Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-05-02

A tribute 10 British traditions of the
sea, as well as to the splendid per-
sonal record of Capt. John Roberts as
a sailor in peace and war, is found in
the attitude of the American public
toward the tragic loss of the Japanese
steamer Raifuku Maru and her crew
while the British liner Homeric stood
by almost within hail.
Amos Pinchot, brother of the Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania, and Liston X.
Lewis, the New York lawyer, headed
a group of the Homeric passengers
who accused Capt. Roberts of failing
to employ methods which might have
saved the lives of some of the unfor-
tunate Japanese. Other passengers
vigorously defended the course of the
Homeric's skipper, Capt. Roberts, who
did not risk his own ship and passen-
gers by getting too close to the sink
ing vessel. and declared nothing more
could have been done in the raging
sea.
Most American editors seem to
agree with the Roanoke. Times in the
opinion that Capt. Roberts knows
the way of Neptune far better than
the passengers of the Homeric could
possibly know them"
Man has not conquered the, sea, !"
observes the Yonkers Herald. ITO
merle would have meant almost sure
death for those detailed to man them.
Time was not allowed by the hungry
sea for the shooting of lifelines to the
stricken ship. The exhausted mem
bers of the crew could not have sur
vived the waves long enough to swim
to the side of the Homeric''
The fact that other sea captains up
hold the action Of the Homeric's cap
tain is noted by the Syracuse Herald,
which continues: While it may pos
sibly be true that sea reScueS have
been made or attempted in the past
under conditions as appalling as those
which confronted Capt. Roberts Of the
Homeric, popular presumption will be
largely on his side, in view of the
splendid record for gallantry in such
dire emergencies that the British
merchant marine has always enjoyed
x x = =
Certainly one would rather trust
to the judgment of a seasoned sea
dog than to a layman passenger"
says the Raleigh News and Observer.
THE sailors are acquainted with the
ways of the ocean and they know
better how it behaves. While recog-
nizing this important fact, one cannot
but greatly regret that the Homeric
of hope was gone"
The war record of Capt. Roberts
thus is cited by the Boston Transcript:
He stood through the war, in many
pilot houses, responsible night and
day for the fate or fortune, first of a
frail yacht in the North Sea patrol,
then of the troopship Medic at Gal
lipoli, and finally of a thousand ships
and countless men from 1917 to 1919
when he served as commodore of mer-
camille conveys back and forth across
an Atlantic dashed by storm and gut
tered by torpedoes." Judgment should
be held in allegiance, advises the Buff
| falo News, which believes it is diff
cult ITO believe that Capt. John Rob-
erts and the crew of the Homer1c
failed to perform their full duty"
Conflicting statements as to whether
or not there were survivors af1oat
after the ship went down are dis
cussed by the Springfield Republican,
whose judgment is that IF 1T should
be shown that a number of drowning
men drifted near the Homer1c, with
no effort made to save them, the ques-
| ton may perhaps arise whether the
organization for dealing promptly
with such an emergency was ade-
uuate." The Republican suggests
| that the British admiralty should
| take this deplorable shipwreck as the
text for a general inquiry into the
problem of saving life at sea in stormy
| weather" In similar vein the De
! oatrr lIcrn'd .-c~'s thnt "w'reicss
[ ,,-,c e; rot o,.p-:S., 20. 80 cra,vs O
! stalking Jtvamship5 ), appears that