THE WRECK OF THE MAFALDA.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19147, 2 November 1927, Page 11

THE WRECK OF THE MAFALDA.

TO THE KDITOB OT TH« PBK3S. Sir, —After two days of anxiety as'to the fate and number of the survivors in tho sinking of the Italian liner, Principessa Mafalda, off the firaziliau coast, we are told that 331 out of 1256 passengers and crew are unaccounted for. Previous cables informed us that the ship struck a floating hulk in the dead of night, that tho weather was stormy, and high seas were running. The'toll of the dead is heavy, but the wonder is that it is not heavier. The story cabled to your paper by your London correspondent and published .in your issue of the '29 th inst., and purporting to come from the master of the French steamer Formosa, seems quite inconsistent with- the circumstances attending the disaster, because if the Mafalda was .not seaworthy, her construction defective, and was manned by a negligent and incompetent crew, it is then quite reasonable to ask how 925 out of 1256 were saved. The story allegedly told by the captain of the French ship is a long indictment, which happily would be discounted by one -of his own statements, that which would mako us believe that the third-class passengers broke into tho bur. and sacked the cabins, and this while they knew that the boat was sinking. No decent man would indulge in being humorous when loss of life is concerned, and whoever is responsible for the yarn deserves on his own showing to be branded a clumsy liar. At present Italy has a merchant navy aggregating nearly three and a half million tons and is able to compete with other navies for carrying goods and passengers. One of the maxims of the Marquess of La Rochefoucauld is to tho effect that nobody can help feeling a sort of uncanny pleasure in a friend's misfortune. Italians can well bear this with equanimity, but will certainly.piotest against •vultures and scavengers, and if they want to know who these may be, they may, on the strength of. the great Frenchman's maxim, put themselves the question: ( 'Cui Bono?"—Yours, etc., M. BpUNNO, . ' Consul of Italy. Wellington, October 3.lst.