Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-05-25

Il
Lone AND DREARY PASSAGES.
1t does not always do to conclude
that because q vessel does not turn
mp or is not heard from within a
reasonable time that she has neces-
sarily gone down. The history of
transatlantic travel records many
instances in which vessels which
had been given mp for lost have
made their ports in safety some-
times after the most terrible suffer-
ing for all On board.
The case of the Atlantic, cited
before. is to the point. She was
33 days ont from Liverpool before
she was heard from with all we'll on
board. The steamship Smidt, from
Bremen to New York, was 40 days
in making the passage, and when
on March IL, 1870, she dragged
herself through the Narrows, every
body had given her up for lost.
MARROW ESCAPES.
Among the many escapes from
shipwreck by rocks, icebergs and
collisions the Arizona accident may
be mentioned. Some few years ago
she ran full speed into an iceberg
| and crushed into a shapeless mass
some 80 feet of her stem. Yet,
thanks to a smooth sea, good judg-
ment and strong bulkheads, she
was enabled to reach port in COM
parative safety. The Aurania, of
the Cunard line. escaped by a hairs
breadth from running into a rocky
coast near her English port during
a dense fog, in which the bow of
the vessel could hardly be seen from
the bridge. Fortunately she was
on half speed and well in hand at
the wheel. The City of Rome ran
ashore on the Fastnet rock, but got
off without much damage. The
Baltic had a similar unpleasant ex-
perience, while the rocky experience
of the Elder is of more recent date.
LIFE-SAvISG EQUIPMENTS.
The admitted and often expert
enced disasters to ocean-going
steamships, illustrations of which
have been given above, opens the
question as to the means provided
! by the different companies being
all that could be desired as life
saving equipments. Is there a
sufficient number of boats and RATS
on board to give all the passengers
and crew a chance for their lives:
Are those boats seaworthy and easy
to launch, and are they to be de-
pended upon for service at a few
minutes notice? 1t will not do to
say that there is boat accommoda-
tion in plenty, unless it is certain
that those boats are in good condi-
tion, are well calked and equipped, 4,
and that the falls are clear, the oars
and plugs in their proper positions.
the canvas covers easily removed
and the supply of compasses, lights,
provisions and water ready to be
lifted into their places at a mo-
ment's notice. A badly-equipped
boat, or one that cannot be launch.
ed with ease and safety, or which
lacks any plugs or life lines, is al
most as bad as having no boat at
all, and is as apt to encourage "A
mad rush on board as it is to sacri-
fee every life entrusted to it.
OF course the open boats or wave
swept RATS are at the best, but a
slender thread of safety, and in
rough weather are generally I'M
reliable as means Of escaping from
a sinking ship, yet the passengers
have right to demand that they
shall be supplied for emergencies.
They may only be a last resort
which promises only to shift the
danger and afford temporary relief,
but they ought to be there inspir-
ing confidence and lifting up the
fear-stricken.
The New York was certified to
carry 377 persons more than she
could make room for in her boats,
and the Paris was in about the same
standard of safety, though it is pro-
bable that these deficiencies will be
made good now that the vessels have
come under the American flag.
The Alaska of the Guion Line has
a permit for 1015 passengers and a
crew of l25, yet her boats would
only hold S23 people. The Arizona,
another fayorite steamship, has
made the passage with 345 people
on board for whom there could have
been no boat accommodation.