The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-02
THE cAMPANIA,s EXCUSE.
Defeat by the st. Paul Attributed to
Fear of Fog.

| NEW YORK, Sept. 1.-The Cur.Srder
Campania, with 1.400 passengers, reached
| her dock on the North River at $50
O'Clock this morning, having made the
run from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in
) days II hours and 16 minutes The dis
lance covered was 3,O25 nautical miles.
| Captain Walker said that he would have
made port in less than FIVE days and a
| half had he not been compelled on August
| 80 and 81. on account of dense logs en-
countered, to reduce the speed of the ship
to dead slow Cor seven and one-haIf
hours.
''on Tuesday morning." he said, about
4 O'Clock. we saw the ST. PauIs lights
and soon gained on her and passed her,
but at 6 o'clock the fog became -ery
dense and for safety's sake the Canpania
was slowed down The ST. Paul went into
the fog at full speed and that is why the
American Liner made port ahead OF u.s."
According to the logs of both vessels,
the Campania covered $50 miles on Thurs
day and 485 miles on Friday. The st.
Paul made sos miles on Thursday. and 504
miles on Friday. The abstract of the logs
of the liners. however. does not make any
mention of fogs on Thursday. the st.
Paul's navigator simply reporting smooth
sea-" and the Campania IN. to s. f.
winds Tr~5ts,rsz
Captain Jamison did not ofieially men
ticn having sighted or passed the Cam
pania on the voyage westward. The St
Paul's time from Cherbourg was six days
seven hours and six minutes. and the
course travelled was 3,052 nautical miles
Sir Ernest Setow, British Minister to
Japan. who IS returning to his post after
three-months' yaca ton at home, was a
cabin passenger on the Campania. He will
cross the continent by rail and will sail
for Tokyo from San Francisco. OF the
Chinese situation he said:
When / left the other side / supposed
that the settlement Of the trouble would
be left in the hands Of the military author
tiles of the allies. But. according to ire
American newspapers which 1 received at
Quarantine, | see that the settlement viii
be a diplomatic matter.
There seems 20 be a sort of an agree
ment between Russia and the United
States to withdraw their troops from
China; and l should say that whatever
America wants England will consent to-.
Roosevelt ~. Paine.
To the Editor of The Times:
Admirers of Thomas Paine, whose kfil-
liant pen was so potent in the achievement
of American independence. are indignant
At Governor Roosevelt for publicly charac-
teri7ing him as a filthy little atheist
They say those three words are three false
hoods. When Gilbert Vale was preparing
his Life of Thomas Paine" he Intercepted
Aaron Burr concerning Paine's alleged vul-
garity. intemperance. and want of cleanli-
ness. Sir" replied the digniied ex-Vice
President. He dined at my table. I al
ways considered him a gentleman. a pleas
ant companion and a good-natured and in
teiligent man. decidedly temperate. and
with a proper regard to his personal APP
pearance whenever / saw him.
In Paine's Age of Reason" at the out
set paragraph ). he says:
Il believe in one God and no more and
l hope for happiness beyond this life
Paine was ffty-four years of age when
this work was published. and never before
had he publicly expressed his religious SEN
timents,
When | say never before I bear in mind
the discovery in 1885 of a letter Of
"Junius,' on 'Priestcraft." published after
the regular series and in another newspa
per than that in which the series had APP
peared. That letter in the London Even
ing Post of August "a, 1913. foreshadows
Paine's age of Reason" which was pub
lished twenty years later.
Lastly. but leastly. Thomas Paine was
not little; his height was full five feet
nine inches. Is Teddy Roosevelt any
taller? w. H. BURR.