Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31
ASSIGNMENT Of CAUSE
FOR DISASTERS At SEA
Andrew Furuseth Comments on Loss
of the Empress Of
Ireland.
Declares Toll of Death Is Not Les
sened by Convention Adopted
at London.

Pointing to the horrible loss of life
caused by recent marine disasters. An
drew Furuseth. president of the lnterna-
tfonal Seamens Union. in statement
last night declared that the safety-at-
sea regulations convention recently
adopted at London is not the solution
The only way to prevent loss of life, he
said. is to have more and better seamen
aboard the ships More lifeboats and
hfe-saving equipment cannot take the
place of the seamen He challenges the
statements of members of Congress that
the Empress Of ireland was unit. de-
claring she VAS built in 1896 and had
all modern improvements. In the con-
struction of bottom and watertlght hulk-
heads she comes up to the PROVISIONS
made bv the London convention. he said
Quotes Comments on Disaster.
The Empress of Ireland gets in col
nsion with a freight steamer in the st
lawrence river two or three miles on
shore" he continued She sinks in less
than twenty minutes and about a thou
sand people are killed or drowned
In the morning papers Senator Bur
ton is quoted as saying that II the Lon
don convention of safety to NE al sea
had been adopted the construction pro-
visions of that convention would have
prevented the disaster. Senator Lewis
Is quoted as saying that the Empress
of Ireland would not have been permitted
to leave port If the convention mao oeell
in force. Representative Alexander the
chairman of the committee on merchant
marine and fisheries. tells OF the CON
structior provisions made by the Lon
don convention and lntimates that
through its recommendations vessels are
49, L hi n
at present
The Empress of Ireland was built IN
1906: she had all modern improvements
ard in the construction OF potton ana
watertight bulkheads she comes up 10
tn. provisions made by the London con
vention.
Official Figures Given.
The official figures of the deck crew
Of the sister ship of the Inflated EN-
press OF Ireland the Empress of Britain.
are available Out of total of forty
eight in the deck crew exclusive of the
FIVE officers. only twenty are able sea-
men That means ten able seamen on
each watch. two of whom are quarter
masters. doing duty at the wheel and on
the bridge. two on the lookout. thus
leaving only six able seamen for emer-
gency deck duties. and the vessel has five
passenger decks. That's where the
trouble is. The London conference did
not provide a larger crew. nor did it
provide a more efficient crew 1t made
no change in the deck crews whatsoever
II simply gives legal Endorsement to the
selection of some men from the stew
ards department and the engineers de-
partment to be certified as capable of
handling lifeboats. And that is just what
is being done now. under another name.
ALI Requirements Met.
The Empress of Ireland had many
boats az the London convention provides:
she had as good crew as that conven-
ton provides-indeed. a better crew, be-
cause her crew could understand the
language of the officers. whereas the Lon
don convention would permit her to carry
a crew that could not. and provides that
orders may be transmitted through in
terpreters.
There was nothing about the Empress
of Ireland that could have justified her
being held up and refused clearance II
the convention had been in force. There
is nothing in the terms of the conven
ton to justify any man familiar with
ships to make the statement that she
could have been prevented from clear
ing had il been in force.
The great loss of life attending the
sinking of this vessel proves that the
London convention does not improve
safety of life at sea. There must be
better manning of these ships. both as
skill and number of deck crew and
that the convention does not provide
for