The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-03-29
atlantic UrecES for THirty-seUen
Years.

We have before us record showing the
number of lives lost IN crossing the Atlantic.
during the last thirty-seven years In tins
period ifty-siX fine steamers have been
wrecked, aud in twenty-nine instances more,
or less lives were lost. Nine vessels ver.
never heard from after leaving port. These
are the President in 1S4I, the City of Glas-
gov IN 1854 the Pacific in 1856 the Tempest
IN 1891, the United Kingdom i'm 1868 the
City of Boston in 1870 the Scanderia i'm 1872
the Is'nailia in 1878, and the Culnmbo i'm
1877. The number of lives which were thus
plotted out aggregates ,39T. OF the remain
ing vessels, four were burned. We sunk bv
collision, two 10y collidimg with icebergs, two
toundered at sea. and thirty-fuur were
wrecked on various coasts. This is a sug-
geStlve showing, for it at once calls into con-
trast the relative peril incurred by depeud-
ence upon human judgment and human
handiwork. OF the entire total of ste ainers
loss, III two caSes can the disaster he atIribu-
table TO a breakdown of the machinery
namely, the Ancher line steamer Hibernia
which fOundei eel through her propeller shaft
having been withdraw from it's place after
the propeller had been lost and the other
the 1smailia of the same line, which was
once spoken under sail, her machinery being
disabled, and was never beard of afterward
Neither has any boiler explosion occurred Oh
an Atlantic steamer during the period mem
toned. Su far as the record before us is
authority, the Inference therefore is that the
greatest loss of ife is due not to lack of safe
Incompetence of those who handle them
Thlrty-four steamers, as above stated
have been wrecked, and an inspection of the
localities where the wrecks occurred shows
that several have happened ia about the
same vicinity. For example, the Citv of
New York in 1861 ami the Chicago i'm 1865
were both wrecked on Daunt's Rock near
Queenstown. No less than twelve have
been destroyed On the coasts of Nova Scotia
and Newfoundland. 1t may he asked if
vessels cannot be built rung enough To
Withstand driving upon the rocks as in the
cases OF the Atlantic aud the Schiller al
least for u sufficient time To enable the
passengers and crew to obtain assistance or
make their escape but here the question of
cost oDtrudes itself, aud the answer of those
who have considered the subject Is that
vessels cannot be constructed and vet
protitably used. Taking this into account
with the aggregate number of lives lost in
all 4 $50, aud 10 will he evident that tI..
problem OF reducing the dangers of the sea
becomes. as We have frequently urged. one
depending on the efficacy of life saving in
ventIOnS. Devices which will keen larC,.
numbers of people afioat for considerable
peri"ds, devices that will keen individuals
above water tha. can be rapidly adjusted To
the person with 10 possibility of mistake
devices for taking lines from wrecked yes
se.s TO the shore, devices for Indicating the
relative positions OF ships to each other. new
Signals for fog and night, and contrivances
OF that nature, all are subjects for the in
ventor S skill in devising better notifications
aud lmproyements.-Scient american.