296 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



lisions. Indeed it is useless to disguise the fact, that some 

 of our coasting- vessels are a disgrace to us as a nation. 

 Only a few mouths ago a small schooner from Sanlwich, 

 while riding on Bridlmgton, was so rotten,_ that her anciior 

 pulled out her bows, causing lier, of course, instantly to sink, 

 and her unfortunate crew of 4 hands to perish. And again, 

 on the 8th May last, a small schooner known to be un- 

 seaworthj' (as we are informed), went to pieces off Aberdo- 

 vey, on the coast of Wales, before there was time for any 

 aid to reach the crew. Ma}' we not presume that rigid in- 

 quiry would discover many other similar cases amongst the 

 numerous details in the register, even in addition to the 

 large number stated to have been abandoned or to have 

 foundered from unseaworthiness.' Surely a remedy might 

 be found for such a disgraceful state of things. 



An analysis of the tonnage of the wrecks on our shores 

 during the past year further tends to prove our statement. 

 It is as follows : — 



Vessels under 50 Tons 145 



51 and under 100 „ 338 



101 „ 300 „ 472 



301 „ 600 „ 137 



601 „ 900 „ 34 



901 „ 1,200 „ 15 



1,200 and upwards 12 



The exact site of each disaster is given iu the Register; 



and to prevent the possibility of error on this poiat, the Wreck 



Chart, which accompaaies it, clearly and distinctly points out 



the locality of the wreck. What a tale of woe an.] misery 



this death-chart brings to light ! Who can thiuk of it without 



feeling a desire, by every means in his power, to lessen the 



causes of those black dots on it ? The following ia the aum- 



mary : Vessels. 



East Coast — Dungeness to Pentland Frith . 506 



West Coast —Land's End to Greenock . . 307 



South Coast — Land's End to Dungeness . 119 



Irish Coast 155 



Scilly Islands 12 



Lundy Island 11 



Isle of Man 5 



Northern Isles, Orkney, &c., &c. ... 38 



We believe, that after this additional evidence, a proposition 

 will be submitted to Parliament in the early part of next 

 session, to build a harbour of refuge on the north-east coast of 

 Scotland ; another on the north-east coast of England ; and a 

 third on the west coast of England. 



The return distinguishes the force of the wind at the time 

 of each disaster, which is instructive so far as it proves that it 

 is not the storm or the hurricane that destroys the largest 

 number of vessels ; and that more danger is to be dreaded 

 frotn the carelessness, neglect, or incompetence of man, than 

 from the act of God. 



The following table gives a list of the wrecks and casualties, 

 excluding collisions, which have involved total loss, distin- 

 guishing the cause of loss ; — Stress of weather, 148; aban- 

 doned from unseaworthiness, 17; foundered from unseawor- 

 thiness, 37; want of lights or buoys on coasts or shoals, 10; 

 mistaking lights or bearings, 10 ; fog or current, 38 ; defec- 

 tive compasses, 5 ; defective charts, 3 ; error in course of 

 reckoning, 6; enor in judgment, 12; ignorance of coast, 3; 

 errors of pilots, 7 ; want of pilot, 3 ; neglect of the lead, 21 ; 

 want of caution, 11 ; intemperance, 2 ; general negligence, 9 ; 

 missing stays, 10; striking on sunken wreck, 1 ; burned, 4 ; 

 capsized or sunk, 4 ; cause unknown, 7 — total, 368. 



Thus we find that no less than 220 ships were totally lost 

 or stranded in 1856 from errors, unseamanship, or drunken- 

 ness, or other preventible causes, in addition to those from 

 stress of weather. The lives lost from these disasters are not 

 given ; but the widows and the orphans of some of these un- 

 fortunate crews in our seaports are two numerous to elude our 

 observation. If one out of every nine ships is lost from inef- 

 ficiency, whose duty should it be to see that crews are fully 

 equal to their duties ? We have often contended that every 

 English ship, before leaving port, should be submitted to in- 

 spection, in order that it might be certified that the ship is 

 fully manned, and that means both simple and efficacious 

 exist on board for the safety of the crew and passengers. 



When considering the above details, is it not a matter for 

 serious reflection that there should have been 17 vessels aban- 



doned from uuaeawotthiuess, and 37 to have foundered from 

 the same cause? Those 54 vessels, lost from unseaworthiness 

 form 5 per cent, of the whole casualties, or 17^ per cent, of 

 total losses. Whole crews arc frequently sent to prison, in this 

 enlightened country, for refusing to go to sea iu unseawoithy 

 ships; and now it is made clear that out of 368 vessels totally 

 lost in 1856, no less than 54 are cflicially affirmed, on inquiry, 

 to be unseaworthy. But this is not the whole truth ; we 

 must add the vessels improperly found to that list, and there 

 we see a little more of the mischief : —Totally lost or stranded 

 from defective compasses, 14 ; ditto from defective charts, 5 ; 

 ditto from improper stowage of anchor, 1 ; ditto from combus- 

 tion of steam-coal under hatches, want of proper ventilators 

 10; ditto through leakage, 87— total, 117. 



A ship will leak at sea from straining, but the large 

 number of 87 vessels in one year on oar coasts seems too 

 great a per-centage for such a casualty. A ship sent to sea 

 with defective compasses or charts, and lost from that 

 cause, ought to be classed under the head of unseaworthy. 

 If all vessels were inspected by competent authorities be- 

 fore sailing, we suspect that the condemnation of existing 

 vessels and equipment would be wholesale. We judge so 

 from various reasons. Old vessels are made to do duty till 

 they founder at sea. When a vessel is fit for nothing else, 

 she is put in the timber trade, and the fearful accounts we 

 read ot water-logged ships follow as a necessary sequel. 



We thus, from the preceding consideration of defined 

 causes, ran come to no other rational conclusion than that 

 more ships are wrecked from oversight, ignorance, neglect, 

 and spurious economy, than from the dangers of the sea. 

 Did we require more convincing demonstration of this attes- 

 tation, we have but to refer to the table which gives the 

 force of the wind; and as we have before rema-ked, this it 

 a highly instructive part of the paper before us — thus : 

 Dead calm, 19; light air, and slight steerage-way, 22; 

 light breezes of 1 to 2 knots, 58 ; gentle breezes of 3 to 4 

 knots, 49 ; moderate breezes of 5 to knots, 98 ; fresh 

 breeze with roy.als, 154 ; strong breeze, single reef and 

 top-gallant sails, 140; moderate gale, double reefs and 

 jib, 101 ; fresh gale, triple reefs, GO; strong gale; close 

 reefs and courses, 184 ; whole gale, close-reefed main top- 

 sail and reefed foresail, 147 ; storm, under storm staysail, 

 77; hurricane, bare poles, 44; total, 1,153. This proves 

 our statement ; for out of 1,153 ships, only 268 were lost 

 in a whole gale, storm, or hurricane, and only 121 by the 

 conjoint agency of the two latter. We now approach the 

 most lamentable feature in these returns. Of the number 

 of lives more or less imperilled, we find them set down as 

 2,7G4, of whom 521 were drowned. Those saved by the 

 mercy of God and the help of man were thus rescued — 



Persons, 



By life-boats of the Royal National Life- 

 boat Institution and local bodies... 362 



By luggers, coast-guard boats, small craft, 

 and ships' own boats 1,184 



By ships and steam-vessels 407 



From shore by ropes, rockets, mortar appa- 

 ratus, &c 262 



Individual exertions of a meritorious cha- 

 racter 28 



These facts clearly illustrate that great exertions are 

 constantly being made b^' our life-boat crews, boatmen, and 

 fishermen on the coast, to safe life from shipwreck — facts 

 which should call forth the acknowledgments of the com- 

 munity at large, as showing most satisfactorily what can be 

 accomplished in this good work by sustained and well- 

 directed efforts. And surely an institution like that of the 

 National Life-boat Society— in addition to having granted 

 rewards for rescuing 473 persons from shipwrecks, whose 

 life-boats have bet-n the means, during the past twelve 

 months, of snatching 129 of our fellow-creatures from a 

 watery grave — has only to make its claims e.xtensively 

 known to be fully appreciated and liberally responded to by 

 the affluent and humane throughout the land. 



We thus appeal on behalf of the cause of humanity. But 

 we ought not to be required to appeal to shipowners and under- 

 wr'ters, to see that their ships are properly manned and 

 furnished ; for we balieve that it is their best interest which 

 is consulted, in atteudiuu' to that manifest duty. — From the 

 Journal of the National life-boat Society. 



