New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-11-16

launched it is my firm opinion that at least
ono-half the lives might have been saved"
The ship fell into the trough of the sea-
through the shock of an enormous wave which |
struck her counter. She was allowed to
wallow there. She would not answer her
helm.
Thus, If these statements are correct there
was certainly delinquency somewhere. Yet,
perhaps, a terrible catastrophe like this was
needed TO convince sllip-owners of the terrible
consequences which may result from kind of
neglect which may be SO common as to relieve
any specific instance Of much Of its culpa-
bility. In regard to putting the ships head
to the sea- the report declares that Captain
kaapp's omission to make any effort to accom-
gplish that object can be accounted for only on
the supposit5on that he knew effort to be
fruitless with SO weak crew. Capt. Knapp's
great error, according to the report, was in
failing to avoid the center, orpoint of greatest
violence, of the tempest. The course of the
storm was northward, and Mr. New says :
sHad the ship been headed west early in the
afternoon Of Tuesday, the vessel would have
been saved by escaping the full fury Of the
the other side of the gulf stream"
If by pursuing this course the destructive
violence of the storm could have been evaded,
a fatal error was certainly committed. And
yet it seems strange that a seaman possessing
the experience of Captain Knapp, should not
have known or knowing should have failed to
/ act upon those ascertained laws Of storms
which are now familiar to almost every stu
dent Of meteorology. Such calamity as that
which overlook the Evening Star, if it was
due to such cause, proves the necessity of
closer attention, than has hitherto been be-
slowed on them, to those scientific generaliza-
tons which purely practical men are too apt
to depreciate and discard. Capt Knapp paid
for his error with his life He was brave
and generally skillful seaman; and it would
be ungenerous to heap censure on his memory
Neither do we feel inclined to cast extreme
censure on the owners of the Inflated vessel
Whatever grounds for censure there are, how
ever, are concisely and forcibly stated in the
following remarks of the N. Y. Tribune
Capt. Knapp paid for his error with his life and
need not be too severely condemned. But those
on shore, who senbthe ship into danger she was
not prepared to meet, will not so easily escape
the censure Of the public. The crew of the Eve
l ming Star was insufficient to work her in storm
it was a fair-weather and easy-sailing crew.
Knowing this, after he had discovered his mistake,
Capt. Knapp seems to have considered useless
any attemptto extricate his ship from the cyclone
There was no carpenter on board, and no tools to
work with in repairing the breach made in the
ships side. A carpenter could have done more in
thirty minutes than the passengers and crew, un-
aided by his experience, III many h8urs. 1T is
also certain,n adds Mr.. New that while she had
all the boats which the law requires, seven in all
she had not half enough to save the number Of
4 persons on board nor were the boats fitted with
the detached apparatus required by law, which
had they bsen, and the boats properly manned
and promptly launched, it is my firm opinion that
at least one-half Of the lives might have been
/ saved.n
lifeboats out of order are facts sufficiently start
| ling, and in effect prove the unworthiness of the
vessel. For a ship without men to work her is
but log, and when the Evening Star was sent to
sea insuftciently manned and without means to re-
pair injuries frequent in storms she was as truly
unseaworthy as though her engines had been out
of order andher hull unsound. Mr.. New suggests
that radical changes in the laws governing our
merchant marine should be made by Congress-
and we trust that the secretary of the treasury
will act upon his advice.
We repeat that there is no disposition now
to aggrayate the consciousness of delinquency
on the part of the owners, by making them
the objects Of public obloquy. There is far
more Of charity than Of Yindictiyesess among
the masses of people, especially after there
has been time for resentments to subside
Nor would a display Of passionate resentment
do any good. What is really important is
that the lessons taught by this great calamity
should have their due effect on those to whom
the safety Of sea-going vessels and The
lives of passengers are intrusted.