The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-11
The Wreck OF the schiller.

The facts are but too well known. The
drowning Of more than three hundred people,
many OF whom were we'll known in New York
and Philadelphia and other cities, cannot fail
to make deep impression upon the public
Every name that we have printed Of the lost
by this wreck represents personal grief the
agony Of the bereaved or widespread regret.
Even as we write we recall the names
Of valuable members of society who were
sacrificed to terrible crime, or blunder,
which was equally censurable. Three huu-
bred persons cannot perish IN one dreadful
hour without causing desolation among
more than hundreds of families in both
worlds. There is mourning in two continents
because of the loss Of the Schiller, and
even those who, happily, had no
friends, no relatives on board the
fated vessel sympathize with those who have
been so suddenly bereaved. Civilization has
a profound interest in such calamities, and
the heart must be cold indeed that does not
beat the faster when reading of this awful
tragedy. Little news has been obtained
in respect to this wreck. The first
of the story was almost equivalent
to The erd. 1t was a wreck, and
the sweeping Of the sea over the ship, the
falling Of the masts, the swapping OF the
boats, the panic of the cowardly crew, the
agony and the terror of an hour, and that
was all. It is the old story Of the sea, and
will be repeated in the future, as it has been
from immemorial years recorded in the past.
Vat IN
all its power which laughs at mans
dominion Of the waves and wrecks
the Armada and the Nautilus with equal ease,
we must in this case affirm that there was
terrible mistake. There is no apparent rea-
som DIR the wreck. The ship was not at tie
mercy Of storms; she was not disabled, nor
was she more than one or two miles out of her
appointed course. She was steered direct
for Plymouth, and WAS lost upon islands
rs well known upon the maps as the
harbor Of New York. Captain Thomas,
who persisted, possibly victim Of his own
mistake, was an experienced sailor. We
should like to soc the orders he had received
from the company. 1t is more than posi- BILE
that he was directed to make quick pas
sage, irrespective of the Retarriere Ledge Ger
tainly it is established that the grave mis-
take was made of urging the ship upon a
path Of uncertainty in the midst Of heavy
fog 1t is again shown, and this time with
terrific emphasis, that the attempt
to reach pert under such circumstances
is wanton risk and crime not readily TO be
forgotten. The Schiller should not have been
lost. 1t was mistake, sin, violation
Of all proper care. She might have lost
e day Of the Atlantic passage had
her PROV been turned from the Scilly
Islands in the fog; but that loss would
have saved mora than three hundred lives.
We repeat our conviction that thu wreck Of
the Schiller was not one for which the fog
and the stormy ocean are to be held respon-
sible, as an unavoidable accident, but that it
is a disaster due to the recklessness, the GU
pidity and the over-confdence Of man. The
fog that hid the light upon Bishops Rock
cannot conceal from the public the awful mis-
take that somebody must have made.