The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-11-09
Yhq gai1g Yema.
FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER g. 1866.
from tic Temple bar Magdzin,.1
HLOYD'S.

Nancy" Thc ncwspapcrssay this OF some
thing very like it and they tell also of thu
Bold Buccanccr speaking 1nany others, anc
of tho Lively Nancy being "spokcn" b,
many in turn. These and other ships are
in fact, 50, king on all the oceans and seas
and although their language is Il very quie
one, it is expressive for the immediate OBJ
icct in view. Dipping Il little deeper, Il
reader finds that the newspapers are indebt
cd for this information to mysterious
being named Lloyd, whom nobody ever
sees, but every one talks about who is re.
puted to keep coffee house, though no one
would know where to find it who keeps u
List and Register, but does not sell any
thing at his cofee-house, or entertain any
guests.
The preliminary condition of all this sup.
ply Of ship news is, that every ship must
have name, an appellation which will dis
tinguish her from all other ships. The
necessity for this is felt for ships almost as
much rs human beings, and has been ac-
knowlcdged almost from the earliest times.
As shipowner is under little or no con-
troll in the matter, the variety of names be-
comes something rather formidable. In
Roman Catholic countries the names of
saints arc largely adopted as the names of
ships-more generally, however, in past
times than at present. Among the forty or
fifty thousand vessels that now hoist the
British flag, penetrating into every sea and
almost every river in the world, either for
warlikc demonstration or for peaceful COM
merce; what medley of names We meet
with! The surname and christian name of
the owner Of the ship the christian names
Of his wife, sons, and daughters, or of his
sweetheart if he be abachelor; the names of
royal and high-born personages the names
OF men who have rendered themselves IA
nous by deeds Of arms or services in states
manship the names of women who have
gathered a halo around them by their deeds
OF goodness all arc among the items
open to the sponsors of ships. And so are
the names of jewels, stars, planets, plants,
birds, fishes, insects Of oceans, seas, CULTS,
lakes, rivers Of countries, continents, isl
ands, mountains, valleys of volcanoes,
geysers, avalanches, torrents, rapids, cata-
racts all arc looked upon as fair game.
The characters in Shakspeare's plays sup
ply goodly variety, as witness Macduff,
Othello, Desdemona, Hamlet, Ophelia, Ro-
meo, Juliet, King Lear, Cordelia, Cymbc-
line, Imogene, Portia, Prospero, Miranda,
Caliban, Oberon, Titania, Puck, Ariel, and
Hotspur. In similar way the characters
in popular novels, poems and songs have
been invited to the christening. What
may be called fancy names-the FLYING
Foam, the Happy -go-lucky, the Saucy Jane,
the Lightning Flash, the Good Intent the
Little Wonder, and the like-are in great
request. All this is very well so long as
the owner is concerned only with his own
ship but when he wishes to exchange
kindly services with his brother shipown-
ers, to give and receive information relating
to the wants and whereabouts of vessels at
sea, then IT becomes matter of import
ance that confusion should lie avoided in
the Identification Of the several ships. The
Victoria, for instance, is of course, a very
good name for ship belonging to loyal
Englishman !; but what if there be ten,
twenty, or fifty ships Of that name ? The
Victoria OF Liverpool is more precise but
tho difficulty is not wholly removed even
now, for there is plurality of Victorias at
that famous port. If we were to say Mes
srs. Cotton d Bales merchant ship Victo-
ria of Liverpool, the designation would be-
come too clumsy and lengthy for conve-
nient uso in signaling.
But how about Lloyd? Who is Lloyd p
and what has he to do with ships and ships
names ? The truth is, marine insurance is
the link Of connection here Nearly all
ships belonging to the Mercantile Marine,
though none belonging to the Royal Navy,
arc insured against the varied dangers of
the seas, either by individual capitalists,
known as underwriters, or by joint sock
marine insurance companies. During he
latter half otthe last century, one Mr.. Lloyd
Kept cotfcc house near the Royal Ex
change, much frequcnted by city men, mott
simply for the beverage which gave tia
name, but az place Of meeting for the
transaction OF business. We have many
such now-Garraway's, the Baltic, the Jc-
rusalem, the South American, &C. One
room in this coffee house was appropriated
TO the use of n committee of underwriters
as a place OF meeting. Hence Lloyd's, or
hioyds coffee house, became known to all
city men as place connected with the in
suranee OF chips. Lloyd in due time was
gathered tohis fathers, and the coffee house
disappeared to make way for new streets
ana handsome buildings still the name
ciunS to the society, and has done so ever
since. For Il time the meetings were held
NJ inc South Sea House but since the new
hoyal EXchanIc has been built. the socie