The Colorado statesman., 1922-06-24

been Abandoned al sea anu Nu.In are
IL menace to navigation.
The great war and its disasters have
not swept from the memory of the
government officials the sinking ten
years ago of the Titanic, an accident
Of the sea which was accompanied by
such terrible loss of life. Means
are taken today to guard the ocean
liners against the dangers of icebergs
and the derellcts.
Within u circle of towering bushes
near the White House there Is a foun-
tain which Is u reminder of the Titanic
disaster. 1t was erected in memory
of Mai. Archibald W. Butt, President
Taft'S aide, and to that of Francis d.
Mlllet, the artist, Butts friend and
companion on the voyage. The two
men whose lives and deaths are thus
commemorated went to their fate he
rolcally after like nearly every other
man on the Inflated vessel, having
helped the women and children into
life boats to see them off to safety.
After the close of the war certain
parts of the seas were swept to pick
up floating mines. In one or two
places this work is still going on, for
some little danger remains to naviSa-
tion from these black explosives of
the depths. So far as the matter OF
derelicts is concerned 1t is known that
the reports show that scores of them
are floating about the seas in he vari-
Gus parts of the world. Government
vessels virtually all the time are seek
ing derelicts for the purpose of de-
stroying them, but 1t seems that as
fnst as one is destroyed another takes
its place.
Derelct Worse Than Iceberg.
Vessels always are being deserted
at sea by their crews when it seems
that sinking is imminent. There is
never much of an increase in the num-
Der of derelicts. 1t stays about the
same year in and year out.
The derelict is as much of a dan
ger to navigation as an iceberg, and
perhaps more so, because 1t Is apt to
get in the way of ships at every sea-
son of the year, while icebergs are
danger. ordinarily. only for about six
weeks. The usual time of ihe ice
berg menace is in late May nd June
but occasionally they break loose from
their "moorings" much earlier than
usual. This was the case in the year
when the Titanic went to its doom
southeast of Cape Race.
Transatlantic passengers are not al
ways told how close they pass TO dan
ger. Sometimes, however, they dis
.. -f1x a
letter received few days ago by the
writer from friend abroad says nat
the ship upon which the vOyager took
passage to Europe passed within 200
feet of an iceberg which was discov-
cred only when the fog suddenly
lifted.
Narrow Escape for Big Liner.
Not long ago one great steamship
eastward bound passed derelict i'll
the night, and escaped hitting 1t by II
margin of less than 300 feet. The der
eict was seen by man on the bridge
in the darkness of the night.
The voyagers learned of their mar
row escape only by an oversight of
the captain of the ship. AS ron as
the derelict had been passed he or
dered wireless messages TO be sent to
warn other steamships in the me
line of commerce that derelict was
in their path. 1t is the custom of
passenger steamers to have wire.ess
messages of greeting sent by passing
steamers posted on the bulletin board
at the head of the main compaLion-
way. The day after the derelict had
been passed one of these messages
was posted, the officers of the ship
overlooking the fact that after the
usual greetings the captain of the
passing vessel thanked his fellow cap
tain for warning him of the derelict
which his ship had passed the night
previous.
In the United States navy good
many years ago there was a We ssel
called the Vesuvius. 1t carried dyna-
mite guns. 1t is now out of commits
sion. The first opportunity which the
vesuvius had to rest its guns while
on an actual voyage and to learn just
what could be done with ordnance
which fired dynamite under methods
now dead and gone came when
dereIict was encountered ON the high
seas.
The abandoned vessel, which was
of course menace to navigation. was
a lumber-laden schooner. The gov
ernment ship blew it up, but lumber
will not sink, and following the "at-
tack" on the derelict the surface of
the sea for considerable distance
looked like the doorway" of lumber
yard. However, the scattered frag-