OF all the Blue Books printed year by year for " Her Majesty's Stationery Office," probably not one communicates such deeply interesting information as that to be found in the volume containing the elaborate Tables drawn up and pub- lished relative to the Wreck Register.

The Board of Trade renders good service to the country by collating these statistics, which not only constitute a check on those who, utterly regardless of the value of human life, would not hesitate, unless deterred by public criticism, to send creaky and utterly untrustworthy ships to sea, but which also accentuate the import- ance of the grand life-saving work carried on by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION and the Rocket Apparatus.

For the benefit of those of our readers who have neither the time nor the oppor- tunity for analyzing the pages of the " Wreck Register," we propose, as is our annual wont, to cull from its numerous folios the more important details and figures, and to place them in a compact and intelligible form before them.

For several years past the number of shipping casualties on our coasts has been steadily increasing. It is therefore with some relief we are enabled to state that during the year under consideration there was a considerable decrease, the number of vessels being 4198, or 146 less than during the previous twelve months.

This fact taken by itself would of course be a cause for congratulation, and would go to prove that our sea-going population are becoming more careful and better educated than formerly; but, unfortu- nately, in looking farther into the matter, we find that there was not a correspond- ing decrease in the number of lives sacri- ficed as the result of the year's casualties.

So far from this being the case, it is our painful duty to point out that there was a heavy increase in the number of lives lost, the total having risen by 117 to 523.

The 4198 casualties included all the ships which were unfortunate enough to sustain any sort of accident or damage, but for convenience sake, and for the purposes of comparison, it is best to clas- sify them. We therefore place them under three heads. (1) Total loss; (2) serious casualties; (3) minor casualties.

It is a matter for deep regret that, while the aggregate of the minor casualties fell to 2521, or showed a decrease of 275 as compared with the previous year, there was a serious increase of 129 under the heads 1 and 2, namely, total loss and serious casualties, the total being 1677.

It is difficult to find an explanation for this very unsatisfactory state of affairs; we can only trust that it is not the type of future years. The fact is the more unfortunate because in no less than 155 cases life was lost, whereas in the pre- vious year life was sacrificed in only 139 instances.

As is always the case a large propor- tion of the casualties consisted of collision cases, the total being 1474, or 42 more than in the year 1889-90. Excluding collisions the instances of total loss rose from 281 to 344, and the serious casual- ties from 826 to 857. The cases of minor accident decreased, however, con- siderably, namely, from 1805 to 1523.

Of the 4198 casualties, 3694 befel British and Colonial ships and steamers, and 504 foreign vessels, the former show- ing a decrease of 251 as compared with the year 1889-90, and the latter a very large increase of 105.

The localities of the casualties, again excluding collisions, were as follows:— East coast of England 628, south coast 540, west coast of England and Scotland and east coast of Ireland 1037; north coast of Scotland 108, east coast of Scot- land 140, and other parts 271; total 2724, or 188 less than in the previous year. It is interesting to note that for two years in succession the west coast proved more destructive than the east or other parts of the coast. This is not, however, of frequent occurrence, the east coast, as a rule, proving the most dan- gerous.

The loss of life arising from the casualties, collisions, and all other cases being included, is found to be as follows: East coast of England 37, or 15 less than in the previous year; south coast of England 147, or 69 more than the year before; west coast of England and Scot- land, and east coast of Ireland 122, an increase of 22 as compared with the previous twelve months; north coast of Scotland 17, or 22 less than in the year 1889-90; east coast of Scotland 20, or 1 less than the year before; other parts 180; total, 523.

We would draw the special attention of our readers to the accompanying chart of the United Kingdom, on which has been entered a little black dot against every spot on which a shipping casualty of comparative importance happened on our coasts during the year ended the 30th of IST FEBRUARY, 1893.] THE LIFE-BOAT.

277 June, 1891. It will be observed that on no part of the coast on which there is any amount of traffic has there been immunity from any serious disaster. The exact position of each of the 305 Life- boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION is also shown and it will be seen that the Life-boats have been judiciously placed where wrecks are most frequent.

As many as 4,897 British, colonial, and foreign vessels were wrecked on our shores between 1861 and the 30th June, 1891 involving the loss of life in each instance, the total number of lives thus lost being 21,949. Of the 523 lives sacrificed during the year under con- sideration, 487 were from British and colonial vessels and 36 from foreign vessels. It will be seen, therefore, on comparing these figures with those of 1889-90 that the number of lives lost from British and colonial ships exceeded the total number lost from British, colonial and foreign ships during the previous year by 81, while the increase of lives lost from British and colonial vessels alone was greater by 110 than the total for the year 1889-90. The foreign losses, however, only showed an increase of 7 lives lost. Of the 523 persons who perished 55 were lost in foundered vessels, 58 in collisions, 187 in stranded vessels, or more than double the number in the preceding year, 165 in missing vessels as against 78 the year before, and the remainder (58) in explosions, washed overboard, etc.

Although there has been, as already stated, an upward tendency in the number of vessels meeting with casualties on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, the totals year by year have fluctuated con- siderably, as will be gathered from the following figures which give the totals from June, 1854, to June, 1891:—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, 1,827; 1863,2,001; 1864, 1,741; 1865 2,012; 1866,2,289; 1867,2,513; 1868, 2,131; 1869,2,594; 1870,1,865; 1871, 1,927; 1872, 2,381; 1873 (first six months), 1,206 ; 1873-4, 2,191; 1874-5, 4,259; 1875-6, 4,554; 1876-7, 5,017; 1877-8,4,436; 1878-9,3,716; 1879-80, 3,138; 1880-81,4,297; 1881-2, 4,367; 1882-3, 4,363; 1883-4, 4,405; 1884-5, 3,764; 1885-6, 3,596; 1886-7, 4,224; 1887-8, 4,004; 1888-9, 4,272; 1889-90, 4,344; 1890-91,4,198. Total, 106,986.

Notwithstanding the terrible loss of life from shipwreck which has taken place on our coasts during the past generation, amounting in the aggregate to 25,788 lives, it is very gratifying to know that during the same period the Life-boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION, and the other means recognized by it, were instrumental in saving 26,223 lives, the number rescued thus exceeding the loss by 435. Last year alone the Institution granted rewards for saving 1,056 persons from a watery grave.

In addition to the good work done by the Life-boats in the year 1890-91, admirable service was rendered by the 301 Rocket Apparatus Stations of the Board of Trade, which resulted in the rescue of 216 lives.

The statistics to which we have drawn attention, at once indicate clearly the dangerous nature of the British coast and the duty laid upon us to do all in our power to avert, as far as possible, or at all events to endeavour to reduce, the dangers incurred by those coming to and going from our shores. It is to be feared that few appreciate, as they should, the greatness of the debt we owe to our sea- faring population, through whose instru- mentality most of the necessaries and luxuries of life are supplied to us. No better proof of thankfulness could be given than by contributing liberally to the Life-boat Institution, which is very insufficiently supported by the public and is at the present time greatly in need of funds.