New-York tribune., 1912-04-16
CAPTAIN SMITHS CAREER
Was in Command Of Olympic
When She Hit Big Cruiser.
TITANIC'S START 0MlN0US
Narrowly Missed Crashing Into
Liner That Her Wash Had
Ripped from Hawsers.

| Csntain f. J. Smith. the commodore nr
| the White Star fleet and commander OF
| the Titanic. had been on the sea forty
| three years and in the service of the Whte
| star Line for thirty-two years. The com
panys Judgment of the man was perhaps
! hest expressed i'm the words of Vice-Presi-
dent Franklin late last night. when he was
| asked if he had heard anything from Cap
tain Smith.
IF the Titanic went down and lives were
| lest. from what / know Of the man do
not believe we will ever hear from Captain
| Smith. He probably went down with his
ship
Smith went to sea as "A hoy in 1863, ship
ping as an apprentice on the Senator
Weber. an American clipper. purchased by
| 4. Gibson 4 Co. of Liverpool His first
commission. that Of fourth officer. came
when he went with the square-rigger Lizzie
Fenton in 1875, and in 1880 he went as fourth
officer on the White Star liner Celtic-the
old Celtic not the present liner OF that
name.
In 1887 he went to the Republic as cap
tain. and later 10 the Baltic These are
the original boats in honor Of which the
present liners of those names were given
their designations. His subsequent service.
all on boats of the White Star Line. en-
braced captaincics on the Cudc the Ru-
mic. the Adrlatic. the Celtic. the Britain
mic, the Coptic. the Gcrmanic, the Ma
jestc and the Baltic.
Forty uneventfu years at sea" was the
way Captain Smith himself summed up his
maritime experiences in 1857. when he came
TO this port in command of the Adriatic on
her maiden trip. A few years later. how
ever, Captain Smith was in command OF
! the Olympic In the collision with the Brit
ish cruiser Hawke. His long and safe rec
ord. together with the testimony of wit
nesses who placed the blame on the cruiser.
saved him then from the usual fate OF "A
/ captain OF boat involved In an accident
When a captain saves both the lives of all
his passengers and tho boat. the property
with which the company intrusts him. he
sometimes escapes the fate Of captains
in collision, but besides those considera-
tions there is another matter TO be consid-
! cred by boat owners IN giving commands
to captains who have been involved in ac-
cident. That is the Lloyds insurance feat
ure and the fact that the marine insurance
writer's are loath to take chances on Il
captain. be he ever so good, who appears
to he tainted with bad luck
| The captain Of an ocean liner, or in fact
of any boat is more supreme under GER
tain conditions than the most powerful
| ruler Of the world. In case OF emergency
the captain has the immediate power OF
| life and death over both passengers and
crew. without trial. without appeal and
without chance Of future penalty.
| On the other hand. he is subject to un-
written laws that are stricter and weight
ed with heavier penalties than anything
! that holds on land. The loss OF boat,
lunder whatever conditions, means the loss
OF life career for the captain. The loss
of life for his passengers means, practi-
cally. the same for the captain. Unless all
can be saved. he must go down with his
ship.
Sometimes a captain who has lost a ship,
though not the lives Of the company's pas
sengers or employees, Is given some oh
scure employment with the company, but
more often. his career gone, he forsakes
the sea entirely. In many instances cap
| tains have committed suicide after a
| wreck.
In this generation tho greatest tragedy
| Of the seas was the loss of the French
steamship Burgognc, which collided with
the British steamer Cromartyshire sixty
miles off Sable Island or July 4, 1898.
Five hundred and eightyfour lives were
lost, and Captain Delonclo went down.
standing erect on the bridge AS the ship
took the final dive.
The captain of the Hamburg American
liner Prinzessn Victoria Luise. which drove
! hard upon A coral reef near Port Royal.
Jamaica. just after tho Kingston earth
quake added one Of the saddest chapters
Of the fate of captains when he blew mis-
brains out in his cabin after all his passen-
gers and crew bad been taken off In safety.
As II was proved later, the captain was IN
no way 10 blame, because the earthquake
had destroyed the lighthouse which should
have given him the warning signal Of tho
reef
Captain Frederick Watkins of the old
City Of Paris. brought that liner safely o
port after an experience which was prob
ably similar 10 that through which the
Titanic has Just passed The City OF Paris
struck an iceberg in the fog, and Captain
| Watkins was acclaimed as a hero for his
superb management of the boat after the
accident But few years later some slight
mlscalculation sent his vessel on the rocks
off the Cornish coast and he disappeared
No one has known since whether he was
lost in the wreck. committed suicide or
disappeared with change Of identity
rather than face court Of inquiry.
Captain Inman Seaby. who commanded
the Republic when that boat was rammed
and sunk by the Italian liner Florida of
Nantucket, was ono who chose TO face
whatever was coming TO him The sub.
sequent investigation showed that no blame
could be attached 10 him for the collision.
but he lost his command with his boat and
At the age Of ffty-one courageously took
up new line of work and entered the Uni
yersity OF Michigan law school TO prepare
| himself for career in admiralty law.
Another accident which is chronicled in
the sea tales of this port. that OF the Prinz
Friedrich Wilhelm, in September, 1910. re-
suited In a decision that Captain Prehn
was not TO blame and he retained COM
msnd Of his vessel Tho boat in backing
out OF her Hoboken dock went half way
across the river and colIided with the out.
bound French liner La Lorraine.