The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-26

| and the greatest Of the works OF
| men. in her construction and main
| tenance were involved every science,
| profession and trade known to civiii-
cation. On her bridge we're officers,
| who. Besides being the pick of the
| royal navy, had passed rigid exa'nina
! lions, in all studies that pertaincd 10
/ the winds. lides. currents and geo
Eraphg uf the sea- thny were not
pruEesaIGlEE s.. rlaI. r..
/ personnel Of the engine r..-. ....
] stewards department Was tt...
| that of a first class hotel
| Two brass bands. two orchestras
/ and a theatrical company entertain
ed the passengers during waking
hours. corps Of physicians admin
istered to the temporal. and corps
of chapiains to the spiritual. welfare
OF all on board. while well drilled
fire company soothed the fears O.,
nervous ones and added to the gen
eral entertainment by daily practice
with their apparatus
From her lofty bridge ran hidden
telegraph lines to the bow, stern.
engine room. crows nest on the fore
mast, and to all parts OF the ship
where work was done, each wire ter
minating in a marked dial with q
movable Indicator. containing in it's
scope every order and answer re-
.luired In handling the massive hulk.
either at the dock or at sea-which
eliminated. to a great extent. the
hoarse. nerve-racking shouts Of ofI1-
GERS and sailors.
From the bridge. engine room ard
dozen places on her deck the ninety
two doors OF nineteen water-tight
compartments could be closed in half
a minute by turning a lever. These
doors would also close automaticail lily
in the presence OF water. With nine
compartments flooded the ship would
etill fioat. and as no known accident
OF the sea could possibly fill this
many, the steamship Titan" was con-
sidered practically unsuitable
Built Of steel throughout. and for
passenger traffic only. she carried no
combustiie cargo to threaten her de-
structlon by are; and the immunity
from the demand for cargo space had
enabled her designers to discard the
f.at, kettle bottom Of cargo boats nd
give her the sharp dead rise-or slant
from the keel--of a steam yacht. and
this improved her behavior I'm a sea
way. She was 500 feet long. Of 10. 900
tons displacement. 10000 horsepower
h rate OF Is knots an hour over the
b, tom. In the face OF unconsidered
winds. tides and currents. In short.
she was floating city--eontaining
within her steel walls all that tends
e minimize the dangers and discom-
forts OF the Atlantic voyage-Aii that
makes life enjoyable.
Ensinka ble-indestructible. she car
ried as few boats as would satisfy
the laws. These. twenty-four In num-
ber. were securely covered and dashed
down to their chocks on the upper
deck. and IL launched would hold 500
people. She carried no useless, cum
hersome hfe-rafts. but-because the
law required teach OF the 3.0ao
berths in the passengers. officers ana
crews quarters contained cork
jacket. while about twenty circular
lifehuoys we're strewn along the rails
In view Of her absolute superiority
to other craft. rule III navigation
thoroughly believed In hv some cap
tains, but not yet openly followed. was
announced by the steamsi compan,
to apply to the Titan; She would
steam at full speed in fog. storm and
sunshine. and on the Northern Lane
Route. winter and summer. for the
following good and substantial rea-
sons: First. that II another craft
should strike her. the force of the
impact would be distributed over .
larger area II the Titan" had fun
headway. and the brunt Of the dam
age would be borne b. the other. Sec
ond. that II the Titan" was the ag-
gressor she would certainly destroy
the other craft. even at half speed,
and perhaps damage her own bows;
while At full speed. she would cut her
In two with no more damage to her
self than q paint brush could remedy.
In .either case, a. the lesser OF two
evils. 1t was best that the smaller hull
should suffer. A third reason waS
that at full speed she could be more
easily steered out of danger. and a
fourth, that In case OF an end-on col
llsion with an iceberg-the only
thing afloat that she could not con-
quer--her bows would be crushed In.
but few feet further at full than at
half speed, and at the most, three
compartments would he flooded
which would not matter with six more
to spare.
SO. It was confidently expected that
when her engines had limbered them
selves. the steamship Titan" would
land her passengers three thousand
miles away YIN ths nromntitude i an 9
uAu OcAteu MIA TcSuIuS oIi ASi hh1AuSA'
voyage. but. up to the third return
trip, had not lowered the time be-
tween candy Hook and Daunt's Rock
TO the flve-day limit: and 1t was un.
ON cially rtimored among the two
thousand passengers who had en-
barked at New York that an effort
would now be made to do so.
Chapter u.
Eight tugs dragged the great mass
to midstream and pointed her nose
down the river: then the pilot on the
bridge blew q short blast on the whis-
tie and turned levef; the tugs gather
ed In their tines and drew on: down
in the bowels Of tho ship. three small
engines were started. opening the throt'
ties Of three large ones; three pro-
pellers bexan to revolve: and the mann
mouth. with D vibratory tremble run
ming through her great frame. moved
slowly to sea.
East Of Sandy Hook the pilot Wal
drcnped and the real voyaee begun
| Fifty feet below her deck. In an In
ferno OF noise. and heat. and In lieht
! and shadow. coal-passers wheeled ths
/ picked fuel from the bunkers to thu
.hre-hoId like those Of tortured hends
| toasAd It irto the eighty Whitehead
mouths at the furnaces. In the engine.
room. oilers rsar~d 10 and fro.
On deck sailors aet the triangular
sails on the two, masfs. 10 ada th~i'
...~,>~~%e,v, 81 fDsA ranvu arstt1yvs ~ thu rAr.