New-York tribune., 1895-02-13
4 GOOD SHIP SAFE.

The arrival or La CaScOSne ueplNeS "i'
calamity editor Of the grewsome privilege ol
moralzing over compartments. lifeDoats anu
the incOmpetency of commanders OF Tahsat
lantic liners 1t also leaves his sympatheuc as
sociate. the calamity theorlst. without an occu-
patton and depressed in spirits 1he shlps 1885,
when closely examined, does not oner any
grounds upon which critical remarks can be
based The officers and the engineers under
stood their business. When the machinery was
disabled repairs We're made as soon as prac-
ticable and the ships course was resumed
When there were subsequent breaks. the piston
rod was patched up again, everybody Kept cool
and in due time the steamship reached her des-
tination without assistance. 1t is barmecde
feast for the calamity moralist hungering AFTER
a chance of making some sashing structures
upon the recklessness with which ocean liners
are nayigated AS for the hypothetical theorist,
his wares have suddenly grown stale and there
is no market for them.
For a week there great excitement on
shore over the fate of the French liner, and
meanwhile every one on board ship was COM
Portable. and the men were finding recreation
IN a cheerful game Of draw-poker. There were
conjectures on land respecting the number OF
storms which the ship had encountered, one
weatherwise theorist having evolved as many
as three terrific hurricanes from the miscellane-
Gus meteorological conditions OF the last tort
night: but the ship during the interval was plod-
ding along steadily without being exposed TO
very bad weather, except on one day when Win
sea-anchors out she LAY TO" for repairs. Every
well-informed theorst was certain that the snip
had been driven south out Of her course and
would be heard from, If at all, at the Azores;
but in reality the divergence from her regular
track was in the opposite direction, where no
one thought Of looking for 1t. BY Monday noon,
when various ships had arrived without tidings
of the missing Gascogne, all the pessimists rue
fully shook their heads in despair, and the
calamity fiend enjoyed in anticipation the stern
public duty Of pointing a moral without fear
or prejudice: and at that hour the good ship
was slowly approaching Fire Island with her
passengers in high spirits and with the best
dinner reserved for the end OF the voyage
Whenever there is an ocean mystery, and there
is public suspense over the fate Of a good ship
with precious cargo of human freight, human
Judgment must be at fault somewhere. If the
mjscalculation be at sea- full penalty Is paid
in life and property; but If it be on land, the
theories are smashed and the experts are hope
lessly stranded. Let every rejoice that the
theories rather than the ship have been wrecked
i'm this instance The loss Of the G3scogne fol
lowing that of the Elbe would have created
profound feeling Of insecurity at sea and dis
trust Of the management Of transatlantic lines.
The true story Of the French steamers voyage
tends to counteract the effect Of the Elbes dis
astrous end. 1t bears witness 10 the coolness.
sef-possession and resources Of an experienced
captain and an orderly well-dlscplned crew.
II confirms the evidence Of recent experience
that ships were never navigated so prldently
and human life never surrounded with SO many
safeguards at sea as In these modern days.
Nothing can be easier than for critics on land
to form theories about mysteries OF the sea
when there is no basis in fact for any Judgment
save that the ship has left one port and has
not entered another. There Is moral to be
drawn from the overwrought excitement over
the Gascogne, and that Is the folly OF fOrecasting
calamties prematurely, and Of reasoning In de-
tail about them when II Is guesswOrk unworthy
Of a child's capricious fancy. The men who
command the great ocean liners understand
their business very much better than the swarm
of critics and guessers on shore, whose buzzing
Is lOudest when there is not fact TO 90 upon.