The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-06-06
NUMBER 40.
The Atlantic Disaster and it's lessons.

| HAS IsN0SCt away 70 consider ana ulS-
cIss, with calmness and candor, the
/ question as to the responsibility for that
wholesale sacrifice of the lives of inno-
cent and trustful passengers. Where
was the blame? We are now inclined
! to place it at the door of Capt. Williams
chart-room. It is no more than lust to
believe that he did the best he knew
how to do. His own safety was involved
with that of his passengers, and his
action after the wreck showed that he
considered his own life worth saving as
well rs that of his passengers. Was he
considerably caution under the circum-
stances in which he found himself?
Probably not! Did he prove himself to
be a good navigator? We think not.
Would the ship have been lost in the
hands of a man who understood the
dangers of the coast, and thoroughly
felt the tremendous responsibilities of
his office? Possibly not-probabIy not
But who placed Capt Williams in com
mand of the ship? Who but thes anne
company that sent him out of port with "a
shamefully small supply of coal, and
thus forced him into the circumstances
which he proved himself to be incompe-
tent and master?
If Capt Williams was an incompetent
navigator, the fact must have been
known to the company as we'll before as
after the disaster. His life has not been
L. 1
ed steamers sailing between New York
and Liverpool for years. If there was
anything in his character, habits or
nautical education, which made him
anything less than the best man possible
for his place, the company knew it, or,
if they did not know it, ought to have
known it. Primarily, then, the COM
Pany is responsible for every mistake
that Capt. Williams made, and for
everything cUlpable-if there WAS any
thing cuIpable-in his mismanagement.
That he made great and awfuIly fatal
mistakes, is evident enough, but we 90
no further than this in awarding blame
to him. We are willing to believe that
he did the best he knew; but the ques-
ton is Was the best he knew the best
that was known? If nOt-and We be
ieve that the general conviction IS that
it was nOt-then we must hold the com
pany responsible for placing him in a
position of such tremendous response
biIity. They are responsible for their
commander they are responsible for
sending him to sea unprepared for the
eMgencies of the voyage; they are re-
sponsibIe for all the death and woe that
have resulted from their course. If.
Capt. Williams was not the man for his
place, he ought not to have been in it.
It is time that the American people,
who furnish ree-quarters of the fares
of the finest lines, should know some
thing of the dangers to which they are
subject by the foreign owners and com
manders of the vessels which furnish the
only means of transport to European |
shores. Tens of thousands of our best |
people are going back and forth every |
year on these lines. The world does |
not possess another line of ocean travel |
so freighted with life and treasure as this. |
or one which demands, from the interests |
involved, such faultIess vessels and such |
seamanship and high character
on the part of those engaged in its man
agement. We trust to these command
ers our own lives, and the lives of our
children and friends.
In these days, any sphere Of industry
commands the man it pays for. The |
world IS so full of enterprise and the |
for wealth, that a cheap .
place, or a rule, can only get and retain
a cheap man. One of the best captains .
ahOat said the other day in our hearing: |
GA good man must either be hard up,
or have a little money invested, to afford
to be n captain in the Anglo-American
service" The remark has moved us to
make inquiry in the matter, and we find
that the pay of a captain in this service
is, on some lines, from $500 to E4OO q
year, with bonus of e15Oif no accident
occur, and on others from E3OO to G5OO,
without a bonus. In our money the
salary of a captain Is, therefore, from
81, 800 to g, 800 year. His board upon
5he ship is, of course, free. How do
5hese wages appear to those who are
to trust their lives and their
possessions to such men as can be hired
oy them? It ought TO be stated, too, IN
his connection, that in the English /
Australian Steamship service, the cap ]
aims receive a thousand pounds year !
small wages enough, to be sure-bUt
vbv is this difference made? Does any
,ne doubt that the Australians line
absolutely commands by its HberaIity
he best seamanship in the market ?
Vbv should the lines that convey such
nuItitudes of Americans in their cabins
md such crowds in their steerage be
ubiected to this disadvantage We
-now that there are, in the Anglo-Ameri--i
an service, as good captains as there are |
q the world, but they are men who are
crced to remain there By circumstances. !
low are there places to be made good /
7hen they retire Are their wages such
$ to make their places a prize to be 7
ought by the young men who are lay /
ng their plans Of life As a rule, these q
ines viii get Just what they pay for c
hat is, they will get cheap men, and to d
lese men all Americans who desire to 7
isit Europe are obliged to trust their G
ives and their treasures. +
The first officer IN the Anglo-American =
ervice gets about els, S75 a month or
500 year-what we pay to an ordinary !
Jerk. The second officer gets $50 a .