New-York tribune., 1912-04-18


lieved the margin of safety 10 he prach'
| cally perfect.
/ ON the case OF lifeboat and life raft equip
ment there is seldom steamship arriving
/ AT or departing from New York CITY that
carries It's maximum number ot Fass'n-
gers. When the season rush begins ior
Europe, in April, May. June and Jn'y' u'e
| cabin accommodation is filed. but curing
these months the steerages are pracncalS
| deserted for it IL at this time that the
outdoor construction works of the great
companies are being carried on The Tor
eign labor element H. then fully employed
This labor comes over from Europe IN the
4arIy months OF the yeGH when there "a
little or no cabin business.
When the outward bound steerage ous'-
ness increases, later In ~" tan ~ 'ne
wear. the cabin rush 10 Europe is over.
Taking into consideration these facts
the Hfehoat and life ratt equipment had
been considered ny the American. German
French and English governments as ample
/ IN most cases thG steamship companies
have even exceeded The r9id requirements
of the various governments, but u u -
! considered that even this Is inadequate all
companies would stop at no end to more
fun, safeguard their passengers a. far -
/ Is practicable
! certainly tho safety Of human life is
vastly Of moro importance than the settle
mont Of sealing rights or of boundary dis
/ rutes. vhich subjects were So Fhilfully
handled at the Dutch capital
! FitnSss of the Hague Tribunal.
/ The Hague Tribunal IL peculiarly fitted
10 deal with this situation. Th" interests
Of The various countries arc 20 closely
infcrE.oven that it is hard to differentiato
| between their legal requirements. Thus
could the Hague Tribunal formulate rec
ommendationS which would carefully cover
.yerv point now contained IN tho laws ot
the different countries.
The steamship companies. know
would gladly cooperate TO the fullest extent
in carving ont any idea or project which
would make for gr11tor safety NJ sea.
! one Of the main arguments Of the steam
ship owners against an excessive equip
mert of Iifeboats was tho great encroach-
ncnt II would have upon the boat deck
which on many biz liners IL taken up al
most entirely with ycntilators, skylights.
tunnels and gear.
This contention. however could be met
/ By tho nesting" method which is employed
| In the lifcboat equipment on war vessels
and boats NJ the Gloucester fishermen.
IJfchoats to-day cost about 81 a pound.
The average weight is 200 pounds. There
are two types. the wooden and the iron but
the cost is about the same. The average
boat is about - feet long. : feet
inches beam and feet inches draught.
on the ocean they are guaranteed TO carry
fifty persons and on rivers sixty. The boats
in.mse on the larger transatlantic liners are
made OF iron, with alright compartments.
making them theoretically unslnkable. "
Some ships. carry the canvas collapsibIe
lifeboats. or "rafts." as they are called.
These are unseaworthy, as a rule.
The System Of "Nesting."
| The suggestion that the ocean liners might
carry bigger complement of boats by
nesting" them on the upper decks means
fitting them one inside the other, with
gradual reduction inside az the boats mount
1up. on the battleshlps and cruisers OF the
limited States navy there Is high per
centage of trained sailors TO handle them
and there are special electric cranes In use
Ipacking" Of these boats by the jackies Is
an operation I'm which the sailors are con-
stsntly drilled Naval authorities declared
yesterday that II the men OH the battleships
and cruisers were not constantly drilled up
| 10 state Of the highest efficiency tho han
dhng of these "nested" boats in an emer-
cency would be fearful failure.
! It was added that the sailors In the mer-
chant marine aud on the blg liners were
not 10 be compared with tho sailors Of the
navy In matters of that kind, Their dis
cipline Is far inferior, il was said, and the
prospect Of training them up TO the stand
ard OF the navy was held 10 BE- almost im-
possible because the men never stuck 10
one Job for any length of time. but, as a
class. were royers. II waa argued that, un-
less A far greater complement OF sailors
was carried on liners for the express pur-
pose of handling enough lifeboats 10 ac-
commodate two or three thousand men.
women and children, practical handling of
hundreds OF itebosts was cut Of the .ques-
ton The complement OF experienced sail
ors on batteship is the highest carried
OF all eeagong vessels
chrIc DJsASTEP CRIMINAL