in Wrecks. sions. Total. Lives lost.
1852 958 57 1,015 120
1853 759 73 832 989
1850 893 94 987 1,549
1855 894 247 1,141 469 -
1856 837 -316 1,153 521

Total... 4,311 787 5,128 4,348
" Who can contemplate these lamentable details with-
out seeing the great necessity for continued exertions and
precautionary measures in respect to the preservation of
life and property ? The same, too, must be pursued
with untiring energy until the average less of life and
property is reduced to the minimum attainable by human
skill.

-" The numbor of casualties in each month of 1856 are
;hus given in the Register for that year :

Vessels.
January: 149
February
March 96
April ' 74
May
June
July
Representing 229,936 tons, and employing 10,014
hands, of whom 521 perished.
" These disasters are again classified :
Sailing ships over sea... 546 Colliers 139
Coasting ships not col. 432 I Steamships 34
"These vessels are again classified so as to distinguish
their cargoes, that is :
In ballast, not colliers 108
Coal laden 314
Colliers in ballast 79
Cotton
Fishing smacks lO
Fish or oil l9
Grain and provisions 115
General cargo
Iron and other ores B3
Manure and kelp 26

Vessels.
August .. 5l
September 9B
October 99
November 129
December 166

Passtngers ll
Potatoes or fruit
Salt
Sugar, coffee, spices,
tea, molasses lO
Stone, slate, lime, or
bricks 4O
Timber or bark B6
Various 3l

" We arrive at the conclusion from these facts that
our coasting trade, and our coal trade in particular, is
the most dangerous, and yields 1-3 d of the whole losses
or collisions. Indeed, it is useless to disguise the fact
that some of our coasting vessels are a disgrace to us as
a nation. Only a few months ago a small schooner from
Sandwich, while riding off Bridlington, was so rotten
that her anchor pulled out her bows, causing her of
course to sink, and her unfortunate crew of four hands
to perish. And again, on the Bth of May last, a small
schooner known to be unseaworthy (as we are informed)
went to pieces off Aberdovy, on the coast of Wales, be-
fore there was time for any aid to reach the crew, May
we not presume tl inquiry a ould discover many
other similar cases among the numerous details of the
Register, even in addition to the large number stated to
have been abandoned or have foundered from unsea-
worthiness ? Surely a remedy might be found for such a
disgraceful state of things.
"An analysis of the tonnage of the wrecks on our
shores during the past year further tends to prove four
statement. It is as follows :
Teasels under 50 tons
51 and under 100 tons
' 101 and under 300 tons 472
301 and under 600 tons 137
601 and under 900 tons 34
901 and under 1,200 tone
1,200 and upwards l2

" The exact site of each disaster is given in the Regis-
ter ; and to prevent the possibility of error on this point,
the wreck chart, which accompanies it, clearly and dis-
tinctly points out the locality of the wreck. What a
tale of woe and misery this death chart brings to light;
who can think of it without feeling a desire, by every
means in his power, to lessen the causes of those black
dots on it? The following is the summary
_

East Coast—Dungeness to Pentland Frith.. V
506esiels.
West Coast—Land's-end to Greenock 307
South Coast—Land's-end to Dungeness ll9
Irish Coast 155
Scilly Islands l2
Lundy Island
Isle of Man
Northern Isles, Orkney, &c. 3B
" We believe that after this additional evidence a pro.
position will be submitted to Parliament in the early
part of the next session to build a harbour of refuge on
the north-east coast of England, and a third on the west
coast of England.

"The return distinguishes the force of the wind at the
time of each disaster, which is instructive so far as it
proves that it is not the storm or the hurricane that de-
stroys the largest number of vessels, and that more
danger is to be dreaded from the carelessness, neglect,
or incompetence of man than from the act of God.
" The following table gives a list of the wrecks and
casualties, excluding collisions, which have involved
total lose, distinguishing the cause of loss :—Stress of
weather, 148 ; abandoned from unseaworthiness, 17 ;
foundered from unseaworthiness, 37 ; want of lights or
buoys on coasts or shoals, 10 ; mistaking lights or bear-
ings, 10 ; fog or current, 38 ; defective compasses, 5 ;
defective charts, 3 ; error in course of reckoning, 6 ;
error in judgment, 12 ; ignorance of coast, 3 ; errors of
pilots, 7 ; want of pilot, 3 ; neglectof the lead, 21 : want
of caution, 11 ; intemperance, 2 ; general negligence, 9 ;
missing stays, 19 ; striking on sunken wrecks, 1 ; burnt,
4 ; capsised or sunk, 4 ; cause unknown, 7 ; total, 368
"Thus we find that no less than 220 ships were to-
tally lost or stranded in 1856 from errors, unseamanship
or drunkenness, or other preventible causes, in addition
to those from stress of weather. The lives lost from these
disasters is not given ; but the widows and the orphans
of some of these unfortunate crews in our seaports are
too numerous to elude our observation. If one out of
every 9 ships is lost f. om inefficiency whose duty should
it be to see that crews are folly equal to their duties We have often contended that every English ship before