Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-01-27
The Number Of Wrecks at Sea Last Year
Was Unprecedented The Loss Of Lie
in Some Of the Larger Was APP
palling -Tragic Fate Of the
Bourgogne.

In spite of the numerous modern
inventions annually projected and
tried by the navigators of today, and
I'm spite of complete ocean charts des-
ignating the currents, trade winds,
paths Of travel and probable areas Of
bad weather during certain seasons Of
the year which should be avoided by
mariners, the record of the past twelve
months shows that the list of casual
ties on the sea is alarmingly large.
Not only are these accidents, wrecks
and injuries included among the small
err and old-fashioned sailing sea craft
engaged in the coasting trade, but es-
pecially have they been noteworthy
among the large ocean liners, and mil
lions Of dollars worth of property and
capital invested in the latest improved
types of ocean greyhounds and freight
steamers are lying today on the bed
of the ocean through the losses to COM
merce in this year alone.
The past twelve months have been
exceptional in the severe storms which
have from time to time swept the
seas and played havoc with the ship
ping and other industries. Especially
has this been true the past fall, and
as result hundreds of coasting yes
sells plying along the shores of the
United States have been consigned to
the cold barren bed of the ocean,
where their water-logged hulks are ly-
ing thickly encrusted with salt, or else
beached along the coast, with their
hulls gradually bleaching in the sun.
In addition to the elements, fire has
had its share of the victims, and the
late war with Spain has contributed
not little to the losses of ships sus-
tanned by the various countries this
year.
The year opened auspiciously for
shipping trade, and it was not until
the 31st of January that the first heavy
loss was reported, when the British
mail packet Channel Queen was wreck
ed in a storm off the Guernsey coast,
and nineteen persons on board were
drowned.
A respite followed until the day after
the destruction of the battleship
Maine while anchored in the harbor
of Havana, February 16, when the
French line steamer Flachet was
wrecked on the rock bound coast on
Teneriffe, off the Canary Islands, and
so fierce was the raging storm that
thirty-eight of the crew and forty OF
the passengers were lost.
Following Immediately on this cas-
ualty great anxiety was felt towards
the latter part of February concern
ing the French line steamer La Cham
payne, from Havre to New York,
which was greatly overdue, and huge
sigh of relief went up from the nu-
merous friends and relatives of the
passengers of the unfortunate steam
er when she was towed into Halifax
badly injured.
Following rapidly on this news word
was received from Asiatic waters in
the shape of cablegram from New
we're hurricane had destroyed French
gunboat, and on the 22d of the same
month the bark Almy, for Glasgow,
was wrecked. On the following day
forty-eight men of the Newfoundland
sealing steamer Greenland persisted
while searching for seals in the Alaska
ice foes.
War having been declared between
the United States and Spain, attention
was turned from these losses and rivet-
ed upon the unprecedented successes
achieved by the American naval fleets,
and while the Spanish war vessels
were not destroyed by storms, still |