The Ordway new era., 1913-12-26

loss of the Titantic last
year. and the very recent
destruction of the liner Vol.
turno in midocean, the great mass of
people whose life is restricted to dry
land are beginning to be interested
in maritime affairs
The handling Of steamers, the dan
gers of the sea. the duties and re-
sponsibilities OF the officers and crew
of vessel. are all topics of enlivening
conversation after such disaster as
has just been added to the roll of the
tragedies of the sea The great major
ity of people not directly connected
with maritime affairs have a very
slight frequently erroneous idea of
these matters.
Conflicting reports OF well-meaning
survivors. who give testimony Of a
very few facts OF the wreck or disas-
ter which they have been through.
tend only to confuse the reader who
Is seeking for reasons and facts. The
reticence of surviving officers does
not help to make things any palmer.
Another feature which retards the
general spread of knowledge about
nautical affairs is the failure of sea-
faring men to realize that things
which seem like abe to themselves
are absolutely foreign to the under
standing of the average landsman.
Hero or Coward.
According to the reports which cir
culate after any marine disaster. the
captain is either held up as a hero or
cursed As coward. Yet when the
majority Of people have forgotten the
case. n well-informed. sober-minded
body Of men acting rs n board of in
qufry and wadins through mass of
testimony get down to few kernels
of established facts.
Z And the truth II usually found that
the captain was merely trying to car
~ out his duty As the master of his
vessel
II he holds back mob of frenxied
passengers At the point Of a revolver
from committing suicide by pilling
into the small boats in hundreds. he
is merely doing what any police on
Ger on our city streets would do II
calamity Of similar nature threatened
on his beat
The captain Of q vessel is the mas
ter In fact as well az In name On
the high seas his orders are Law and
the courts of the nations uphold him.
Any refusal on the part Of the crew of
the master may be construed as nu-
tiny.
In the older days Of the sailing yes
sells and long trips. the powers Of the
captain were often abused and fire.
ouently crews were compelled to en-
iure tremendous and even incredible
abuses. In more recent times no cap
.ain dares seriously to misuse his au-
shority. for. while refusal to perform
duties on board ship still constitutes
mutiny and Is severely punished as
such. sailing master can also be
made answerabie for Illegal acts com
mitted At sea
With much authority the captain of
vessel also has to bear a similar
measure of responsibility. No mat.
ter what happens on his ship or to IT,
this one man must aAswer for it.
On one OF the thousand-foot mon
ster steamers which now rip their way
across the Atlantic In tribe over
tour days. this means not only the
navigation of the boat. but also a de-
tailed knowledge of the condition
and working Of every piece of equip
ment on board. the executive control
Of large force of men and the safety
and happiness of \ thousand or more
passengers
When q vessel Is lost the master :,
ne happens to come out alive, Is pret..
y sure to lose his license. Although
The loss may appear to have been nm.
,roidable- the unfortunate captain is
sery likely to be sidesraeked to some
minor berth If he doesn't lose his na.
gers outright
This probably explains Why so many,
shipuasters. especially elderly ones
finding their vessels piled up on tho
shore or sinking. have quietly zone 10
their cabins and escaped the admir-.
aity court via the sc-caliber method,
Never Touches the Wheel.
The unprecedented growth in d,.
nenssous and speed OF ocean liner,
N the past 20 years has greatly in.
creased the burden Of responsib;litv
shat is placed upon the commanders
of these ships- So acute has this situ.
alton become that the largest steam.
skip companies are trying to meet IL
by having several CAPTAINS under /.
commander or commodore upon their
newest shipa-
Yet marine authorities admit that
his action does not help matter.
mach. for the sespoasibiiity for the