Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-05-30

| " SdIu0I Inc I6CL6 relating 70 LAl
disaster while they were still vivi
realities" he said. Questions Of d
verse citizenship gave way to the I'm
versal desire for the simple truth.
was of paramount importance that "
should act quickly to avoid jurisdi'
tional confusion and organized oppos
ton at home or abroad. We, o
course, recognized that the ship wa
under foreign flag, but the lives
many of our own countrymea had beel
sacrificed and the safety Of many ha
been put in grave peril, and it wa
vital that the entire matter shoult
be reviewed before an American tr1
bunal If legislative action was to b.
taken for future guidance.
Without any pretension to expert
ence or special knowledge Of nautica
affairs, nevertheless am of the opin
ion that very few important facts
Z! which were susceptible OF beins
known escaped our scrutiny. Energy
is often more desirable than learning
and the inquistion serves useful pur
pose to the state.
Needless Sacrifice Of Life.
I'm the construction Of the Titanic,
continued the senator, mo limit Of
cost circumscribed their endeavol
and when this vessel took It's place
at the head Of the line every modern
improvement in shipbuilding was sup
posed to have been realized; so con-
fdent were they that both owner and
builder were eager to go upon.the trial
| trip.
when the crisis came a state OF
absolute unpreparedness stupefied
both passengers and crew and, in their
despair, the ship went down, carrying
as needless a sacrifice Of noble wom-
en- and brave men as ever clustered
about the judgment seat in any single
moment of passing time
1--WE shall leave to the honest iudg-
ment OF England it's painstaking
chastisement Of the British board OF
trade, to whose laxity of regulation
and hasty inspection the world Is
largely indebted for this awful fatal
ity. OF contributing causes there were
very many. In the face of warning
signals, speed was increased and mes
sages Of danger seemed to stimulate
her to action rather than to persuade
her to fear.
"The Titanic rushed onward on her
pirate and agreed upon by mariners
as the international highway for west
bound vessels, yet dangerous at this
season Of the year, when the Laora-
dor current may be bearing vast
asses of ice across the track OF
ships-scores Of these towering glac-
iers planted themselves in the very
pathway of this ship and were SO 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 testimony, he had been
supplied with glasses.
Captains Neglect of Warnings.
"Captain Smith knew the sea and
his clear eye and steady hand had Of
ten guided his ship through dangerous
paths: for 10 years storms sought in
vain to vex him or menace his craft.
His indifference to danger was one OF
the direct and contributing causes OF
this unnecessary tragedy, while his
own willingness to die was the expiat-
ing evidence of his fitness to live;
those of US who knew him well-not
in anger. but in sorrow-file one specl-
flc charge against him, overconf1dence
and neglect to heed the oft-repeated
warnings of his friends; but, In his
horrible dismay, when his brain was
af1re with honest retribution, we can
still see, in his manly bearing and his
tender solicitude for the safety OF
women and little children, some traces
Of his lofty spirit
THE mystery of his Indifference to
danger. when other and less pretent-
lous vessels doubled their lookout or
stopped their engines, finds no reason
able hypothesis in conjecture or spec
ulation; science in shipbuilding was
to have attained perfection
and to have spoken her last word;
of the ocean had at last been
achieved; but overconfidence seems
to have dulled the faculties usually so
alert With the atmosphere literally
charged with warning signals and
messages registering their
last appeal, the stokers in the engine
room fed their fires with fresh fuel,
in that dangerous place
her fastest speed.
Nature Gave Warnings Of Peril.
Mature gave warning OF ap'
peril so significant that
passengers in stateroom and steerage
shut out the chill and spoke to one
another Of the sudden cold. Sailors
off the Grand Banks know the import
ance of the thermometer, which is al
most as necessary to their safety as
Is the compass. Even the quarter.
Kitchens, who regularly took
the temperature of the water from the
sea, said: 1T suddenly became bitter
cold and added that the first order
received by him from Second Officer
Lightoller at o'clock Sunday even
ing was to take his compliments down
to the ships carpenter andinform him
to look to his fresh water, that 1t was
about to freeze"
Senator Smith declared that the
command of the officer of the watch
to avert the disaster actually exposed
the most vulnerable part Of the RI
tanic to the ice when the shock came.
Distracted by the sudden appear
ance of danger" said the speaker,
he sharply turned aside the Prov,
the part best prepared to resist coils
ion, exposing the temple to the blow;
at the turn Of the bilge the steel en-
easement yielded to glancing blow so
,y}obt $b,< ha iy,oport una not fc1t