New-York tribune., 1886-03-18
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT 1T lSE4.

The danger to which great ocean steamships
going at rate of from eighteen to twenty miles
an hour through coast waters full of all sorts Of
craft, are exposed has just been strillingly il
lustrated and to Obviatc this danger it Is pro-
posed that they should steam slower in ap-
preaching port. But every step in the evOlu-
ton of the modern passenger steamer shows the
impraclcability of such Il measure. Speed has
been uOre and more insisted upon by the
travelling public for years. The favOritcs in all
the lines are the fastest boats. The main qucs-
tion for most people who 90 abroad is which
steamer can make the quickest passage from
port to port. The companies have increased
the size and added to the comforts and luxuries
of their vessels until they are floating hotels,
while the speed attained by the newest models
is so great US to be Incompatible with safety
under the old system of precautions. The
Oregon was lost because an approaching
schooner was not seen in time to avoid her.
The inference is that on a dark night the
ordinary lookout is no guarantee against fatal
disasters.
But neither the travelling public nor the
owners of these steamers are at the mercy OF
darkness. Modern science furnishes in the
electric light sufficient protection against
such collisions rs that of the Oregon and the
unknown schooner. The navies of Europe have
long since introduced the electric search-light
as a means of protection for ironclads against
night attacks, and the experiments made show
that in dark but clear weather this light will
discover any object moving on the water a mile
from the vessel making the search. The elec-
trio search-llght is SO arranged rs to TevOlvc
1t is thrown all round the vessel, and in such
weather as prevailed when the Oregon was run
into it would unqucstionably prove effective in
giving timely warning Of the approach of any
vessel. There would be- little trouble in apply
ing it to passenger steamers, all of which
already employ electricity for lighting the
saloons and staterOoms. The scarch-light would
probably be less efficient in foggy weather, but
in fogs even ocean grcyhounds" are not ex-
pccted to be run at full speed, and at such
times extra vigilance is sure to be exercised.
The only wonder is that the use of the clcc-
tric search-light on passenger steamers has not
been adopted before. They are not less in need
of protection than mcn-ol-war, for "A compara-
lively small obstruction may wreck a vessel
going at a high rate OF speed, as the event has
shown, and the length OF the modern steamer is
50 great that she must have plenty of space to
turn III after an approaching vessel has been
sighted. \ sailors vision Is usually strong and
sharp, but there are plenty of nights when,
even in the absence of fog, he cannot see more
than ships length in any direction and no
matter how vigilant lookout may be under
such conditions, it cannot be effective. The
scarch-light, however, assures the safety of the
vessel in merely dark nights, and It's adoption
is clearly in the line of necessary precautions
If TO this Improvement is added a supply of IA
couple OF moro Of rOOmy steam launches for
use in case of n disaster at sea, the travelling
public would have much less cause for uneasi-
ness. The electric light alone would render i'm