Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-06-13

They Mean.
A railroad train cannot turn to the
right or left ct will, for IL II bound
BY the iron tracks to 60 the way they
lead, and the trains coming toward
IL are guided In another set Of tracks
to pass safely by. Therefore the
engineer may rush his train along
over the guiding tracks. through the
brightness of day or the darkness oil
night, with no fear save for the most
unforeseen and infrequent accidents.
On the ses, however. ship can 60
whichever way she Is turned, and
other ships may meet her coming
from any direction. The broad ocean,
then, may be looked upon % covered
with an enormous network of tracks
crossing one another In all directions,
where . ship may be switched from
one track to another at will. In the
daytime ships can be seen from each
other, and be turned aside to pass In
safety; for not only can they be
seen, but the direction In which they
are going is known. Still, even in
the daytime certain rules must be
followed to insure perfect safety.
How then, do ships, pursuing SO
many intersecting tracks, pass the
others safely in spite OF the darkness
OF the night?
Imagine yourself on the bridge OF
. big ship. 1t is really a bridge,
you know, high above the deck, ex-
tending from side to side near the
bow, and projecting little beyond
the sides 80 that from each end a
man can see straight ahead without
rigging or masts to interfere. 1t is
night, and very dark. Even the
ship is only a long. dark shadow
under your feet. Over the sky may
be pull of cloud, and you peer away
into the darkness, but cannot even
tell where sea and sky come together.
All is inky blackness above and be-
low. Spreading outward from the
bow of the ship is foaming, phos-
phorescent wave, which tells how
rapidly she is rushing onward over
the unseen waters and into the
dangers of the impenetrable gloom
In the middle Of the bridge stands a
man holding a wheel and gazing at
a compass lit up by little lamp.
With that wheel he turns the rudder
to keep the ship steadily pointed in
the same direction by the compass.
That direction is her track. Other
ships may be on that track; other
ships may be crossing that track in
the darkness. How are they to be
avoided?
On each side OF the bridge stands
a man peering continually into the
gloom ahead, while back and forth,
almost necessarily, PAGES q fourth
man, an officer, who, like the others,
is continually gazing ahead or glanc-
ing at the compass. He is the officer
of the deck. On him rests the re-
sponsibility Of avoiding all other
vessels which may cross his vessel s
track or be approaching her upon it.
Upon his quickness and judgment
depends the safety Of the ship. In
the daytime he has seen one, two.
or perhaps a dozen ships around him
during u single hour. and he we'll
knows that just as many may be
around him during any hour of the
night. How, then, is he to know
where they are, and how to keep out
OF their way?
Their lights will tell.
When you face towards the ships
bow the side at your right hand is
called the starboard side, and the
side ut your left hand is called the
port side. On her starboard side a
ship carries at night q green light,
and it is SO shut in by two sides of a
box that it cannot be seen from the
port side or from behind. On her
port side she carries red light, and
it is so shut in that it cannot be seen
from the starboard side or from be-
hind. If the ship is steamship she
carries big white light at her fore
masthead, but il she is sailing
vessel she does not. This white
masthead light can be seen from all
round except from behind.
So long then, as the officer Of the
deck sees no lights, he feels sure
that there are no vessels near him,