The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-17
CAPTAIN WATKINS'S CASE.
Unlucky influence Constantly Sur.
rounds Some Ocean Liners.
New York Letter.

Watkins, and while it is probable that not
one OF the hundreds Of thousands OF pas
sengers who crossed the ocean with him
have not shared this sympathy and felt that
Watkins could not be held in the ordinary
sense responsible for the mental lapse which
caused the loss of the Paris, nevertheless,
the feeling does not exist among those who
direct ocean steamship corporations that
success is the criterion for mastership. and
one lapse, no matter how caused, is suffi-
cient TO destroy a masters character.
The president Of the Johnston-Layard line
a few days ago spoke of an experience
which his corporation met with only a few
years ago. A certain captain had COM
mittcd an error of judgment as mysteriously
inspired as was the impulse which caused
Watkins to err. Fortunately, he did not
lose his ship, but 1t was in great peril for
a little while. The English board of in
spectors did not do more than censure. but
the reproach was very mild. President
Johnston discharged him, saying that the
owners of an ocean steamship line could not
afford to keep in command of a ship a man
who had made a single error of judgment.
Friends of the discharged captain expostu-
lated with Mr.. Johnston. saying that he
was demanding more than human nature
was capable of giving. So many urgent re-
quests were made in behalf OF this mans
restoration that Mr.. Johnston. against his
own Judgment, wavered, and at last. as he
could not find just the captain whom he
wanted to take charge of the ship. agreed to
restore the discharged captain and give him
one more chance. He made that decision
only two or three hours before the ship
Satyod o.S fha oonfoir oyyerfOUinR with
gratitude, his eyes filled with tears. took
Mr.. Johnston's hand as he left the offices
for the ship. and said: You will never
nave occasion to regret having forgiven and
restored me"
That very night through another error Of
in st. Georges channel and she was a total
loss. 1t was doubtless the feeling or cap
tain Petrie and his associate inspector that
a sea captain who, after fifty years, is so
suddenly afflicted with mental numbness
that he is able to make a grievous mistake,
cannot be trusted hereafter. although there
may have been no moral reproach contained
in the sentence of dismissal or suspension:
Lapses Of this Kind sometimes come TO the
knowledge Of railway superinten9ents
nave wrecked trains. An instance is in the
records of the New Haven corporation as
recently written. An engineer who never
received a censure, who never through any
fault of his own met with accident or failed
to bring his train in on time. passed a sig
nal near Bridgeport and a few minute
later there was a wreck. The engineer
could not explain his lapse Of sight. the
signal was fully set against him ana the
fireman happened at the moment that II
came in view to see the engineers eyes
turned toward 1t, but the engineer testified
that he saw nothing: that his mind for the
moment was not in touch with his sense OF
sight, and his word was believed. since for
many years he had shown himself TO be a
man not only Of unblemished personal char
acter. but of unusually acute MIND. VI
1Atrrc. chat avnarianNa VIC an0uQh m warn
the railway superintendent against him.
and he was not permitted to take out an
other engine, although he was not censured
morally for the accident that his lapse
caused.
Among those who go down to the sea in
ships there Is only the conviction that that
graphically suggested by one word that Is
slang, sand we have no other that Is good
English to suggest 1t, the hoodoo," was
even present with the Paris from the very
day she was launched. And the condolences
of unhappy experiences which have befallen
that vessel are cited by these sailors as
proof that their behef is not superstition
but truth.
Here is a sister ship. the New York, not
more carefully Differed nor more skillfully
sailed; going year after year oyer tnnees sam mn
actly like her. so nearly that many Of the
parts are interchangeable bic. and yet from the
day she was launched until to-day she has
been spared any Of the experiences which
have made the history of the Paris an un-
happy one. There are in every steamship
line what are called lucky and what are
called unlucky boats, and there does seem
to be some mysterious influence associated
with some ships that make them unpros-
porous, while others nav nothing but favor
1t may be the same quality which causes
one locomotive to behave like a vixen and
another built exactly like that one to be
as docile as a perfectly trained horse. Thir-
ty years ago a firm of steamboat builders
constructed a m designed for serv-
ice on the Hudson. There was no particular
aim to get. speed or superiority of model.
They found, however. that they had built
a boat than which none ever padded the
Hudson could go faster. She was the
Mary Powell, a famous among
American vessels of that kind. Desiring TO
match her. the owners caused another TO be
built with the accuracy of Identification that
enables watchmakers to make two time
be exchanged. Yet when this steamboat was
built she proved TO be a mere tug In COM
parison with her sister ship: nor were the
| wherein was the mystic difference that
| made the Mary Powell the fastest Of tide
water boats and her sister ship one Of the
The Mary Powell has been repatched and
reconstructed until. like an old garment,
none of the original material is In her. and
and the other day in a thunderstorm heI
smoke tunnels were blown over, and yet she
pursued her way without perceptible loss
of speed.
The inhnity Of detail upon which the
safety of an ocean steamship depends, a:
well as the infinite care, which, after all
explains the apparent immunity from &C
cident, may be illustrated by an anec'
dote told by one Of the veteran captain:
now commanding a favorite ocean steam
ship, He was speaking OF the los:
Captain Watkins would take to himself
she entire f0t The eia aiss and set He forth Was the Comma 5sa
down the English channel in commanC
of his ship. one of the finest specimens o.
modern marine architecture. when h
observed that one Of the lights was no
where 1t should be If his reckoning or hi
compass was correct. fortunately 1T wa
possible that the lighthouse could have beer
moved within. a week and, therefore, TIL
fault was either with the course he haC
laid out or with the compass.
His ship carried one of Lord Kelvin'i
patent compasses, one of the most delicat,
of instruments, and presumably one tn
least liable. TO be out of order. Tests wer'
made which showed that the compass wa
wrong. and it was removed, another on
put in its place which instantly gave cor
rect bearings upon the lighthouse, showing
The captain spent some hours trying TO dis
cover wherein that compass failed. Neithe
he nor any of his subordinate officers wer,
able TO detect any fault with II. Thei
foe dap tSat some Of S the sii R''f thTeas
which served as a support to the compass
each thread being almost of the finenes,
raveied a little. thereby causing minutes
imal knots, and these. so delicate was tn
instrument, had served to disarrange tn
compass. Had IL been a foggy night tina
fine steamship would have been a wrecl
upon the coast Of Wales.
CANNED NEAT FOR CUBA.
Good Enough Food for Even the Mos