The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-11-14
Ships Lost by Drink.

One of the best marine underwriters ot
this country, in discussing the question
of how many vessels arc lost annually
through rarelessncss that is due to In
toxiratioll, said to g. Mail and Express re-
lrorter recently:
at is impossible to say how many ships
are lost because, of drunken officers. II we
could but know At would be to learn that
hundreds of the fine vessels that have
been posted as missing in the last ten
years turned into Davy Jones's harbor as
a result of drink. In commercial life there
has been for years tendency to eneour-
age Temperance by doing away with en-
ployes who are given to splicing the, uiain
brace. But there has been no such dis,
position among: those controlling vessel
property. Looking through glass other
than telescope is now more common on
foreign ships. than a half century ago, l
do .dot think CHAT a sea song haa been
written within the last decade without
the word. 'grog' in it. Within my reco!iec-
ton as tn underwater and during the
time I spent )at sea as master mariner and
mate, / saw. many instances OF betuddled
brains being responsible for the loss or
well, found craft. It's all right enough to
deal with a certificate when carelessness IN
stranding or some other marine disaster
is shown but it seems to me that greater.
attention should be- paid to the drinking
capacity of the applicant for license.
Zone of the greatest wrecks in the his
tory of the English Naty:.was indirectly
due to drink: Cowper has sung Of the
capsizing of the Royal George but his
account of the sad affair is not exactly ac-,
curate. In all about lDOO persons, women,
as we'll as officers and sailors, went down
with the craft, She was battleship, OF
100 guns, and during the summer Of 1882
had Just returned from a cruise and was
leaking. The majority OF her crew were
impressed men, and, fearing that they
might run away if the vessel was docked
at Portsmouth, it was decided to careen
her in the. roadstead. The craft was the
tallest in the service and, in addition, she
had the squarest yards, of anything then
afoat. ~ - ~
eat best, the task of heeling a boat to
;get at leak is most difficult one. 1t
has been shown that the officers and men
had been on great spree the night be.
fore the craft toppled over. Many of them
Were still under the influence Of spirits
when the disaster took place. This may.
explain in way the awful mistake of
leaving the lowed deck ports open, and
when the boat was heeled sudden souall
coming up threw her wholly on her side.
the Icannon rolling over To the depressed
side. The sea water rushed into the open
portsi and that ended the Royal George.
The guard and about seventy others were
savedN - .-J.,
"Tht loss Of the United States corvette
KearsAge, on Roncador reef, always has
been ATTRIBUTED to drink, not on the part
of her commander, Oscar F. Heyerman,
but on the part of one of his line officers
whom HE trusted too well. A great many
If the particulars that preceded The
strandin|g of this historic ship were not
brougfNs sout during the court OF inquiry
or even the court-martial that followed. 1t
is known. in the navy, however. that
certain officer, on whom devolved q por-
.tion of tie navigation, bent his elbow
quite a little for some days before the
:stranding, but 7 do not think that the
matter vast brought to the attention OF
yommander\ : Heyerman until it was too
"The loss Of the Atlantic was another
instance where it has been charged that
liquor played q part. She struck near,
Meagher Island, Nova Scotia, April Il,
1870, and of tho 957 persons on board a
total of 535 werei drowned. Not g woman
was saved, and all but one of the children
were included in the lost. Capt. James a..
Williams, who commanded the ship:
had his certificate, as extra master: and
master taken away for two years, and the
certificate of the fourth officer was sus--,
pended for four mouths :fi;,,
"There are many here as we'll as abroad
who believe. as result Of private informa-
ton, that the loss of The battleship Vic
toria,' in the Mediterranean; was due to
grog. It has been shown that there was
something mentally WRONG with Admiral
Tyron the dav of the disaster. and it was
reported at the time thatSh had suffered
from an attack of snnshroke while on
shore at Beyrout two days. before the dis