THE " Abstracts of the Shipping Casual- ties which have occurred on or near the coasts of the United Kingdom during the year ended 30th June, 1896," have recently been issued by the Board of Trade, and are of the deepest interest, not only to all personally connected with the " sea and its sorrows," but also to those occupied in promoting means to reduce to a minimum the loss of life and the shipping casualties which annually occur on or near our rockbound shores, the result of gales, fogs, collisions, accidents, etc. The tables containing the valuable information given by the Board of Trade are particularly clear and intelligible, even to those quite unaccustomed to dip into the voluminous pages of Government Blue Books, and the officials who have compiled them are to be congratulated on the success of their efforts to place the statistics before the public in a form easy to be understood by all. The friends and supporters of the Life-boat cause will, we think, be particularly interested in the latest figures which are placed before them, inasmuch as they show that, not- withstanding the recovery of trade and the consequent increase in the tonnage coming to and going from our coasts, not only have shipping casualties considerably decreased, but, which is of much greater importance, the resulting loss of life has been reduced by more than one-third.

In the year 1895-6 the total number of shipping casualties " on or near " our shores was 4,620, a decrease of 297 as compared with the preceding year; the total number of lives lost as the result of the casualties falling from 740 — the number of lives lost during the year 1894-5—to 458, a large decrease of 282.

Owing to the circumstances connected with the casualties involving the loss of life, such as the distance of the vessels from land, collisions, fogs, fonnderings, etc., it is probable that but few of those who perished could possibly have been saved by the various means adopted for the saving of life from shipwreck.

The 4,620 casualties in question in- cluded every description of casualty or accident befalling all classes of vessels, namely, collisions, founderings, strand- ings, missing vessels, etc. For conve- nience all may be classified under the following heads: (1) Total loss; (2) serious casualties; (3) minor casualties.

Under all these heads a decrease is re- ported. The cases of total loss and serious casualty fell from 1,474 to 1,345, a decrease of 129, and the total of minor casualties fell from 3,443 to 3,275, a decrease of 168.

It is important to note that of the 4,620 casualties only 410 resulted in loss of life.

As is always the case, the collision cases represent a very large proportion of the total number of casualties. In the year under consideration they numbered 1,547, a decrease of 141 as compared with the preceding year. We again observe, as we have noticed on a previous occasion, that, contrary to what would have been expected, collisions occur more frequently by day than by night, and are generally between steamers and sailing vessels.

Collision cases not being taken into account, the casualties involving total loss fell from 356 to 250, the serious casualties from 723 to 722, and the minor casualties from 2,150 to 2,101.

Of the 4,620 casualties, 4,113 befel British and Colonial vessels and 507 Foreign vessels. The British and Colonial total was 306 less than that of the year before, but the Foreign total showed an increase of 9 cases.

The localities of the casualties, exclud- ing collisions, were as follows:—East coast of England, 804, or 95 less than the previous year; north coast, 543, or 12 less than the year 1894-5; west coast of England and Scotland and east coast of Ireland, 1,175, or 16 less than the pre- ceding year; north coast of Scotland, 116, a falling off of 22; east coast of Scotland, 181, a reduction of 1 only; other parts, 254, or a decrease of 20; total, 3,073, or 156 less than the year before.

The loss of life in the several districts arising from the casualties, including collisions, was as follows:—East coast of England, 103, or 12 more than in the year 1894-5; south coast of England, 45, the same as in the preceding year; west coast of England and Scotland and east coast of Ireland, 165, a decrease of 72 as compared with the previous year; north coast of Scotland, 23, or 6 more than in 1894-5; east coast of Scotland, 12, or 10 less than the year before; other parts, 110; total, 458.

According to our custom each year, we furnish a chart of the United Kingdom on which will be found a black dot entered against every spot on which any important shipping casualty occurred during the year ended the 30th June, 1896. The precise position of each of the 297 Life-boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION is also shown on the chart, so that it may be seen at a glance whether, speaking generally, the Life-boats have been judiciously located.

Between 1861 and the 30th June, 1896, 5,652 British, Colonial and Foreign vessels were wrecked on or near our shores, involving the loss of life in each instance, the total number of lives thus lost being 24,808. Of the 458 lives sacrificed in the year 1895-6, 387 were from British and Colonial vessels, and 71 from Foreign vessels. On comparing these figures with those of the preceding year it will be seen that in the year 1895-6 there was a large decrease of 274 in the number of lives lost from British and Colonial vessels, and a decrease of 8 in the lives lost from Foreign vessels.

Of the 458 persons who perished in the year 1895-6, 74 were lost in foundered vessels, 116 in collisions (the total under this head the year before being only 51), 127 in stranded vessels, or 133 less than in the preceding year, 44 in missing vessels, a decrease of no less than 227 as compared with the previous year, and 97 in explosions, washed overboard, etc.

Of the 458 persons who lost their lives only 43 were passengers, the remaining 415 being officers and members of the crews of the vessels.

The number of vessels meeting with casualties on or near the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland necessarily varies from year to year. The fluctuations will perhaps be most readily understood by the perusal of the following table which gives the figures for the last 43 years:— 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; 1895-6, 4,620. Total, 129,683.

Notwithstanding the much to be deplored loss of life which has taken place either on or near our coasts during the past generation, amounting in the aggregate to 28,647 lives, it is a matter for deep thankfulness that in the same period the Life-boats of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and the other means employed and recognised by it, have been instrumental in saving 30,004 persons from a watery grave, the number of lives rescued thus exceeding those lost by 1,357. In 1896 the Com- mittee of the Institution granted rewards for the saving of 461 lives, in addition to which the Life-boats landed many more persons who were in positions of peril.

In addition to the good work done by the Life-boats in the year 1895-6, admir- able service was as usual rendered to distressed crews by the 309 rocket apparatus and other stations of the Board of Trade worked by the Coast Guard and Rocket Brigades. By this means 154 lives were saved.

The statistics to which we have directed attention, while they demonstrate the dangerous nature of the coast-line of the British Isles, indicate to all at the same time the duty of doing everything that can be done to avert, or at all events to minimise, the dangers incurred by those who visit and leave our shores. Few appreciate as they should the greatness of the debt owed by us to our seafaring population, through whom we obtain most of the daily necessaries of life. The LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION does not receive from the public at large the financial support it merits. Surely no better proof of thank- fulness to those who "go down to the sea in ships" and risk their lives to supply our needs and luxuries could be shown than by contributing liberally to the maintenance of our Life-boat Service.