The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-04-19
THE TITANIC HORROR GROWS.

/
The developments which show That
! tho news Of the disaster TO the Titanic
i was suri rcsscl by officials OF the steam
ship COMPANY disclose Il dlsaracc;ui
and intiefcusiblc condition Of affairs.
| If it is true, as stated, that tho news
Of that disaster was suppressed Tor
hours, the person guilty Of that sup
| preston should he held up to public
odium, and if there is any way to reach
| him by prosecution, that prosecution
should by no means be either waived or
DELAYED Whether it Is a crime 10 sup
press such information or not, such
suppression amounts TO crime in the
publc estimation, and is not only in
dcfensible, hut is to he condemned ut
tcrly.
it appears from the most recent ac-
counts, thai the Titanic was proceed
ing at speed, lust AS we Judged from
the first accounts must have been the
case, Her great length caused her to
crumplc, as we expressed it, springing
open all of the alright compartments
and doubling the ship up upon herself;
that is, tho great weight and length of
the shin were disproportionatc to the
strength of the lateral beams, TO be
sure. such strain upon the strength
of the sides Of the ship was not to be
expected; and yet there ought to have
been provision for the unexpected in
this, iust as there ought TO have been
provision for the unexpected in the
number of lifcboats that were provid-
cd; the number proving woefully short.
The dispatches have stated that under
the American rules, the ship ought to
have had enough lifebOats to accommo-
dato all the passengers and crew. AS
it turns out, there were accommoda-
tions for less than one.fourth of the
lives on board, and the men, true to
the traditions Of their manhood, chose
death for themselves. allowing the wo"
men and children to have their chance
for life.
As we have suggested hitherto, the
probability is that this disaster will
call halt upon the increasing size Of
the great steamships; in fact, the com
modiousness Of the harbors would en-.
Join this, even without any such warn
ing as the Titanic disaster The New
York papers state that at low tide in
New York harbor, the huge liners al
ready built scrape the bottom Of the
bay. To increase the size of the ships
IN
the depth of New York harbor imper-
ative; but New York harbor is one of
the great harbors of the world, and the
huge liners that use this port could be
accommodated In very few Of the
world s ports. Since, however, they are
used only between New York and
few of the great harbors Of Europe,
doubtless the harbor of New York
could be made commodious and deep
enough for any kind Of vessel that
might be built.
The warning, however, of the lateral
weakness Of such huge ships, as dis
closed in the crumpling Of the Titanic
when she struck the immense Iceberg,
will be warning that cannot be uu-
beeded. Those icebergs are liable TO
be encountered in their season any
wear OF the Newfoundland coast That
is the track Of the icebergs from Baf-
fin s Bay to the warm waters of the
Atlantic; and since they are to be eN-
pected every spring, there must be
some way found either to distinguish
tbntr ,,,,,,1 Al
steamers to 90 cautiously during their
| passage through the fogs in which
| these icebergs commonly are found
The ingenuity Of mankind has solved
very large number of problems Of
man S endeavor. and ii seems as though
that ingenuity ought TO be sufficient to
| devise some means of ascertalning the
proximity of an iceberg, especially as
| there is necessarily a considerable fall
of temperature in the immediate prox.
unity of the ice. The promptness of the
L. 5. Senate in beginning an investiga-
tioD of this disaster, with view to
amending transportation regulations
for the better protection of passengers
at sea is highly commendable,
The stories of the survivors of the
Titanic those comparatively few who
were found in the lifeboats by the res
cuing steamer Carpatha, are Of the
most heartrending character. We have
had premonition of them by short
wireless dispatches, and now we shall
have them by the food. Such reading
as they provide is most distressing, but
still the world is eager 70 read it all.
HOW PRIMARIES WORK.