Evening star., 1927-10-27
The Mafalda Wreck.

Again the radio has demonstrated
it's value as an aid to navigation and
as a means of saving life at sea. Had
there been no wireless on the Ital-
ian steamer Mafalda and others of
the mercantile fleet plying the Allan
tic off the coast of Brazil the other
night, many hundreds of lives would
have been lost. AS it was, as latest
reports indicate, sixty-eight perished
when the ship sank. But this out of
total Of 1928 passengers and crew
is but a small percentage of casualties.
The exact circumstances of the wreck
are still somewhat clouded in mystery.
The sea was smooth. Suddenly the
ship stopped abruptly, indicating that
she had run upon a derelict or a mud
bank. There was, it appears, no
crash, simply checking of headway,
which caused alarm. Later there was
an explosion, due, 1t has been stated.
to the dryness of the boiler plates,
which is attributed to an improper
water supply. But when this occurred
the rescue ships summoned by radio
had begun to arrive. Fully an hour
elapsed between the bump" and the
explosion. Yet the announcement sent
forth through the air almost immedi-
ately after the first mishap stated that
the Mafalda had suffered from a fatal
accident. The exact circumstances
will doubtless be made known at the
inquiry which is to follow when the
ships carrying the survivors reach
port. 1t will then be determined
whether the catastrophe was due to
a break in the machinery, or a col
lision, or grounding, or to the explo-
sion. which came a considerable time
after.
So prompt was the response of the
neighboring ships to the wireless call
falda's company was in progress sixty
minutes after the first summons. The
ship was nearing port and was in
the lines Of converging sea traffic
Ten or more steamers participated in
the work of picking up the survivors
from boats and RATS and in a few
cases individuals who went overheard
in life preservers. 1t will perhaps
never be known how the sixty-eight
who were lost were unable to escape.
They may have been injured in the
explosion, or trapped in some way be-
low deck. The ship did not sink for
nearly four hours after the first call
was sounded, which left practically
three hours for rescue on a clear
night. with calm sea.
The great majority of the Mafa1da's
passengers We're Italian immigrants.
naturally Of an excitable disposition
and easy victims Of the panic spirit
which spreads on such occasions. But
the scene on the stricken ship is de-
scribed as one Of remarkable calm,
owing to the manner in which her
commander handled the situation. He
ordered the band to play the Italian
national anthem, and members Of the
crew rendered valuable aid in calming
the passengers. Good order prevailed,
and to this fact is doubtless due the
large percentage of rescue.
Since its application to ships at sea,
radio has saved a great number of
lives. 1t has reduced the peril of the
wide and often stormy waters to the
point at which sea transport has ac-
tually a higher percentage Of safety
than land conveyance. 1t is a singu-
lar commentary that almost simulta-
neously with this disaster at sea cost
ing only sixty-eight lives a train in
Jugoslavia leaped a precipice, killing
two hundred and sixty persons.