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Leader (1850-1860), 10th October 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16, HICE-EA.TEHS AND WATER-DRINKERS. We beg ...

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      Shipwrecks. Caw We Diminish The Number O...

      wich , while riding off Bridlingtdn , was po rotten that her anchor pulled out her Tjows , causing her to sink , and her wnfortunate crew of four hands to perish . Another instance is given . On the 8 th of May last , a small schooner , known to be unseaworthy , went to pieces off Aberdovey , on the coast of Wales , before there was time for any aid to reach the crew . What of our emigrant vessels and merchantmen ? . Of this class

      we shall , speak presently , May we not presume that if a thorough investigation was ordered to "be made , that more specimens of unseaworthy yessels would be found even in addition to tlie large number stated in the Register to have been abandoned , or to have foundered from this cause ? The valuable chart which accompanies Captain "Washington ' s statistics of wrecks , is dotted over with small black marks .

      These marks indicate the spot where ships have gone down , and they cluster in more or less density along the whole extent of" our ^ sea-coast . Where , however , they gather in greatest profusion it is proposed that harbours of refuge shall be built , and early next session Parliament will be applied to to give its sanction to the cons truction of one on the north-east coast

      pf Scotland ; one on the north-east coast , and a third on the west coast , of England . The return from which we quote also distinguishes the force of the wind at the time of each disaster , so that staticians can easily arrive at an estimate of the number of yessels lost "by the . violence of the elements , or from neglect on the part of the crew , from unseaworthiness , or from other causes . We have given above the average of losses occasioned by collision . We now add a list of the wrecks and casualties , assigning to each the distinguishing cause of destruction :

      IVom stress of weather ; 148 ; abandoned from , unseaworthiness , 17 ; foundered from the same" caiige , 37 ; want of lights or buoys on coasts or shoals , 10 ; mistaking lights or bearings , 10 5 fog or current , 38 ; defective compasses , 5 ; defective charts , 3 ; error in course of reckoning , 6 ; error in judgment , 32 ; ignorance of coast , 3 ; errors of pilots , 7 ; want of pilots , 3 ; neglect of lead , 21 ; want of caution , 11 ; intemperance , 2 ; general negligence , 9 ; missing stays , 10 ; striking on sunken wrecks , 1 ; burnt , 4 ; capsized or sunk , 4 ; cause unknown , 7—total , 368 . It must be observed that this is a list of wrecks

      and casualties involving total loss . By the above table we find that out of a total of 368 , no leBs than 210 cases of shipwreck occurred through human , and , therefore , preventable causes , such aa ignoriance , drunkenness , and unseaworthiness . It might also be proved without difficulty that veBaels—it is

      stated one in every niae ^ -are repeatedly sacrificed fif 6 ia vrfttifcoF the necessary complement of hands , or the inefficiency of the crew . Ought there not to be appointed , then , we imay ' ask , some officer authorized to visit every vessel leaving port to ascertain her fitness to j > ut to sea and the efficiency of the crew by which ahe is manned ? In our list we find

      that 54 vessels foundered , or were abandoned during the year from unseaworthiness . How many in a similar disgraceful state are there npw riding' the waves , threatening to go to pieces in the event of a little foul weather , creating apprehension and alarm in the breasts of those on board P " Those 54 vessels lost

      from unseaworthiness , " aays the Report , " form 5 per cent , of the whole casualties , or 1 7 £ per cent , of total loBaea . Whole crews are frequentl y sent to prison in this enlightened country for refusing to go to sea in itnsea \ vorthy ships ; and now it is made clear that , out of 868 vessels totally lost in 1850 , no leas than 54 are officially affirmed on

      inquiry to be unseaworfchy . But thia is not the whole truth . " If we add to tlie list those lost or stranded from defective compasses , defective charts , improper stowage of anchor , combustion of steam coal under hatches , and want of proper ventilation , and through leakage , we shall have an increase of casualties of 117 , of which 87 belong to the last description of accidents . Now ,

      though a ship will leak at sea from straining , the large number of 87 vessels on our coasts seems to be too large for s \ ich a casualty , and must result from the weakness of its timbers and its general unseaworthiness . It may be imagined that ; the greatest number of wrecks take place during severe gale 3 , or are occasioned by storm and hurricane . But such is not the fact . Oat of 1153

      ships wrecked , only 268 were lost in what is nautically called a whole gale storm ., or hurricane , and only 121 by the conjoint agency of the last two . The Register , from which we have largely drawn for our figures , is greatly facilitating the discussion of this important subject—a subject peculiarly interesting to Englishmen . It is something to have arrived at a classification

      of the causes of the shipwrecks which occur annually along our coasts ; since by this steps may be taken by the authority of Parliament for enforcing a stricter surveillance over the condition of the vessels that put to sea , the efficiency of the crews by whom they are manned , and the capacity and trustworthiness of the commander to whose knowledge and discretion the lives of so many human , beings are constantlv confided .

      9176 Tlfe Ii^Ea Deb, [No. 39i, October 1...

      9176 TlfE Ii ^ EA DEB , [ No . 39 i , October 10 , 1857

      Hice-Ea.Tehs And Water-Drinkers. We Beg ...

      HICE-EA . TEHS AND WATER-DRINKERS . We beg our abstinent contemporaries not to believe that we propose to civilize the Hindoos or Mohammedans with beef and brandy . They give up , we find , the notion that water has ' saintly effects , ' and we are gla-d of it . Some of their lecturers are not so philosophical . But we are sorry to find them sympathizing with the Sepoy who is trying-, they say , ' to free his land from the yoke of the stranger . ' A polite writer in the Weekly Record says , that had we read the letters from India , we should have found that the riceeaters and water - drinkers alluded to '

      not meek and saintly , ' but ' murderous villains , ' given to the use of stimulants . ' Hnd he honoured ua by a closer attention to our remarks , he would have observed that this is exafdflly what we said ' : ' These warriors take opium to inflame their courage ; ' again : " We have no intention of arguing that he ( the Mohammedan ) would have been a less brutal coward had he fed on flesh , and intoxicated himself with brandy instead of bhang . " So

      that the ' facts' are precisely as we stated them . No wine , no brandy , according to law ; bhang and opium according to custom . Is there not a little opium-eating among the total abstainers at home ? Gladly would we hear an honest ' No . ' But we must keep our contemporaries to a fair line of argument . We dia not say vegetarianism and . waterdrinking makes men . worse ; wo asked , does it make them better ?

      South Austbaijan Exploration.—An Extract...

      South Austbaijan Exploration . —An extract from a report , dated July 8 th , from the Assistant-Surveyor-General of South Australia , with , rospoct to n recent expedition into the northern districts of tho colony , lias Leon published in tho daily papers . It has rcforonco chiefly to tho observations of tho explorers in connexion with Luke Torrens , -which is situated in latitude 29 dog . 18 min ., and tlie waters of which are described as ' unmistakably fresh . ' Tho ¦ writer states : —" From tho spot whore my observations ware taken , tho lake stretched from fifteen to twenty miles to tho north-west , forming a water horizon extending from north-west by west to north-west ; the south portion torrninutcd by high land running south towards Woathorod-hill , at

      once explaining the cause of the various creeks bendine so much to the eastward . An extensive bay is formed inside this promontory , extending southward to west north-west , when the land again runs out to a point " approaching and passing us by a gentle curve to the east , and inclining gradually to the - south-east and ultimately disappearing in the distance . The ' north portion of the horizon is terminated by a "bluff headland round which the water appears to extend to the north ' This land passes thence to the east , and forms the north boundary of the visible portion of the lake ; and from a higher elevation than that upon which , we stood appeared to extend round to the eastern wing . It is coyered with vegetation , as also are several islands seen between tlie north and south shores , apparentl y about five miles distant from where we stood , their perpendicular cliffs being clearly discerned by aid of the telescope . From the first I had anticipated finding large

      lakes of fresh water at the termination of the -various creeks , or one large lake into which a number of them discharged their waters ; but in such I should have discovered flood lines , indicating the rise and fall of the waters , and , even supposing them to have attained their maximum height , the vegetation on some portion of the surface inside the water's edge would have revealed this fact . _ But in this case there was an entire absence of such marks , the water ' s edge being clearly defined ; and the bed , changing its character so suddenly from an alluvial soil to blue loam , covered by an inch of fine silt , renders it almost beyond the possibility of a doubt that the surface of the water is subject only " to the most trifling variation of level , and the absence of deltas at the embouchures of the creeks tends to sho w that there is no reacting force , but that the waters in times of flood flow uninterruptedly elsewhere , and I am inclined to believe in a generally north-west direction . "

      This Missionary Interest in India . —A minute of the Church Missionary Society on the Indian mutiny in its connexion with Christian missions , has been published . It attributes the mutiny ( as might be expected ) to the indignation of God at our not having ' evangelized ' th e Hindoos and Mahometans ; and , while it advocates toleration of all forms of religion in India , it contends that the British Government there should avow itself as a Christian Government : that the moral law of

      England should be the moral law of India ; that the Bible should be used in the national schools , instead of being , as now , excluded ; and that new and enlarged efforts should be made to send out missionaries to India . Several persons , it is stated , are ready to start . In the meanwhile , the Society have lost by the mutiny , to the best of their present knowledge , some 20 , 0001 . or 30 , 000 / . ; but they do not urge the public to supply the want immediately , because they wish not to interfere with the relief fund .

      Church Matters . — The Archbishop of Canterbury , on Monday morning , met a large body of the clergy at the Canterbury cathedral , and delivered a long address on the affairs of the Church . " With respect to the Divorce Bill , he said he disagreed , among other things , with that part which gives the divorced persons liberty to claim again the rites of the marriage office ; but he believed that but few persona would be found to claim it . He rejoiced that the church-rate question was in statu quo , as it had given time to show that only five parishes in every hundred jv < jce _ opposed .- ? " * ' i'usition . It would therefore ' l )" e "" unjust , as well as unreasonable , to abolish the rates on the request of so small a number of persons . They should be enforced , however , with tenderness , and only for the absolute necessities of the Church . There had teen but few

      perversions recently—a subject on which he congratulated his hearers ; but "he regretted to say that of late somo disparagement had been cast upon the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures . Questions had been raised in influential quarters concerning the Divine inspiration of that authority which for so many years had been unquestioned . If the clear statements of the New Testament were made amenable to man ' s judgment—if their authors could have erred or been misled—whero would bo the foundation of any of our Christian rites ? Tho subject was too important to be discussed in a desultory manner ; but it appeared to him that to doubt the inspiration of Scripture , or to suppose that it contained anything not in accordance with tho mind of God , was to attribute to the Almighty a want of foresight which , not to speak irreverently , could not even be expected m fulliblo man . It was na if the inventor of one of those

      wonderful and complicated machines which the science of those latter days hnd contrived were to deposit it in somo distant laud , or so to adjust It that persons might tamper with it to their own destruction . To his minil it would bo less difficult to reject tlie Scripture altogether than to doubt tho inspiration of any part of it-His Grace , having next spoken of the increase ot churches and schools in hit * diocese , adverted to tlio extension of tho episcopate . " Since 1840 , nineteen now bo « s had been founded , and thia ho held to bo among tho subjects which tho Church had for congratulation . On tho other hand , they had to deplore tho spread of Romish principles and of lutitiulinarian speculation , together with tho indiileroncti and demoralization of tho working clauses and the desecration of tno LordVday consequent on tho introduction of railways . Such Is Christianity , according to Cantuar .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 10, 1857, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10101857/page/16/