Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-04-12

Two hundred and twenty-nine accident have &C.
CURED to steamers subject to our law of 1852, be-
tween to 3lst of May, 1858, when it went
into operation, ana Both September, 1855. OF
these two hundred and twenty-nino accidents,
~forty-two occurred on the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans and contiguous bays, and one hundred and
seventy-seven on the island lakes and rivers.
The causes of accidents in eighty-six cases were
ascertained, and t~hirty-six of these were traceable
either to direct mismanagement or neglect of
rules on the part of vessels coming into collision
with them. IS q result Of these accidents, six
hundred and ninety-siX passengers and two hun
cred and ninety-one of the crews last their lives.
When n comparison is instituted between the
actual number of steamers in commission and the
accidents which have occurred since the passage
of the act, it appears evident that, however bene-
fetal it might have been, if properly administered,
it has, from some cause or other, signally failed of
its purpose.
From other sources, we obtain the results of the
loss of thirteen international steam ships, the most
of which are not mentioned in the Secretary's re-
port of the operati ons of the m act. These
steamships. at the time of their accidents, had an
aggregate Of upward of seven thousand passengers,
and property to amount of eleven millions of dollars
on board. Four of hese-the North Carolina, San
Francisco, City of Glasgow and Arctic-were lost
at sea, and produced a profound impression at the
time of their respective losses. The remaining
nine were stranded under circumstances which,
in most instances, appear to have been avoidable.
III III holtthCO ii IL liOn liluI CliiOl Va
vessels was not under the perfect command of its
officers at the time of the occurrence of the acct
dent. The engines performed their duty, and the
helm directed the course Of tho respective vessels
upon the reefs where they were stranded, with as
much precision as under ordinary circumstances
they would have them conducted in their prescrib,
ed and safe pathway.
Mr.. Gouge, who made a tour of inspection for
the purpose of examing the defective working Of
the act of 1852, informs the Secretary, in his re-
port, that he found one inspector "who seemed dis.
posed unduly to exercise the power which the
law c%onfers." That some district attorneys seem
to have regarded the law, not as intended to pro-
tcct the lives of passengers, but to multiply cases
in the United States courts"
That Gin one collection district no custom-house
papers have been, during the last three years, is
sued to any steamboats,, simply because no steam
boat in that district could obtain q certificate OIL
inspector"
Not only this report of Mr.. Gouge, from which
these extracts are taken, but the practical opera
ton of the law itself, shows it to be radically de
~fective. The subject is worthy the grave attention
of an intelligent Committee of Congress, and we
would suggest whether it would not be expedient
for q committee thus formed to fortify itself by
the judgment of the ablest scientific and practical
men in the country, before recommending any al.
ditional legislation.
In an article, q few weeks since, on the dangers
of ocean steam navigation, we called attention tC
the facts connected with the flow of ice across the
Banks of Newfoundland. and ventured the pre-
diction that the Pacific had either met with an &C
cident long before reaching the fortieth degree Of
Ilongitude-the eastern boundary of the ice-feld-
or was lost. But why make a passage across the
banks of Newfoundland, which, in certain seasons
is rendered dangerous by its immense fields of ice
and at Others by its impenetrable fog? The fol
lowing summary of the time employed by eact
line of steamers in making the passage across the
Atlantic, in 1855, furnishes the reply: