The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-06-28
been abandoned ut sea and which are

been abandoned ut sea and which are
u 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 a terrible loss of life. Means
are taken today to guard the ocean
liners against the dangers of icebergs
and the derelicts.
Within q circle of Towering bushes
near the White House there is a foun-
disaster. 1t was erected in memory
of Maj. Archibald W. Butt, President
Taft's aide, and to that of Francis ID.
Millet, the artist, Butts friend and
companion on the voyage. The two
men whose lives and deaths are thus
concentrated went to their fate he
~roically 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 naviga-
ton from these black explosives of
the depths. So far us the matter of
derelicts is concerned, II is known that
the reports show that scores OF them
are floating about the seas in the vari-
Gus parts Of the world. Government
vessels virtually all the time are seek
ing derelicts for the purpose of de-
stroying them, but it seems that rs
fast as one is destroyed another takes
Its place.
Derelict 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 n dan
| ger to navigation as an iceberg, and
perhaps more SO, because it is apt to
/ get in the way of ships ut every sea-
son of the year, while icebergs are a
danger, ordinarily, only for about six
weeks. The usual time Of the 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 10 dan
ger. Sometimes, however, they dis
cover their escapes for themselves. A
letter received n few days ago by the
writer from a friend abroad says hat
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 & one great steamship
eastward bound passed a derelict in
the night, and escaped hitting it by Il
margin of less than 800 feet. The der
elicit was seer by a 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 ioon as
the derelict had been passed he or
dered wireless messages to be sent to
warn other steamships in the SINE
line of m that n derelict was
In their path. 1t is the custom of
passenger steamers to have wireless
messages of greeting sent by passing
steamers posted on the bulletin board
at the head of the main companion
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 a good
many years ago there was a vessel
called the Vesuvius. 1t carried dyna-
mite guns. 1t is now out of commits
sion. The first opportunity which the
Vesuvius had to test 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 q
derelict was encountered on the high
seas.
The abandoned vessel, which was
of course n menace to navigation. was
q lumber-laden schooner. The gov
eminent ship blew it up, but lumber
will not sink, and following the "at-
tack on the derelict the surface of
the sea for a considerable distance
looked like the doorway" of a lumber
yard. However, the scattered frag-
ments were no longer a menace to
the ships that passed in the night.
AYL.A uT;IIi> C.iI