New-York tribune., 1880-06-13
THE COLLISION IN THE SOUND.


with the details OF q terrible calamity on
Long Island Sound. Two of the largest
steamers of the StoningtOn Line ran into each
o,l,er in dense fog, a quarter OF an hour
before midnight on Friday, and one OF them
not only sank but was burned to the waters
edge. The estimates Of the loss OF life vary
widely. and it is impossible to give the figures
with apy degree of precision. 1t is
not probable that the number OF the ioSC
exceeds a hundred, and it may be brought much
lower In all respects, the event Is proIounulJ
tragical.
In the number of the dead, however
this is by no means an uneXampied catastrophe.
When the Atlantic went to pieces OIL the coaSt
of Nova Scotia a few years ago too
were drowned. When the Princess Aiico
was run down in the Thames $50 men,
| women and children perished in hVe
m;nntes. Within q few weeks training
shin has foundered at sea and 81
British seamen have gone mkneheu 10
| graves in unknown waters, ana lew mohtuS
| further back a sister ship with the SINE COM
plement of men went down In the tWlnkiing oI
| an eve almost in sight of her anchorage Al we
| 90 back sill further it will be to hnd great
| sacrifice of human life on the Vile du HaVre'
the wreck of the Nortlfleet with 325 on Doaru'
the loss of the Arctic with 800 passengers the
avful mystery Of the City Of Boston with her
ASO sonls. the burning of the Austria in mid
ocean with $50 wretched victims, the strand
;oo of the Pomona with 400 deaths and the
destruction of the Royal Charter and 44O
| l;ves zone to waste. These are few OF the
oceans conauests during thirty years. 1t we
make no pause, but go back to the first decade
uf the century, we shall find that crowning
horror of the seattle drowning of 1000 men
Oft the coast of Jutland.
Bnt while the sum of mortality from this new
calamity falls far below the totals OF the great
shipwrecks OF the century, in narrowing details
nothing is lacking In the darkness OF mid
night fog hundreds are brought face to face
with the horror of sudden doom. These are
travellers of the night, fresh from home or
| business, embarking on a commonplace, every
day VOYAGE, without one thought OF danger anu
| expecting as q matter of course to be at the
Journeys end on the morrow. So ordinary
and seemingly so safe have these passages
through the Sound become that the least
presumptuous passenger on either yessel seeks
his berth without realizing that there Is
| special need of protection from on blgh during
the watches of the night. Suddenly there
| is IN awful shock that sends thrill OF dread
and despair through every heart. The TWO
vessels are locked together for an instant and
then torn asunder. One is unmanageable, her
engines are mo longer moving, the water Is
sveaping into her bow in great torrent, ana
officers and crew are beside themselves with
Dol,ic terror. The other, struck amidshlDs ana
! nearly cut in two kpels over and settles to the
hottOm, her woodwork bursting into flame ana
her messengers swalming in their night clothes
on her burning deck. Who can describe that
bewildennent, the helplesSness, the conster-
nation the cries, the piteOus prayers, the
aooniziue struggles of the next twenty
minutes. before a boat is lowered from the
other vessel, or the life raft set afOat or the
timely rescue from passing steamer! Who
can read without shudderng, the heaitrendlnR
accounts given by eye-witnesses of the ghastly
scenes of that awful night
Somebody may have been to blame. Very
likely. The laundering and ineffciency, the
inattentive watch. the needless navigation, the
lack of discipline in the crews and the lack OF
selfpossession in the OfficeTs-a all these thlngt
and many more may be brought to light In due
time. But to-day-on this quiet, peaceful day
| of rest--let us gather up the higher morals OF
the calamity. Science and experience serve
useful ends, but they cannot prevent occaslona
disasters like this. How helpless are they
q who 90 down to the sea in ships" even wher
close to land and in this nineteenth century
of progress!