The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-20

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evrf aN Stt frlht rtr etfly aea hHti w AMI
Irlp'l'sf y ~ a,tlsi imurnaeIv ~ tbs
rufutnfIr Interest ~ siph sfofies N ".
iierrfnrc = foud th.rs fpf W. ~ feslirs that
within ~ lasi hall CENTURY THE feature "
dri tnotrry has been entirely s'imlnatel
from tip %isrrors ~ thr a~t
tew it,l"cI irr 'l- ahipsin which liquor
towns any rsrt n tho asreel ration-. out.
aite n vessels ~ Tho ROYAL navy, N coirse,
and nowhere has m" spread ~ temperance
been NOR" markel than ~ -rs,
So'ne n 'hr later tragedies " ths 500 have
~ ken hold ~ tho rouulnr imagination, and
will always hold their place In srn stories.
Not hcrn,isa ~ tn ma gniiida ~ the dia.
astcr'. hu' cnnusc human suffering being
o .cumulative thnre Il Just 90 much traR.
cdv N the loss ~ a schooner with a couple
~ hands on board ~ IN n wreck Of n liner
where tho deaths run into hundreds.
still, certain o. these shlpwreoks have
undoubtedly the spectacular element about
them which will always appeal TO tbs human
mind. and u these during the last century
perhaps mona can Compnre with the wreck
Of the Birkenhead with her lines of soldiers
drawn up and calmly awaiting the end :.
while the mariners were laboriug to save
the women and children a. the doomed ship
was being steadily ground to fragments
upon the jagged rocks.
Next | should place the Atlantic, stranded
In a snowstorm upon the awful ironbound
coast near Cape Race, Newfoundland; with
her hundreds Of helpless passengers in thin
nlghtgear clinging to the rigging and there
frozen to death, while those who essayed to
reach the shore were dashed to pieces upon
the rocks by the tremendous violence Of
tho waves. The loss Of the City Of Bos-
ton Of the old Inman line fills one with the
horror that always accompanies ths un-
known.
A grand ship, stanch. we'll found and
ably commanded, she disappeared while
on her voyage between Liverpool and New
York and no trace of her has ever been
discovered. The simplest theory OF her
loss is that she collided with an iceberg in
a thick fog and sank with all hands. the
whole agony lasting but a few minutes. True.
a fearful storm did rage over the north
Atlantic at about hat time: but that is not
sufficient to account for the loss OF so fine
q ship.
The loss OF the London In the Bay Of
Bisoay possessed all the elements OF modern
sea tragedy, glorifed by the splendid be-
havior of all concerned. officers, passengers
and crew. Amid the bowling Of the hurri-
cane and the gradual disinte grafton OF
the ship, all kept their heads nor disgraoed
their humanity. There are few finer spec
tacles in our ocean history than that OF the
doomed captain of the London hanging
on the lee OF the wrecked bridge and shout
ing to the steersman Of the one boat that
got clear with a full freight Of rescued
ones the course and distance to Brest
'and a safe passage to you
Think, II you can, of the might OF thi,
self sacrifice, and behold it, too, in thoss
passengers left behind without hope raising
out Of the depths Of their chilling hearts
a good-by cheer.
OF a very different character appears the
terrible tragedy Of the Northieet sailing
ship at anchor in the Downs, with six or
seven hundred navvies and their wives on
board, outward bound to the colonies. At
dead Of night she was run into by a large
Spanish steamer, the Murillo, which in
dastardlv fashion backed out Of the wreck
she had made and teamed away,
An awful scene ensled in which the few
bray We ones who endea vored to stem the
food Of paric lost their lives; indeed only
the merest handful Of them were saved.
And the agonizing part OF it all wps that
when daylight came there were the three
tall masts towering above the water 10 q
height OF n hundred feet, for the ship had
peer at anchor In less than sixty feet OF
water and had settled straight down, stand-
ing erect upon the bottom. So that nearly,
~ not quite, all OF the drowned might have
been sa had they possessed tbs little bit
OF elementary knowledge and climbed up
out OF death.
There is q trihing amount OF satisfaction
in the knowledge that the coward steamer
was afterward caught and conflsoated.
That terrific enemy fire is never more
terrible than when it gets the upper hand
at eel, and the last century afforded some
narrowing examples Of It's destructive
power. Chief among these was the case OF
the Cospatriok. a fine emigrant ship sailing
along that gigantic void OF the Southern
Ocean on her way to Australian.
1t is a place OF tremendous stress even for
the best equipped smiling ships. tie roaring
For.ics, requiring high ~seamanship and
courage to take sdvanta ge Of the great gales
which blow almost continually, In order to
make a pass1ge. But when suddenly from
the bowels Of the flying ship, alreldy strain
ing every item Of her construction to meet
the demands made upon her by the elements,
there burst the long greedy spirals OF
fame. no amount Of descriptive power can
eva ggerate the tragic potenti.lities Of the
situation.
The p Gigantic seas rolling up preclude the
idea OF being saved by the boats. the awful
loneliness OF that vast ocean renders the
possibility Of being suocored by n passing
ship almost entirely out Of the question
while the state Of the welthcr forbids that
m~anpuvring which In fghting fire Ia a sill
ing ship is so essential. All theqe iindrances
combined to render the disaster to the Co.'S
patrick complete, and yet by some miracle
five or six persons did eacrpe from that
awful calamity and were picked up alive by
a passing snip.
OF the details Of that terrible conflict
we are ignorant, except that VIC know what
sort Of a fenhish combination fire and gale
and sea and night and Perfect isolation
could produce. II would, however. be too
cruel to dwell upon IL,
Far more grateful is it to record how, in