, 1880-02-26
Lost in the Depths,

vrerItlOu m th' grtaG b'' Oad itl
buoyant feelings and hope that spnn-s
50 naturally under the influence OF the
ocean brtpzcS they sail from port ana
are never heard Of more Some~here
in the crei. depths pieces OF wreck are
drifting with the uncertain currents,
and If one could walk the wide watcry
plateau he mighs exclaiin with Clarence:
What sights Of horrid sights within
mine eye,
The word fouudercd has Just been
written after the names OF two new iron
ships, and the families and friends OF
sixty men on board speak OF them as
dead. From New York two steamers,
The Teliori for Antwerp, and the Joseph
Pcase for Cette, sailed down the bay to
rether, and the last goodbye was given
by the pilots as they Quilted the ships.
The Borussia was given up, and in No
vember the Roscommon rs known to
have floundered between Havana and
Liverpool. Then there were the Sur
biton, the Bernina and the kensington,
the Yoxford, the Aberieldy, the
Bayard, tho Guillermo, the Semiramide
and the Gurtubay, which have gone
down in the great ocean, no one knows
where nor why, since March Of last
year. What a record Of lost humanity
this is but this mos. serious considera-
ton is not the only one. There is rea-
son for ships laundering at sea- Those
named above were not old vessels; on
the contrary nearly all were compare
tively new, and whatever other theory
may be advanced as cause for their sink
ing that of decay must be omitted. 1t
may be, and doubtless is sometimes, IN
in construction somewhere, if not III the
Workmanship, then in the models, and
whichever it is there is necessity for
its speedy discovery and remedy. Ships
can be built which will sail the seas
through the fercest storm, for man has
laid his hand upon the elements and bid
them serve his purpose. He has raised
his finger against the lightning, and
brought it to convey his messages the
world around, and light the darkest
nights as with suns He has enslaved
the wind, and harnessed the subterranean
forces forces for light and heat. And
more, he has built boats that have
plowed the widest pillows under tropi
cal hurricanes, and made port safely,
proving that scientifically built ships
need not be carried down by storm and
waves.
Another cause Of disaster can be at
tributed to Incompetence upon the part
Of commanders, and this is indeed greater
than most people are aware; and, in n
far lesser degree, disaster may be looked
for from Gre, especially spontaneous
combustion, either in the coal bunkers
or amongst the freight between decks,
From examples, the imagination can
picture what may haya been the reality
of the fate which overlook the many
ships which have never been heard Of
after leaving port. Less than dozen
years ago a steamer came into New
York from South American port with
almost every plank loosened by decay;
she was condemned and never sailed
again. Those on board stepped off her
decks firmly believing that if en- almost
perfect calm had not attended them
throughout the voyage they would have
been among the lost. Within the last
year Hamburg steamer came to her
dock in New York with fire in her
forward part, produced from the spon-
taneous combustion of oil silk. In 1876
Gre spontaneously broke out among
cotton in the hold of steamer at
Charleston that was just on the eve of
sailing with full cargo the vessel had
to be sunk at the wharf to extinguish
upon a side track and drenched with
water continually for several days with
out subduing the flames imbedded in the
bales. How many ships less skillfully
built than the Arizona, have thundercd
against an iceberg and sunk within u
the flames. 1t is almost impossible to
extinguish fire in mass Of cotton, as
was lately illustrated in this city when
New York Central freight car loaded
with cotton caught fire; it was thrown
few minutes} This, however, as in the
case of the Arizona, may be generally
traced to q shiftless watch. Therefore,
when snipmasters are hired because
competent, fewer vessels will sail into
the unknown; and with skilled and
Conscientious builders 10 furnish their
craft, the wretched tales OF laundering
at sea will be obliged to be related only
at long intervals. Rochester Herald.
A slrnntirnl unnnct rnllnninn confront.