Evening star., 1923-08-26
Fifty Years AGO
In The Star E,

Immediately after the burnrg q
the Wawaset' al, Chattertons lsqdine.
Va, an investigation
WaWaSet was begun by officials
Inquiry. of the steamboat il
speetion service and the
Treasury Department. The Star q
August 10, 1879. said OF this inquiry
The Wawaset investigation thus
FAR fails TO throw any great amour.
OF light upon the cause Of the fre
The evidence seems TO demonstra;e
that the steamer was amply PROVIDE
/ with Nfeboats. life preServers ana
safety apparatus generally. but tha
there was a terrible want Of manage
ment throughout. Il would seem
that long exemption from accident
on the Potomac mad caused the on :
GERS of the Wawaset. or some of them.
to relax proper vigilance. and there
does not appear 10 have been any
proper assignment ot duties in case
OF emergency. There was no one in
particular to look after the small
boats or the fire eXtinguishers. The
engineer, it would appear, was IN the
habit of subbing for the barkeeper
and II is not impossible that the fire
man varied the monotony of his du-
ties in the same manner. At any rate.
II does not seem that he considered
himself bound to look after his fires
further shan to keep them supplied
with fuel. The fire could never have
made the great headway it did undis-
covered had he been at his post.
Then. again, the practice of truck
trading by the steamboat men on
their own account must have been
Il n hai eff p ~ H.
line of their duties IT.:
The governments need OF ar
archives building to keep the precious
records of the fed
The Protection eral administration
Of Archives. vas was no'eo @ hfts
thus attested in The Star of August
20, 1873:
"A Chicago contributor to the In
terocean writes to that paper urging
the necessity that our public archives
should be stored in suitable ireproof :.
buildings. and sensibly says: The
destruction OF the titles 10 all the
land in the country sold by the gov.
ernment would alone involve a loss
greater than the cost of all Washing
ton city: Let us have done with this
humbuggery of capital moving. kept
up In order to play into the hands. of
few spectators, and build such
buildings as our necessities require"
u = ..s-... ss
The lesson of the wawaset was ap,
piled in many ways following that
disaster half a century
A Wawaset ago. The New York
Y Tribune. according to
The Star of August q;
ilS13. pointed out that it taught that
people should learn to swim and also
to train themselves to an ordinary
amount of common sense and self
control. It said:
"It is pitiable to think that at the
first threat Of peril we should herd
together. frightened and helpless as
scared sheep. and rush headlong into
the jaws OF death. The victims of
this catastrophe had neither the requi-
site coolness nor knowledge, and this
! Is the point to be urged. Here were
fifty people drowned for the lack OF
knowing how 10 swim. an accom-
piishment which. they could have
| learned in two weeks and Of the use
| Of a ife-preseryer. which would have
cost them ten minutes. We are. Il mi
gratory people. living every year
more and more in cars, on rivers and
| the ocean. Yet we universally neg
iect TO for tify ourselves and our chill
dren for the protection OF our lives"