New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-10-11
TIE EYENING Star.

Tho Ioss of tina Evening Star occurred under oircum
s.ances which Justly cause doubt Of her strength;
and public opinion, recovered from the shock Oh 30
appalling a calamity will insist upon thorough
invest CATION The qualities OF the vessel nave Deen
highly praised by her owners, and we shall be GLAD
they can show that the wreck was one of those which
neither the skill of the shpwTght nor the experience
of the mariner can prevent. But, unquestion-
ABLY. the gales along our coast in September
were not unusually severe and the damage to cossting
vessels BY no means exceeded that Of former years
On the very day that the Evening Star sailed from
New.Yor. s pit. 29D, tho Moro Castle sailed from
Havana, yet the latter arrived this port on Tues
day, uninjured. Heavy weather she met, undoubt'
edly but none that stanch steamer with sr sesroom
should not be able 10 outride. Another Tact which
seems to indicate that the loss wss not
due to extraordinary violence OF the storm,
but to the weakness Of the vessel, Is
the escape Of number of the crew in an open boat
Again. though some of the officers Of the Evening
Star reached Savannah in safety aud have teegrsphed
TO tho owners their dispatches make no allusion 70
the cause of the loss We simply told that "ths
Evening Star went down in hurricane" Collisions
may occur machinery may be disabled, and thess arc
but exceptional disasters; but when steamship
founders in open sea- in storm Of no unusual Jury
it will not do to place the blame upon the elements or
the captain, and thus end the investigation.
The Evening Star was large vessel and should
have bcen strong one. Her engines were upright,
aud here is one mistake which endangers the reputa'
ton of all our cosstwse steamers The upright en-
CINE is VIGOROUSLY unfit for the ocean, and may only
be safely used in river steamboats, IL Is not improb-
able that the power of this engine, lsboring In
heavy gale was too much for the frame. The screw
steamship alone fl for navigation. That the
Evening Star is claimed to have been built with
great care in making her sesworthy. Ii an
additional for questioning the principles oil her
construction for if vessel with which the owners
were satisfied could thus founder without any sufficient
reason there surely to doubt the safety OF all
other vessels Of similar character. IL the Evening
Star had struck sunksn reef If the captain had lost
his reckoning the accident would have had no
special significance; but laundering as she did, her
loss suggests proper inquiry into the seaworthiness
Of all other steamships Of the same construction.
Until Americans build steamships equal lp strength
10 those of the Cunard line they cannot hope TO con-
troll any share of the steam communication with
Europe, and even on our own coasts mysterious
losses like those of the San Francisco, the Daniel
Webster. the North America, the Central America
and the Evening STAR must happen. Deep IN
the silent waters thousand fathorns low, lie
those -fated ships and the anguish OF
those who sank with them never can be
revealed To those who trust themselves TO the sea
and the storm, few narrow planks all the world
Into that vast aud wandering grave which sweeps
around them they may suddenly be consigned BY the
opening of a seam. We must have steamships that
are safe against all foes but fire, or collision;
strong vessels Ike the Atlantic of the old Collins line
which stood for eighty days gales of tremendous force
in one week drifted from near Sandy Hook to the
coast of SPAIN and long after she had been gwen up
as lost returned with no material injury TO port