New-York tribune., 1905-10-29

.en,ed with Wow Of furnishing Information as eo
the state Of the srt in the several departments o
1re safeguards. of accuainting the public with the
.xixtence Of certain evils and Of suggesting neeoeo
changes and improvements. The work eniisteo 'he
cooperation of municipal authorities insurance uh
der~riters and scientific and practical experts ei
gagged in the trades having TO do with such maj
tiers.
rbe u,sa ,,terest excited both in and out Of the
trades as shown ny both written and verbal COM
xnents of experts, is sufficient encouraeeieH' "
the continuance of the series
The numbers of the series already printed dealt
with fire safeguards on land: this article is ue-
voted to presentation of Ike matters IN tne
marine service and, it is hoped will disspa'e the
fears Of water travel. which cannot be saio 10
have been i'll founded. year or more ago pu'
causes for which have since then oeeh lag ~
moved
:. ,s -aoos,.zea that as the layman is less at
ho,,e on the water than land, he Is hke4y u
harbor more unnecessary fears as to cohoillo' o
the for it is the unfafIaf ifar Creates
Ereater f,ror and leaves more lasting TSsre
than dozen Of equal magnuoe on OF tbe conditions
actneily obtaining present, IN contidSSi @ Sisseter
.hoss existing at ri the public heart and which has
furnished urthinking members a oL a apcident that
as since &c occurred will furnish comparison 'iia'
can but reassure the public; which follow have
great weight being the testimony Sa1e 9t been com
by e feaSoa 80 give ~ these matters study Trans
frank B Green. chairman OF the &c OGees Roard of
portation Committee of the Newborn D'o
sa coaons in the fall of 1894 in the passSdn d
sser and excursion fleet about Se ghting appa-
porable, especially as regaros aeouaJe but they
thaJ been allowed lie too long be1ope and not
hauled. and so had enoeb in emergencies
The life saving apparatus ana pa pai Hare not
in about & as or Sao were they kept in proper
repaiT and their method Of CONSTRUCTION nbt Ts of the
The tackle could not support the welgdt aSded An
hot let alone that of the passengers Shicb swung
other fault was that the fe were found be
hoIted fast~n case of emergency tney yroed part
aavs tse eeen Life RATS were
found be faulty in that 1ne M REQUIRED by law.
nd in ao many cases wooden dummies tlnGb hsbesds
inspectors had TO rely solely ,a on oot he torn to
oenes to be examined The great hnlk Gn rie This
servers used sranuated CORK jackets I4L and rammed
srbey were allowed lie in wire I4 raeks leaVins wing
fasng fsn snare sr9n ana euson The slocum disaster
focused public attenton on ms oaci in the day ex-
curson ard ferry and the day and night sa To-
ines h isboIt flaws; the dynamo rooms were locatea
IA cramPsd gu qgareT sng wegod%or around
ognd to anS Be 'n Soaked With the thrown off the
an s9d y so Tnamos TPaam readily started fires
and in the least accessible parts OF All the
,rs cna0Rs rht0R appara3us aTs and faults
have bee been 5a l5ESB have been examined failed
sp ESn ,r- ,e.. and Messenger vessels are all right
a5s ad S3at o e deputy P3E Rs
therefore all new will be satsfaetSTy wiring
,se nno the initiative of Captain Ira Harris M Inc
efficient snpsfsns safs seampoat Inspection Service
been renedied That is where wires pass of t6e
vee,,Isr obstruction of vessel they are apt TO
have their insulation a6Tde or ons fHe are U provided
70 a4m for ssrtes s IS ahPy by
reforms which obtained
Mr Green calls attention to the following IS g I'M IN
~rnI-arnents which in his opinion. shoulc De IN
rssted upon Steamboat inspection law requires
that onethird eube spaGe OF m le wBe PG it prescrbes
the otation OF the life raft it does noa nav
sustain the requisite number of people in the water
cllnging to it. it lacks a good SsreS eSaI Life S Poa Pf
does this 1t fully answers all the requirements u
eain sections ass and 4Ss of the United States
Revised Statutes provide that an Vesseis 5 life @
boats from davits but they have never beer been en- en-
best being that adopted by the United sta.es nans
and known as the Raymond Autofnatic f'ele"si''7
George A. White c. E, Nav. Archt- & Mar
Enp chairman Association Passenger Steam
boat Lines comparing conditions prior TO
the Slocum disaster with those or To-Day. saSS'
Even previous June 1904 United states inSpeo Of
the world; the only weakness then being Iach
ef hgi@ se ae agelv from the fact that the depart
.nent was not supplied with a sufficient nulnper OF
and and nerbaps also from the fact that, like many
other departments OF this character they iiaO
Asked as TO the most prolific sources Of fire peril
aboard ship he outlined substantially those men,
,Ioned by the various expert constructors and
manufacturers hereinafter quoted He would ADD
and drv powder extinguishers-the latter for dyna-
,nos-chemical buckets containing liquid hre eK.
e1asaIsasn eaifey. and fHs hand 'is srenades
AS regards the means of escape from vessels he
believes first in metallic life boats. and second in
life RATS. Concerning the latter he says: / con-
one SO far that will meet all sensible requirements
Asked about the matter of establishing and main
eernsI Vieilance and frequent fire drills and never
letting those drills become perfunctory service
but that each one should have objective point on
.ss sg om to e lead his hose any part Of the boat
We have these fire drills once week, as the law
papers should discriminate between the wildcat
ine doing pickup 6asness fh aaea6 eFe%
pan!es, that recognize their obilgaon TO the trav,
the irresponsible lines, unfortunately are often
thought to apply TO all lines
that the public is now most carefully safeguarded;
fhnh the severnment should, however. have more
inspectors, and that the qualification for inspectors
strucfor, Corporations are very much like individ-
uals-some good. some bad; some law abiding some
force Of inspectors it is possible to see that the
rules and regulations obeyed. and that the
ehiftless ones are made 10 conform to right reg
To the credit Of transportation companies, con-
structors and manufacturers, IL may be said that
the great improvement in conditions has been
largely due to their conscientious efforts though
OF course. they have been greatly aided by science
and invention which promptly forward to
fire prevention. ETC. disclosed by the great disaster
OF last year. The government too, has shown
intelligent appreciation OF the difficulties to be
met and q praiseworthy readiness to adopt and
enforce needed precautions while its ofcias' zeal
and efficiency In executing the laws behests enttle
them TO public confidence, their work showing
great Improvement past performance. Where
both the government and its officials might better
safeguard life and property, from marine fires. is