Evening journal., 1893-03-27
NEWSPAPER OPINION.
The Fate of the Naronic.

The Fate of the Naronic.
Marine journal.
That such ship as the Naronic should
succumb to n gale through which other
vessels passed without damage Iwould
seem strange indeed. but that she must
have met with some fatal mishap ap.
pears now an almost established fact.
The days Of piracy and of ocean steamer
boiler explosions being over, we can
only look to some one or a combination
of ordinary causes TO account for the
disaster She may have broken both
shafts in the sleeve while heading out
of the ordinary track of steamers after
being partially disabled, and been
swamped in a storm She may have
suddenly struck with full force, I'm
heavy weather, one Of the numerous
half submerged derelicts which are
drifting in the track Of ocean
steamships and fractured her plates
fore and aft through several compart
ments, and other bulkheads in compart-
ments that were tight failed to stand
the strain that a heavy sea put upon
them. IL is very unlikely that she
should have collided with an iceberg
unless heading up for Newfoundland for
repairs after being partially disabled
but that may have transpired. An acci-
dent somewhat similar TO that which
happened on the steamship City Of Paris
when one Of her shafts broke and
punched hole through her hull. might
have occurred on the Naronic. too. 1t Is
conceivable that there may have been some
fatally weak spot in her structure, so
that in the strain of a storm she sud
denly broke into, as did one of the long
and narrow steamers In the North Sea
some time ago where the crew were
saved. The captain of that ship said
that after the bad weather had set in
and the sea was constantly rising, all on
board heard loud crashes in succession,
as If hundred pistol shots
were fred. The noise was the
rending Of the rivets of the steamers
plates, and the boats to which the crew
at once rushed were actually hoated
from the chocks as the ship sank beneath
them Or the Naronic might have been
struck as the Oregon was, or sunk in
other ways. The Marine Journal has
had It's opinion as to how the Naronio
was lost ever since we heard a Sandy
Hook pilot repeat a conversation he had
with her commander, Captain Roberts,
i'm which the latter stated that the
Naronic was the deepest rolling ship he
had ever seen, that she had frequently
rolled the ends of her bridge in the
water. and that he was going to recon-
mend the owners TO have keels attached
to her bilges with the hope that it might
steady her somewhat. Besides, the
Naronio carried over four thousand tons
of freight, with a forty ton locomotive
and some cars on deck, and drew less
than twenty one feet of water. In the
hurried loading OF a freight
ship, carrying such miscellaneous cargo
as she did, it is always a difficult matter
to get all the heaviest dead weight in
the bottom So long as it is slowed so
as to bring the vessel into proper trim in
the smooth water of the dock the officers
have to be satisfied There is no reason
to imagine that it was otherwise in this
case With this information before us
and none of the crew yet heard from IL
is our firm belief that the Naronic
turned turtle" upon being struck by q
heavybeam sea and was thrown on her
beam ends Another heavy sea follow.
ing would complete the work of capsiz
ing her after which she would very soon
+ Gil through the c0mpanionways, sky
lights and ventilators Under such
conditions the weather boats might
possibly be cleared by cutting
the falls. which would account for their
being sighted by the coventry. Stats
tics show that capsizlng has been more
; fatal to total loss of all on board than
any other manner of shipwreck If nc
{ tidings of the Naronic are ever received
we shall always believe that she cap
sized aud foundered
We sincerely hope, however, that the
good ship may still be adoat and safely
{ reach port to disprove all such fears. In
stances are on record where vessels have
, turned up after much longer voyages
!, aud never having been sighted mean
time The steamer Anchoria reached
Newfoundland unaided after being sixty
one days out without any trace Of her.
n the Naronic's