Weekly Trinity journal., 1857-12-12

Ocean Disasters.

The laundering Mt sea, off Cape llatteras in
North Carolina of the Central .imerica, steam
packet, drowning more than four hundred souls,
and of u Russian line o-battlc ship, in the upper
part of the Baltic, with the loss of nearly thou
sand Gncluding many women and children). eN-
cite strong feelings of commiseratlon. We are
not In possession of the particulars OF the latter
disaster but the conduct of Captain Hcrndon,
who commanded the central Americd, nm accom-
plshed officer of the United States Navy, of his
officers and crew, and of many oil the passengers,
as described by the suffering survivors, was de
serving of all praise. They eXerted themselves
manfuly to preserve the ship aud their lives, and
when escape was impossible resigned themselves
calmly to death. Such calamties are always 10
be dcplored aud should excite our best cNertons
to prevent them. But we must not believe, with
some persons who have forgotten many events, or
have yet to learn something OF maratlme history,
including some public journalists both here and
in the United States that disasters at sea are now
much more frequent than formerly. They are,
frequently, much more noticed. A few lines on
ly-lttle more than page--ot the Annual heg
ster' and half II page Of the Naval HISTORY
are nearly all the records we have OF the lamen'
table ca tastrophe which befel' part of our Bal
tic squadron ON its return to England in ISL
The 81 George, u great ship of 0S guns, the De-
fence, of II guns, and the Hero, of "a guns, were
then wrecked oil the coast OF Jutland and llol-
land aud the whole OF their crews, eNceping
thirty persons, persisted. Including the crew o.
the Saldanh0, wrecked about the same time oil
hough Swilley when every soul was lost. the
single man who got ashore alive to tell The
mournlul tale dying from exhaustion, -.-2OO0 OIL
GERS and men of the British Navy were destroyed
in December. 1911. They died battling with
stowstorms, surging waves, falling masts, ana
breaking up ships-n greater NUMBER we believe
than fell in the naval victories which secured u'
the supremacy Of the ocean, Again, very fow
pages of the Register suffice to describe the loss
in 1888 of II whole fleet of men ol-war aud mer
chautmen. homcward bound from the West In
dies off the Banks Of Newfoundland. On tins
occasion the IWe DE PHis, tho RdmIies, the
(tttaur the Gorieur. the Hector, all great ships,
were lost ut sea- with considerable number OF
the merchant vessels under their convoy. The
crow of the Rdniiies was saved by the merchant
ships in company with her and tAc crew OF the
IWc DE Paris, except one man, picked up alive
by u passing merchant vessel after iioatlng in
sensible for several days on piece of the wreck
of the GiOrcut and the tentaW all were lost eX-
ccpt Captain lnglefcld Of the latter and eleven
other persons. They were miraculousy saved by
throwing themselves. as the ship was sinking in
TO q small ill-prOvided boat. Cold, hungry, wet,
their last biscuit eaten before they were rescued,
with no drink bat the rain water they caught In
their clothing, they succeeded in reaching fnyal
after an arduous struggle Of sixteen days. a
portion of the crew OF the Hector, after undergo
ing incredible sulerings. the men dropping dead
at the pumps, while officers kept them at the
work with sword and pistol was rescued by II
Dartmouth barquc. How many ships, including
merchant vessels, and how many people then
persisted, Is unknown, We refer thus briefly to
these two great disasters to dissipato the notion
that losses at sea have increased. Ships are now
much more numerous than they were, they put to
sea in all seasons but they ure much more trust.
worthy The total loss Of life on our own coasts
and seas, in 1856, was 52l, or onG-fourth only
az many as perished in the month Of December,
1871. Shipwrecks have become comparatively
fewer, and marine disasters are Of less magnitude
in consequence, partly, of the cXertlons Of indl-
yiduals aud OF societies to prevent them ana res
cue shipwrcckcd mariners.
In noticing disasters We must not forget sue
cesscs For about twenty years, to quote one
example the Cunard line OF steam packets has
crossed and recrossed the Atlantic in all seasons,
AZ punctual as mail coaches, without one serious
loss. Voyagers and travellers are now u great
multitude, increasing day by day and II ls high
ly satisfactory to believe, from many such exam
pies in spite Of few contradictory instances, that
ship captains aad railway companies improy-
ing in skill, and carrying their passengers in
greater safety, Much of the Improvement is due
to tho elaborate records now published Of every
disaster though to this is also due the prevalent
belief that losses at sea now greater than be
fore LOndOn WuStrated News.