Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-03-06
Shipwreck by System.
REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENTS BY A MEMBER
or THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, &C.


The London correspondent of the New York
I'T69te, unfolds tale about the ship-Owning
people of Great Britain, which Is calculated to
shake ones faith in that eminently respectable
class. Ship-wrecklng in that country by syste-
matte design seems, according to this account
to be almost as regular an industry as brgan-
dage Is in Greece and Mexico. The cOrrespon-
dent gets his facts from book which has just
been published in London under the title :
Our Seamen An Appeal-by Samuel Pllm-
soil, +. M
The number of lives lost on the English
coast and within 10 miles of the coast, averages
during the last IL yearS-about year. Sir
Plimsoll states the principal "a rs. Under
manning Is one, and he gives instances of one
full rlgged SHIP having been sent into the Bal
tic with but IL men on board, and another
Where steamship of 800 tons went ffom
Liverpool on voyage to the East with only
eight deck hands aboard Next came bad stow
age and inadequate engine-power; next the
significant item of OVer-iusurance arising
from downright wickedness," and from that
only. One owner, accused before the Lord
Mayor Of London of endeavOring to compass
the loss OF his ship, confessed that he had it
insured for $1,000 a vessel that cost 81 ,5Oa.-
Another at North Shields admitted the value
of his vessel to be worth $4,000, and the in
suranca on her was $4,000 A third testified
that his ship was bought for $37, 800 she was
Insured for $0J, 900 at eight per cent Then
comes defective construction, and q new fact
Is brought to light-the system of building
ships with devils" A DEVILS n sham bolt with
the head onlyof copper, the rest of iron; some
times the bolting is nothing but bolt head
without any shaft at ALL and just enough real
bolts are usedtO keep the timbers in their
plaeeS-whlle the ship is on the stocks, sup
pose. In single ship, the surveyors of
Lloyd's found 73 "deVls,' Mr.. Plimsoll
prints the fac-simile of a letter received by him
describing fleet of 21 vessels thus built in
1S66-'67. Ten of them have been lost /; FIVE
never heard Of.
Overlooking seems a peculiarly tempting
form Of making q ship unseaworthy. There
was one shpOwner," writes Mr.. PlimsOll,
"Wh0se. name was often mentioned to me In
the COURSE of the year 1869 and 20. During
my inquiries in the north and east, / heard
his name wherever went as that Of ship
owner who was notorious for the practice Of
overlooking and for n reckless disregard of
human life l, therefore made inquiry as to
the ships belonging TO him which had been
lost, and the number of lives Loaf In each
CASE" and he prints the result of the inquiry,
Prom 1867 to 1860 twelve ships lost 1O5 lives
the work Of a single owner IN three years. ~
don't suppose" adds Mr.. Plimsoll, ''he has
lost any since, for / threatened him to his
face that would bring the matter before the
Heuse of Commons, and 1t was pitable to see
the abject terror Of the man." And his infor-
mant subsequently assures him that his con-
lecture Is true; that the guilty owner has not
lost a single seaman since that wholesome
theat terrified him into Humanity,