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A RECORD OF DISASTERS.
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THE 1METE0POLITAN, OR UNDERGROUND RAIL-•¦ ¦ , ' . ' ; . ¦:¦¦ '¦¦ ' ¦ "WAY. . : • .- . , : '- ¦ . -
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TASMANIA.*
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The ¦" , Wreck Register" for 1859 has a sad account to grive of disasters at sea . The Wreck chart which ' accompanies the Board of Trade report shows tlie whole of our coast , . north ,-east , -west and south , thicldy dotted with rimrks- indicating the locality of wrecks . The stars artt scarcely more thickly strewn over the vault of heaven , than are these Wreck-dots- upon this chart . We search in vain for any other qfuaVter of the world where wrecks are of such common bccurrenee . Looking- at this map of disasters , we might almost imagine that the shores of England were beset by whirlpools , which , attracted ships from all parts of the world , to swallow them up . Aw * vet we admit that we tire the best sailors in the world . Are
tyv > , o " r are we not ? The French will not venture to deny it ; .- . nor will the Spaniard , nor the Greek , nor even the Dane . Perhaps the Tin may dispute ' our title ; but we suspect the ease , if tried by a jury of all--. nations , ' would be against him . As a maritime people , om- position is , at tmy rate , injthe very first rank . And yet no nation ' lps&s- ' in ' ore ships than we do . Well , we ] must-grant that our coasts ¦• are dangerous—the most dang-eroiis in the world . On every side imr island is beset by shoals , by rocks , by stormy headlands , by f'Shgcrous ¦ quicksands " and ¦ 'deceptive- shallows . The winds too lii this northern latitude are more fickle and boisterous than m any other quarter of the globe . Still our Wreck Register shows a catalogue of disasters Which we cannot calnily accept as the . natural result of accidents over which we have no control . The chapter of
accidents is too long , and it is very evident that it might he shorter if our ships were "better built , better provided , and better manned mid eottitnanded . The statistics in reference to this matter should possess a very wide interest in these days , when all classes of the people are in the . habit of travelling by sen . It must ¦ engage . the Sympathies even of those who never make a longer sea voyage than that from London to Mai-gate , or from Portsmouth across to the Isle of Wight . Steamers have been wrecked , and lives lost , even on these journeys , and exactly from the same causes which lead to disasters oii longer anil more dangerous voyages . . Let iis turirto the figures of the report of ihe Board of Trade for the past year . The nuniber of ships wrecked , on the liritish shores alone during the t > yelve months , was iio less than -1 . 416 . The numberof lives lost Was 1 , 645 : and the value of property lost or damaged , ' two millions
sterling . It should be mentioned , however , that the loss both of lite fend property is greatly swelled by the disasters which befel the Bdyal Charter , the Blervie Gastle , and the Pomona . But excluding these , the account is altogether unprecedented : AVhat then are the causes of this terrible increase of wreck and disaster at sea ? Is it because we have taken , like the Americans , to build vessels of green timber ,, and run them up in a , hurry ?— or is it because we are getting more venturesomeH Is the inspection of the Board of Trade a mere matter of form , or a strict and rigid examination , as it ought to bo ? The state of our rocently . conH . trlicted gunboats may suggest an answer to the first inquiry .. A dmiralBerkkley has told us that he pushed his umbrella through the bottom of one of those boats shortly alter it returned from the Baltic . Are our merchant ; vessels built in the same way , . with rotten timber , held together with sham bolts ? The report of the Board of Trade gives
no information on this head , nnd we are therefore left to our own suspicions on one or-two : very important points , ^ owever , tlie report does furnish us with information . TOst of all , wo learn that ships of seventy , eighty , ninety , and even a hundred years old , are allowed to eyo on the longest voyages , through the most dangerous seas . Ami next we have the astounding admission that uiany vessels are comnaanded by captains who have no certiJicsvte of qualification , and who have never beeiv examined as . tp-thpir competency . This is surely enough in itself to ¦ account- for » large proportion of the disasters to which , our attention i * called . The report attests tho fact . There sire , it seems , three classes of . masters : masters who hold certificates of competency j masters who hold certificates of service only ; and masters who hold neither tho ononoi ? the other . And we find , as might bo expected , that the proportion of accidents
is in it ratio to tho skill of the masters . The masters of the first class met with Slf accidents ; thoso of tho second , with 3-M ; while the masters who hclel no certificates whatever , woro in trouble no less fchsin 597 times . There is plain evidence that u very considerable number of ships is lost every your , in consoqueneo of the law permitting incompetent persons to occupy tho position of comniandors . The public will scarcely credit that such a state of thing's has boon allowed to continue so long ? . We confess that our own 'belief was , that none but certificated roasters wore allowed to ttvko tho command of any kind , of vestals whatever ; and wo bohoved that a law to this effect hud been passed Jong ago . But hero is tho Boai'd of Trade ' s own report bearing evidence to tho contrary . If sucli a , gross abuao as tins is permitted to continuo , tho public may well Ibotrin to suspect that thoro aro screws , loose elsewhere It to that iuoh
becomes imperative that wo should huvo un answer <» tion "bout tho green timber , and equally so that wo whoujcl know what sort of test iw applied both to ships ami men by tho officers of theBqurd ' o ' f Tnido , Thoro in very good ground for MUHpcctiiuy that our coasting vessels , and especially our colliers , avo ill owed to run their career without amy inquiry being inado as to tholv condition " Our ill-built oollievs , " . wo road , " continue to maintain their fatal pro-oinjlionco for their frequency of wroeks on tho east coast . When overtaken by antorm oil Flumborough Howd , no shelter is afforded until they reach Yarmouth RoiKlfl-whoro , nlaij *! too frequently , the bocUos of thoii- unhappy crows uro found llofttwflf on the wtlyihg » and banks . " Wo qufto wee that no kots qpuld speak louder for tho rtbsoluto jieeoftlwty wluoh pxiBt ^ that _ meaBure » siiould l ? e t » ken , Htf ewrly as passible , to improve ouv mvUonal bar- '
bours of refuge ,, and to construct new ones . Still we believe that a heavier responsibility lies in another quarter . Our colliers are notoriously ill-built , ill-formed , and scantily manned ; and , as a general riije , they are made to carry heavier burdens than they can Wellbear . The roughsailbTS engaged in that trade know no fear ; they will go to sea in anything : that is at all like a ship . The owners , on their part , are equally iadifterent ; for the ship is insured , and if she goes down , the underwriters will pay the damage . Thus we have only the Board of Trade to look to for that supervision . which is absolutely necessary to ensure the inost ordinary precaution . And the question which calls aloud for an answer is—Does the Board of Trade do itsi dut-v ? -
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rT ^ HIS Lino a forward state for speedy completion . I Between the Bagnisge- 'Welis-roai and King ' s-eross there is a lai'ge gap caused by tlie piilling down of hojuses , and a large proportion of the material carted a \ vay . At King ' s-cro . ss a vast deal has been done—this is where tlie junction will take place with % the Great Northern , and the works in progress arc n . ecessarily very heavy and complicated . A large Mock of houses , in the neighbourhood . of the Ivdgwaccrroad and Lissoii-grove , at the end of the Marylebone ^ road , are down , and leave an open
space , whicli attracts attention ; . between King s-eross and this point several shafts ' have been sunk , and much . work done in i-emoving obstructions and diverting sewers , &e . At tiro Western-end , uea . r 1 ' addington Station , all is confusiou of temporary timbor bridges for various roads aud side streets diverted from their usual -route ; every one , from the Engineer to the Navvy , seems intent on the one great object , and all equally zealous in the performaiice of their duties . There is , now , very little doubt we shall , during the nuxt siininier , have tlio satisfaction of : travelling by . ' Hail from . Farriiigdyn .-street to Eaddington ; and what is now an hour ' s annovancu , w | ll theii bo only a question of-r-shail we bo sevon , or will it he eight niinutt's , before we are there ? .
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rr ^ HE ahove is the names which is . now given : to Van l > iemcn " . JL ^ Land . The progress of the colony has beeii surprising ; it exceeds , in fact , all precedent . The advantages presented by Tort Philip were not fully appreciated until 1 ^ 35 , or the following year . Van Diemcn ' s Lund was the younger of its colonies , and had ¦ been-, to a slight extent , colonized in 1803 . In the following year , it fan an imminent risk of being made a convict settlement . Governor Collins , on the 10 th Fohruary , landed in yullivan ' s cove . In ; i garrison order he states his regrets at the men labouring- on the Sabbath in loadina-the ship ' . Ocean , but circumstances compelled the
desecration , " since , " he added , " the sooner we arc enabled to leave tins unproiuising and unproductive country , the sooner shall we-no able to reap the . advantag-cs and enjoy the comforts of a more ¦ fertile spot . " And so the governor and his convicts shook the ¦¦ dust from their feet , ami with happy haste sped away from those shores . How' erroneous were tlie Governor ' s impressions , experience has since amply- demonstrated . Tasmania in 183 ( 5 , contained / -MlW inhabitants . In 1857 , these were increased to 81 , 40 : 3 . . New-boutli Wales is older tluin Van Diemen ' s Lund by iifteen years j and in 1830 , possessed 77 , 096 inhabitants ; ia 1857 , 295 , 000 . Victoria , to which the report froin wltfcli wo ejetnict these data r ^ eluteH , during the sumo interval-bus far distnnced them both , in ia . H ) , u possessed 22-ii souls ; in 1857 , 410 , 706 . . It is highly importtuit , says tho Registrar , for general . nnA statistical mu'Doscsthat the next cimihus of Victoria should be taken
, in 1801 , on whutcver dny tho population of Great Untam may '" enumerated . It is still further desirable that the inhabitants of the whole Australian Uvoupc of colonies should bo polled on-that ( inj . too , ub that -tho nuuibor of souls in the mother country , and at liei antipodes , may ' bo ascertained in tlio some twenty-tour hours . . The colonists have lately endeavoured to equalise the nuniDor oc males and females , tho previous disproportion having been great . Thoro lias also been a largo influx of tho wago-elnsses ot tho United Kingdom ; but it has boon concurrent wjth a still nmio powerful stream of unassisted middle-class iinniijrruaitH , wjioso superior education and pocuhiury reapweos h . aivo enabled tuoinio corroboratQ -ihoir loss jjhvuurod follow-iinniigrants , so as W . ' """ Viotoria to hor prosont position . At first , there was a great inllux of squatterH ; and the poHtor . al was tho principal interest ot ino . in uuiuwwu «¦ - ¦
colony . Millions oi norus oi ^ -uij , nu » a « j —• - - ,, ihu adventurer , and the voaidiost way to wunlth was evidently uy mi . division of tho land into runs , and tlio dopawturiug of sheoi ) iin < cuttlo thovooii . Settlers nnd stock , at first from iiwmninn , una eventually ft-om ' Now Houth Wales , pom-cd over thpjnnd accyrctm «; i >» i-u a continuous stream , iVom tlio very < Hmt year oi diaeovgry . « i < i > 1 Htoelv incrcascrl , with wliidi tho prpduoo of the wool Btuplo was ,-w flourwo ; coimiuiiiHuvuto .. With thpir gvowinj ? sucoosh , ^ wuttovh oon « tinhod to hjh'iijiiI «» v « ir wider and wider weas of country wnii mi- » ( looks aiitl tluiir linnln . , , , ^ ,,, 1 Tho phwiIiuhitw of . land nro t > f a later date . Tho first nnd scco « I > ort I'l . ilip IuimI Hah ? tool ; place in 1 B 37 * . By ^ J ^^ A ZZ ' thoro had boon ulioimlod , by purohaap , upwarcM ot 10 O , UV » u a « iu »
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^ 8 l « tiii « "iiN » l " N « f « M « f IK" " I ' niHrcmdPf VJqtprlo , from * U « Foundation oMlw | Colony , VuUK'il » y . John |>'« rruH fjuvcrh (« ont I'l'lntor , Mcibouvac
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B 80 1 lie Saturday Analyst and \ Leader , [ Oct . 20 , 1869
A Record Of Disasters.
A RECORD OF DISASTERS .
The 1mete0politan, Or Underground Rail-•¦ ¦ , ' . ' ; . ¦:¦¦ '¦¦ ' ¦ "Way. . : • .- . , : '- ¦ . -
THE METROPOLITAN , OR UNDERGROUND RAIL-•¦ , ' . ' : ¦ ¦ : ¦¦ '¦¦' ¦ "WAY . . : .-. . : ¦ ' ¦ . -:
Tasmania.*
TAS : UANIA >
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 20, 1860, page 880, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2370/page/8/
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