Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-05-09
ROUsED TO ACTION
government Is Stirred by the
Titanic Disaster.
SAFEGUARDS NOT ADEQUATE
Conformity to American Regulations
Probably viii Be insisted on Here
after-Ali Washington mourns
Death of Major Butt.
RN GEORGE CLINTON

Washington.-The disaster TO the
great Titanic has stirred the officials
! IN Washington to action along a doz-
en- different lines. 1t is expected that
| supervising inspectors OF steamships
cereafter will pay less attention to
regulations OF safety laid down by for
elgn governments and Will more rigid
/ ~ enforce the American regulations.
Moreover. while the Titanic struck an
iceberg, it is probable that there will
De still more careful search made Of
the seas to find derelict vessels which
are a menace to navigation.
As things stand now, the United
States government allows foreign yes
sells to come into the ports of this
country provided their safeguards,
such as Iifeboats and other things, ap-
proach in numbers those demanded by
the laws of this country. It is always
taken for granted that the English
/ government, for instance, has the vel
fare Of its marine service at heart and
/ that therefore its regulations can be
/ regarded by this country as safe. Gov
eminent officials here believe that the
/ English board of trade which regu-
lates such matters thought that in the
/ Titanic it had boat which was IN
I sfnkable and that therefore it would
! be all right not to insist that there
/ should be enough life boats to provide
/ for. all the passengers.
Congress has been very much stir
/ red up over the matter Of lifeboats
and other appliances by the disaster
to the great steamship. The admins
tration has felt personal sense of
loss because of the death of Major
Archibald W Butt, the White House
aid, and this has added to its desire
naturally that in the future lives
/ should be better safeguarded. The
! secretary of commerce and labor, Mr..
Nagel, also has taken the matter up
with his subordinates, and unquestion-
ably representations will be made to
the foreign officials who govern such
matters that hereafter the regulations
Of the United States must be lived up
! to in every port
Many DereIicts Afioat.
So far as the matter of derelicts is
! concerned, it is known that nearly 400
of them are floating about the seas in
various parts of the world, each one
| being a menace to navigation Boats
are out all the time seking derelicts
for the purpose of destroying them,
but it seems that as fast as one is de-
stroyed another takes its place, for
vessels are always being deserted at
sea by their crews when it seems
that sinking is imminent 1t is said
that there never is much of an in
crease in the number of derelicts, but
/ 1t stays about the same year in and
year out.
The derelict is still as much of a
menace to navigation as the iceberg,
and more Of one because it is apt to
get in the way Of ships at every sea-
| son Of the year, while the icebergs are
danger ordinarily only for about
! six weeks. The usual time of the
tcebergs menace is in June, but this
/ year they broke loose from their
"moorings" much earlier than usual
and appeared southeast of Cape Race
utterly unexpectedly.
Why Icebergs Appeared Early.
It would seem that in these DAYS of
highly developed meteorological knowl-
edge the presence of floating ice in
| the path of ocean steamships at an
earlier date than usual ought to have
been forecast. The reason for their
| aOnoo rorco 90 rIyy y,arbo,,- H., 90. -
thinking persons was taken in advance
as a reason why they should appear
late. The winter which has Just
passed was an extraordinary severe
one and it lasted long time. The
mere fact that there was a cold win
ter would make it appear that ice
bergs would stay fast until later in
the season than usual, and so they did
In the far north where they are US
ualIy formed
The trouble lay in the fact that the
severity of the winter caused the
bergs to form much further south
than usual and so it was that when
the first warm days Of spring came
| the southern icebergs broke loose and
hoated out into the open long before
those which had formed in the usual
place were melted from their fasten-
! ings.
Major Butt Sincerely Mourncd.
No one not resident of the capftal
probably can appreciate the deep
ense Of sorrow felt here when
.ews came that Maj. Archibald
W. Butt, the presidents personal aid.
was among the passengers lost on the
Titanic. President Taft had Just seat
ed himself in a box at the tE.eater
when the news came that his aid prob
| ably was among those who went down
with the ship. He instantly left the
theater, went to the White House and
telegraphed steamship officials in New
York for information asking that he
be informed hourly day and night as
long as there was the slightest hope
for the majors safety. The employees
Of the White House We're in nervous
condition which untitled them for
work during the days of uncertainty
concerning "Archie's" fate.
There was not a newspaper man in
Washington who did not like and ad-
mire this major of the quartermaster's
department. The correspondents felt
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