A FEW days after the British Isles have been visited by one of the most destructive storms on record, it may not be inappro- priate to call attention to the last issue of the Wreck Register. Its pages clearly show that, along with the expansion of our ship- ping interests, disasters at sea continue to maintain, unfortunately, their wonted pre- eminence—2,519 wrecks having occurred on our coasts and seas last year, which are fully and minutely detailed in the Kegister. The magnitude of our shipping interests will soon clearly become larger than all the other shipping interests of the world combined.

Some trite remarks relating to this subject were made, as its President, by the Earl of Ravensworth at the opening of the last session of the Institution of Naval Architects, and which emphasize again the absolute necessity of being amply, provided with Life-boats and other means to meet the shipping catastrophes on our shores. It appears from what his Lord- ship said that there is invested in the shipping interest of this country one hundred millions of money. There are em- ployed 200,000 men, who earn 10,000,0002. of wages annually. Besides this, there are 100,000 more men employed in ship- building establishments and marine engine works, earning wages to the annual amount of seven millions of money. This is a mighty interest—now for its importance.

In peace the shipping interest of this country largely feeds our teeming multi- tudes of working men. It is a fact, as stated by the Vice-President of the Com- mittee of Council, that about one half of the butcher's meat slaughtered in London is imported from abroad; but not only that, our working millions are indebted for the whole of the raw material to be worked into manufactured goods, from which they derive their livelihood, to the shipping interests of this country.

These two facts are sufficient to justify one in calling the shipping interest the most important of our national interests, with one exception—that of agriculture. So much for its importance in peace, but the foresight of Governments has also secured, in case of war, the service to the country of those magnificent steamers which form the great ocean liners that convey all this vast commerce to our shores.

Again, our steam fleet has increased since 1850 from 1,350 to 6,690 vessels, representing 2,730,000 tons of ship- ping, or 1,000,000 tons more than all the steam fleets of the world put to- gether. We thus hold the very highest position in the carrying trade of the world. In regard to large ocean sailing ships, America holds a very good position.

England stands first on the list with 1,276 ships; and America has 884. Nor- way stands very close to America with 882; France has only 57. When we turn to the ocean steam tonnage, we find that out of a total of 590 steamers engaged in the trans-oceanic trade, England counts for 447, America for only 46; and of these 14 only are trans-ocoanic strictly speaking.

Twenty-five years ago the United States carried 75 per cent, of their own trade in their own ships. Steamers are mono- polising the carrying trade, and of the 156,000,0002. worth of produce that is exported from New York to England, 130,000,OOOZ. is now carried by steamers.

It is a remarkable fact that there is not a single American iron steamship crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the great port of New York.

Resuming our comments on this Wreck Register for the past year it is hardly possible to vary them from year to year, inasmuch as the usual class of tabulated figures are given on every page with- out one line of explanation or remark.

However we must try again to elicit a few instructive facts from these figures, which are as usual most accurately ar- ranged.

The 2,519 wrecks of 1879-80 include every kind of maritime disaster. Thus of the whole number of wrecks, casualties and collisions only 355 cases involved total loss, or about 1 in 7 of the vessels lost or damaged, while only 81 of the cases were accompanied by loss of life.

Deducting these 355 destructive cases from the year's casualties, the balance consists of 1,130 more or less serious disasters, and 1,034 other wrecks.

Taking the aggregate number of ship- wrecks the total is truly startling. Here is the sad record:—1854 (last six months), 458; 1855,1,141; 1856,1,153; 1857, 1,143; 1858,1,170; 1859, 1,416; 1860, 1,379; 1861,1,494; 1862, 1,488; 1863, 1,664; 1864,1,390; 1865, 1,656; 1866, 1,860; 1867,2,090; 1868, 1,747; 1869, 2,114 ; 1870, 1,502 ; 1871, 1,575 ; 1872, 1,958; 1873 (six months), 967; 1873-4, 1,803; 1874-5,3,590; 1875-6, 3,757; 1876-7, 4,164; 1877-8, 3,641; 1878-9, 3,002; and 1879-80, 2,519; making a total number of wrecks in twenty-six years of 51,841, and what is still more lamentable, the actual loss from these very shipwrecks of 18,550 lives, a total nearly equal to the number of men who man the British Meet.

Distressing as this fearful loss of Life undoubtedly is—apart entirely from the vast destruction of property recorded— the loss of life would have been truly appalling in the absence of the ceaseless exertions during the same period of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, supple- ' mented by those of the Coastguard and the Rocket Brigades under the super- vision of the Board of Trade. In corro- boration of this fact, we quote the actual number of lives which the Institution has contributed to save during the corre- sponding period named above, viz.:—1854, 355; 1855, 406; 1856,473; 1857,374; 1858,427; 1859,499; 1860; 455; 1861, 424; 1862,574; 1863, 714; 1864, 698; 1865,714; 1866,921; 1867,1,086; 1868, 862; 1869, 1,231; 1870, 784; 1871, 882; 1872, 739; 1873, 668; 1874, 713; 1875, 921; 1876, 600; 1877, 1,048; 1878, 616; 1879, 855; and 1880, 697— Total, 18,736. Such a record of noble deeds done as this statement shows needs no comment, for it stands alone in the World's History as regards Saving Life from Shipwreck, and is a monument of Christian philanthropy, of dauntless in- trepidity, and of the ingenuity of the age in which we live.

It appears that 3,138 vessels were in- volved in the wrecks—2,519—of the year.

The number of ships is in excess of the casualties reported, because in cases of collision two or more ships are, of course, involved in one casualty. Thus 603 were collisions, and 1,916 were wrecks and casualties other than collisions. On sub-dividing these latter casualties we find that 291 were wrecks, &c., resulting in total loss, 591 were casualties resulting in serious damage, and 1,034 were minor accidents. During the year 1878-79 the wrecks and casualties other than collisions on and near our coasts numbered 2,301, or 385 more than the number reported during the twelve months now under discussion.

The localities of the wrecks, still ex- cluding collisions, are thus given:—East coasts of England and Scotland, 573 ; south coast, 360; west coasts of England and Scotland, and coast of Ireland, 747; north coast of Scotland, 64; and other parts, 172. Total, 1,916.

The greatest destruction of human life happened on the west coasts of England and Scotland, and east coast of Ireland.

On the accompanying Wreck Chart for the year under consideration, the sites of the various shipwrecks are delineated with great accuracy, and the havoc thus created is clearly depicted. The chart, however, does not tell the important fact that the Life-boats of the Institution, the Rocket Apparatus of the Board of Trade, and other means, save every life from shipwreck on our coasts that it is practicable to save.

Again, excluding collisions, out of the 1,916 casualties, 1,674 disasters occurred to vessels belonging to this country and its dependencies, and 242 disasters happened to ships which belonged to foreign nations. Of these 1,674 British vessels, 1,095 were employed in our own coasting trade, 497 in the (oversea) foreign and home trade, and 82 as fishing vessels.

There were 7 casualties to ships belonging to foreign countries and states employed in the British coasting trade, and 180 to foreign vessels bound to or from British ports, although not actually engaged in our coasting trade; while there were 55 casualties to foreign ships which were not trading to or from the United Kingdom.

The Register gives figures showing that between 1861 and 1880 the number of British and Foreign ships that were wrecked on our coast, and from which life was lost, was 3,109, resulting in the loss of 14,711 lives—a most distressing fact, showing the urgent necessity of continued and ceaseless efforts to counter- act it.

Again, we observe with concern that the total number of English ships, which appear to have foundered or to have been otherwise totally lost on our shores, from defects in the ships or their equip- ments during the year, is 30; while 68 happened through the errors, &c., of masters, officers, crews, or pilots, 97 through stress of weather, and 42 from other or unknown cases.

The number of casualties arising from the same causes during the year, and resulting in serious damage, is as fol- lows :—Through defects, 45; errors, 115; stress of weather, 213; other causes, 126; and the cases of minor damage were, through defects, 62; errors, 132; stress of weather, 581; and other causes, 163.

It is interesting to observe the ages of the vessels wrecked during the period under consideration. Excluding foreign ships and collision cases, 145 wrecks and casualties happened to nearly new ships, and 223 to ships from 3 to 7 years of age. Then there are wrecks and casualties to 329 ships from 7 to 14 years old, and to 586 from 15 to 30 years old. Then follow 262 old ships from 30 to 50 years old. Having passed the service of half a century, we come to the very old ships, viz. 37 between 50 and 60 years old, 20 from 60 to 70, 7 from 70 to 80, 5 from 80 to 90, and 2 upwards of 100 years old, while the ages of 58 of the wrecks are unknown. Nearly all these no doubt were wooden vessels; they are rapidly becoming ships of the past, and are re- placed by stately iron and steel ships.

Excluding collisions, 405 steamships, and 1,511 sailing vessels, were lost or injured on our coasts last year. Of the 1,674 British ships meeting with disaster in the year, 872 did not exceed 100 tons burthen, 459 were from 100 to 300 tons, 107 were from 300 to 500 tons, and 236 were above 500 tons burthen. Of the 237 British vessels totally lost, irrespective of collisions, 23 are known to have been built of iron; and of this number, 18 were steamships, and 5 were sailing vessels.

The Wreck Register only gives the winds in 679 out of the 2,519 cases.

Dealing with these 679 cases only, we find that the winds that have been most fatal to shipping on and near the coasts of the United Kingdom during the year were as follows:—N. to E. inclusive, 107; E. by S. to S. inclusive, 138; S. by W. to W. inclusive, 310; and W. by N. to N. by W. inclusive, 124. Total, 679.

On distinguishing these last-named casualties, according to the force of the wind at the time at which the disaster occurred, 310 happened with the wind at forces 7 and 8, or a moderate to fresh gale, when a ship, if properly found, manned, and navigated, ought to be able to keep the sea with safety; while 369 disasters happened when the force of the wind was 9 to 11, that is to say, from a strong gale to a storm.

Happily the casualties to ships in our rivers and harbours were not so numerous during the year; the number having been 729, of which 9 were total losses, and 720 were partial casualties.

Of these casualties, collisions numbered 526, founderings 3, strandings 144, and miscellaneous 56.

These 729 casualties caused the loss of or damage to 1,289 vessels, of which 641 were British sailing Teasels, 562 British steam-vessels, 62 foreign sailing vessels, and 24 foreign steam-vessels. The lives lost in these casualties were:—In the Thames (above Gravesend) 7; in the Mersey (above New Brighton) 2; in the Avon 2; and in the Usk 1. Total, 12.

Of the collisions during the year, 48 of the 603 cases were between two steam- ships both under way, 181 between two sailing vessels both under way; and 164 between a steam-vessel and a sailing vessel both under way. The importance of this fact cannot be overrated, for it is hardly possible to conceive a casualty more awful in its consequences than a collision between two great ships at sea.

As regards the loss of life, the Wreck Abstract shows that the number was 231, from the various shipwrecks enumerated during the twelve months—a number fortunately smaller than ever previously known, notwithstanding the large number of the wrecks of the year, and the con- stant increase of new ships.

Of the lives lost, 17 were lost in vessels that foundered, 62 through vessels in collision, 80 in vessels stranded or cast ashore, and 40 in missing vessels. The remaining 32 lives were lost from various causes, such as through being washed overboard in heavy seas, explosions, missing vessels, &c.

Of the 81 ships from which the 231 lives were lost, 72 were British, involving the loss of 183 lives, and 9 were foreign, causing the loss of 48 lives.

In the midst of this doleful record of disasters at sea in one year, it is gratify- ing to observe that by means of the Life- boats, the Rocket Apparatus and other agencies, in conjunction with the successful efforts used on board the distressed vessels themselves, as many as two thousand nine hundred and twenty-three lives were saved from the various wrecks on our coasts last year. Thus may the NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION continue to pursue its great and national work, and, resting firmly on the blessing of God on its work, appeal with renewed assurance and con- fidence to the public for support.