The number of life-saving stations will be found in the inclosed Notice to Navigators. As regards the operations for the year up to March 31, 1889, within the scope of the life-saving stations of Jutland, I would state: The number of cases of stranding was 73. The value of the property saved and lost on these occasions is unknown to me, and no information can be given on this subject. The number of persons shipwrecked on the occasions of the aforesaid 73 strandings was 742. The number of persons rescued, 737. Four shipwrecked persons perished on the coast when the vessel went to pieces, which it did before assistance could be rendered, and during a collision with one of the light-ships on the coast a seaman belonging to the crew of the colliding vessel was killed by a falling spar; thus 5 men in all perished. As shipwrecked persons are not cared for at Danish life-saving stations, for the reason that sufficient accommodations are afforded by the neighboring inhabitants, the inquiries on this subject are not applicable to the state of things in this country. The number of vessels totally lost during the aforesaid fiscal year was 40. As regards the result obtained from the time of the establishment of our Life-Saving Service, computed from April 15, 1851, to March 31, 1887, I will refer, as far as Jutland is concerned, to the following extract from the Director's List of Strandings, and will answer the inquiries as follows: The whole number of vessels stranded during the above-named period was.. The number stranded in 1888-'89 was.. Total...... 2,208 62 73 2,343 According to the extract the number of shipwrecked persons was 17,356 For 1887-'88 add 411 742 18, 509 The value of those vessels, as already stated, is unknown. For 1888-'89 add Total According to this, up to March 31, 1887, the number of shipwrecked persons who were rescued was ...... In 1887-'88 the number of persons rescued was. In 1888-'89 the number of persons rescued was. Total.. Up to March 31, 1887, the number of those lost was Total. 16, 381 398 737 17,516 975 13 5 993 From April, 1857, up to March 31, 1887, the number of vessels totally lost was In 1887-'88 the number of vessels totally lost was 1,550 43 40 Total.... In addition to the.... shipwrecked persons previously mentioned, the crews on board of 180 "dead" vessels which were driven in up to March 31, 1889, were....... 1,633 18,509 1,046 Total..... 19,555 From the "dead" vessels driven upon the coast the number of persons who perished in the open sea was 259 Before the stranding of not "dead" vessels took place the number of those who perished at sea was 35 Total. 294 Although the 294 persons last mentioned did not come under the information desired by the Treasury Department, I have nevertheless thought proper to furnish information concerning that portion of the "dead" vessels driven in and concerning other persons who lost their lives at sea. A number of the foregoing data have been taken from the annual reports of the operations of the life-saving service, while others have been taken from other sources. The concise information desired by the Department at Washington, a portion of which is herewith communicated, is not found in the aforesaid reports or in any other documents that are known to me. Very respectfully, THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR. A. ANDERSEN. EXTRACT FROM THE LIST OF STRANDINGS AT THE LIFE-SAVING STATIONS OF JUTLAND. [Prepared by Vice-Consul A. Andersen, Director of the Life-Saving Service of Jutland.] INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Before the Life-Saving Service was organized in Jutland, in the year 1852, means were adopted at certain points on the coast for the rescue of shipwrecked persons. Consequently, the list prepared includes shipwrecks on the west coast of Jutland for the period commencing April 20, 1851. The enumeration is continued up to March 31, 1887, and includes portions of the Cattegat coast. The first printed report concerning the operations of the Life-Saving Service in this country appeared in the year 1858. As it was considered desirable, and even important on several accounts, that the list should embrace, as far as possible, all the losses that had occurred within the scope of the life-saving stations, even before the issue of the first report, efforts were made to collect the necessary data on this subject. This had special reference to the so-called "dead" vessels, i. e., vessels driven ashore without any living persons on board, concerning the fate of whose crews the yearly reports could, as a rule, contain no information from the nature of the case. Concerning the crews of 126 out of 173 "dead" vessels embraced in the list, of which the number of men saved in the open sea was 735, and that of those who perished in the open sea was *293, total 1,028, some information was obtained only by way of exception. The fact that it was found possible to obtain some of these data after the lapse of a comparatively long period of time, is due in a great measure to the obliging disposition which the inquiries in question met with, almost without exception, among the local authorities on the coast, as well as among the Danish Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls in foreign countries, at the Record Office of Shipping, at the Bureau Veritas, at the editorial office of the "Berlingske Tidende," etc. The aforesaid crews belonging to "dead" vessels, which, as already remarked, consisted of 1,028 men, are not taken into consideration in these observations, because the life-saving stations were unable to exert any influence over their fate. The number of cases of stranding given in the list from folio 1 to 111, is 2,214. Of these no information could be obtained concerning 43, and in 6 cases the operation was repeated at the place of stranding, and is mentioned a like number of times in the list. The number of stranded vessels concerning which information was obtained was thus 2,165, to wit: Thirty-one men of this number, although they perished in the open sea, did not belong to "dead" vessels. If the last-named fishermen, rescued by life-boats, are not counted, the average percentage of persons who perished on the coast will be 5.62 of the number of persons shipwrecked. The fact that the percentage of those lost is so different for the different flags, is to be attributed to various circumstances. The heavy loss of the English is principally due to their well-known disposition to attempt to land with their own boats. The low percentage of the Dutch is to be attributed to their flat-bottomed vessels, which were able to come nearer to land than others of the same size but with sharper bottoms, and the case was the same in respect to the Russians when the frigate Alexander Newsky was stranded with a numerous crew on board. The number of vessels stranded, which were known, was. The number of those concerning which no information could be obtained was. 2,165 43 2,208 The number of those got afloat (including 9 dead vessels) was 658 1,550 2,208 Total In addition to these strandings a number of vessels ran aground in the course of the year, but succeeded in getting afloat again by their own efforts, without having any connection with the land. According to folio 111 the number of persons rescued by life-boats was 2, 136 By the rocket apparatus .... And with rocket apparatus previously to 1851.... With both combined Total..... They are thus divided: 123 2,259 2, 145 12 2, 157 68 4,484 The number of life saving stations in Jutland on the 1st day of April, 1888, was 44, 3 of which were substations, under the management of men residing in the neighborhood. The aforesaid operations took place at the following life-saving stations: In operations of this kind, extending over a period of thirty-six years, there were, of course, some cases of disaster. Of these we will mention the capsizing of four life-boats while attempting to rescue shipwrecked persons, on which occasion 11 boatmen and 12 of the persons who had been taken into the boats perished; also four capsizings, which caused the death of 8 men, who were in boats, going through the life-saving drill. The work done by the persons employed at the life-saving stations of Jutland (who, on the 31st of March, 1887, were 39 overseers and 391 boatmen and assistants) may be divided as follows: Four overseers and 41 boatmen and assistants took part in the rescue of from 4 to 6 shipwrecked persons. Four overseers and 48 boatmen and assistants took part in the rescue of from 11 to 20 shipwrecked persons. |