Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-06-19

American report % shs 1itanio Dis
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AnasFioan REPORT o. ths 1itanio DIS
astsr.
The United States Senate COMMITTEES
for investigation OF the loss OF the
steamship Titanic at sea. April b.. re-
ported to the Senate on May 18th. Im-
mediate responsibility for the disaster
was laid to the captain Of the ship, who
went down in her. and who seems to:
have steamed at full speed through q
region in which he had been warned that
he would encounter ice. Responsibility.
for unnecessary loss Of life was declared
to be shared by Captain Lord Of the
neighboring steamer Californian thru
his disregard Of the distress signals
from the sinking Titanic. The commit:
tee, through its chairman. Senator~Wil-5
liam Alden Smith, further declared that
also rests upon the Brit
ish Board Of Trade, ito whose laxity of
regulation and hasty inspection. the.
world Is largely indebted for the awful
fatality Punishment for failure Of.
duty is left to the British government
and public opinion. The committee has
busted itself chiefly with discovering
disaster, and suggesting remedies. AS
enumerated by the press dispatches. the
following were the causes Of the disas-
ter as noted in the report:
Before the Titanic departed on her
maiden voyage there were not sufficient
tests Of boilers, bulkheads, equipment
or signal devices. 81 IS. al 4 81.
Officers and crew were strangers to
each other and not familiar with the
ships implements. or tools. and no drill
or station practice took place and no
helpful discipline prevailed.
'aThe speed Of the Titanic was twenty
four and one-half miles an hour at time
of the accident, although officers Of the
Titanic had been advised Of the pres
ence Of iceDergs by the steamships Bal
tic, Amerika and Californian
Passengers were not advised Of dan
ger, although President Ismay of the
White Star Line, who was taking the
vessels maiden voyage, was informed.
No general alarm was given, nor any or
ganized system of safety undertaken.
"Of the 1924 passengers and 500 mem
bers of crew on board, there was room
in the lifeboats for only 1,176 persons,
and because Of lack Of orderly discipline
the boats took off only 7O4 persons,
twelve being rescued from the water"
z A further point Of criticism was that
Officers Of the White Star line 'battled
with the truth after receiving informa-
ton from their Montreal office on the
Monday morning following the acct
dent"
Senator Smith proposed in two bills
a thorough regulation of navigation by
steam vessels along lines taught by the
disaster proposed enacting into law q
variety Of rules and regulations. and
embodied in the measures the numerous
recommendations for safety made In the
official report Of the committee. One Of
the most important recommendations
was for, stricter inspection of vessels by
the Federal. steamboat inspection serv-
ice and the meeting of all requirements
Of American navigation laws by every
vessel clearing from an American port
.-...- 80 s-" ~.
-, The Senate passed, on the 28th, a
joint resolution extending the thanks of
Congress and appropriating $1,000 for
medal to Captain Arthur H. Rostrom Of
the steamer Carpathia for his effective
rescue of such Of the Titanic passengers
and crew as had escaped in boats, and
also vote Of thanks to the Carpathia's
crew. &z-.r55
An. all-inclusive bill, to be denominat-
ed '.The Ocean Safety Act Of 1872" de-
signed to cover all the navigation les
sons drawn from the Titanic disaster,
was introduced in the Senate on the 3rd
by Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota,
chairman of the Commerce Committee.
The bill includes stringent regulations
for better wireless equipment, continu-
ously operated, on ocean and great lakes
vessels carrying fifty or more persons,
as provided in a bill which passed the
House on the 3rd, and almost identical
with bill already passed by the SEN
ate. This wireless section vests control
of the apparatus in the: Master of the
vessel, and, to avoid the wireless COM
munication being shut off by failure of
the vessels engines, requires a powerful
auxiliary power supply that can COM
munite 100 miles at all times. The Mel
son bill would recognize foreign steam
ship laws whenever they are as effective
as American laws and regulations. The
bill also would equip every passenger
craft leaving an American port with
sufficient lifeboats to accommodate ev-
erybody aboard, together with other
safety equipment, and would create
commission Of five persons to investi-
gate here and abroad merchant marine
construction. It would require rigid
port examination and boat drills, define
of Seamen. penaliZe failure
to assist any person in distress at sea,
and make criminally liable any master,
managing owner, steamship director or
principal resident agent Of foreign
steamship for sending from an Ameri-
can port a vessel so unseaworthy as to
endanger life.-The Public. ~
Anderson
The Tribune is In receipt of the an
Of the marriage Of Miss An
ma Anderson, daughter of Mr.. and Mrs.
Andrew Anderson, Of s. Carpenter, Iowa,
= X ~ ~.