1 FEBRUARY 1873, Page 1

The inquiry concerning the loss of the Northfleet has been

going on all the week, but has not elicited much new light on the cause of the catastrophe. The only very clear and important practical precaution against such catastrophes which the inquiry proves to be essential, is that ships should have a different colour for the lights used as the signals of a vessel in dis- tress from that of the lights by which a pilot is called for. It seems perfectly certain that almost all the passengers and crew of the Northfleet could have been saved if it had been made evident to the ships lying in the same anchorage that she was in danger, and not merely asking for a pilot, by her display of blue-lights and rockets. A large steamer (the Corona) was anchored within 300 yards, and the watch on deck, said to have been a Dutchman, seems to have admitted that he saw the lights and heard cries, but having no proof that the vessel was in distress, he never roused the captain or crew, and so the chance of saving hundreds of lives was lost. If the lights to ask for assistance were of a different colour from the lights to summon a pilot, such an excuse could not be offered. In any case apathy such as that shown by this ship's watch is almost more shocking than violent crime. The Queen has expressed her sympathy with the sufferers, and especially with the captain's widow, Mrs. Knowles, with her usual promptness, and has sent £200 to the relief of the ship- wrecked passengers and crew. It is proposed to give Mrs. Knowles, who is left with less than £50 a year to depend upon, something as a testimonial to her lost husband's gallantry. We can hardly imagine a fitter object for an expression of national esteem.