THE Board of Trade is to be congratulated on the success of its efforts to lay before the public the " Abstracts of the Shipping Casualties which have occurred on or near the Coasts of the United Kingdom " up to the latest possible date. During the current year the Board has issued the tables to which we refer for two years instead of one, thus bringing up the statistics to the 30th June, 1895. In the number of the Life-boat Journal issued in February last we had the pleasure to submit to our readers the more interesting features of the Board of Trade Returns for the year 1893-4, and we now draw attention to those relating to the year ended the 30th June, 1895, which will we are sure be perused with much in- terest. In our February article we had to regret an unsatisfactory increase in the number of casualties and of the lives lost as a result of those casualties during the year 1893-4, but on the present occasion we are pleased to be able to report an improvement almost " all along the line." During the year 1894-5 the total number of shipping casualties round our shores was 4,917, a decrease of 34 as compared with the previous year, a really satisfactory decrease in view of the fact that with a reviving trade the number of vessels coining to and going from our coast had considerably increased, and, which is far more important, the total number of lives lost as a result of the casualties fell from 821 to 740—a very pleasing decrease of 81.

The 4,917 casualties for the year in- cluded all descriptions of casualty be- falling vessels of every class—collisions, fonnderings, strandings, missing vessels,

etc. These we classify according to our wont under the following three heads:— (1) Total loss; (2) serious casualties; (3) minor casualties. A decrease is shown under the heads Nos. 1 and 2, but there was an increase, although not a very important one, as regards heading No. 3.

The cases of total loss and serious casualty fell from 1,706 to 1,474, a considerable decrease of 232; the total of the minor casualties, however, rose from 3,245 to 3,443, an increase of 198. It is a matter for surprise that life was lost in only 271 of the 4,917 casualties.

It should be noted that the collision cases constituted a very large proportion of the casualties; they numbered 1,688, an increase of 259 as compared with the corresponding total for the year ended the 30th June, 1894; and it will be observed that this increase is 61 in excess of the total increase for the year of casual- ties of every description, as compared with the preceding twelve months. Curi- ously enough, the cases of collision occurred more frequently by day than by night, and were, in the great majority of cases, between a steamer and a sailing vessel. Much has been said and written of late on the subject of the rule of the road at sea, and we hope that the cogita- tions of the experts may, before long, result in a considerable diminution of the number of collisions. Collision cases being excluded, the cases of total loss fell from 417 to 356, the serious casualties from 843 to 723, and the minor casualties from 2,262 to 2,150.

Of the total number of casualties it is interesting to note that 4,419 befell British and Colonial" vessels, and 498 Foreign vessels; total 4,917. The British and Colonial total was only 53 in excess of that of the previous year, and the Foreign total showed a falling off of 87.

Dividing the United Kingdom into districts, the casualties from a local point of view are as follows, collision cases being excluded:—East coast of England, 899, or 138 less than the year 1893-4; north coast, 555, or 45 less; west coast of England and Scotland, and east coast of Ireland, 1,191, or 11 more than, the preceding year; north coast of Scotland, 138, a reduction of 11; east coast of Scotland, 182, or 54 less; other parts 274, or 46 less; total 3,229, or 293 less than the year 1893-4.

The totals of the lives lost in the several districts as a result of the casualties were:—East coast of England 91, or 122 less than in the previous year; south coast of England 45, or 33 less than in 1893-4; west coast of England and Scotland, and east coast of Ireland 237, an increase of 120; north coast of Scotland 17, or 18 less than in the year before; east coast of Scotland 22, or 15 less than in the year 1893-4; other parts, 328 ; total 740.

On the accompanying Chart of Great Britain and Ireland a black dot has been placed to indicate the precise position on the coast where each shipping casualty took place during the year ended the 30th June, 1895, so that it may readily be seen what parts of the coast proved the most dangerous. The Chart also gives the positions of the 298 Life-boats of the Institution now on the coast.

Between 1861 and the 30th June, 1895, 5,512 British, Colonial, and Foreign vessels were wrecked on our coast, resulting in every case in the loss of life, the total number of lives lost being 24,350. Of the 740 lives lost in the year 1894-5, 661 were from British and Colonial vessels, a reduction of 20 as compared with the pre- ceding year, and 79 from Foreign vessels, the number in 1893—4 being 101. From these figures it will be seen that the number of lives lost from British and Colonial vessels was 59 less than in the year before, and that the number lost from Foreign vessels showed a satisfactory de- crease of 22.

Of the 740 lives lost under all heads during the year 1894-5, 81 were due to the foundering of vessels, 51 to collisions, 260 to stranded vessels, 271 to missing vessels—as against 218 in the preceding year—and 77 to explosions, washed over-board, etc. It is worthy of notice that out of the 740 persons who thus perished only 38 were passengers, all the rest being officers and members of the crews of the various vessels.

The following table, giving the figures for the last forty-two years, shows that year by year the number of vessels meet- ing with casualties varies, partly, no doubt, owing to the different conditions of wind and weather, and partly to the varying number of vessels coming to and going from our ports:—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; 1880-1, 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; 1890-1, 4,198; 1891-2, 4,710 ; 1892-3, 3,499; 1893-4, 4,951; 1894-5, 4,917. Total, 125,063.

Terrible as the loss of life from ship- wreck on our coasts has been during the past generation, involving the destruction of 28,189 lives, it is gratifying to find that in the same period the Life-boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTI- TUTION, and the other means employed and rewarded by it, have been instru- mental in saving 29,415 lives, the lives saved thus exceeding the lives lost by 1,226. In 1895 alone the Committee of the Institution granted rewards for the saving of 709'lives.

The services of the Life-boats in 1894—5 were, as usual, admirably backed up by the excellent work in assisting distressed vessels and crews performed by the 308 Rocket Apparatus and other stations of the Board of Trade. By this valuable and efficient means no less than 321 lives were saved during the year, the number saved in the preceding year numbering 402.

The value and necessity of the Life-boat Service is fully demonstrated b.v the figures which have been so strikingly tabulated by the Board of Trade, and we are satisfied that the thinking public will be careful not to allow the Life-boat Institu- tion to become inefficient or to decrease the area of its operations for lack of funds.