New-York tribune., 1899-07-12
CAPTAIN VATKINS'S MISTAKE.

The news from London that the Paris has
been hauIed off the Manacles into deep water,
and that the tugs are preparing TO take ner
10 Falmouth. will be received here with
unbounded satisfaction. Captain Watklnss
manly acceptance Of the entire responsibility
and blame for the stranding OF the Paris
must enhance the respect with which he
has always been regarded and the sympathy
of which he has received many grateful proofs
since the disaster that closed a flawless record
of fifty years Mt sea. Captain Watkins reckon
ing the run from Cape La Hague to the Lizard
AT six hours and flfty-four minutes, assigned the
beginning of that period to the time when the
Paris was abeam of the Casquets instead OF to
the time when she was abeam of Cape La
Hague. She thus nearly an hour, or about
eighteen miles. ahead Of the reckoning, and TO
tliis alone Captain Watkins attributes her going
ashore. though the officers OF the United states
Steam Inspection Service say that the time error
would not account for his being set In to the
northward of his course some seven miles, and
likewise note that he makes no mention OF using
the lead and did not observe that the weather
was thick over the land until after the vessel
had struck Considering these additional cir
cumstances as we'll as the captains acknowl-
edged mistake, the inspectors have suspended
MS master = license lot tNO years.
To Captain Watkns's personal friends, incud
ing many who have sailed with him and have
observed the vigilance. devotion and skill with
which he has confronted the perils of the sea,
the penalty may seem excessive, but 1t is indis-
pensable to maintain a rigid standard OF care
and accuracy, and errors which can be forgiven
must sometimes be punished Perhaps the best
excuse for commander who has run his
Iii thn In
to be derived from consideration of the
fact that it is irrational to exact infalli-
bty from any man. and that the customs OF
navigation. which do not Mt every point put a
check on human fralty, may need revision even
more than their victim deserves punishment.
CAPTAIN Watkinss statement strikingly rein
forces Mr. John Hysop's article In "Harpers
Magazine" for June which had for its text the
loss of the Mohegan on the Manacles. and which
by n curious coincidence was published simulta-
neously with the disaster to the Paris at almost
the same spot Captain Watkins calls his error
"unaccOuntable," but 1t seems to have been an
error of the very sort to which Mr.. Hysop at
tributes the destruction of the Mohegan, and
which in his opinion proceeded from just such
momentary lapse as every human being Is sub
ject to. The captain of the Mohegan was care
full and competent, but AT certain instant or
time the mental precision which had always
been safely relied on failed him and he set
course which. unless 1t was corrected would IN
evitably bring his ship on the rocks. Similarly
affected by brief disability, Captain Watkins
reckoned his time from the wrong position, and
a few hours later the Paris went ashore within
sight Of the wreck Of the Mohegan.
The point which Mr. Hyslop made with great
force was that when n vessel Is on the open sea,
full observations and calculations are made not
only by the captain but Independently by one
or more of his officers: whereas when vessel Is
moving along coast line and consequently near
10 manifold perils, the captain. unaided and I'M
checked sets the course, and one OF his subordi-
and etiquette of calling his attention to an error,
even If he surmised 1t might be fatal AS
means Of averting the dangers arising from this
rule Of the sea Mr.. Hyslop suggests that 1t
should be made the duty of an under officer TO
set the course in the neighborhood Of land, sub
nifty of whose station, together with the neces-
sary discipline of the ship, would thus be main
tanned while an additional element Of safety
would be provided. On the face Of II the pro-
posal has great merit no possible objection to
such change Of system is apparent, and we are
glad TO credit the report that the management OF
the American Line has issued orders in general
conformity with Mr.. Hyslop's ideas.