Crash & Wreck 1886

Cover from London to Ontario, the stamp washed off, the reverse bearing the explanatory label “This letter is a portion of the mail forwarded per steamer OREGON. It was damaged before being taken from that vessel which was sunk off Fire Island on the 14th March, 1886. H.N. Case, Postmaster, Hamilton, Canada”, with a Hamilton datestamp (March 31). The cover is backstamped at Lanark and Perth the following day. The Cunard steamer “Oregon”sailed from Liverpool for New York, arriving at Sandy Hook on March 14th where she was rammed by the schooner “Charles H. Morse”, which sank with the loss of all hands. The “Oregon” flooded and settled in water off Fire Island, the passengers and crew being rescued and taken to New York by the liner “Fulda”. Some of the mail was recovered from the sea or shore whilst further bags were recovered by divers between March and July. Just two examples of this Canadian explanatory label are recorded. A rare cover.