The New York herald., 1873-12-03
The Loss OF the Ville dN Havre-
.sSOmcbody Blundercd."

choly pleasure to the friends of the survivors
of the ocean calamity, who were treated in
England with such touching sympathy in
their disaster; but to the inconsolable sorrow
of those who have lost their relatives must
now be added, apparently, the painful hnowl-
edge that the disaster might not only have
been avoided, but was actually due to wrong
order to the man at the wheel. If we accu-
rately interpret the words, which the cable has
put in q somewhat ambiguous form the sailor
on the lookout reported ship i'll sight to the
officer on duty, who gave confused order
to the helmsnlan, and on this confused or
der the whole history of the occurrence will
turn. No doubt the wheel was put the wrong
way. The officer referred to, who has per-
ished, is also blamed by the Captain. 1t ap-
pears that. as commonly happens in these
cases. there was no discipline. There were
also no Life preservers. One gentleman
searched vainly in four cabins for these
articles and found none. Our present de-
spatches correct previous statements regarding
the weather. 1t was a clear, starlight night
Upon the arrival of the survivors at Cardiff
they were received with generous sympathy,
but the United States Consul who had some
duties in the case. was not there. Are United
States Consuls always absent in cases Of great
emergency?
1t is time that practical steps were taken for
the prevention OF these horrors by the adop-
ton Of steamer laws. This terrible disaster
h,S had M r,a olIeI cipca that which haSel1 film
United States mail steamer Arctic in October,
1854, when in thick fog of Cape Race she
collided with the French steamer Vasta. On
that fearful occasion there perished with the
noble vessel about three hundred men, women
and children. The terrors of that scene
aroused the ingenuity of science to devise
some adequate remedy for such accidents.
Numerous plans were proposed for multiply
ing lite-saving apparatus on board ships, and
preventive appliances, such as fog signals,
true compasses, &C.; but among all the expe.
dents then devised the most simple and COM
prehensive was proposed by Lieutenant Naury,
the Superintendent of the National Obserya-
tory, and which, after the lapse of so many
years, has recently been adopted by the Cunard
steamships. He proposed two ship laws, one for
steamers going and the other for steamers
returning, so chartered that there would be
minimum risk of collision, and that minimum
only confined to collision with sailing vessels
The part of the ocean used by the different
lines is belt extending between fifteen
degrees and sixty-fve degrees west longitude,
and between one hundred and fifty and three
hundred miles broad. While some Of these
marine roadways overlap and intersect each
other, the proposition, therefore, to lay off
law Of twenty-five or thirty miles breadth on
the northern and southern borders Of a given
route, and the recommendation to steamers
coming westwardly to use the former and
going eastwardly TO use the latter, if adopted,
would vastly lessen the liabilities of collision.
The strong argument urged by many in
behalf of the general adoption of these laws
was that as soon as their adoption by steamers
became known to seamen all sailing yes
sells would Immediately give wide berth
to them, just as on the public high
Ways the horse vehicles avoid the railroads.
Moreover, it was apparent that if a
sailing vessel had occasion to cross the steamer
laws in the darkness Of night OF amid the be-
wilderment Of fog, she would be doubly vigi-
liant to avoid collision, as the pedestrian is
when at night compelled to cross the track Of
the locomotive. The steam tracks were pur-
posely made 80 narrow that ii sailing YES
sells course was near them rs night came on
or the weather thickened, the master would
begin to think of the steamers and collisions,
and feel uneasy until he bad edged off to one
side and left the steam track clear The old
paddle-whecl steamers, by their noise, gave
warning Of their approach; but the modern
screw steamer is O noiselcss monster, and in
foggy or heavy weather slides almost unheard
and with deadly speed through the waves.
This fact and the rapidly multiplying
Frequency Of collisions, wrecks and great
losses Of life, al plead, trumpet-tongued,
for the adoption Of any routes by
steamers which may enhance safety. This is
imperatiyely demanded, even at tho sacrifice
of time and speed, were such sacrifices noces-
sary but. so far from it, there can be little
doubt that if the proposed laws we're followed
time would be saved. The steamers track for
vessels coming westwardly lies far enough
north to avoid the returning effect Of tho Gulf
Stream current, and is thirty miles shorter
than the old Cunard and Collins track, while
that for vessels going to Europe, though
sovcnty-fve miles longer in distance, is shorter
in time, because il hes in the axial band Of the
Gulf Stream (Which helps the steamer), aud
Is favored by finer weather and fewer fogs.
Tho Cunard Steamship COwnany. Seoogais,na