The Globe. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1875.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 188, 15 January 1875, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1875.

i. ~ .. ; .; ; ; ■ ; ■ •<>• \ * $ The recent -loss by.'fiie^of patrick, und the fearful circumstancesattending the catastrophe, have at trneted the greatest attention and sympathy for the auif Tfrers throughour New Zealand generally;'"The joss u' the ill fated vessel has been a subject of conversation in every circle in the colony* It is. curious to listen to some of the arguments" which are used in discussing the case, as showing the entire change of feeling which hatcome over the minds of the general public of late years, with regard to the comparative safety of iron and wooden ships. From twelve to twenty years ago, it was no uncommon thing for passengers to decline to make a voyage in any particular vessel/on the ground that she was built of iron, and the ancient idea of the " wooden walls " of England was firmly impressed on the minds of a great majority of emigrant*, and a similar feeling existed even amongst a large proportion of nautical men. Now, however, " nous avons change tout cela " and iron ships are fast driving wooden ones out of the trade between England and the Australian colonies. Yor, strength, safety (both from fire and leakage), speed, and, last but not least in the eyes of shipowners, cheapness, the iron vessel claims a superiority over the wooden one, whilst on the quesLion of durability there can be no doubt whatever. We believe that in a few years, even if it is not the case at the present time, intending travellers to Australia or New Zealand by the long sea route, will make a point of choosing an iron ship to travel in, in preference to the best wooden vessel that ever was turned out, even from the yards of such owners as Money Wigram and Co, or the late B. Green. But there, is another point on whieh we wish to point put the superiority of iron vessels for emigration purposes over wooden ships of the same class. There is nobody in the world more prejudiced than the agricultural laborer of the English counties. The emigrants on board the Cospatrick were, we presume, gathered from various parts of Great Britain; and with the means of information so widely present, almost every laborer in England will have read or heard of this awful disaster which has occurred to a New Zealand emigrant ship. Any intending emigrants who may have had relations or friends on board the Cospatrick, will require much pressing and reassuring before they will put themselves in a position in which they may have to undergo a similar peril. But though a fire may occur on board of an iron vessel, yet the chances are very greatly in favor of its being under the control of the captain and crew of the ship, and such an utter burning off of the face of the waters as happened in the Cospatrick's case is impossible. It ia as easy to charter iron ships for conveying emigrants as to employ wooden ones, and .the manager of the Emigration policy should adopt the plan of sending iron ships to New Zealand, in order to overcome the fears which for a very long time will be found amongst the members of the class which we are at present endeavouring to attract to our shores. _