Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-04-04
The OCEAN DISASTER.

s-as~ TIE OCEAN DISASTER.
!. The great disaster, so appalling in the
loss OF life, by which the steamer Atlantic
was destroyed, is a subject that receives
extended notice and comment in the .journ-
ais of the large cities. where loss of
friends and property are most severely
felt by the catastrophe. The Tribune
says this is the great disaster Of the half
century; not since the British frigates St.
George and Defence were wrecked off the
coast Jutland, in 1911, has any such fright
full loss of life been added to the sorrow
of the sea. In that wreck 2, 900 men were
drowned. The sinking of the Royal
George off Spithead, in 1882, when Ad-
miral Kempenfeldt went down with his
GOO men, was long celebrated in song and
story as the great catastrophe by sea, for
many generations. The wrecking of the
Royal Charter. on the Anglesea coast, in
1859, when 446 lives and much treasure
were lost, sent thrill of horror through
out the civilized world That same year,
too. the Pomona was cast away on Black
water Bank, and 800 men were drowned
The Austria, burned in mid ocean the
year before, lost 461 persons. On the Pa
cific which disappeared in 1885, there
Were 1S6 people; and on the City of Glas-
gov, never heard OF since 1854 there
were 4S0. Of the Arctic we in Amer
lea have still sorrowful recollections :;
500 men, women, and children were lost
on that ship, off the coast of Newfound-
land, in 1854. On the same dread line of
coast the Hungarian, with 220 people,
was cast away in 1866. The sinking OF
the Norhfeet in the English Channel,
last January, was the latest great sea dis
aster'until that which we now record"
The Times believes the steamer was
not properly constructed, being too long
for her width, and her coal carving ca
pacity limited to increase her freightlac-
commodation. The length of the Allan
tic was about eleven times the breadth, a
wide departure from the standard adopted
by the best builders; while it is calculated
by her getting short of coal in only ten
days that insufficient room was allowed
for coal in order to carry more freight.
The Atlantic possessed "all the modern
improvements" and the particular boast
of her owners was that she could be run
at full speed with great economy of fuel.
She was fitted up for "safety, speed and
comfort" as advertised, and had been
very fortunate up to the time when she
was wrecked. On her last voyage she
started from Liverpool on the Goth of last
month. put into Queenstown for mails and
passengers on the 2lst, and then continu-
ed her voyage. The weather was rough,
but she made good time. In ten days
from the time she left port, he- coal ran
short and the captain was making for Hal |
flax to get supply when the disaster oc-
CURED. In consideration of these facts
the Herald says 'Ovcr one thousand
souls on board and barely eleven days
coal in season when storms are to be ex
pected and three weeks voyage is |
among the easiest possibilities This
speaks more than the weightiest inyective
that Junius ever penned. We presume
that the provisions were calculated with n
similar meanness. Everything WIS on
the scale of the coal. Coal was dear in
England; but if it was worth its weight
in gold a supply for at least sixteen days
should have been on board. Was it the
few shilliugs advance on the price of coal
that sent this steamer to sea so meanly
coaled? 1t will be recalled here that econ
omy of fuel was one of the first boasts
of the owners of the steamer. The ter
rible irony Of that boast will now ring in
the ears of thousands of bereaved fami-
lies. With the economy of fuel came the
economy Of space for bunkers and an
answered-was the space that should have
been used for fuel turned into space for
more cargo and more passengersp 1t is
the more likely OF the two propositions.
The saving on coal would have been little
but ii it could be saved and at the same
lime the space represent fifty or sixty ex-
ira passengers, the double greed would be
satisfied 1t is greed, greed, greed. A
contemplate ayarice has murdered over
seven hundred human beings, for we scout
as preposterous the idea that the Captain
sailed in ignorance of the amount of coal
he had on board. Look where we will in
this black story, the fact that murder has
been done stares us in the face. The few
dollars that might have been gained will