The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1912-01-19
THE SHIP CAPTAIN

For this Is the law without excuse
For all Of ths lords OF tho Bea-
That each must mold his ship from harm.
Whatever the odds may be.
There are many tragedies of the sea
that the world knows very little about,
or, knowing. very soon forgets. These
are the tragedies OF the men whose
lives have been spent in the hard and
exactlng service which the sea de
mands. whose long years OF toll and
zeal and skill hive brought the high
responsibilities OF command and whose
careers have been cut short by the
fault OF an bour--yea. even by the er.
ror OF a minute.
The old rubric that those who never
make mistakes have had few oppor.
tupities for making them does not ap-
ply here. There is never voyage that
does not have its possibility Of error.
and in many OF them arise the sudden
emergencies which bring the acid test
OF presence of mind. cool Judgment.
expert seamanship and skill. Len these
qualities fail the master mariner in his
time Of need, and. no matter what
might have been the stress OF body or
brain. or OF both his professional ca.
rcer Is at an end II the lapse involves
disaster to his ship.
There Is that veteran mariner Cap
tain Frederick Watkins. He it was
who commanded the City Of PARIS
when the old Inmau liner came stag.
gering TO port with rhe Atlantic waves
smashing about her hold and surging
against her bulkheads. the result OF
fog shrouded impact with an iceberg
The liner was througed with passen
gers The unforeseen danger came near
to sending her and her thousand souls
to the bottom. but the energy. re
sourcefulness and skill Of her com
mander brought her safe TO port-a
deed to be long remembered.
1t was remembered up to few
years ago when a slight miscalcua.
ton on the part OF Captain Watkins
sent his vessel upon the Manacle rocks.
on the Cornish coast. Now you may
search all Of the obscure places OF the
earth and you may not locate him.
Luise OF the Hamburg American line.
which drove hard upon the coral beach
at Port Royal. in the island or ia
maica. The vessel was thronged with
tourists. making a jaunt to the West
Indies Fortunately the sea was calm.
ard there was no difficulty in getting
passengers ashore. When the last had
been safely landed the captain went
to his stateroom and put bullet
through his brain,
The pitiable part of it all was that
he had no need to 1t was not the
brain he shattered that was at fault.
but the Kingston earthquake. which
had destroyed the lighthouse.
Captain Griffith Of the Mohegan
stood on the bridge of his fast sinking
ship until the waters engulfed him.
Deloncie Of the French liner BOur.
gogne. sunk In mid-Atlantic by col.
iision with the British steamship Gro
martyshire, was last seen on the
bridge. with hand on whistle cord. as
his vessel took the long dive. Ven
Goessei Of the Elbe went down with
his ship. standing with folded arms
upon the bridge aS the vessel slowly
sank
One ~ the sadde<t tragedies 81 the
Spa w,s the wrprk nt the hr,tlsh
stea ,nst,,D Na;earnps woTh went
ASHORE "n Treat iarrcr ,slsna wn,le
on voyage f,s'm sydney :" Nsw I"a
land Nc thr v"sS-' ossar.St thr er
traNrt to inr nHri"I ~ AWk'and Il
thick fog Shut ~ tNtSn'n Mcintosh
who ,Oti,nia nGe,, ,,rr t.aa hrrn iiaur
yeaCs In thu Snrvus M the tine ana
WAS reiMten Ia w very "aref'i snu
capah,S bnt while 'nr steamer WA
cropping iitr way tBrni.h ihr mist II
was u"'-n tnar ~ ~a- exceedingly
urrvnuS amt Grt,r'ssrit
Whrn n,Cn; sine me tng wa> ~
,hurk thst thu na'S"a's 'rrih n"t ~"
hait sni, length AHEAD fee m,n'
utrS past mMnrgni 'n"rr WAS II >'ln
den crash Ntrh Giid il. Steamship
almost un hei is'iu, ends n,|ahiiuG All
of the ,n,aiS nn ItN" "arrrr'Si AIDE. cap
tain Mcintosh wa> "u ihe bridge nj
the Iimr \ Grral wound winch nad
been torn III the vessels Sli" Silnw'n
the extent Ot The diSaSlrr A. Suull
| as he rrai2cd thai his snip must be
come total loSS the captain %trOde
TO the end or the bridge and, eIclaim
ing This is the last watch plunged
overheard TO his DEATH Waiter Scott
Mertwether in Aunsey's Magazine.