The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1912-05-03
Nfnety-four Vessels
Lost Near Banks

New t0undlalld Banks Satd 10 De
trY Dangerous to all the Pas
sing Boats
FdHt five hundred miles southeast of
Newfoundland the floor of the Atlantic
Ocean is strewn with wrecks and corps
es. It is here that the great Arctic
current, laden with icebergs from the
Polar seas, encounters the warm Gulf
Stream from the Equator. The vapor
which saturates the mild ,air over the
Gulf. Stream is condensed into fogs by
the chill northern waters and the ice
which they bear. Every berg from the
north brings a freight of dust and
stones, and as it melts away in the tep-
i'd current from the south, deposit
falls to the bed of the ocsan. In this
way wide plateau has been built up
where the shallow waters are harassed
by contending currents, overhupg by
impenetrable fogs and beset with ice
bergs. Some of these massespf float
ing ice are as large as mountains. On
( ly an eighth of the vast bulk floats
above the surface Of the sea. The re-
mainder turks below, an insidious mem
ace topassing ships. Over this peril
!. GUS plateau fisherman ply their trade
in numerous fleets, sleepingiin the path
of the worlds commerce and often in
the night going down to unknown
graves, while the vessel which has
struck their death blow sails on too
swiftly to hear their drowning cries
through the thick darkness.
In the last forty years ninety-four
vessels Of major size have beens lost on
the Newfoundland Banks, but none of
these disasters compares with the sink
ing of the Titanic, nor does this num-
Der include the fishermen's boats which
have gone down and. left no remem-
brance upon earth. When the sea Civ
es: up her dead we shall know how
many sleep under the fog-veiled waters
of that fearful region. And now to the
army of dead comes news enlistment
from the Titanic, and the woe of the
world is multiplied by the horror and
mystery of wreck without parallel in
sthe history of the sea. What eye that
should have been vigilant slumbered at
the masthead? What voice that should
have shouted a timely warning
was silent while death struck home
to the heart Of the mighty vessel? Per-
haps the mist and darkness were inn
penetrable and no human vigilance
could have seen the towering peril un-
til it was too late to swerve the steam
er's course. The fog lay thick upon the
surface of the water, shutting out the
j stars in the sky, shutting out the illim-
liable sea to port and starboard, shut
ting out the view before her speeding
prov, SO that the Titanic sailed on
blindly, like soul driven to its fate by
malignant and occult powers. AS the
mystery of the universe hangs over the
pathway of man on earth, so hung the
fog over the doomed ship. AS silent
and inevitable death lies in wait for all
that live, so lay the ambushed iceberg
in her course .s
1t was her first trip across the.ocean.
Built to defy disaster, the Titanic EN-
bodied all the triumphs of man. 8 ingen-
uity in maritime architecture. The
size Of: the ship was SO great that the
tumult Of the waves scarcely disturbed
her equilibrium. She foated upon the
sea almost as stably as the pyramids
stand on the desert. Here and there
throughout the structure Of the vessel
we're hollow spaces sealed from the ac-
cess Of water to give buoyancy to the
mighty mass. How could the Titanic
!. sink with all these balloon-like cham
bers bearing up against the downward
[ suction? How, could her power fail
with two great engines driving onward?
Y The ship was. like . city. The space
I within the walls surpassed the cubic
contents Of all the houses in come thriv-
ing town. The. population which she
carried numbered more than two thou-l
sand. The crew by itself counte more
4 than eight hundred men. Now Ell
those men lie dead IL the bottom Of the
sea, and God alone has kept the record
{ Of the names.
# IN the lower cabins was the crowd Of
hdmbler passengers. Above them these
of the second class. and In the loftiest1
I and most luxurious part ofs the steam
ship were the millionaires and their
families. Not 4 few sof TIE weaithisst
j men III the world were closling the
ocean oi1s the Titinic hen they tank
h IA the Geld waters with the drssr AZ
lantic5 fog for their shrouds they loft i