"NAVIGATION FROM THE OFFICE STOOL."

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8, 7 May 1912, Page 4

"NAVIGATION FROM THE OFFICE STOOL."

Speaking of the less of the" Titanic last week, Mr Robinson, chief officer of the steamer Buryalus, then at Melbourne, said:—"Since the wireless system of telegraphy has proved efficient, there,• lias been too' much navigation : from the.office stool. Formerly a sea ; captain had really command of his ship. He was a king, and his ship JfiiS' kingdom, but nowadays he cannot act so much upon his own initiative, for he receives a. wireless messago everyday telling him what course to steer and all that. He is acting under orders from the office staff. A commander of a vessel should he allowed to still exercise his ; own'discretion. .It is very .necessary that he should be'able to do whatever circumstances prompt him to do. Wireless telegraphy may.be a boon to many people. To the captain ,of. a hig liner it must be sometimes a dangerous nuisance, to say nothing of the lessening of his own importance. Ships are not trains, nor is tht ocean a solid country on the map of which a route may be traced by officials seated in armchairs in a shipping company's office. Of course, I have nothing to say against the White Star Company. I am only voicing the opinions of seamen on the change which the profession of seamanship has undergone since the introduction of wireless. The independence of master mariners of big liners is being sapped, and' their powers of initiative weakened. What this means to the travelling public I need not tell you. It is perfectly obvious."