S UPERFLUO US ACCIDENTS.
(TO THE EDITOE Or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I have read with great interest the article which appeared in the Spectator of August 10th on the subject of avoidable and unavoidable accidents. No one can fail to appreciate the distinction which is there drawn. In the course of your
remarks you mention the " unforgivable" sin of making fast the mainsail. Unforgivable it may be, but it is by no means uncommon. In this connexion it is, perhaps, of interest to quote a few lines from Robert Louis Stevenson's essay "..Es Triplex" :—
" It is a -well-known fact that an immense proportion of boat accidents would never happen if people held the sheet in their hands instead of making it fast ; and yet, -unless it be somo martinet of a professional mariner or some landsman with shattered nerves, every one of God's creatures makes it fast. A strange instance of man's unconcern and brazen boldness in the face of death !"
Dens Hollow, Northwood, Middlesex.
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