Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-28

men as ever clustered about the Judgment
seat in any single moment of passing
time
I'VE shall leave to the honest Judgment
of England its painstaking chastisement
of the British Board of Trade. to whose
laxity of regulation and hasty inspection
the world is largely indebted for this
awful fatality. OF contributing causes
there were very many. In the face of
warning signals, speed was increased and
messages of danger seemed to stimulate
her TO action rather than to persuade her
to fear.
Rushed on True Course.
1.-The Titanic rushed onward on her true
course-one recognized as appropriate and
agreed upon by mariners as the interna-
tional highway for westbound vessels,
yet dangerous at this season of the year,
when the Labrador current may be bear
ing vast masses of ice across the track of
ships-scores of these towering glaciers
planted themselves In the very pathway
of this ship. and were large and so
numerous that. in the absence of fog.
they should have been easily discernible
by the lookout If. as he says in his testi-
mony, he had been supplied with glasses.
capt Smith knew the sea and his
clear eye and steady hand had often guild
ed his ship through dangerous paths: for
forty years storms sought in vain to vex
him or menace his craft. His indifference
to danger was one of the direct and con-
tributing causes Of this unnecessary
tragedy, while his own Willingness to die
was the expiating evidence of his fitness
TO live' those of US who knew him we'll
not In anger. but in sorrow-file one speci-
nc charge against him, overconfidence
and neglect to heed the oft-repeated warn
fngs OF his friends; but, in his horrible
dismay, when his brain was afre with
honest retribution. we can still see, in hiS
manly bearing and his tender solicitude
for the safety Of women and little chill
ofen' some traces of his lofty spirit
Speed Is Kept Up.
The mystery of his Indifference to dan
ger, when other and less pretentious
vessels doubled their lookouts or stopped
their engines. finds no reasonable n.y.
pothesis IN conjecture or speculation;
science in shipbuilding was supposed to
have attained perfection, and to have
spoken her last word: mastery of the
ocean had at last been achieved: but
overconndence seems to have dulled the
faculties, usually so alert With the at
mosphere literally charged with warning
signals and wireless messages registering
tnelr last appeal. the stokers In the en-
glhe room fed their fires with fresh fuel,
registering In that dangerous place her
fastest speed.
Nature gave a warning of approach
ing peril so significant that passengers
chiii and spoke to one another of the
sudden cold. Sailors of the Grano Banks
Know the Importance Of the thermometer.
"nlch is almost as necessary to then
sdiety as is the compass. Even the quar-
termaster. Kitchens. who regularly took
the temperature Of the water from the
sea, said: 1t suddenly became bitter
coio, ana added that the first order re-
celFeo Dy him from Second Officer Jieh-
toiier at O'Clock Sunday evening was 10
take his compliments down to the shio's
carpenter and inform him to look to his
MS fresh water. that it was about TO
Senator Smith declared that the ,om.
niand or the officer of the watch to avert
the disaster actually exposed the most
Vulnerable part of the titanic to the Ice
when the shock came.
Prov Turned Aside.
Distracted by the sudden appearance
of danger" said the speaker. he sharp-
~ turned aside the PROV, the part best
prepared to resist collision. exposing the
temple to the blow at the turn of the
bilge the steel encasement yielded to
glancing blow so slight that the IMPACT
was not felt In many parts of the ship
although representing an energy of more
than a million foot tons. said to be the
equlvaIent OF the combined broadsides Of
twenty or the largest guns In our battle
ship fleet fired at the same moment with
blow SO deadly many of the passengers
and crew did not even know Of the COLI
SION until tardlly advised Of the danger
by anxious friends and even then official
statements were clothed in such confiden-
tial assurances of safety as to arouse no
fear"
force OF the impact must have Indicated
10 master and builder that the ship was
doomed. He commented causticalIy ,,pon
the failure of the ships officers immedi-
ar2fx sxf.v
lish some orderly routine
Conduct Of Officers.
Concerning the conduit OF the ships
officers he said:
'HaphaZard they rushed by one an
other. on staircase and in hallway. while
men of self-control gathered here and
there about the decks helplessly staring
at one another or giving encouragement
TO those less courageous than themselves.
l.ifebelts were finally adjusted to all and
the lifeboats were cleared away and al
though strangely insufficient in number
We're only partially loaded and in all in
stances unprovided with compasses and
only three of them had lamps They were
manned so badly that in the absence of
prompt relief they would have fallen easy
victims to the advancing ice foe. nearly
thirty miles in width and rising sixteen
feet above the surface of the water
Their danger would have been as great
as II they had remained on the deck of
the broken hull. and IL the sea had risen
these toy targets with over 100 exhaust
ed people would have been helplessly
tossed about upon the waves without food
or water.
Never Had Rowed.
One witness swore that two of the
three stewards in her boat admitted that
they had never had an oar in their hands
before and did not even know what the
oarlock was for. The lifeboats were filled
so indinerently and lowered so quickly
that, according to the uncontradicted evt-