The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1912-05-31

Naval Constructor David Watson Taylor, L.
s. N, Is regarded as one OF the foremost authori
ties onNship construction in the world. He has
the unusual distinction OF having been graduated
nv two Of the greatest naval schools-the L. 5.
Naval Academy and the Royal College at Green
witch, England-after having made the highest
marks in his examinations that had ever been at
tanned BY student in the history Of either instr
tuition In Popular Mechanics, he writes fol-
lows, concerning the loss OF the Titanic
The "'Titahc" catastrophe teaches no new les
son as regards the falibty of man. 1t simply
furnishes another example OF the we'll established
principle that il, in the conduct of any enter
prise. an error OF human judgment or faulty
working OF the human senses involves disaster,
sooner or later the disaster comes.
Looking backward il seems an error OF judg
ment OF theicaptain OF the Titanic to risk pas
sage near the ice. That gallant officer and gen
teman went down with his ship to honorable
death, and his story can never be told 1t seems
practically certain that he did not for one mo-
ment think he was running any material risk
OF accident to his vessel, much less risk OF de-
structpn. The mere fact that he was not on
the bridge at the time OF the collision is very
strong evidence that he thought his course would
have cleared the bergs whose position had been
reported to him.
Picked captains of Atlantic liners cling to the
bridge TO the point of exhaustion whenever they
consider the circumstances to involve the least
danger to tho ship
II Captain Smith erred, il was the error OF
captain whose record and experience were of the
best We need not expect to secure greater
safety BY better captains, and without speculat-
ing as regards matters involving personnel and
discipline, let us now consider matters OF ma
tcrial
The most salient fact is that II the Titanic
had carried more boats or a number OF life raft
in addition TO her boats, many more lives would
have been saved. There were 10 large boats, to
be swung out by the davits before lowering and
two sea boats swung out at the forward dayits
ready for instant lowering in the case OF man
overheard or other emergency II appears also
that two more bats were carried over tho Of
ficers quarters, one at least OF which was not
lowered at all but floated away when the I'll
tanic' sank.
There was evidently room for many more
boats. The deck plan shows room between the
two groups OF boats where 10 more could have
been carried. Moreover, VIC learn from the des-
cription Of the>ship published in various technical
papers neatly year ago that each pair of the
davits inSfaed was fitted to handle two boats
So that as regards space there was obviously
room TO install some So instead of 10 large boats
making in all so instead OF 20, and there is no
difficulty from topheaviness in the way of carry
ing the larger number
The boat equipment on board appears To have
complied with the minimum requirements OF
the English Board OF Trade. the responsible gov
ernmental authority in this connection II seems
practically certain that regulations all over the
world will be promptly changed. and the boat
equipment of these very large ships should GER
tainly be increased to provide boat accommoda
tons for every soul allowed on board There is
a great opportunity here for international team
work and it is very desirable that not only re-
qurements for safety Of passengers but tonnage
rules, berthing requirements Of steerage passen-
gers, etc, should be internationally standard
lied
The facts that under the circumstances more
boats would have saved many more lives from
the Titanic. and that she could have carried
about three times a. many boats as she had
should not blind our ewes to the fact that life
boats are. after all, a very inefficient device
for saving life from a sinking vessel II the
Titanic had actually carried 80 boats. il does
not seem al all likely that nearly all OF them
would have been launched One OF the 20 she
did carry was not launched at all. being incon-
veniently slowed The crew was new to the shin
and apparently had been given no adequate boat
drill. but on the other hand the conditions were
exceptionally favorable. there being apparently
an unusually smooth sea and little list OF the
vessel at any time. Had there been any sea wor-
thy Of the name. the roll OF survivors would
have been short indeed
The difficulty Of launching liieboats is enor-
mously increased by very moderate sea and
the chance OF living in them after launching
very much reduced. Properly built boats with
air tanks would not sink. but II overloaded and
inAdequately manned. the majority Of the pas
seugers would suooumb very soon. boat
which would carry so or 90 persons in smooth
water could not carry nearly so many in rough
water.
The area in plan Of the large lifeboais OF the
Titanic was somewhere near 400 square feet
Imagine some 90 persons crowded upon a rect