The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-06-01

. voq supervenes, the sea Ii rising and the wind
howiinR and the snip laDors heavily while the fog
whistle sounds constant alarm. The umld man
begins TO weaken. lie knows that they are on no
fixed route OF travel. that they are on the broad
North Atlantic, away from timely succor, and that
II the ship goes down the boats cannot live. Now
II TINS tInid man could feel assured that twin
ship were not far distant, within signaling dis
lance, and that they were not abroad on the sea-
AN ABSOLUTE ROUTE or TRAVEL,
then he could sleep soundly, eat, drink and smoke
grave IN prospect The mere ieelng that c0nl-
panionshlp Is near al hand would remove I'll ter
il may be- SAID that great loss Of lie is more ire-
Quenty entalled from imaginary danger than from
that which is real When panic SEXES a herd OF
passengers then all Ii lost. Not only Is This true
on the sea, but IL 10 more than true on the land.
Ali win recall the terrible excitement on the burn
1000 men and women made rush ior the doors;
but they closed up the passage ways and the
Ooaes .ee tat s m a .ns S
society OF Peru. Hence every movement which
tends to reassure the public in places oil possible
danger Is the best provision which can be made
against disaster.
We win now suppose that
REAL ACCIDENT y
occurs; that the steamer springs aleak that The
fires put out the sails Will not keep her TO the
wind or before the wind, her canvas has been
blown from the boltrOpes and sne gets In the
trough OF the sea, disabled aud in SINKING cond-
ton, In q nowling tempest. Thls Is certainly an
will assume exist. There should be twin vessel
aheam Possibly she too Is dlsaDiei, but such an
event would not occur once IN Thousand times.
ROCKETS are sent up. There IS aiog and the nre
signals cannot DC seen, electric lights even eau
heard; but . gun fired can De heard above
the roar and the TWIN ship bears down In the
direction on. 81 the call Thus seel is q. hand
demanded. We have supposed most exrraor-
binary catastrophe-one probably tnat might
naU n mil Ay ~ n oaiA
then, would be accidents OF minor character,
but which without the presence Of rellel would
hardly surprising. then. that steam lanes, In view
of all the emergencies that Will suggest themselves
to the most experienced travellers, should nave
created such vide and general approval. We
have heard no one oppose them and no one can
oppose them, because they have been endorsed by
all the best authorities among the maritime ma
tons. The New York chamber VI Commerce mas
taken an active interest In their establishment.
ACTION OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
At recent meeting Mr.. John Austin stevens
onered the following resolnuons:-
Resolved, That committee be appointed to draft
in Concert with Tie Of othsr
70 Sc me a ana @
growing danger OF collisions, now the chief peril Of the
Resolved. That the same committee be requested TO
ss @ 5
and the proDrety Of requiring that the cabins and he
by them in the staterooms At will
TcSO.
lutions, and they were unanimously adopted, and
the committee was authorized to transmit to both
houses OF Congress an authenticated copy OF the
memorial called for In the first resolution.
The President appointed rs such committee
Messrs. John Austin Stevens, Jr.; francis s. La
thrOp, Willlam q. Thompson.
AS VIII be seen from the annexed memorial,
Congress readily embraced the proposition and
referred the matter to the appropriate committee.
EWerable.
THE MEMORIAL.
In accordance with these resolutions the follow.
ing memorial was forwarded to Congress-
To THE HONORABLE THE SENATE AND House or RETIRE.
sENTArIvEs or THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CON-
MAY IT PLEAsn Youn HONORABLE BopIEs-The Chamber
Increasing frequency OF Collisions at sea upon Inc now
thicky covered ocean track between the American and
sinking Of he Vie d haSe
BY om 81 the only
maritime Powers respectfully prays that your honora-
iishment Of an International commission to consider
table Cd presents OF
the loss Of LIE and property from collisions alone or the
L Is 10 s need 81 y 81
propose Congress any definite plan BY which such
nature thing. nposSs; bu. / : evident that
establishment OF inward and outwsrd ocean tracks
latitude and longitude and with sacisns
w
fSs wn Ae M he
Of present year, have laid courses for their
% y ia
~ vessels Wide and wen defined tracks should Le laid
can Ss best Inc BY an q inter
and s q
The end that by thorough conference cordial con-
ana r the your
will ever WlRG InalYi DODGE, President
GsoaGx WILSON, Secretary.
The committee proceeds
Il December BY the Hon j. s. Cox, member from New
o the & to b The
% sSs eSnsn snt0r from this State and re-
The House Of was pleased to receive
sasepon the rSis that such doca
shall pass to commttees only through the CLERK
With The oset Ss on the Of EN- q both
prayer memorial viii be heard with favor BY Con-
dsnni1S
'iSer and sessons
e Teru " ydt nd never IN. ne.n or,.
treat q LIGHT and
md and smaller craft with Which they s' are
n danger OF collision ihese advantages are in direct
collision VII Be- srsstly dm.nishsd. i not Wholly
,ratop OF the two terrbls accidents Of the past YEAR
s oh S Of Sc h and
and crewthe one, the Atlantic, by shipwreck on
he northern coast the other. the Vile du Havre by col
ison IN open sea- clearly establishes the correctness Of
this opinion.
In the case OF the Atlantic out Of her course and
lryen by storm upon an unknown coast II is more than
Jew the coast line, might have suf1ced to the
,fhcer in charge the danger In time him to
steered clear of the rocks upon which the vessel
stranded but even it this had not been the It
cannot be denied that the results of the shipwreck would
ave been much less fatal Many lives in the
lose proximity Of the vessel to the shore before it
would have been less and communication with the
and have probably been established
And in the case Of the Vile du Havre, though the
itself might not have been avoided, which
probable, had brilliant light shown the steamers
the chances Of escape would have been immeas
lrably increased.
The mistake OF Senator Conkling's bill, and
which has been pointed out editOraly In the HER
AID, Is that one commissioner Is hardly enough to
yrasp and determine all the practical bearings OF
his great question. Yet 1t remains to be seen
what action will be taken In the premises
SENATOR CONKLING'S BILL.
The following Is the full text OF the bill intro
luced by Mr.. Conkling:-
Be enacted &C. That the Pr esident shall nominate
t