The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-01-25
THE STEAMSHIP QUESTION.
Missouri Republican.

Missouri Republican.
The steamship Cimbria is said to have
been a staunch vessel. No doubt she was
But disastrous experience has shown that
/ no vessel can be built to run at a prof
and yet be sta-nch enough to sustain the
/ shock of collision with the immense
steamers. made long. sharp and ram Hike
that now ply the sea in constantly increas
| ing numbers. The frequency with which
these collisions occur now makes it seem
doubtful thai they can ever be entirely
| avoided. However perfect may be the
/ discipline and the appliances and the OBJ
| servance of needful precautions on board
| the fast packets, no such excellence OF
system will be attained on all the great
| fleet of freighters that GO plunging and
| laundering through the fogs, apparently
in utter recklessness of the dangers around
them, and intent only on making the
best use of their time to reach their desti-
NATIONS. Even should there be an i'm
provement in the method of getting
through fogs in the more crow ded ocean
highways. the danger, too, will constantly
increase because of the continued grow tn
of commerce. 1t is, therefore, acknowl-
edged to be an essential part of every pas
senger ships equipment to provide ample
carrying facilities in the shape of
crew in the case of such disas-
tiers. Ample facilities does not mean
simply boat room enough to hold the hu-
man freight when carefully packed and
loaded, just so many to each boat. The
collision which smashes in the side of a
ship is very likely to destroy boat at the
same time When there is rough weather
the slightest awkwardness in launching
may stave a boat. No ship can be called
amply supplied that has not boats to spare
after providing enough to float all the
people on boald. So equipped, and favor
ed with reasonably smooth sea, il has
been demo nstrated that thoroughly well
disciplined crew can take off very large
number of passengers in few minutes
It was shown in the case of the City of
Brussels, which sunk in twenty minutes
after collision and yet only two passengers
were lost and they lost their lives trying
to save their baggage. Under the peculiar
circumstances attending the sinking of
the Cimbria it would possibly have made
little difference what her boat equipment
was. She was forced over on her side
and never righted. The boats on
one side, therefore, could not he
lowered at all, and the others could only
be made available with the greatest diff
Guilty. Still, it is reported, three of them
were launched. But supposing the CHM
bria had remained on level keel, would
the result have been different. A para
graph in the Associated Press report,
which came too late for publication yes
terday morning, says: The Cimbria had
eight boats four large ones and four
smaller These could not possibly accom-
modate the AT people aboard, even if they |
had had ample time to embark. The large |
boats have been known on pinch to hold |
20 men and the smaller boats from 30 to |
30, so that at most only $50 persons could |
ret into the boats" According to this |
here WAS no possibility for some two |
hundred of the people on the Cimbria to |
escape, even if all the boats had been |
aunched and loaded to their full capacity. |
the fact much larger numbers |
IF passengers are carried than the Cimbria /
lad on board, this statement % her boat |
capacity seems surprising in the extreme,
20 much so that it may reasonably be
doubted and the result of the official in
JURY will be looked for with considerable
interest on this head. One would suppose
uch state of affairs would be subversive
IF all discipline in a time of danger. The
the officers and crew are surpos
ID, in such emergencies, to see the passen-
,ers safe before they abandon the vessel,
it can be done, but if the vessel has only
laf enough boats to carry the people, the
rev know it, and they know that to fill
he boats with passengers is equivalent TO
uicide for the crew. Can there well be
NY doubt as to the determination that will
inmate every sailor who finds himself
ent to sea in craft SO equippedf AS
tated above, the unfortunate manner In
1hich the Cimbria was struck made it i'm
ossible to launch all of her boats, and
lay, therefore, be less of reflection on
er discipline that out of the first list of
airty-four names of persons saved four
zen were officers of the ship, including
he second, third and fourth officers and
lree quartermasters. Some of these were |
licked up while swimming in the water;
ut suppose all the boats had been safely
Dated and loaded, would it have been the
rev who remained behind or a herd of
elpless passengers? 1t is worth the in
uiry of tourists.