ON another page we record one of the most fearful catastrophes that has ever happened on the seas. The burning of the emigrant ship Austria, with 528 persons on board, of whom no less than 471 were drowned, suffocated, or burned to death.

This unfortunate vessel was foreign property, belonging to a Hamburg company and one of a line of steam ships running between that place and New York. We cannot, therefore, be held nationally responsible for this terrible sacrifice of human life, from whatever cause it may have arisen.

The question must, however, naturally occur to many a thinking Englishman—Are our own passenger ships any better prepared to meet such a terrible visitation as destruction by fire, or may we expect after a while to have our feelings shocked by the account of some English Austria presenting the same deplorable spectacle of panic, destruction of boats, and loss of all on board but some small portion whom accident may have led to a better boat, or to one more fortunately managed than the others ? Alas! that our reply must be, we may, and most probably will, ere long have to record a similar sad tale on board an English vessel; for we have no reason to suppose that this unhappy ship was a whit behind the best of our own in the provision of boats or other means for effecting the safety of those on board in the event of accident at sea.

The Austria was a fine vessel, of capacious size, being 2,500 tons; she was new, and of English build, having been launched only a year before in the Clyde; and she was considered to be most complete in the supply of boats, life-buoys, and all such appliances, after the most approved modern custom. Yet all was of no avail to no less than 471 persons out of 528 who had trusted themselves and their all on board her.

It will be well to consider what was the cause of so great a sacrifice of life, and why the means provided for the security of the living cargo so terribly failed in the final emergency, in order that we may ascertain what steps might be adopted to prevent, or at least to lessen the chances of such calamities in future.

It appears from the account of the survivors that there was considered to have been a good supply of boats on board, although not enough to contain all the passengers and crew ; but that accidents happened to all of them in the act of lowering or after they reached the water, chiefly caused by the panic which seized on the affrighted passengers, who rushed indiscriminately into them, and crushed or swamped them one after another, two or three of them being also upset Toy the action of the vessel's screw. As a panic amongst those on board was then the immediate cause of the greater portion of this fearful loss of life, it will be worth, our while to inquire how far there was reason for panic, and what arrangements may, •with advantage, be adopted to lessen the probability of a panic in all similar cases.

The first of these inquiries is readily replied to without other information than we are already acquainted with. The second is one loudly demanding the serious attention of the Government and Legislature of this country.

With regard to the first inquiry, we have only to learn that there were not sufficient boats to take off all those on board the ill-fated ship, and we have at once ample cause for a panic. For if it were known to those on board that the boats would take off all but five or six, or even all but one individual, that knowledge would be sufficient to cause a panic, since the fear of being that doomed one would suffice to raise up the demon of fear in nearly every breast, and a panic would be the sure result.

We may then at once proceed with our second inquiry, viz.:-—What arrangements may with advantage be adopted to lessen the probability of a panic, with all its fearful consequences, in every future similar case ? To this inquiry we shall devote our careful consideration, and we hope to show that it is quite practicable to provide such security for every person on board the most crowded emigrant or other passenger ship as shall materially lessen the probability of a panic seizing them, and shall diminish the chances of loss of life even when a panic has ensued.

And surely, as we have remarked above, this is a subject worthy of the serious consideration of the Government and Legislature of this country. For when we consider the mission that is evidently in God's providence before us, to people the most distant parts of the world, and to carry civilization and religion into its darkest corners; when we consider our enormous and increasing commerce, and the vast number of our countrymen whose lives are and will be constantly imperilled on the seas, how can we sufficiently estimate the responsibility which rests on us, as a nation possessed of such great privileges, to lessen as far as possible the perils of the deep ? In the answer to our first inquiry, we have pointed out the necessity for sufficient boats in every ship to convey every person on board in the event of destruction impending, whether by fire or other danger incidental to the sea.

We shall be at once told that in the crowded emigrant or troop ship our remedy would be inapplicable, since a sufficient number of boats could not be stowed on board.

We are prepared to maintain that sufficient boats can be stowed to carry the fullest complement of passengers or troops conveyed in any ship, and that it is therefore as much the duty of the Legislature to require that such boats shall be carried, as it is to limit the number of persons conveyed by any land carriage to such a number as may be safely carried by it. A similar law, requiring that no ship should carry more persons on board than she had boat accommodation for, would very quickly produce the desired result, and difficulties which appeared insurmountable when seen through the mingled and conflicting atmosphere of Christian duty and worldly interest would speedily disappear when viewed in the unobscured light of commercial enterprise.

The spirit of emulation and competition, and the keen desire for pecuniary profit would soon, as by magic, build boats and rig davits, and find out blank spaces of stowage-room. We must not, however, be satisfied with vague generalities, or trust even to the all-potent motive of worldly interest, which, more frequently busies itself in seeking to evade the law than in endeavouring to turn it to best account. It is, therefore, indispensable in the first place that the number, size, description, and place of stowage of every boat on board a ship should be exactly defined and subject to official inspection and approval, so as to leave no loophole through which they who would dishonestly evade the law might obtain advantage at the expense of those who conscientiously abided by it. The necessity of such definition being granted, we will proceed to explain the exact character of those requirements which we think might be advantageously defined and rigorously insisted on.

I. That there should be a sufficient number of boats to carry every person on board a ship, each fitted as a life-boat, of the size and description as per given standard, hoisted to davits at the vessel's sides, fitted with Clifford's or other sanctioned im- proved lowering apparatus, and having always in her such articles of equipment as should be defined by law.

II. That every such boat should have painted on her exterior, in legible and conspicuous characters, the number of persons she was legally authorized to carry; in order that every passenger, or other person on board, could, at any time, by adding the total numbers together, satisfy himself that there was life-boat accommodation for all.

It would also be a manifest advantage that every boat should be of corresponding size, ; so as to take an equal number of persons on board. Thus, if each was authorized to carry 30 persons, it would be readily calculated that each 10 boats would carry 300, and the number would be so familiar to every one, that in the hurry of taking to the boats, the regulated safe cargo of each would be more certainly known and less likely to be departed from.

III. That on leaving port, and at certain intervals during every long voyage, the captain of the ship should muster all hands, and call over the names of the officer to take charge, the crew to work, and the passengers to embark in each boat individually specified.

IV. That the boats of every passenger ship should be specially and carefully inspected and reported on by the appointed Government Inspector previous to each voyage. At present, the inspection of ships' life-boats is of no service, as there is no fixed standard, and it is notorious that the generality of those in passenger ships, and nearly or quite all of those in our coast passenger steamers, are a mere sham, unentitled to the name of life-boats.

We will offer some remarks on the above recommendations to make plain their practicability, and to meet any objections which may be made against them.

Istly. As to _the number of boats to bo i carried, and their places of stowage. How i and where could a sufficient number- be stowed to suffice for a full cargo of passengers? In reply to this question, we must acknowledge that there might be difficulty in stowing a sufficient number of ordinary boats to take on board them all the denizens of a crowded passenger ship; if, therefore, such boats only are carried, the rights of humanity call for the interference of the law, which should allow no more passengers to be carried than should be proportional to the number of boats. But by the aid of the Berthon collapsible life boat, the difficulty of stowage can be at once ! got over, and any passenger ship may carry i on board, in readiness for instantaneous i lowering on the occurrence of danger, as many boats as she could carry passengers to occupy them. Thus, it will be acknowledged that a ship of 2,500 tons, such as the Austria, could readily carry, if a screw vessel, six pairs of boat's davits along each of her sides, or if a paddle-steamer, five pairs besides those of her paddlebox-boats.

This number, supposing each boat on board capable of carrying 30 persons, would give • boat accommodation for 360 persons. But ! we showed in the 25th Number of this Journal, to which we must refer our readers, that a Berthon's collapsible life-boat can be easily stowed at the inner part of every pair of davits, against the ship's side, the other ordinary boats, being hoisted up to the davit ends, the latter being first lowered and the former then in readiness for lowering. We have thus the boat accommodation doubled, and in the case of such a vessel as the Austria, we have boats for 720 persons, all hoisted to davits at the vessel's sides ready for instantaneous lowering. Here, then, we have at once an important source of safety— " there are boats enough for all on board." But, 2ndly, each of these boats should be life-boats, of a standard description, as defined by the Legislature. The Berthon boats are life-boats of a superior description, but every other boat should be also a life-boat after a given standard, or no life-boats worth the name will ever be provided by shipowners.

For a review of the whole question of the importance of a " Standard Lifeboat," we must'refer our readers to a paper on that subject in the 23rd Number of this Journal. It will be sufficient here to point out the advantages to be derived from every boat being, a life-boat, not only in name, but in reality. In addition to the greater safety of such boats in the event of bad weather overtaking them after their leaving a sinking or burning ship, there would be this immediate advantage; that if such boats were upset in lowering, they would not founder, and if several such boats capsized in lowering, they might be again righted by the aid of the remaining boats that had been safely lowered, which could not be done with common open boats: this capability would still further diminish the evils of a panic.

3rdly. These boats should be all fitted with Clifford's lowering apparatus, which has been proved to be superior to all other similar inventions, and which, as an additional source of security, would be a further means to prevent or allay a panic.

4thly. The advantage of a legalized number of persons to be carried by each boat, and of painting that number in legible characters on the exterior of every boat, will be sufficiently obvious without further observation.

5thly. The periodical mustering and stationing of the passengers, officers, and ship's company to the several boats would have the advantage, besides those already mentioned, of making the officer, crew, and passengers of each boat familiar with each other's personal appearance; which would be a means of preventing confusion, and therefore of lessening the chances of a panic in the hour of danger.

6thly. The advantages of inspection by authorized and qualified Government officers are too obvious to require comment.

There are two incidents in the history of this disaster deserving of notice. The one, that the only boat which it is reported was safely lowered from the davits full of people was a Francis's metallic life-boat. The other, that two or three of the boats were drawn towards the screw by the. stream of water which always tends to it, and were thus upset.

An account of Francis's galvanized iron life-boats will be found in the 22nd Number of this Journal; their great strength, their unliability to leak, or rot, and there being, to a great extent, fire-proof, give them strong claims to the attention of shipowners. They, however, require considerable modification of their interior fittings, and increase of " extra buoyancy" to make them what a ship's life-boat ought to be.

The danger of destruction by the action of the screw-propeller is a novelty in the history of these disasters; it may, however, be readily guarded against by a simple precaution, which also adds much to the safety of the process of lowering a boat at sea in other respects. Every boat should have its " painter," or some other rope from its bow, fast to the vessel at some distance before it; any boat will be safer hoisted up or lowered by adopting this precaution, as it steadies a boat greatly in the act of lowering or hoisting, and thus prevents her being damaged against the vessel's side, whilst, as soon as she is in the water, she is prevented going adrift, and can be immediately, by the use of the rudder, kept away from the vessel's side, or brought close to it at will. Every boat would thus not only be prevented from being drawn within the action of the screw, but would be retained alongside the ship, even if upset, until she had her proper cargo of passengers on board: by the aid of a small hatchet, to be kept in the bow of each boat, this rope might then be cut at the right moment, and the boat at once steered clear of the ship.

There remains but one serious obstacle to be alluded to, but it is one which surely ought to be no obstacle at all. We allude to the expense of providing a sufficient number of lifeboats for every ship. Undoubtedly a considerable additional expense would be incurred ; but should expense be pitted against human life? Surely it is a secondary question! Besides, if required from all alike, it would give no advantage to one shipowner over another, and the additional outlay would, in fact, be paid for by the passengers themselves; who, by a small addition to their passage-money, would, after a few voyages, have paid for the whole cost of the boats of a ship.

We have now considered this most important subject in all its bearings. We consider it to be one the importance of which cannot be exaggerated; one in which the national character is implicated. We have now, as on several previous occasions, raised our feeble voice to urge its serious consideration by the authorities of the land. We earnestly hope that we may not have given utterance to it altogether in vain.