New-York tribune., 1872-09-02
THE LATE DISASTERS.

THE LATE DISASTERS.
II is terrible to reflect how many hundreds
of lives, every day in the year, every hour OF
the day, depend upon the soundness of bit
| of machinery, or the prudence, self-pOssessOn,
| and intelligence of a single obscure man.
| Those who trust themselves to the passenger
| steamers which plow the waters of the Sound
and the Hudson River, Teck little of the perlls
| which encompass their voyage and the in
Vulnerable precautions which are supposed to
have been taken III advance against collision,
| against fire, against wreck, or for the preser-
| walton of life in cases of accident. Any one
of thousand things may 90 wrong and
| involve the most awful consequences.
| The disarrangement of steam-pump
NAV give up the vessel to the
flames as the Bienvile was given up. The
breaking of a rotten rope may prevent the
timely launching of a boat. A drowsy lookout
may not see an approaching vessel. An In
competent pilot may misjudge distances, and
put his helm the wrong way. And III the
hour of danger captain may lose control OF
his passengers and crew, 9nd many may perish
for lack of discipline. We never can know
when due care has been taken to avoid all
these dangers We must always trust to some
unknown and invisible authority for the
proper oversight of the ship and her equip
Inents. and the proper care in the selection of
the officers. We have only one means OF pro-
viding for our own safety that is by holding
to rigorous accountability those who make
themselves responsible for our lives. Steam
| boat accidents" properly so called, are al
most unknown. Collision, fire, explosion are
almost invariably the result OF criminal care
lessness somewhere. A wreck on the open sea
Ia often O disaster which no human prudence
or foresight could prevent; the loss OF
stearner on inland waters can hardly be any
thing else than the result Of mans mismanage-
ment.
I'm the first shock OF the news from Stoning-
ton we forebore commenting upon tragedy
whoCe causes were but impenectly known.
Tho captain and chief officers of the Metls had
shown a shirt Of eelf-sacrifce and certain
sort Of galiantry in the hour of trial which
dis,osed everybody to believe of them the
best. But as detailed accounts of the catas-
trophe are received it becomes clear that, how
ever the accident may have originated, most
| of the fatality must rest upon Capt. Burton's
shoulders. Primarily the fault of the collision
seems TO lie with the schooner The state
ments of the captains of the two vessels are
directly at variance with each other, but we
think it clear that Capt. Burton of the Metis
| il the nearer the truth. His pilot, Palmer,
| SAYS he saw the schooner from three to hye
minutes before she struck, the schooner being
then two points off the port QefD bow. Capt.
Burton also says that he saw. the schooners
red light, which he could not have seen unless
he had been on her port side-that is to say,
| the schooner was nearer the shore. The
helm of the Metis was then put to port, so as
to pass the schooner on the starbOard side.
In this statement both the captain and the
pilot agree. The captain of the Nettie Cush-
ing saw the Metis about the same time that
she saw him, but he declares that the
propeller was nshore, that is to say on his
port side 1--WE were steering cleaI,' he adds,
a. when lust as she reached us she gave a
" sheer across our bow and struck us on the
starboard side of the STEM" Anybody who
will take the trouble to make diagram OF
the position of the two vessels will see at a
glance that this is impossible. If the Metis
had been inshore, that is to say, on the star
board side of the schooner, and sheering across
| her bow had struck her on the starboard side,
she would either have crushed her own bow
or escaped with comparatively little injury
The fact is, however, that the Metis was struck
abreast of the pilot-house, on the port side
and the schooner lost her bowsprit, without
suffering any injury to the hull. The proba-
bility is, therefore, that in the confusion of q
dark, stormy night, the helmsman of the
schooner mistook the position of the propeller
and, supposing her to be on the port side in
stead of the starboard. attempted to go out
side her, when he should have gone the Other
way This suppostion accounts for the in
jures to both vessels, but the other does not
But if Capt. Burton was blameless in re-
spect TO the collision, his conduct afterwarC
seems to have been reckless to the last degree
1t is certain that the crash occurred no later
at any rate than 3:45; it was not until-5 thai
the Metis sankj the distance from shore wa:
only five miles; and yet no attempt was made
to beach the vessel until the water had gained
such headway that the attempt was useless
| Capt. Burton says the collision happened at