On Sunday the anxiety that had been felt in regard
to the Cunard Liner, the Umbria,' was relieved by the news that she reached New York early last Saturday morning. The delay was due to "the breaking of the shaft at the thrust- block," which occurred on December 23rd, while the ship was, in the words of the log, " plunging ahead at full speed." For four days the captain was obliged to allow his ship to drift, while the engineer endeavoured to patch the machinery; and as, during this time, the weather was often exceedingly bad—on the 29th, the log speaks of the wind as varying from 41a mad gale to a strong breeze "—the ship should have been in great peril. The great liners are, however, so strongly built and so well equipped, that we doubt whether there was any great danger as long as the 'Umbria' remained in mid- ocean. While drifting, she encountered the steamer Bohemia,' and engaged that vessel to take her in tow, but after pro- ceeding thirty-six miles, the steel hawser broke. Another vessel, the '—a Cunarder—passed the Umbria,' but, after exchanging signals, she went on her way. This the passengers of the 'Umbria ' regarded as a very cruel act, as their captain, they allege, asked for help. Meantime, the Gallia' has arrived in Liverpool, and the captain has reported to his owners that he did not deem it necessary for him to lay to. He has also declared to a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian that the Umbria' did not demand help as a vessel in danger. She was lying "like a duck" in complete safety, and signalled she would be " ready to proceed to-morrow." Under these circumstances, our guess is that the captain of the Umbria,' to satisfy her passengers, nominally asked for help, but asked it in such a way that the ' Gallia knew she would be safe in refusing. This is confirmed by the fact that the ° Umbria's' log merely states that she spoke the ' Gallia' " bound Eastward."
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