The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-17

1Hls Is not exactly the right time to
open colyum with an attempt at
comedy. One of the greatest, if not
the greatest, catastrophes in history,
occupies major portion of the news
pages.
Some idea of the Titanic disaster
may be gathered from the following
comparisons: The Titanic is nearly
AS long as two blocks on Kansas
avenue From keel to pilot house roof
it was as high as the Mills building:
IN width, 1t would, if thrown into
Kansas avenue at Eighth street crush
the State Journal building and Burg
harris cigar store at one swipe.
The Titanic met an iceberg. Small
1cebergs in the Northern Atlantic, are
from one to ten acres in area and
from 100 to 800 feet in height. That
a square mile of ice, and 500 feet high,
are sighted by liners every year.
Science has proven that only one-ninth
OF an iceberg is exposed above water.
Presenting that the Titanic met one
of the little bergs; an acre in area,
and not high enough to reach the
anchor chains of the vessel. Try to
visualize the other eight-ninths of
solid ice below the surface.
Twenty years ago, writer of this
coIyum CHANGED to witness an example
of the force of a floating object. A
gmartoalecky harbor pilot at Port
launch to bring in an English tramp
freigkter, the Clyde" He didn't un-
derstand the signal system and lost
his connections with the engineer.
Before the captain could give him the
desired information, the ship was
within half mile of the dock. When
he got control and within the next
hundred yards, he had full speed
astern. When the ship reached the
dock, it was not moving faster than
one yard per second. 1t didn't cut the
dock-it simply pushed through it.
The two railway tracks on the dock
didn't cause a jolt on the ship. They
got out of the way. That old iron
freighter could have been hoisted onto
the after deck of the Titanic and
carried as freight.
A lot of people will yell; "Why
didn't those left on board put on life
belts and SWIM
Even in midsummer, the route taken
by the transatlantic ships is a frigid
route. Officer on the bridge keeps an
eye peeled for ice bergs in August.
In April. the lower banks of Green
land are rather Chilly. Any human
being-even the champion swimmer of
the world, would be paralyzed by a
wet temperature of between "a and
3S. A life belt would be of little use
to a paralyzed man.
Reverting to the question submit
ted about three paragraphs to the
wfndward: If you ever threw a tin
can into a pond and watched it sink,
you know that little whirlpool is the
result. Think of thousands of tons
and several acres of junk sinking at
one time. A man wearing two life
preservers and an air mattress ought
to last at least three gasps under such
circumstances. A boat four times as
big as the largest boat ever seen on
the Kaw river, would last nearly one
minute, if caught within half mile
OF the Titanic when it went down.
The whirlpool left when that ship
went down would last more than
twenty minutes. The life boats car
rled by the Titanic were larger than
two Vinewood street cars, but they
would have to be more than half a
rlile from the wreck when it sank, or
they would be pulled into the vortex.
And, in the meantime: this is Love-
ly Weather we are having in Topeka.
Politics (collective) are popping. The
Pennsylvania conquest is being highly
advertised. A Observation-Disclosures peo-
pie have died in a disaster that will be
history a thousand-and-a-haIf years
from now-but what's the odds-may-
be they wouldn't have voted for
Roosevelt anyway.