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Leader (1850-1860), 5th June 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 532, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      FURTHER PBOBABILITlES OF THE FBAOTLIN SHIPS . The following is a letter from Mr . Lynch , passenger in the Meriovation > relating to the Franklin Expedition > written-in consequence of a communication addressed to the Collector , of Customs , Quebec , by Sir J . E . Alexander , A . D . C . . * t— . . . Prescott , May 11 , 1852 . " SlB , —I was a passenger ( the only one ) on board the brig Renovation , in April , 1851 , from Limerick to Quebec , Edward Coward , master ; Robert Simpson , chief mate ; the s econd mate ' s name I do not recollect / "We had a very fine run from the Irish coast , -and I do not recollect anything particular occurring until we fell in with the icebergs on , or in the vicinity , of the banks of Newfoundland .

      " We came in view of one iceberg , on which I distinctly saw two vessels , one certainly high and dry , the other mig ht have her keel and bottom in the water , but the ice was a long way outside her ; this was , as near as I can recollect , about the 18 th or 20 th of April , 1851 . "I thought at the time we might have been about three miles from them , but Mr . Simpson said we were five . I examined them particularly with the spy-glass—one ( the larger ) lay on her beam- ends , the other upright . I said to the mate , on seeing them , that they were a £ art of Sir John Franklin ' s squadron . He Said , ' Very likely ; and that would be a good prize for whoever would fall in with them . ' The captain did not think it prudent to give orders to attempt to board them . " -I do not recollect any one on board making any remark at the time , and ; , save the captain and mate , I do riot believe of the crew one knew anything of Sir 1 John Franklin ' s expedition .

      "On examining , which I did closely with the glass , the berg , I could see nothing that I could say were boats or tents ; but there were a number of hillocks of different shapes on the berg , which might have been boats or stores covered by any of the snow storms which we had at that time ; but of course I do not take upon myself to say such was the case , as similar appearances were to be seen on many other bergs . ' My reasons for supposing them to belong to Sir John Franknn ' s squadron tverej there being two ships on . one iceberg ; they appeared to me to be consorts , and having no appearance of being driven on the berg in distress , as "the rigging and spars of the upright one wete all as * shipshape as if she had been laid up in harbour ; also the one

      on her- beam-ends had no more appearance of a wreck than a vessel with her topmasts struck , and left by the tide on a beach , no loose ropes hanging from any part of her . My opinion is , that she bad been mboredtAp the berg like the other , until coming into "Contact with Held-ico the collision threw her over in the position which we saw her . The reason which prevented Captain Coward " attempting any communication by boat was , he di $ i riot think himself justified in risking the loss of the Vessel , when from illness he was not abje to give assistance by commands or otherwise , and twtfof his best men and a grown upapprentice confined to their hammbeks with dysentery . Had a boat been manned , there would not have been hands enough on board to manage the brig , and all appearance of thick , bad weather coming on . ¦ .

      " Tho hulls , to the best of mj belief , were all black ; the masts , I am quite certain , were white . " Tho vessel on her beam-ends seemed , as near aa I could judge , to be about 600 tons ; the other something smaller . Mr . Simpson said about 350 . I did not think there was that difforence in thoir size , So much of tho hull of one was to be seen that I think it made her look larger in proportion to the sizo of the upright one than she really was ; they had been full-rigged ships . " It is but justice for me to say , as far as regards Captain

      Coward , that nobody could regret more than ho did his inability to board tho vessels , and to my knowledge ifc preyed very much on his spirits after . " Neither ho nor his mate had over been on tho North Amerioan coast before , and though I was most urgent a t tho time to attempt to board them , I was convinced afterwards that it would have boon attended with imminent danger , and perhaps loss of tho vessel , as thoro was a heavy sea running at tho timo , and tho vessel ho shorthanded .

      " It would appear uncallod for my making those romarks were it ray first timo at sea , but 1 had been at hoe before for four y ears , and among tho ice on this coast once boforo . On my arrival at Quobcc I gave ovory publicity I could to tho transaction , as I hope tho authorities in Quebec hayo learned boforo now ; as it was I filed tho ships report in Quobcc . "I havo tl > o honour to bo , Sir , " Your most obediont servant , "John S . Lynch . " " To Collector Customs , Port of Frescott , Canada . "

      Tho wholo correspondence on tho subject with tho Admiralty l > as boen published . Mr . Lynch is quite positive , and Captain Coward afcill retains his opinion , that wlmt they saw on the iceberg was not an optical illusion , but nhips . It is somowliat singular that there wtffl no entry nuido in the log-book of tho Renovation In corrobomtion of tho statements of Coward , Simpson , and Lynch , bo firmly adhered to , wo hnvo tlio following ; from Captain Kor , dated > Sligo , May 1 , 1852 , and jtddrossed to tho Secretary of tho Admiralty : —

      « Thero in at prosontin this port a brig named tho Tlanderson , of Whitolmvon , William Hill , maHtor , fitting out for tho purpose of convoying emigrants to Quelxnv In conr VorAation with tho xndstor I found out that ho whh employed In tho muno way last year , but that on that occasion ho aailed from tho port of Oalwuy on ' tho 3 rd of April , 1851 , bound to New York ; Unit mi tho vory day holrft , a brig named tho Doctor Kneip belonging Jo Vfjnpnpv , Duchy or Mocklonburgb , tho master and owner of which wag Edward

      Xordntz , also sailed for .-the same destination with emigrants , but that from her superior sailing she soon , left the Seri derson far astern ; that on the 20 th of April , 1861 , the jffe » - derson was in latitude 43 ° 14 ' , longitude 68 ° 22 ' D . IL , and struck soundings on the edge of the bonk in 90 fathoms , sand and black specs , and arrived at New York on the 8 rd of May , having never seen any ice during her passage , though , from the coldness of the weather and other causes , the master thought it was not far off . . That on bis arrival at New York , to his surprise he found that the Doctor IZneip had not arrived , but that on the following , day she did so , and that in a conversation with the said master of the Mecklenburch vessel * he mentioned that he had met with

      a great deal of ice on the banks , and had also seen wo vessels abandoned and water 4 ogged ; " When these two vessels were seen , whether after the 20 th April or not , tho master of the Henderson did not inquire , nor did ^ gain any further information respecting them , his attention having suddenly been called away to his own vessel ; but seeing the accounts of the twb vessels fallen in with by the Renovation , the whole circumstances of his conversation alluded to as above , recurred to him most vividly , and suggested to him the possibility that these two vessels fallen na with by the i ) octor Kneip might be the same seen-by the Renovation , and which , from the melting of the ice ,

      had slipped off and got clear of it . I immediately wrote off to Galway for the names of any parties connected with the vessels , or any other information that could be obtainefd , and in addition to what has already been stated to be the name of the vessel , her port , and owner , I would further beg to add , that she ^ as consigned in New York to Messrs . Logan and Collins , of 69 , South-street , but that the charter parties at Galway have never heard further concerning it . " iVo apprentices on boafd the Mentivatzoti have also been examined , and they profess to remember having seen the ships On the lfth of AprnV-pSl . Of course the search for evidence will be eominued / and

      anybody who knows anything should at once contmtdncate with Mr . Augustus Stafford ., MJ ? ., the Secretary of tlie Admiralty . ' ; .

      Untitled Article

      EMIGRATION . A meetiho of the inhabitants of the district of All Saints , St . John ' s-wood , was held iix the school-fdoms adjoining the church , on Monday night , for the consideration of means to be adopted for ^ enabling the poor of the locality to emigrate to the Australian colonies . The Rev . H . WV Maddock , the vicar , occupied the chair . Resolutions approving the necessity ' arid- desirableness of emigration were moved and seconded "by Messrs . Bidgway , Thornton Sunt , and W . Smith , a colonist . The practical result of the meeting was , a resolution that it was desirable committees should be formed throughout the metropolis ,, and in the various districts of the country , for the purpose of raising funds for emigration purposes ; and the appointment of a committee for the district of AH Saints and Portland

      Town , St . John ' s-wood . On Saturday , and during the week , hundreds bf applications have been made by persons of both sexes at the offices of the various commissioners in the city , and at tho Government Land and Colonial Etnigratioti office , Park-street , Westminster , for passages to Australia . At the present time there is lying a whole fleet of ships in the various docks of the port of London , chartered for Port Philip , Melbourne , Geelolig , Victoria , &q . j which will sail for their respective destinations in June , and early in July , and which are fast filling with emigrants . The vessels amount to thirty ; and they carry upwards of 23 , 000 . At Liverpool , also , there are several vessels of a large size advertised for Australia .

      Untitled Article

      MR . F . 0 . WARD , THE DAILY PRESS , AND - THE "LEADER . " We havo received with much gratification , and submit to our readers ' special attention , the following communication from Mr . F . O . Ward , whoso position as a leading contributor to tho most powerful organs of public opinion in this country , and as the recognised champion of tho Sanitary Party , lends importance to everything that falls ft'om his pen . Our acknowledgments are doubly duo to him for a lottor , which not orily points out , but at tlio same timo breaks through , tho systematic mutism with which wo , in common with all political pioncors , are opposed by tho loading journals and reviews of tlio day . Mr . Wiird ' s lottor , no doubt , bespeaks plainly enough his dissonfc from our opinions ; and his criticism of tho Leader's earlier ollbrts is , to sny the least , somewhut overcharged . But wo aro not disposed to quarrel with uny portion of n testimony on the whole ho honourable and so satisfactory , especially as our ostcomed correspondent's viows aro , au / otid , less opposed than ho himself thinks thorn to our own . ( To theEditor qf the Leader . )' But , —I observed with much ploneuro in your Inst wook ' s impression a loader in whioh you quoted my views of our London retail distributive system , and rebutted tho charges of " cruelty" and " Utopirtnism" which : I ? rotoctionisb and Froo-traflo Journals had united , during tho wookto assail mo withal . '

      , Bomo months ago I should havo felt tho conourroncd of the Xjeadur a eomewhafc equivocal support ; For , under its original management * your paj «) r always oocmod to wo ft port of , intellectual eioyo . receiving

      indiscriminately all new ideas > but letting the moderate on pass , and retaining only the monstrous ? dues on its ^^ ' -Latterl y * however , 'lVhave observed in ybur Journal along with ttodirriuushed boldness of Speculation , and u unpaired vivacity of style , less eagerness for abrupt int ~ yatioi ^ and d juster appreciation of resistance to bTai odwhteredm&G by side with progress , to \ e achieved . , It would seem thatJournalB , lute men , have their period of youthful illusion ^ their vigorous ; and influential ioattiritv and ( possibly , also , ) their decrepid and timorous olctgZ Without staying to seek examples of newspaper adoles * cence and senihty , I may point at once to your paner under its recent management , as thoroughly exempliryinp journalistic virility ; seeingthat ' .. I-: find your opinions even when most at variance iwith -my own always ecu '

      ^ pled with information which challenges attention , and argued with a power which commands respect . It isj indeedj because the leading journals and reviews still affect to ignore- yOur existericei—opposing you in' Qx what a- " witty . Frenchman , on like occasion ^ denounced as " the conspiracy of silence "—that I ajrianxiousj for my part to offer you , publicly , along with my thankri for your ^ up port , thehumble tributeof mysincere ^ esteem . Eeyerting , in ^ conclusion ,: to the subject matter of the controversy which called forth your able remarks in tdy behalf , I forward you copies of threeletteisy addressed , du * . ingthe week , to the editors of the Globe and the Chronicle ; in the hope that you may find time ^ for their perusal , and perhaps also space for their msertion . I have the honour to be , Siry with much consideration , your obedient servant , .-RO / Wasb * - '

      Untitled Article

      THE BOOESBLLEHS COMBINATION . ( To the Edittir tfihe Morning ChroriUsU . J SiEj- ^ In this morttuafe ' s report of the booksellers' ineetingi Held yesterday at Jjprd Canipbeil ' s hoiise > 1 observe that A note [ d £ mine was selected by $ &x . Seeley &f speml animadversion , front anidng' eighty-nhie letters on t ^ e bookselling question , latelyladdte ^ sed ; by as many authors to Mr . P ^^ k ' er , tv ^ hd has publiflhed the whole aeries in a panlphlet . Mr . SeeleJ * isi reiportedt to have charged me with " an avowed desire to get rid of—to exterminate , in fadt- ^ four-fifths Oir seveit-eighths of the present fetal tradesmen ; so as to reduce London to the Size of Bristol , and iBristolto the size of iBedfordt ^ shippm ^ otf the

      surplus traders to V&n Diemen s Iiand . ' m I am anxious to disclaim these iinpttted designs' .. ' of extermihating and expatriating superfluous traderSj and to show that such aft improved retail systena . as I recommend , so far from tending to depopttlate the metropolis , or to injure trade , woidd promote the healthy development of both . . r >' My opinion 6 f the Retail questiori , as stated ni iny letter , and previously at the" booksellers' meeting in the Strand , is that "the undue muitiph ' catioii of retail shops in London lies at the root of the evil . . London covers about 100 square miles , and 100 retail b'bok-sh ^ pS , planted one in the centre of each saua * e nlile , would brinff a > book-shop witnin

      five iainiites' average distance of every man ' s door . Iestead of this , we have abote iOOO fetail hook-shops in London , afld these so ill distributed that in matijr streets half a dozen may be seen clustered within a stone s throw of each other ; while in other streets there is not one . Thus the London' book-buyers are paying for some 800 or 000 establishments more than are needed to do the work of distribution ; and these uselesd establishmehts—assuming them , for argument ' s Sake , to cost 5001 a-year eachon the average—constitute a charge of 40 O , 00 Oi ! . to 450 , 000 ? . per anrium , which the book-buyers noW pay , and whiqli might be saved by an improved organization of the tracty Competition , pushed to this undtto extreme , tends obviously not to diminish , but to enhance , the price ot tno would suffice to

      commodity sold ; for th 6 profit which romunerate 100 retailers , becomes insufficient when divided aniongst 1000 . t / ncler such circumstances , prices tend to riso , tUl they afford the ovoi ? numerous traders at leaap a subslstorice ; and the traders , feeling that they aro *» - dually ill paid , naturally tend to combino for tho xnaintoiianbe of their prieos against tho public . ¦ ., ' " There is , I think , but one remedy for tins ov»— -tw ., to reduce tho ttumbof and iniprove tho topograp hical distribution of tho fotail establishments ; and tho opening oi the trade will only bo useful , \ % scorns to mo , in so laras it tends to bring about this result . If the imntoer ol retailors should remain undiminished , they will be wm ™ roplac - o tho abolished restrictions by a tacit combination , or understanding with rospcot to prieos , amongst

      tnem" SUch a tacit combination exists amon fi the J *^" bakers , notwithstanding that thoir * trade is nominally iroo . For whereas in Paris , 001 bakors serve a pillion of peoj > io , wo havo in Londoii 2800 bakdra to a population of ymj , yw —or more than twico as many bakors as wo need , ah mainly in consequence of this fact that whilo com w oniy 6 bor cottt . dearer in London than in I ' aris , j n ^ . ^ rSS 8 &to 40 porcont . doaroi hofo than thoro . NottW ""; London bakers got individually moro profit «»< n then : j « riBian brethren , but that the total profits oj tlio London retail broad-trade aro divided among moro than t ^ wo " many trader *; or , iti othor words , arc wastod in JW b up some twelve or fourteen lumdrod unnecessary « l " iT ^ a curious fact , tending , I think , to corroborate mv view , that In 1807 there ^ oro 080 bakors m / aris , »^ i

      their numbor ( which is regulated by law ) « w oeu" -r . rflducrid at theif oWri soficitrttlon—tho whole > ^ lf m ewibing to buy up , at a fair comporiBatldtt , fc * 5 ° ^_ ¦ and establishments -rtAeh they cohsJdored superfluojs , oohseqUontly detrimental to the ocotioroical conduct oi w tr « Now , though bliblio opinion Is ^ jf ^ A ° 5 such art orgamWdii 6 f the , London teodo , dtheV ip PJ « ot in books ; yet the « tft 5 iricUee ( t m ^ tetiAbt ^ S V I think , to reoomjaond that tho Porwinn breo 4-w «^

      Untitled Article

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1852, page 532, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1938/page/8/