Year: 1875

Our cable despatch from London gives i'm
portant details of this calamity, derived di-
rectly from the Captain 1t appears that the
ship was out of her reckoning and that an
error in her course consequent upon that fact
led to the accident The North Hinder light
ship is off the Belgian coast and about one
degree of longitude east of Margate or the
mouth of the Thames. The Galloper light
is about half degree east of the same point
and in line about twenty minutes north of
the North Hinder light The Galloper
warns off from the dangerous sands of the
Essex coast and bids the mariner making
down the channel to keep to the south. The
Hinder warns from the dangers of the oppo-
site continental coast and warns the mariner
to keep to seaward in bad weather or to the
west and north. Now this light, if
sighted from the starboard by ship sailing
west warns to keep in one direction; while
the Galloper sighted in the same way, warns
to keep in quite another direction. The
North Hinder, in plain English, says keep to
the right; the GalIoper says keep to the left.
Let the lights be mistaken for one another:
let the warning given by the North Hinder
be obeyed in sight of the Galloper, and
calamity is inevitable This is precisely
what happened. AS there could have been
no observation in the storm the ships posi-
tion was taken by dead reckoning, and suff-
cient allowance was not made for the force
with which the gale from the northeast had
driven her westward. She had made two
hundred and fifty miles in about twenty
hours, and she probably could not
make this in ordinary circumstances. At the
time the light was sighted she was, therefore,
some forty miles further westward than the
Captain, not making sufficient allowance
for the wind, had reason to suppose she
was and, not believing himself yet far
enough upon his journey to sight the Gal
loper, he was forced to the conclusion that the
light seen was the nearer North Hinder


From this it would appear that there is no
difference between these two lights by which
they may be distinguished one from the
other. AS explained by the Captains state
ment, the calamity was clearly enough the
result of an error; but it is difficult to say
buuL bllo nlBhJ hOI udfo Doeu GULL
mitted by any man. In fact, this looks like
one Of those shipwrecks that cannot be
guarded against by caution or skill
unless the world of commerce and
travel is ready to accept a rule that ships
shall not put to sea in storm. This ship
went down before she was twenty four hours
out. 1t had stormed all the time Celestial
observation was, therefore, impossible, and
the judgment of ships position by dead
reckoning is delusive and ample experience
may be deceived in it. Yet it was upon the
determination of the Deutschlands position
by this means that it depended whether the
light seen was one in view of which she
might safely keep on her course or one in
view of which to keep on her course was GER
tain ruin. In the presence of such catas-
trophe there is little consolation to be given
to the bereaved and yet there must be some
in the reflection that the lost ones were not
the victims of the needless incapacity that
destroys SO many lives on ocean steamers.