The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-08
IN EXTRAORDINARY WRECK.

The charges made by the disinterested
| survivors of the Colima wreck may be
grouped as follows:
l. The vessel carried heavy deckload oil
green lumber, which not only rendered
her topheavy but which, by offering in
creased resistance to the hurricane, added
to the difficulty of keeping the ships head
to the sea.
2. The fatal listing of the vessel after
she fell away and lay rolling in the trough
indicates that the freight had shifted, that
therefore it had not been properly slowed,
and that the listing was aided by the deck
load.
g. The discovery that the ships head
could not be held to the sea was sufficient
reason for taking all possible precautions
for saving life. Instead of this, the passen-
gers who tried to save themselves by secur,
Ing hfe-preservers were prevented by the
officers and crew, who beat them back into
the vessel. This seems to have been done
even when the ship was in the very act OF
laundering, while she was shipping an
overwhelming load of water, and was
listed at a pitch which left no possible
ground for hope. This is the most extra
ordinary circumstance in the whole case.
4. The stesmer San Juan, which arrived
on the scene the following day, does not
seem to have exercised due diligence in
hunting for survivors. Indeed, had it not
been for the commendable spirit of sea
captain who was passenger on the San
Juan, and who himself manned the rescue
boats and was refused the privilege of pur-
suing the work, it is not likely so many
would have been picked up.
Fuller investigation may modify the
present aspect of the case. There are some
unpleasant features, however, that nothing
can change. One of these was the arbi-
trary and inadequate information given
out in the first instance and its APP
parent zeal to suppress the news which
the survivors could give. After picking up
the survivors Captain Pitts of the San Juan
proceeded to ManZanillo, where his ship
lay out in the harbor for three hours. No
one on the vessel was permitted to leave an
account of the affair, and Captain Pitts
took the extraordinary course of sending a
telegram in cipher to the San Francisco
office Of the company. Even a statement
in plain English could hardly have been
expected to pass through the hands of
Spanish operators without being crippled,
while to send it in cipher was the most
amazing of all absurdities. Of course it
arrived here almost unintelligible. In that
form the manager refused to give it to the
public, and so hundreds of hearts torn
with anxiety had to wait. Everybody
would have been glad to see the dispatch
however badly mangled it was.
Another unpleasant feature was the
deckload of lumber. This is a crime COM
mitted constantly on our coastwise vessels
1t is all the more reprehensible and dan
gerous from the fact that on these runs
the ordinary sea is always abeam and
rolling is inevitable. Loading lumber in
the hold is much more troublesome and
expensive than placing on the deck. and as
adeck incumbrance it deprives the passen-
gers of the space and freedom to which
they are entitled.
Such frightful disasters as this will
sooner or later cause such amendments of
the American maritime laws as will show
more regard for life and property.
America needs man who will do as much
for her sailors as did Samuel Plimsoll for
those of Great Britain. Experience has
shown that the matter of ocean trans
portation should be made the subject of
careful and humane legislation.