The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-04
THE WASTE OF SHIPPING.
Facts About the Losses Among Ships
Last Year-- swedish Steamers tho

From the Sun, -------
Lloyds Register keeps us informed as
to the waste of shipping. There are
many causes which lead to vessels be-
ing removed from the register. Most
of them are painful to contemplate
since they involve danger to life, while
one gives cause for satisfaction. A
certain number of vessels are broken
up or condemned, and it would be well
if this number were greatly increased,
since it would reduce the loss un-
der other heads. 1t Is not often that
the well-found ship appears in these
returns under the headings of "Aban-
doned at Sea-" "Foundered," Lost"
or Missing" The experience of the
Atlantic companies has shown that a
ship can be rendered almost as safe as
| a house on shore by liberal expendi-
ture of money, and by increasing vigil
| ance on the part of the captain and
| crew. 1t is the ship on which undue
| economy is exercised that usually falls
| a prey to bad weather.
The period of July to Sept. 10, 1897
| was not marked by any excessive
amount of casualties. During that time
| 176 vessels, or 1877 ,2S6 tons, were re-
| moved from the register in various
ways. This compares favorably with
the same period in 1896, when 2I1 YES
| sells, or 162, 724 tons, were removed. 1t
| is, however. slightly over the average
for the past decade. There is improve
| ment under every heading, as COM
| pared with the same quarter of last
! year, except under Wrecked" and this
| increase seems to be due to the larger
size of the vessels, and not to an aug
| mented number of casualties.
| In the third quarter of 1896 there were
! 96 vessels, or 62,763 tons, wrecked,
| against so vessels, or $3.50 tons, in 1897.
| OF vessels owned in the United King
| dom, there We're q lost in this way in
| each quarter, but in 1896 $4,000 tons.
| There We're AZ vessels, or 35,325 tons,
| broken up, condemned, etc, in the
period under review, against SO vessels,
or 47,64O tons, last wear. The vessels
| which foundered seemed to have been
| generally of small size, and only two,
totaling 454 tons, were owned in the
| United Kingdom.
When we begin to discriminate be-
tween steam and sailing craft we find
that it is the former that account for
| the major portion of the tonnage lost,
| while the latter swell the number of
vessels lost, the vessels being: Steam,
81, vessels of S4,6S1 tons gross; sailA g,
l1a vessels of 52,606 tons net. During
the quarter there was not single
steamer posted as "Rurned," Lost" or
Missing" and only two were aban-
doned at sea. AS against this, there
were IL sailing ships abandoned, six
burned, one lost, and four missing. OF
vessels owned in the United Kingdom,
.044 per cent. of steam were removed,
and .057 per cent. of sailing vessels, a
fact that a timid voyager may well
note The disparity Of these figures
would be increased still further If YES
sells broken up were not included. II
we were to judge by the tables, the SAT-
est ship to go to sea in is a Swedish
steamer, since only .01S per cent. of the
vessels under that flag were lost in the
quarter. This high figure of safety is
not always maintained, but. neverthe-
less, Swedish steam vessels have an ex-
cellent record. Their sailing craft do
not do so well, but then many of them
arc engaged in the timber trade, and
any leaky tub is considered good
enough for that.