This is a year of disasters at sea. Friday's papers
con- tain :accounts of the loss of two important vessels caused by collision,— one a Spanish man-of-war, and the other a Dutch mail steamer. On Wednesday at midnight the Spanish cruiser, Sanchez Barcaiztegui,' while leaving the port of Havana, was run into by the steamer Mortera,1 owing to a misunderstanding of the signals employed. The "Sanchez' was badly injured and began to sink almost at once, and before many minutes had elapsed had gone down. Thirty-six men and officers are believed to have perished, in. eluding the Admiral in command of the Havana station, who was on a tour of inspection. The presence of sharks, as in all cases of tropical shipwreck, added to the horrors of the scene. One of the bodies when recovered was found to be without head or arms. They had been bitten off. The Channel disaster took place off Plymouth on Wednesday night. The Edam,' a mail-boat between Rotterdam and New York, was run into and sunk by the Turkestan,' a Cardiff steamer. The night was foggy, but the sea was calm, and a Briaham trawler, the 'Vulture,' happened to be near at hand, and was able to save the passengers and crew. As is usual in such cases, those on board the vessel which perished declare that the 'Turkestan' was in fault.
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