Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-04-13
Law OF THE SEA
HARD ON CAPT.
ONE ACCIDENT RUINS A CAREER
WHETHER CAPTAIN IS RE.
SPONSIRLE OR NOT
irene CAPTAIN AWAITS WORD
Story Of Some Captains Of Passenger
Carrying Steamers Who Have Had
Accidents-Excuses Not Wanted
and Seldom offered-Many Have
Gone Down With Boats.

The accident to the great ocean
! liner Princess Irene. has brought out
many stories of former accidents and
the Lew York Evening Post has the
following comments:
When Captain Petersen stood on
the Irene's bridge as she came up the
bay. he plainly showed that he real
lied his position keenly. He had not
had much sleep in the last eighty
hours-hours of anxiety and hard
work. His ship had been saved and
there was satisfaction for the skipper
in that, but he said he deeply re-
GREETED his misfortune, and would
await with resignation the result of
the official inquiry that soon would
follow.
Il have done my duty as best |
could" he said.
An memorable Law
The law of the sea is memorable.
In effect it says that captains sea-
manship and judgment should be per-
feet, particularly if he is master Of
great liner and has thousands of
passengers entrusted to his care. If
he makes a serious mistake-loses his
ship, for instance-he must pay the
penalty, which is usually suspension,
the denial of the right to exercise his
talents and training. In other words,
he loses the right to earn a living
at sea.
If his ship is damaged in collision
or gets into other difficulties through
no fault of the captain, his punish
ment may come from his employers
alone he may retain his license but
may be dismissed from the company's
service or be placed in charge Of an
inconspicuous vessel that carries no
passengers. He is never allowed to
forget that he has sinned; that he has
been the commander of ship that
got into trouble.
1t was not always so. Forty or fifty
years ago the rules that governed a
captains conduct were less rigid,
charts were not so perfect then. there
were fewer lighthouses and such safe
guards as the wireless and the sub
marine bell were unthought of. And
the ships themselves were smaller and
less easily handled than are modern
vessels In those days captains were
not held strictly to account for acct
dents. Careless and Indifferent navi-
cation was sometimes overlooked. and
one mistake did not always end an
honorable career.
With the building Of bigger. faster
ships, and the expansion Of the pas
senger business the law of the sea
has become stricter and its enforce.
ment a matter of cold, stern justice.
A captain now Is responsible not only
for valuable ship and cargo but for
thousands Of lives. His ship is
equipped with everything that science
can provide to safeguard here against
accidents. He is expected to handle
her with care and judgment. He can
not afford to sully his record with a
single mistake. One careless mental
lapse or error of judgment disgraces
him for life; and it is useless for him
to make excuses; they are not &C.
cepted by the owners and officials Of
steamship lines. Every shipmaster in
the transatlantic passenger trade real
ICES that.
No doubt this law has worked in
justice in many cases. Able captains
have been obliged to pay its penalties
because they have been misled by in
competent subordinates in whom they
reposed too much faith. On the other
hand ship masters will tell you that
the knowledge that the law will be
always enforced impartially has had
the effect of making them realize
their responsibilities to their owners
and humanity more fully, and that as
a consequence accidents at sea involv-
ing great loss of life have steadily
decreased.
The last accident in the north At
lantic was the sinking of the White
Star liner Republic off Nantucket
lightship, in January, 1909, she was