The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 1913 SCIENCE, SEAMANSHIP, AND HEROISM.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1924, 5 December 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 1913 SCIENCE, SEAMANSHIP, AND HEROISM.

Most people have their pessimistic moods when they feel that the evil in the world outweighs the good, and that things arc on the down grade. At'such times one feels it easy to believe that the days of chivalry are gone, and that heroism is a thing of the past. It would not be difficult to bring together an impressive array of facts in support of this view of things, but fortunately there is another side of the picture, and there areotlier facts which justify a more! optimistic opinion about human nature, livery now and- then things occur which make people feel that the spirit of adventure, pluck, and endurance, which did so much to make and keep the British Empire, is still a possession of our race. It may at times appear to slumber, but when the occasion arises it has a way of coming to the front once more—the same, but with a differ-! ence. British seamen in the twen-1 ticth century may not show their bravery and skill in precisely the i same way as the men who fought the Spaniards in the stirring times of "flood Queen Bess"; but they are. imbued with (he old spirit, and when the call comes they are not afraid to risk their lives in a good cause. Tho story of the burning of the Volturno in mid-Atlantic a few weeks ago is a splendid illustration of what British seamanship can do, and shows that the sailors of to-day arc not ■ one whit behind the men who fought under Drake and Nelson as far as courage is concerned. An urgent wireless call from the burning ves-; sel sent no fewer than ten steamers full speed ahead to tho rescue, but when they arrived on the scene the heavy seas made it impossible to rescue the passengers and crew from the blazing ship. Four of the Volturno's own boats were smashed against her sides, and all the occupants were drowned. In spite of tho great danger, the Carmania put out a boat, but it wasbeaten back, and its crew very nearly lost their lives. The Grosser Kttrfnrst also tried her boats, only to meet with a similar experience, and when the captain of the Minneapolis called for volunteers for the same perilous duty, the whole crew eame forward. They had a thrilling experiencj Ivrore they were rescued by the. C'anhania. Nothing could bo done until the oil ship iNarrag.-insett arrived. The effect was wonderful. In a short space of time the waves had been sufliciently calmed'by ihe oil thrown upon the water to allow the boats to reach the Volturno, and soon all the survivors were taken on board the other steamers. Everyone seems to have behaved nobly. Many of I.he women and children on the burning steamer were crying, but the men, we are told, "pill, on a line front to their danger. Some of them were gazing stoically overboard, as though death were somewhere near them." When- the boa Is (jut alongside there was no panic or

rush, but all left in a very orderly fashion. Captain Ixcii, of the Volturno, acted in a manner worthy of the best traditions of British seamanship. Vt'hen ho was taken on board the Kroonland he had "his face scorched and blackened, his arms and hands burned, his uniform charred and in tatters, and the soles of his shoes practically burned away." Tho conduct of the stokers on tho Carmania was just as heroic in its way. When the call came, the engineer went to them and said: "Boys, there's a ship burning, and we are going to try and get to her, and save her people. Get down on a double watch'." There was no need to say any more, for "the stokers literally fell over one another in their anxiety to get to the furnaces and the boiler room.'' The whole story of that wonderful midAtlantic disaster and rescue almost compels one to be an optimist, for. after full allowance is made for the criticism of tlie pessimist, it, shows

that tlie average man has the potentiality of real greatness, andwhen the emergency arises he is able to act greatly, and is even willing, if ueeci'be, to risk his life to save others, even though their only claim on him may be the bond of a common humanity. The story of the Volturno is also a-' striking reminder that seamanship did not entirely disappear with the passing of the old sailingship. Its character has no doubt undergone a great change, for it requires a different sort of skill to handle a great ocean liner; but it is seamanship all the same, and though the modem officer does his work in a different way, the qualities that go to make a great sea captain arc essentially the same to-day as in the days of Cook or Coluhbus. Modem science has enormously increased the comfort and safety of sea but it lias not lessened the responsibility of "the man at the helm."' A great Atlantic liner is like a floating city, and tho consequences of an accident are incalculable Wonderful devices have been invented to lessen the perils of the deep, and when we make allowance for the tremendous increase in the number of passengers carried, the death rate at sea has probably never been lower than it is to-day. This fact is a tribute both to science and seamanship. Hit had not been for the discovery of wireless telegraphy, the probability is that no one would have been alive to-day to tell the tale of the five on I the Volturno. The invention is only a few years old, but already wireless operators have made a name for themselves for their devotion to duty when ships have been in danger. The wireless operator on the Volturno had to do his work while the flames were bursting out, and the ship was being wrecked by explosions; and when the Carmania found that she could do nothing, owing to the heavy sea, the captain sent out a message for an oil-tank steamer, to which tha Narrangansett promptly responded. Marvellous as all this is, we take ifc_ almost as a matter of course, for science has clone so much for us during the last hundred years that we arc fast losing the capacity for wonder, and the assistance given by the Carmania-'s searchlight-Veoma quite a trivial matter. One hardly knows which to admire most—the heroic conduct of all concerned in the disaster and the rescue, or tho triumphs of human invention that made the rescue possible. Yet, after ail, it is the human element that reallv counts, for the wireless, tho searchlight, and the speed arc the products of tlie human brain. Man may be a moment in time and a in space, but that is not the whole of his story.