Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-17
SACRIFICE TO &ED|DEMAND AN INQUIRY
Government Marine Officers Parliament May Probe False
Thus See Titanic Accident. Wireless Renorts
DEMANDS HELD SENSELESS NEWSPAPERS ARE WRATHYl
feboa Private prates al Air Rlaed for
dens Best, Declares Uher Wrong News Of Disaster
SHIPS HEADWAY GREAT SAFETY STATUTES CRITICISED
Could Larger Motorpvu
berg Was Sighted Mile Urged--White Star
Ia scor.a
Government Marine Officers
Thus See Titanic Accident.
DEMANDS HELD SENSELESS
More Lifeboats, Fewer Palm Gar
dens Best, Declares Uhler.
HEADWAY
GREAT
Could Not Have Stopped Unless Ice
berg Was Sighted Mile
Away.

Away.
Nearly 1900 lives lost, a needless sac
rihce to the senseless demand for speed
and luxury"
This is the brief summing up Of the
disaster that sent the Titanic to the bot
tom of the Atlantic in two miles of
water. according to the statements Of
men In various branches Of the United
States governments marine service and
others.
Had the Titanic had more lifeboats
and Fewer palm gardens and sun parlors
1t Is probable all the passengers and crew
could have been taken off," said George
onier, chief OF the United States steam
boat inspection service
Representative Alexander. chairman az
the House committee on merchant ma
Tlne ana nsherieS, declared that the man.
agement of the Atlantic steamship lines
lose s'ght OF everything but the financial
gers across the ocean
Chasing the Dollar"
"The steamship companies are chasing
the almighty dollar. In the chase they
are neglecting the safety Of their pas
sengers, and instead Of providing their
ships with enough lifeboats to care for all
the passengers and crew, they furnish
promenade decks. tennis courts, cafes,
swimming pools and the like. More boats
ana FEWER amusements would make the
big liners better places to be in case Of
wrecks. even such as the catastrophe that
sent the Titanic to the bottom"
Capt. p. II. .Uberroth, assistant to the
commandant of the revenue cutter serv-
q 90 49,
for the destruction Of the Titanic and the
loss OF hundreds of her passengers. Even
AT speed of eighteen knots an hour. said
Capt. Uberroth. q vessel the size OF the
Titanic would find it almost impossible to
avoid collision with an ice foe unless the
danger was discerned while the ship was
still mile or more from the ice. Speed
ana the size OF the vessel, were the prime
causes of the calamity. he said. The
liners tremendous weight. he said, made
her Roadway so great as to render USE
less any effort to bring her to q sudden
stop by reversing the engines, while her
length and depth gave q leverage against
the water that the drag Of the huge rud-
Of propellers working against one An
other could not overcome in any short
distance.
Roadway. Tremendous.
'The Titanic said Capt. Uberroth,
was SO big that it was impossible for
her officers to avoid collision with an Ice
berg or other similar object without
lights on dark night. They might
perhaps enough to save a smaller yes
sci. but a ship Of the Titanic size would
not answer to the helm promptly enough
to avoid collision. She could not reverse
tempt would be futile unless the berg
was sighted mile ahead, for going at
full speed, approximately twenty miles an
hour, she could not be brought to q stop
and reversed. She carried tremendous
Roadway with her powerful engines and
great size.
Berg Of Shore Ice.
Capt. Charles McAllister. chief engineer
OF the revenue cutter service. and an ex-
pert on construction. said:
The Titanic was believed to be the
acme OF marine safety. She was Of ex-
traordinarily heavy and strong construc-
sufficient impact to crush in her bow and
forward bulkhead, and perhaps one other.
In that case many things could happen.
It Is possible the watertight bulkheads
running order by the force OF the collision.
Even in that event the Ttanic would have
been some time sinking. because she was
credited with being almost unsuitable.
could not Withstand the pressure. On our
battleships there IL control lever for all
bulkheads that the captain can work from
the bridge in anticipation Of collision.
Il am confident the berg rammed by
the Titanic was not glacier Ice. but was
one of the shore icebergs formed by the
extremely cold winter. It is too early for
berg ice. According to Patterson's Nauti-
cal Encyclopaedia, II 1t were shore ice OF
salt water. nine-tenths of It's bulk was
below water This would mean that if
there were only twenty feet showing
above the surface, a small speck compar-
ed to the Titanic, the berg would have a
total depth Of 200 feet. with $50 feet below
the surface: Ice conditions are worse
this year than they have been for q
decade
Representative Sulzer Of New York
Joined In the expression Of the belief
that the modern demand for speed, the
characteristic American disregard Of dan
ger and the present-day requirements OF
luxuries unheard Of q dozen years ago, or
less, united to bring about the destruction
of the Titanic and those who went to the
bottom with her.
Il am convinced said Mr.. sulzer to-
day. that there was no excuse for the
Titanic's striking an iceberg. I have been
in the arctic regions many times. I have
spent days and nights In the fishing
snacks on the Newfoundland banks.
Vessels that go among iceberss for days
them. If they do, they do not injure
themselves badly.
The reason is simple. In the first
place, 1t Is absolutely foolish for q vessel
to steam at a high rate Of speed, at q
rate fast enough to cause injury in case
she strikes ice-if there is danger of Ice
being anywhere around. But the big ves-
sells go ahead in their mad race for speed
records. regardless OF who or what Is in
their path