Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-06-03

esses.
Capt. Mckay, of the Cunard steam
ship Catalonia, now in this port, has
made some startling statements con-
,erning collisions at sea, which are
particularly pertinent now. He has
followed the sea thirty years, of which
nc has passed in the Cunard service,
and consequently has had considerable
experience. On being asked if it was
possible for wooden vessel of small
size to cause a dangerous break in an
ron steamship, he replied:
.'Why, bless you, yes 1t all depends
upon how she is struck. Every vessel,
no matter how strong. has her weak
places. and if she is struck in a certain
way she is badly damaged. You would
be surprised to know how small an OBJ
iect will do a serious injury to a steam
err. A barrel of beef, weighing two
hundred pounds, if striking steam
ship in her vulnerable parts when she
is moving at full speed will pillow right
through her side So will floating
spar or even a buoy A schooner such
as the one that struck the Oregon
would cut into a frigate or line
of-battle ship. If the Oregon had
hit the schooner stem on she would
have gone completely over the sailing
vessel and scarcely started the paint
on the steamer. The Oregon when
loaded weighs roughly nine thousand
tons, and when you put eighteen mil
lion pounds in motion, at the rate oil
nineteen miles an hour, something
breaks if it encounters an obstruction.
/ remember several years ago, when i
was in command of the Batavia, that
one morning about 4 o'clock we struck
a fishing schooner on the banks. We
went clean over her, and the officer OF
the deck said that he could scarcely
feel the jar. The passengers never
knew of it until we told them at break
fast in the morning. The schooner
went to the bottom in no time, but we
did not start bolt. Had she struck us
Just right she would have disabled us.
Now the Oregon was struck amidship,
right at her coal-bunker, and that was
her weak place. Going at the speed
she was, and meeting such solid resist
ance, something had to give. She fill
ed amidship, and when she sank, falling
TO such a depth and striking on her
bow, the weight of water broke her
back, particularly as she was already
weakened by the collision.
"Our rules about 4 lookout at night
are very strict, and had the schooner
been provided with proper lights do
not think the accident would have hap
pened. The report says she showed .
white light, and if this was so she was
doing what she had no right to do.
Only steamers carry white light, and
that at the masthead, They have also
a red light on the port and green light
on the starb6ard side. Sailing vessels
carry only the side lights. 1t is sim
gular fact that the majority of coils
ions at sea occur just before daybreak.
One of the reasons for this is that the
side lights, which are lit at sunset, be-
gin to burn dim toward morning. On
vessels where the discipline is not very
strict there is the feeling that daylight
will soon come, and 1t is not worth
while to trim or replenish the lights
Just for an hour or so, and they are al
lowed to burn low, or even go out
There is where the danger comes in
and, as said before, the majority OF
ocean collisions happen just before day
break and are largely attributable to neg
lected side lights. The officer in charge
of the Oregon could easily have avoid
ed the schooner had he seen her, and
she would have been seen had her lights
been in proper condition. Capt CotteI
is a most thorough seaman, and has
Al, e.
years. succeeded him in the command
of the Catalonia. He has made many
friends in Boston. These unfortunate
occurrences will happen. and all we
sailors can do is to pray that we may
be kept out of such scrapes. "-Bostop
Transcript.