The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 23, 31 March 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1866.

Since the wreck of the Royal Charter, no shipping disaster has brought such sorrow upon the Australasian communities as the recent loss of the London. Among the 220 who went down with that ill-fated vessel, many were old colonists, returning from a brief visit to their native land, whose friends out here were perhaps looking daily for their return, and will now be plunged into untimely grief upon hearing of their sad fate. The loss of Dr. Woolley, the Rev. Mr. Draper, and G. V. Brooke, will be deplored through the wide circle of their friends as a loss to the whole community. Everyone in New Zealand will sympathize with Mr. Justice Chapman, who has lost his wife and three chili dren by this dire calamity. Anxious for information he hurried to the telegraph office, at Dunedin, a message from the Bluff was at once handed to him. After doing little more than glancing at it, he staggered, and fell to the ground. The message announced the loss of all those dear to him who had taken passage in the London. Shortly after one o'clock on Thursday, _anuary 11th, the ill-fated vessel went down, carrying upwards of two hundred souls into a watery grave ; and yet these had but six days previously left the port of Plymouth in Inch spirits, looking forward to a prosperous voyage, and a speedy arrival at their destination. They had every reason to feel confidence in the noble vessel in which they had taken their passage ; though not two years old she had already achieved a high reputation, her previous outward passage was made in the remarkably short space of 59 days. Her owners and underwriters had every confidence in her fine seagoing qualities. She was built by one of the most celebrated of the London shipbuilding firms, and previously no serious casualty had ever happened to any vessel belonging to her owners. Her captain had a high reputation as a skilful seaman, and during the whole of the time the ship lay at the mercy of the waves, never ceased to enjoy the confidence of all on board. If the vessel was too heavy laden, or the cargo unskilfully stowed in her hold, they were not aware of it, nor were they aware of any danger likely to arise from a quantity of coal, having been placed upon her deck. There were officers appointed by the Government whose duty it was to see that the vessel was safe before proceeding to sea, and they could never think that those officers neglected their duty, or that the laws passed to secure the safety of passengers were not effective.

Excepting, perhaps, some Dutch' sailors, everyone. on board did their duty nobly. The Captain was always on deck, inspiring confidence by his ceaseless vigilance, uging every means within his power to save his ship, and when all hope was gone and its destruction certain, deciding to share its fate. The Chief Engineer remained at his post untiL the Avater, which had poured down the hatchway, had put out all the fires, and the engines were rendered useless ; then, and not till then did he come upon deck. The TJiird Officer stood to the last to his post at the donkey engine, which was employed in working the pumps, and his hands were on the engine even as the vessel disappeared, like the Roman guard at Herculaneum who remained at his duty when the flood of lava came which buried that city. But not these alone ; the passengers working at the pumps with the crew, or doing all they could. All alike behaved well. We trust there will be a searching inquiry into the condition in which the vessel left the shores of England, and generally into the causes which led to the shocking catastrophe. A noble ship, a vast amount of property and, worse than all, over 200 lives were lost upon this unhappy occasion. Although the weather was tempestuous, it cannot have been from that cause alone, because several smaller vessels were out in the same tempest and reached their destination in safety, and a frail overcrowded boat lived through the following night, with a sea as high as that encountered by the lost steamship. We have reason to believe that every portion of the vessel was sound, and that the machinery was in perfect order ; we know that thecaptain and officers did their dnty, and the defection of a portion of the crew can scarcely have been the cause of the disaster, for although the withdrawal of their services must have been felt, yet when the hatches were filled with water, no human power could have saved the vessel. We believe that it is in her overloading that we must look for the cause of the catastrophe; for besides the dead weight she had in her which prevented her from riding the waves, and so allowed them to wash over her, the quantity of loose coal she had on deck, when once adrift, filled up the scupper holes, and so prevented the ship's decks from getting free from the water. It may not be in human power to . ensure perfect safety in crossing the ocean, yet by inquiring into the causes of each shipping disaster as it occurs, and noting the defects of construction and management, what each case reveals, it may yet be possible to build and sail a ship which will outlive every tempest in the open sea, and as this dreadful disaster will cause a great deal of public attention to be directed to the condition in which passenger vessels leave the shores of England, doubtless more stringent regulations will in future be enforced so as to diminish the risks to human life in future in crossing the ocean.