The Washington herald., 1911-04-30
SEA CAPTAINS WHO
LOSE SHIPS ;:
Whether They Are Directly to Blame or
Not, They Are Always Held iRespon-
sible by Their Employers.

the master who could pile his ship up
snugly on a sandy beach along the Afri-
can coast for preference, without losing
his crew, could always get plenty Of
work.
One Of the chief factors which initiates
against steamship company giving q
captain another command after he has
lost his vessel is the insurance compa-
nies. From the time a man gets COM
mand of ship his record is kept at
Lloyds Agency, London. in a big book
alphabetically arranged so that the un-
derwriters can refer at once to the career
of a captain when he is appointed to Q
new ship.
Capt. Dunning. in command OF the Cu-
nard line Slavonia when she struck ON
Flores Island on June II. 1909, and be-
came total wreck, was reprimanded
severely by the court of inquiry, but his
certificate was not suspended. He had
to leave the Cunard service. however.
and is now the marine superintendent Of
the United Fruit Company.
Two Peculiar Cases.
Capt. lie Horn. formerly commodore Of
the Peninsular and Oriental Navigation
Company. stranded his vessel. the China,
of Perrin Island. in the Red Sea. in 1887.
1t cost the company about so. 900 to get
her of. At the court Of inquiry 1t was
proved that the second officer, who was
on the bridge while the captain was at
dinner. had sent down three notes by the
quartermaster to inform the captain that
the ship was rapidly nearing Coal House
Point and that the course should be al
tered. 1t was the birthday anniversary
Of Lady Brassey, one of the passengers,
who sat at the captains right hand, and
he was SO engrossed in conversation that
he pushed the notes aside, and the ship
went aground before the passengers had
finished their meal. That finished his
career. An order was issued by the COM
pany that officers were not to associate
with the passengers in future. and no.
tices to that effect were posted in all the
cabins. This was the cause Of about 400
officers resigning, as they were men Of
good families and had means of their
own. To-day. owing to the lack Of ofn-
GERS. the Peninsular and Oriental Com
pany is forced to, take its Junior officers
from the British cadet ships.
A peculiar case where a captain lost his
certificate, as we'll as his ship. was that
of the stranding of the cruising steam
yacht Morse King in April. 1893. on the
coast of Zante when she had about 30
tourists on board. Capt Wright was
keeping a course about seven miles OF
the coast on a clear evening about
o'clock. when a deputation of the women
passengers asked him II he could go In
little closer in order that they could sec
the picturesque white villages which
shone in the sunlight against the vine
covered hills in the background.
The skipper kindly altered his course
accordingly, and the passengers on deck
cried out in admiration: .'Oh. my! Isn't
II delightful to see SO close Iona's isles,
where Byron once lived? What a nice
man the captain is!'
Just then there was a crash which
changed the cries Of admiration to
screams of fear. The Morse King had
gone hard and fast on a reef running out
from shore. The go passengers were
three weeks on Zante. living on dried
currants. figs. wild pig. and hard cheese
made from goats milk. in the land that
Byron trod.
The first thing the passengers did on
reaching land was to hold an indignation
meeting on a vtne-clad hill, denouncing
the skipper for his negligence and sign
ing a round robin to that effect. Tho
Morse King was a total loss. Capt.
Wright had his certificate suspended for
twenty months.