The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1903-07-31
DANGER IN OCEAN TRAVEL
There Is Not So Much M Many IimAo
Travellers Are Wont to Imagine
and Worry About.

The great ship dynamite plot, late
Iy exploited at length in the papers,
furnished pabulum for all kinds of
talk around hotel corridors as else
where. says the Pittsburg Dispatch.
A Waldorf group, made up of men who
had crossed the ocean times innumer-
able, discussed the attempt TO sink the
Umbria from the standpoint of the
traveller. "An ocean voyage re-
marked an old broker who confessed
that he had just returned from his
twentieth trip. lis the one thing for
which familiarity does not breed con-
tempt. Personally 1 always try to be
square with my conscience before step
ping up the gangplank. Hereafter
when l go abroad / will inevitably add
hidden internal machine TO the side
of the bank against my chances OF
reaching the other side. 1t would be
curious study to determine just what
effect the revelation of this plot will
have upon ocean travel In many
casea, though the parties affected by
the fear would be the last to own it,
it will be the determining cause of
their remaining at home. This may
sound n little far fetched to those who
do not consider the psychologist sit
uation. l will give an authentic case
which is in point, at least, by analogy.
Since my own mother was the victim
/ expect you to take this story at par.
We were living in little western town
and one day mother ran across news
paper item about -four milling. The
writer remarked that occasionally.
though very rarely, rat or mouse
would get into the hopper and be
ground up with the wheat. For weeks
thereafter" continued the broker.
solemnly. mother refused to eat
bread. and to her dying day never
wholly overcame her aversion to it"
As no member of the party seemed
competent to follow this tack gen.
tleman of practical bent took up the
discussion. do you know" he said,
shat if that hundred pounds of dyna-
mite had really exploded in the hold
1t is not likely that any great calam-
ity would have resulted? Admitting
that hole would be blown in the bot
tom of the ship. that does not mean
that she would sink. You know the
steamship companies claim that mod
ern ocean-going passenger ship are un-
sinka BILE. If the Oceanic. the Celtic.
the Cedric or any of the big ones was
to be blown in half both parts would
float. The water-tight compartment
system is perfected to q point that
nothing short of complete dismember-
ment can wreck them. Why. some of
these boats are so long that it Is doubt
full if all the passengers would hear
the report when an internal machine
of the type under discussion exploded"
This contribution to the lore of peril
at sea reminded third party in the
group of tale all his own. "You never
realize the size of these boats until
you spend few days aboard" he be-
gan. .'Why. I vent across with nv
business partner a month ago and we
took the Cedric. We bored each other
to death the first day out and by tacit
mutual consent separated. expecting
to see each other every half hour or
so. That was on Tuesday, and. by
Georgei dye know / didn't see him
again until Thursday? We were not
trying to dodge each other, either"