New-York tribune., 1901-06-17
THE FERRY DISASTER.

1t will apparently require careful and ex-
tended investigation 10 determine the mmedi-
ate responsibility for the Staten Island Ferry
disaster. Complica ted questions of signals and
rights of way are involved. and it will not he
easy 10 say which captain, If either, was tech
nically obedient to the regulations. The ulti-
! mate cause of the disaster is, however. per-
! fectly apparent. There was friction between
/ the officers OF the Staten Island and the White
hall Terminal boats. The captain of the Mauch
Chunk felt that the captain of the Northfeld
was inclined to be unaccommOdatng. and had
/ complained of him. Doubtless the other captain
reciprocated Under such circumstances it was
natural that each should be unwilling to give
way 10 the other. OF course. it is not 10 be
supposed that either contemplated an accident
or would consciously have carried persistence
in a course TO the point of inviting one. but il
* easy TO see in their stories the feeling on the
part of each that he within his rights that
the other ought TO give way. and would do so
if he himself did not weaken and so invite I'M
position The inevitable result was that such
n contest would some day end in crash when
a swift tide misjudged distance diminished
the supposed margin of safety. Nobody in
tended it: nobody foresaw it, but il pre-
pared for by the spirit of jealousy.
Ii is intolerable that the lives of thousands
should he risked in this way, and that the
managers of neighboring lines. being Informed
of the rivalry over right of way AT the slips.
as the Staten Island Ferry officials were
should fail promptly and decisivey to pnt
srop TO il and see that each captain erred
ia ther on the side of accommodation than other
wise i'm crossing the others path. This was par
tcularly the duty of the Staten Island Ferry
managers for they were responsible for the
nd
which the boats of the two lines in making and
leaving the slips were compelled to cross each
others courses close inshore. where msunder-
standing is easy and the difficulty of nayiga-
tion great The arrangement in itself was Il
bad one d0ubly so in view of the fact that
the two slips were not the property OF different
companies working Independently. but were
under one control. so that there was no in
superable obstacle TO placing the boats at the
slips so as TO avoid crossing. If for their own
/ convenience. and to avoid the expense OF rent
ting the slips they preferred 10 make the cross
/ ing il was their imperative duty to take eX-
treme precautions against the collision they thus
made easy They let out the northern part of
their property for the landing of the New-Jer-
sey Central boats, and. however those boats
were managed, they were bound 10 run their
own with regard TO the complication so invited
even 10 the point OF giving way Deyond the To-
quirernnnts of the harbor regula tions. They
were responsible for the whole arrangement.
and were under obligation 10 run their own
boats so that even if their tenant did cause
them delay and inconvenience the public should
not he endangered. This they conspicuously
failed to do and apparently their captains were
allowed 10 treat the tenant as an interloper
who should not get in the way.
Whatever may he finally decided as 10 the
accountability of anybody before the law, the
disaster has brought sharply to attention the
condition of the Staten Island Ferry, which
has long been subject of complaint on the
part of those daily using if. Perhaps no boat
would have withstood such blow as was de-
liyered 10 the Northfeld, but examination OF
that vessel seems TO show that whatever her
responsibility for this particular break she is
full of old wood. which is likely to give way,
with serious results. under strains which mod
ern boats would easily withstand The traffic
between Manhattan and Richmond is large
enough and important enough to call for first
class ferry service. and the municipal authori-
ties should see that il is secured. They should
also see that these boats TO which the lives OF
thousands are daily intrusted are managed with
the care and ability which would be required
of railroad company.