The Forrest City times., 1912-05-10
Government Is Stirred by the
 Titanic Disaster.
SAFEGUARDS NOT ADEQUATE
Conformity to American Regulations Probably Viii Sc insisted CT Here after-AlI Wsstirgson Mourrs
 Death Of Ha,or Butt.
B GEORGE CLINTON.

en different Ines l. is expected that supervising inspectors Of steamships hereafter will pag less attention to regulations Of safety laid down by for eig1 governments and vii more rigid ly enforce the American regulations Moreover. while the Titanic struck ar iceberg. 1t is probable that there will he still more careful search made Of the seas 10 find Ge7eliet vessels which are a menace to navigation.
 As things stand nov. the United States government allows foreign yes sels to come into the ports Of this country provided their safeguards. s~ca as Hteboats and ether things ap- p7oach n 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 it's regulations can be regarded by this country as safe Gov erEment officials here believe that the English board Of trade which regu- lates such matters thought that in the Titanic t had a boat which was un- sinkable and that therefore t would be al 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 life5oats 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 it's desire naturally that fin the future lives should be better safeguarded. The secretary Of commerce and labor. Mr Nagel. also has taken the matter up with his suhordinates. and unquestion- ably representations will be made 10 the foreign officials who govern such matters that hereafter the regulations Of the United States must be lived up to in every port
 Many Derelicts Afoat.
 So far as the matter of derelfcts Is concerned. t is known that nearly 400 of them are floating about the seas in various parts of the world. each one being a menace 10 navigation. Boats are out all the time sekinc derelicts l for the purpose ef destroying them but 1t seems that as fast as one is de stroyed another takes is place. for vessels are always being deserted at sea by their crews when It seems that sinking Is imminent It is said that there never Is much of an in- crease in the number Of derellcts. but 1t stays about the same year in and year out
 The dere1ict i' etill as much of a menace to navigation as the iceberg and more of one because 1t Is apt to get in the way Of ships at every sea son of the year, while the icebergs are a 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. l It would seem that in these days Of highly developed meteorological knowl- i edge the presence of floating ice in the path Of ocean steamships at an earlier date than usual ought to have i been forecast The reason for their i appearance early perhaps by some uo. i thinking persons was taken in advance as reason why they should appear 1 late The winter which has inst l passed was an extracrdinary severe 1 one and it lasted a long time The 1 mere fact that there vas cold win 1 ter would make 1t 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 ually 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 1t 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 Mourned.
 No one not resident of the capital 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 theater 1 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 hong as there was the slightest hope for the majors safety. The employes or the White House were in a nervous condition which united them for work during the days of uncertainty concerning eArehie.s" fate.