The New York herald., 1876-07-23
Tho Lesson Of the Mohawk.


Some excellent suggestions have been made
by the leading journals of New York in
respect to the necessity of employing none
but first class sailing masters on yachts, and
they deserve to be promptly considered by
yacht owners. competent captain and o
good crew should be secured at any price,
for without them no one has the right to risk
the lives of innocent people on the ocean.
Mr.. Garner unquestionably believed in the
courage of his crew and the capacity of his
captain; but it is shown that the sailing
master was rash in not preparing for the
squall and that the men were engaged in
taking care of themselves as soon as the
danger was known. Half dozen deter
mined sailors could have rescued the
unhappy persons who were prisoners in
the cabin. But all the heroism was shown
by the gentlemen on board. MIR. Garner
perished in seeking to extricate his wife.
Mr.. Montant and Mr.. Rowland. acted with
great courage and devotion, and the heroic
daring of Colonel Crosby is above all praise.
He remained in the stateroom with the
drowning and the drowned till all
hope was over, and then saved
his own life as by miracle. One brave
sailor stood by him in the hour of death; his
name is as yet unknown, but it is the duty
and the desire Of all the survivors of that
dreadful scene to give him the honor and
thanks he so nobly earned.
But the lesson of the Mohawk has yet to
be learned. The crew and the captain are
not solely to blame for the terrible disaster.
The Mohawk was not able to stand squall
in the harbor What would she have done in
storm at sea? She had never known what
gale was but had sailed before summer
breezes The description which Colonel
Crosby gives Of the cabin where the agonized
women were crushed by the furniture,
pinioned hopelessly by sofas and ballast,
proves that the Mohawk was not prepared
for that rough weather which may come at
any moment. Her furniture should have
been secured to the sides of the cabin, in
stead of dashing leeward when the squall
struck the yacht. Above all her ballast
should have been firmly placed, so that it
would have remained fixed like the masts ;
but this cabin was more like parlor on shore
than the hold Of a vessel liable to be capsized
at sea. We do not blame any individual,
but the system which has lately grown up.
1t is likely that two-thirds of our
yachts in the neighborhood of New York
are in the same condition as the Mohawk
was and are exposed to the same dangers.
But o yacht should be prepared for any
emergency, as an army is prepared for war.
1t ought to be always ready. The English
yachts are rigged and ballasted to sail
around the world, and these precautions
should be taken here by the smallest boat
that ventures upon the water. Ocean yacht
ing has demonstrated the immense value of
preparing for all emergencies, and the lesson
to be learned is that, even in a mere holiday
excursion on smooth Long Island Sound or
the tranquil Bay of New York, prudence,
foresight and good seamanship require q
yacht to be fitted out to stand successfully
storm in the mid Atlantic. The Mohawk
has gone, her sad story will long be remem-
bered with grief; but, though the gallant
Garner and his companions who went down in
sight of their Mortified friends cannot be re-
stored, it is in the power of every owner of
a yacht in the United States to take warning
by the event and make similar calamities
impossible hereafter.