The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-10-21
OCEAN DISASTERS.
The Loss OF Life at Sea Attributable 60 .
Variety of Causes.

Inc LOSS OF at Sea Attributable % -
Variety of Causes.
Spurred forward by Mr.. Plimsc:i, ~
have made great efforts in recent years
to insure more security for life at sea
The result is shown in the carefully.
corrected tables prepared by Mr.. Gray.
In 1881, in SO. 90 of the men employed
in our merchant service met with vio-
lent death. In 1878 the deaths of sea-
men by wreck, and accidents other than
wreck, were 1 in 1905 The deaths BY
wreck and casualty were 1 in 157 a.
against in 79. 80 in 1881. The loss of life
In ships belonging to the United King
dom was ], 543 in 1878, or $50 less than
in the preceding year, and 4s9 less than
the average for the previous ten years
We have another evidence Of increased
safety in the decrease of premiums Of
insurance. There Is still large room
for improvement Mr.. Gray points out
that of the 1,543 lives lost in 1878, NO
less than 7s9 were lost In missing YES
sells. The list includes steamer Of L.
67s tons, bound from Bombay to Ps-
lermo; steamer Of I, S39 tons, bound
from Odessa to Rotterdam, and Ave
steamers, ranging from LIZA to 1,7Se
tons. bound from British ports to the
Mediterranean In coal In these and
similar cases it Is difficult to resist the
conclusion that the disasters were due
to preventable causes
1t is satisfactory to know that an in
ternational conference has been lately
assembled at Washington. which has
taken into consideration the whole
subject Of the loss of life at sec
and the means for its prevention.
The rule of the road; the lights
10 be carried by vessels; the sound sig
mails in fog; the regulations 70 deter
mine the seaworthiness Of vessels in
respect to construction, equipment man
ming, discipline; the load line; the saw
ing OF life and property from saipwreck
by lifeboats and RATS, by the use o: OH
and other means available at sea, and
also by operations from shore; the neces-
sary qualifications of officers and sea-
men; the question of lines for steamers
on frequented routes; night signals. dis
tress sigma s, storm warnings; the inter.
national distribution Of the labor Of
searching for doubtful dangers; the sys-
tematic arrangement Of lighthouses.
buoys and beacons, and the establish
ment Of . permanent international mari
time commissioned these were among
the many subjects included within the
wide scope of the deliberations We
may look forward to good practical re-
suits from the inquiry which has been
undertaken Our country has done her
part toward securing an effective inves-
tigation. We were represented at Wash
lngton by Mr.. Charles Hall, with whom
are associated nautical men Of the high
est eminence in their profession.
For the losses which take place ct SEQ
. large measure of responsibility lies
with the shipowner. In his report -
Mr.. Chamberlain Mr.. RothePy stated
that of 400 cases Of loss which he haA
analysed no less than 326 belonged -
the category Of preventable casualties
such as undermining, overlooking, osk.
equipment and undue pressure on mas-
ters to make passages or to cut dowD
expenses-Lord Brassey, in NineteentA
Century.