The Delta independent., 1888-08-28
FEARFUL SHIPWRECKS.
Terrible Loss OF Human Life In SSnie
of the Disasters at sen.

Terrible Loss of Human Life In SOME
of the Disasters at sen.
L'oyds estimated that In 1890 the loss o'
merchants aud other ships by disasters at
sea amounted to average of one per
diem, says the London Standard
In 1880 no fewer than G61 British ships ap'
pear by Lloyds' lists to have been totally
lost The year 1S5?-53 was an especially dis.
astrous one, for no fewer than ,,l15 vessels
were lost on the British coast alone, with 92J
lives.
In 1850 there were l,4l6 wrecks and casual
ties on British coasts with sacrifice of l.
6i5 lives, while In lS76.71 there was the enor-
nous number of l. 1854 wrecks and casualties,
but only 776 lives were lost. The three
heaviest years in the loss of human life Oh
our coast were 1854 with 1910, 1859, with
1915, and 1867, with 1883 lives lost.
In the twenty-five years from 1854 to 1879
there were ~, 900 odd wrecks and casualties
on the British coasts, and these were attend =
ed with the sacrifice of Is. 3l9 lives. If to
this dismal record could be added the full
tale of wrecks and losses on other coasts,
some idea of the tribute paid to the hungry
sea might be formed.
In proportion, however, to the number of
ships sailing the seas, their size and the
number of passengers that they carry. there
eau be no doubt that whether 1t be due to
the advent of steam and with it the greater
power to battle with adverse winds aud
waves or to better legislation, or more per
feet trrinlng of officers and men, or other
causes separate or combined-the loss OF
shipping and of human life, per cent, shows
n most satisfactory reduction. For instance,
the disasters to British shipping during the
twenty five years ending with lSl2 notwith-
standing the comparatively small ma rIne OF
those days, included Mt least twenty ono In
which the loss of life was over one hundred.
In the like period Of 1860 to 1885, though
with vastly increased marine and much closer
aud more reliable meaus OF informations, the
record includes only twenty of equal
magnitude in loss of life.
The first great disaster at sea recorded in
British history was the wreck OF the Blanche
Nef IN November, ll2J, BY which the chill
dren of Henry j. and their suite and servants
in all 1868 persons, We're drowned. As William,
the heir 10 the throne, was among those who
perished, and the result was the accession of
Stephen, it may be said that this catastrophe
changed the whole course of English history.
1t is probably the want OF records rather than
immunity from great disaster which now
causes gap OF many hundred years.
The tale of the merchant navys tribute
over MANY years must be told, but of neces-
sity briefly.
In 1876 the King George, packet running
from the now defunct port of Parkgate on the
Dee to Dublin, was lost with l23 l'ersons, aud
in the following year the Prince of Wales, run
ming between the same ports, was lost with
even greater sacrifice OF life.
The year 1915, that of tile great battle Of
Waterloo. was one Of the very few which
passed without any great British disaster at
sea. in 1922 came the first reported loss OF
steamer; the unfortunate vessel was the FL
lesmere, and four lives were lost.
1t is also at least remarkable that up to this
period not single maritime disaster OF mag
nituip q Httribupal tn collision Sinpe then
some of the most appalling Incidents have
been due to that cause, as witness the Govcn-
or Fenner and nottingham of Holyhend, In
lS4i with l22 lives lost; Lady Elgin and Au-
pusta. on Lake Michigan In 1860 with 2S7
lives lost; Oneida and Bombay, of YokahR.
ma, in 1870, with liz lives lost; the North
fleet and Murillo, off Dungencss In 1878, with
300 lives lost; Avalanche and Forest, in the
English channel, in 1877, over 100 lives lost;
Princess Alice and Bywell Castle, In the
Thames, in 1873, nearly 200 lives lost; Cimbrla
and Sultan, off the Dutch coast in 1888, and
454 lives lost and the State of Florida and
Ponema, of the coast OF Canada, in 1851 l23
lives sacrificed. There were, of course many
other collisions involving equal loss of prop
erty, but fewer lives.
The most disastrous losses in the merchant
navy. otherwise than by collision, were the
following: The ROYAL Adelaide in 1880 of
Margate, with 400 lives, and the Annie Jane
and the Tayleur, both emigrant ships, in 1888,
with over 700 lives. The Austria, an cmi-
tic in 1855 and nearly 500 lives we're sacritic-
ed, and 1859 brought the loss on the Anglesea
coast of the Royal Charter AMI 4i6 lives.
In 1865 the steamer London foundered in
the Bav of Biscay with 200 persons on board.
In 1873 the emigrant steamer Atlantic went
ashore on the American coast and $50 persons
perished. In 1874 another emlgrant ship, the
Cospatrck, for New Zealand, was burnt at
and 40 lives were sacrificed. In 1888 the
steamer Daphne while being launched on the
Clyde. heeled over, and l24 persons were
drowned.
Finally came that most distressing class OF
ophes-disnppaarances. That fine
vessel with hundreds of souls on bonrd,
should sail out TO sea and never be seen or
heard of again is one of the most painful OF
human experiences. Lloyds' records only too
plainly show how frequently this is. and among
great losses may be named those of the Prrsi-
dent steamer, from New York to Liverpool,
In 1871; the Pacific steamer, Liverpool to New
York, in 1865, and the CITY of Boston, from
New York TO Liverpool, in 1870 The City OF
Glnsgow steamer disappeared In 1854 with 4SD
persons on board, and In 1919 the Queens.
land, for Melbourne, with 500 persons on
board, left London and was not again seen.
Explosives on board were supposed to have
destroyed her. In the following year the
Cairo, another large ship, with much aua
powder on board, also bound for Australia,
likewise disappeared.
4, m a..