Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-09
THE MISSING STEAMSHIPS.

IOO@DnIty OIL their L0sS-Chance
SnlPWEecked aad the humble
From the Now York Times, March .
1t is now thirty four days since the Cit
OF Boston sailed from Liverpool an,
thirty-nine since the Schmidt sailed from
Bremen. The anxiety of those who hayl
friends on board these vessels is fast sink
ing into despair, and, while we woulC
gladly counsel them to hope so long a
hope is reasonable, the figures of the un
:, derwriters imply what it is idle to affect
TO conceal. Both ships may be safe; but
1t is not very likely that either is Still
afoat. The melancholy probability i:
that their names may be added TO that LIST
of calamities TO great steamers, which,
considering the chances of the seas and
the number of such vessels, has been so
wonderfully short. There is, however,
room TO trust that their passengers may
still live; since total disappearance with
the loss of all on board has been among
the rarest of disasters recorded of ocean
steamships
The President, which left New York
March IL, 184l, having among her pas
sengers Tyrone Power, the comedian, q
son of the Duke of Richmond, and other
noted persons, is in this dismal catalogue,
and so is the City of Glasgow, lost in
1854, and the Pacific in 1856; but we
recollect no other vessels of similar char
acter that have so vanished and cleft not
track behind Consequently the chances
would seem to be that as in the cases of
the troopship Birkenhead, and the pack
cts ST. George, Central America, Sarah
Sands, Austria, Anglo-SaxOn and London,
a greater or less number of the passengers
of the two missing crafts may have been
saved Such, it will be remembered, was
also the facl as regards the Lady Elgin,
sunk by collision on Lake Michigan,
Sept s, 1860. OF her 3S5 pas
sengers, PSI persisted, among whom
were Mr.. Herbert Ingram, NJ p, the
founder of the Illustrated London
Netcs, and his son. of the passengers
and crew of the Hungarian, on the other
hand, which was wrecked on the coast of
Nova Scotia, Feb. 10, of the same year,
all on board were lost. The Birkenhead,
wrecked off Simon,s Bay, South Africa,
Feb. 26, 1852, lost 454 and saved 1874.
The St George, which was bound from
Liverpool TO New York, and was destroyed
10y fire at sea, Dec. a, 1852. lost 81,
while 20 were rescued and taken TO Havre
by the American ship Orlando. The
Central America, which foundered on her
way from Havana to New York, Sept. II,
1857, carried $40 persons, of whom only
l52 were saved. OF the 53S on board
the Austria-burHed in the middle of the
Atlantic, Sept Is, 1SjS-but 81 survived.
The Sarah Sands, which sailed from
Portsmouth for Calcutta in August, 1857,
took fire in November, and afterwards ex-
perienced a tremendous gale, carried all
on board safely into port. The Anglo
Saxon, wrecked on a reef off Cape Race
during q dense fog, April %, 1868, lost
23T out of 44G individuals. The London,
which foundered in the Bay of Biscay,
Jan. II, 1866, on the passage from Eng
land to Melbourne, lost 900 lives, among
whom were DR.. Woolley, Principal of the
University of Sydney, and Mr.. G. V.
Brooke, the tragedian. Two instances
have befallen during the past few years,
when the romantic incident, so much used
10y novelties and dramatists, of a single
life being saved from among all on board
a lost ship has really been eXemplifcd.
These were in the cases of the DalhoUsie,
wrecked off Beachy Head, Oct. 10, 1853,
and the Dunbar, wrecked off Sidney,
Aug. 90, 1857. In the latter instance the
survivor was thrown by gigantic wave
into a tiny aperture high up in the face
of q precipice-the chance of such q
thing occurring being about the same as
that of throwing pea into a nail hole in
the side of wall-Where he lay insensi-
bic for many hours, but was finally dis
covered and saved by daring fellow, who
caused himself TO be let down from the
top of the activity by ropes.
The facts we have named, and others
that might be cited, indicate a strong
prepOnderance in favor of the SUPPOSE
ton that even should the City of Boston
and the Schmidt have been Overtaken by
calamity, many and perhaps all of their
passengers and crews may have been
saved. We do not however, like to
alb andOn the hope that joyful telegram
may yet flash over the Atlantic cable,
announcing that these fine ships them
selves, as well as those who instrusted
their lives 70 them, are still above blue
water.
DANGERs OF THE NORTH PASSAGE.
A letter from a sea captain is published
by the Washington Chronicle, in which
is pointed out the danger attendant on
crossing the Atlantic at this season. In
I'll July, he says, the ice is afloat, and
fields of it, miles upon miles in length
and breadth, viii he met with on too
northerly passage. That was the fate of
the United Kingdom. She left New York
on the 18th Of April, 1869. Her captain
had science on the brain, but no discre-
ton; he headed for Cape Race, and he
headed the United Kingdom into, or on
10, an iceberg, or field of ice, that de-
stroyed his ship so suddenly that none
were left TO tell the tale. The writer of
this left New York on the Dist of April
and the Captain Guard, of the Guion
lnc) gave Cape Race a 2O5 miles space,
kept south of the Banks Of NcwfOund-
land, and saw no ice. The same Captain
OF the City Of Boston has, to my knOwl-
edge, been in the ice forty-cight hours, on
account of his high latitude sailing; and
/ do not hesitate 10 say that so long as
they continue it at this season of the year
there will be missing steamers. Can there
be no law of Congress to regulate this
the Banks while ice is aloat If no law
can reach it, then let the European tourist
sail only with those who will take them
safe from the ice on the Banks of New
fOundland.
TINS is the latest story from Paris: M.
Blanc, a millionaire, who came within an
ace of being elected deputy, was return
ing from Burgundy 10y a night train. a
lady, young and pretty, occupied the same
compartment Now, Nj. Blanc, who, in
spite of his naturally small feet, tries TO
make them smaller still, was suffering
terribly from tight boots. All at once he
noticed that the lady was asleep and he
could just as well iakeoif his boots, which
he did. suddenly the station lights begin
ITO appear in sight One boot is quickly
put on, hut the other, alas does not go
on so easily. lie pulls and pushes; finally
the foot goes in, but is terribly pinched
Once at the station. NJ. Blanc hides him
self in q cab, and thinks his troubles at
an end When he reaches the house,
imagine his surprise at finding his right
foot in lady's boot. The lady had been
in a similar situation with himself Ma
dame Blanc refuses TO believe a word Of
his story; she cries, goes into Mysteries,
and finally returns to her father, refusing
20 hold any communication with her an
fortunate husband. But think of the re
ception accorded to the lady of the train
when her husband saw her predicament