New Ulm review., 1911-07-05

EOOu anu uGN A0CNAo VI SAAS =
own. Today. owing to the lack of Of
GERS, the Peninsular and Oriental com
pany is forced to take its Junior officers
from the British cadet ships.
Case Of Captain Francke.
On the evening of March 4, 1907. thu
Great Northern liner Dakota struck {
rock near the Molina lighthouse, forty
miles from Yokohama. The passengers
and crew were landed at the light
house. The Dakota proved tota
loss. The local board Of steamboat
inspectors at Seattle heard evidence
that Captain Francke. the commander
was to blame, and the captain appeal
ed to George Uhler, supervising inspec
tor general Of the steamboat inspection
service, who replied:
81 am forced to the conclusion that
the stranding of the vessel and her
subsequent total loss was due entirely
to your careless and Indifferent navi.
CATION. as an hour before the disaster
you assumed charge Of the watch and
took the bridge and directed the navi'
CATION of the ship yourself" Mr..
Uhler ruled that the captain might be
licensed as a chief mate of ocean
steamers and after having served two
years as chief mate might again be
licensed as a master Of ocean steamers.
In a dense snowstorm the American
line steamer st. Paul rammed and
destroyed the British second class
cruiser Gladiator of the isle of Wight
on April 25. 1908. The bow of the ST..
Paul was damaged and she was COM
PEELED to put back to port. Captain
Passow of the st. Paul and his CHIEF
officer, with the regular pilot Of abe
American line, were on the bridge at
the time of the accident. The admi-
ralty court decided that the Gladiator
alone was to blame. More than a
score Of the crew of the Gladiator lost
their lives.
After the White Star liner Suevic
struck near the Lizard eight years ago
the London board of trade suspended
the certificate of her commander for
three months. having found that the
disaster was due to the fault of Cap
tain Jones in maintaining full speed
while heading toward the land in thick
weather.
Lost Certificate and Ship.
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. 1898.
on the coast of Zanute when she had
about 25O tourists on board. Captain
Wright was keeping a course about
seven miles off the coast on a clear
evening about o'clock when a depu-
tation of the women passengers asked
him If he could go in little closer In
order that they could see the nlctur-
esque 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 it delightful to see so close
Iona's isles, where Byron once lived!
What q nice man the captain ISL
Just then there was crash which
changed the cries of admiration to
screams of fear. The Morse King had
gone hard and fast on reef running
out from shore. The 250 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 indigna'
tion meeting denouncing the skipper
for his negligence. The Morse King
was a total loss, and Wright had his
certificate suspended for twelve
months.
!