The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1912-04-20

ed, last night, the following interest,
ing discussion of the wreck of the
Titanic, it's causes and the best man
ner of preventing future catastrophes.
The discussion is admirable in every
respect, even in the eXcusab1e error
or ascribing a limited and local quail
ity to the magnificent courage which
was displayed by the ships company
and passengers
Courage, as this newspaper has
sought to show, is not tribal, or ma
quality peculiar to English, Germans,
French, Irish Semites, Mongolians, or
Ethiops. Wherever men have lived
and wherever they have lived, cour-
age in the mass of individuals has been
necessary to survival.
Courage is one of the great attri-
butes of humanity, though English
newspapers would describe it as an
Anglo Saxon quality, American news
papers as an American quality, French
newspapers as a Gallo quality, and
Irish newspapers as a Celtic quality.
Mr.. and Mrs. Strauss, who furnish
ed noble example of heroism are
Semites. A dozen racial strains were
represented on the doomed Titanic.
In courage they appear to have been
equal. The members Of the string
band that played Nearer Ny God to
Thee" represented several strains.
Some were Saxons, others Celtic and
some. Gallo.
The New York Evening Post edi-
torial follows:
Contradictory as are the narratives
of the survivors Of the Titanic in
many details, the essential facts stand
out clearly enough. There was no
panic; the crew as a whole behaved
admirably, although but recently
brought together. The passengers
were unusually self-possessed. owing
to the belief, at first held, that the
taking to the boats was merely pre-
caution. The proportion of women
saved is remarkably high, only 13 in
the first cabin and 20 in the second
having been lost. Many of those In
the steerage were also rescued, as
well az Is stewardesses. Had the
boats been fully laden there would
and more men than were rescued.
That the band played as the ship went
down is the best indication Of the
splendid Anglo-Saxon spirit which
animated those going to their death.
AS in many another wreck, these vic
TINS of criminal neglect and careless
ness paid the forfeit of their lives
bravely enough. If there were excep-
tons, they merely proved the rule.
Beyond this, however, two terrible,
damning facts stand out-the first,
that the ship was speeding through
an icefield, of the presence of which
its officers were fully aware; the Sec
ond is that every life could. readily
have been saved had there been boats
and RATS enough to keep people afioat
on a clear, starry night on an excep-
tionally smooth Atlantic sea Both Of
the ship was making eighteen or
twenty or >wenty-one knots, or more,
may never be known precisely; but
the exact figure is of no importance.
Everybody thus far reported testifies
that there was no decrease noticeable
in the vibration of the engines as the
knows that at night an iceberg takes
the color of the ocean; but that made
no difference. Whether it was the
desire to make record on the maid
en- voyage, or whether the mail SUBJ
sidy impelled her captain to push
ahead, the ship drove on. A smaller
ship might perhaps have turned
quickly enough as soon as the berg
was sighted, but the Titanic changed
her course only so as to inflict fatal
wound; a head-on collision would
probably have been less disastrous. AS
it was, the ship tore her bottom out,
and the rest is known. The captain
was not on the bridge when she
struck, although less than three hours
before the accident the Titanic ack-
nowledged with thanks the warning
of the Mesaba that, dead ahead, were
much heavy packed ice and great
numbers IF bergs." For this reck
lessness Captain Smith paid not only
with his life, but, alas! with those Of
at least 1900 others; the responsible
ity for being so far north is of course
not his.
AS for the lifeboats-these expen-
sive affairs that cost the large sum
of $425 apiece-there were but TWEEN
ty of them in addition to few RATS.
Only fourteen of these were large
boats, two were smaller, and four of
the collapsible type. These were all
that the Board of Trade certificate
called for, and far be it from the
White Star Line to spend $426 in pro-
viding one more than the law requir-