Titanic Disaster.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 248, 19 April 1912, Page 5

Titanic Disaster.

YELLOW JOURNALISM. FABRICATED NEWS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright London, April 17. The New York Herald's details that the Titanic, while steaming at 18 miles an hour, ran bow foremost on a berg and was shattered from bow to amidships, are fictitious. Reuter denies the existence of any of the mareonigrams alleged by the Herald to have been received from the steamer Bruce. Lady Cosmo Gordon and Mr. C. M. Hays, president of the Grank Trunk Railway, were rescued. PATHETIC SCENES IX ENGLAND. RELIEF FUNDS STARTED. THE MAILS. London, April 17. Pathetic scenes continue outside the White Star Shipping Company's offices. Usual bookings are not being interrupted, and there has been no cancellation of passages. (Fifty relatives stayed outside CockBpur street office all night. The wives and children of the crew are crowding at Southampton at night, awaiting the names of those saved, and crying and begging for information. The crowd includes five sisters, a husband of each of whom is aboard. There will be a memorial service at, St. Paul's on 'Friday. ] The Lord 'Mayor has opened a Man- ; sion House Fund, and he suggests that | every newspaper in the United Kingdom j should acknowledge donations, and in a week they could probably raise an adequate fund. There were 3000 sacks of mails on the Titanic, including 1556 sacks from London. Alexander Carlisle, the Titanic's builder, opines that if she struck at the stem the masts would probably have been buckled, and it would be impossible to send wireless messages. In the future vessels should probab-iy have a smaller number of bulkheads, the doors of which would be closed at sunset and sunrise, and have increased boat accommodation. % The Parliaments of Benmark, Sweden, Belgium and Capetown have passed.) resolutions of sympathy in reference i to the Titanic disaster.

AMONG THE MISSING. A SEARCH FOR THE BODIES. London. April .17. The. following are still missing: Isidore Straus, Gforge ]). Widc-ner and Benjamin. Guggenheim, millionaires. Washington; Robling. constructor of the Brooklyn Bridge; Daniel and Mrs. Marvin and Clarence, well-known New York residents; Thomas Andrews, director of Harland and Wolff's; Ridgeley-Carter, United States Minister to" Itoumania; and Charles Williams, racquet champion. A steamer has been despatched to search for bodies. The Carpathia on Wednesday afternoon wires all well. New York, April 17. Among the Titanic's passengers were Messrs. Dodge, bankers; Mrs. Levisson, a New York hostess; Clarence Jones, stockbroker; Robert Chisholm, fibre manufacturer; Frutelle, novelist; C. Head, ex-Mayor of Chelsea; Johnkheer Reuchlin, director of the HollandAmerican Line; F. D. Millet, artist; Henry B. Harris, theatrical producer. THE TALLY OF SURVIVORS. RUMORED FURTHER RESCUES. New York, April 17. The Carpathia sent a wireless message that 70.3 survivors were on board. She expected to arrive early on Friday. An unvouehed for wireless message reports that 230 passengers are aboard the Baltic. SHUTTING THE STABLE DOOR. London, April 17. The Times questions whether it is not time to call a halt in the construction of mammoth steamers made for speed competitions, and the selection of a track which is dangerous at certain seasons, when a safer route exists. It appeals for a saner and sounder public opinion on the subject. •"' ■ GERMAN OPINION. Berlin, April 17. The papers condemn -the rage for speed, and describe the Titanic's voyage as an attempt to break the Olympic's record. German underwriters lose £70,000 on the Titanic. German ships have been instructed to make the southern route to America. FUNERAL RITES. A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION. PRESS AND PARLIAMENTARY PROTEST. Received 18, 11.5 p.m. New York, April 18. Mr. Astor's son has chartered a steamer to search for his father's body. The steamer Mackay Rennet has left Halifax with undertakers and clergymen on board to perform funeral rites. The cruiser Chester is now repeating wireless messages from the Carpathia. The safety of all the women and children is assured. The Senate adopted a resolution demanding a comprehensive investigation into the disaster. Some of the survivors will be immediately summoned to Washington to give evidence regarding the inability of the officers to save the lives of all on board.

1 A Bill has been introduced in the SenI ate prohibiting liners entering or clearing from United States ports without sufficient apparatus to accommodate all the passengers. The Bill has been referred to the Merchant Marine Committee. The chairman stated that evidently lifeboats took up too much room, and companies were chasing "the almighty dollar." The yellow press hotly attacks the White Star management, and criticises the regulations of the English authorities. The steamship owners bitterly resent the comments, and cast the blame on those demanding luxuries which encroach upon the lifeboat space. The steamship America warned the Titanic of icebergs a few minutes before she struck. BOGOS MESSAGES. SOME OF THE PASSENGERS. WORLD-WIDE CONDOLENCES. THE MANSION HOUSE FUND. Received 18, 11.30 p.m. London, April 18. i Strong comments are made relative to the false and misleading Titanic news emanating from America. The Times says that the origin of the various ac- . counts demands investigation. The White Star Company state that i they did not receive any message from the Titanic. The erroneous news was the work of irresponsible and imaginative persons. /' Mr. Carlisle declares that the boat accommodation on the Titanic was inadequate. It was a difficult problem to find boat room in modern mammoths. I The passengers included Mr. Thomas Pears (soap-maker). Mr. Parsons (exCongressi.nan), Mr. Warren (ex-Senator), and Professor Hoyt (Professor of Law at Washington University). Mr. Hayes' rescue is not confirmed. The novelist IFrutelle was rescued. The King, in a message to President Taft. deplored the terrible loss of subjects of countries so intimately allied by ties of friendship and brotherhood. President Taft replied that the appalling disaster had brought both countries into a community of grief through common bereavement. Americans share the sorrow of their kinsmen beyond the seas. • AH the European courts have tendered ' their sympathy. - The Tunisian was twenty-four hours in the ice. Two hundred icebergs were seen. The vessel stopped at night, and sent a wireless message to the Titanic at midnight on Saturday. The Mansion House Fund is already £OOOO. The King gave 500gns., and the Queen 250gns. The Shipping Federation has given £2OOO to the Southampton fund. The Daily Mail specially appeals to women on behalf of the Titanic's seamen, who died to save women. AMONG THE SAVED. Montreal, April 18. It is definitely known that Mr. Hayes, president of the Grand Trunk Railway, has been saved from the Titanic. j AUSTRALASIA'S SYMPATHY. ' Sydney, April 18. The Lord Mayor has cabled messages of condolences to the Mayor of New York and the of London, regretting the international and appalling loss on the Titanic. London, April 17. The New Zealand Government and the Lord Mayor of Sydney have cabled sympathy in the Titanic disaster. A PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. Bj Telegraph—Press Association. Christchureh. Last Night. Among -the very few who had providential escapes from the Titanic tragedy is Mr. J. A. Frostiek, of Skelton, Frostick and Co.. Christchureh. 'Mr. Frostiek is at the present time on an extended tour abroad. It was his intention, after visiting England, to go across to the States. He booked a passage by the Titanic, but on account of 'business engagements cancelled it. When the news first came to hand that the big liner had foundered it was thought by .Mr. Frostick's relatives and friends here that he was on board. Yesterday, however, there came a reassuring cable from Mr. Frostiek himself, from London, stating that he had found it necessary to wait for another boat; and so he missed the tragedy. The receipt of this cablegram came quite as a relief to those closely associated with Frostiek. EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY. ~.,..,, r Dunedin, Yesterday. A mammoth benefit in aid of the Titanic sufferers was held in the Brydone Hall last night Hawera, Yesterday. The Taranaki Executive of the Farmers' Union -to-day passed a resolution of sympathy with British and American subjects in connection with the foundering of the Titanic, and expressed admiration of the action of the men on the steamer in upholding the test traditions of the sea. Hastings, Last Night. At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon the president, Mr. E. 11. Williams, referred to the loss of the Titanic. The following resolution was carried, the members standing: That this meeting desires to express its deep sympathy with the relatives of those lost on the Titanic, and places on record its admiration of the gallant conduct of the officers, men and passengers of the illfated vessel; and that a copy of the resolution be sent to the agents'of the White Star Company in New Zealand. Masterton, Last Xight. At a public meeting held here tonight a resolution was carried expressing sorrow and regret at the overwhelming disaster which has befallen the peoples of England and America in the wreck of the Titanic, and deep sympathy wit! the relatives of tlie victims. Xapier, Last Xight. The Napier Borough Council to-night passed a motion expressing the deepest grief at (he wrick of the Titanic, and extending sympathy to the friends, families and relatives of tliose who have been drowned, and hi.rh appreciation of the conduct of the officers, crew and passengers, who so nobly sacrificed their lives to save the women and children. •Palmerston North. L:t-t Xight. At Mr. d. A. Nash's .Mayoral election meeting at Terrace End to-night, Mr. Nash moved the following resolution, which was carried, the audience stand-

t ing: "That this meeting expresses pro- ; found and deep sympathy with the rela- ; tivos of the passengers and crew of the !> Titanic in the sad and deplorable disaster resulting in the loss of so many lives; also its admiration of the gallantry of the officers and men in sacrificing their lives to save the women and children." APPEAL TO SEAFARERS. Rotorua, Last Xight. Mr. Havelock Wilson, general secretary of the National Sailors and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and Ireland, who is visiting Rotorua, has sent the following cablegram to the secretary of the union, London: "I appeal to the seamen of the world to give two days' pay each to the relatives of the sailors, firemen, cooks and stewards of the. Titanic. I give £ilo, and will ask the seamen of New Zealand and Australia." This appeal will be sent to every maritime nation in the world, as the English Union is federated to the National Union. A NEW PLYMOUTH RESOLUTION.. 'At a special meeting of the New Plymonth 'Borough Council last night the following resolution was carried: "That the Xew 'Plymouth Borough Council expresses its sincere sympathy 'with those bereaved by the appalling calamity i caused toy the wreck of the Titanic, and I also places on record its deep admiration | of the manner in which officers and men ! upheld the best traditions of the British race in giving the women and children the first chance of rescue; and that a copy of the resolution be forwarded to the Prime Minister for transmission to the proper authorities." WHERE BRAVE SHIPS LIE. THE GRAND BANKS AND CAPE RACE. The Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the greatest fishing ground in the world, especially for cod, form a vast submarine elevation over iCOO miles in length and 200 miles in breadth, with a depth of water varying from 10 to 100 fathoms. The winter lasts from December to April, and dense fogs and innumerable icebergs render navigation always a matter of great peril. Many brave ships have gone to the bottom in the neighborhood of Cape Race, the south-eastern extremity of Newfoundland. There is a lighthouse on the Cape, the tower of which is 100 ft. high, and the light is visible nineteen miles. Attached to the station is a powerful wireless installation. OCEAN'S WHITE PLAGUE. THAT STRIKE -SHIPS DOWN IN THE DARK. 1

Writing in Harper's Weekly Advertiser on "The Peril of the Iceberg," George E. Walsh says: "The fear of icebergs has been partly removed in recent years by wireless telegraphy, but their presence on the seas is still menacing enough to cause anxiety to many a captain. . . . Government scouting ships now- go out to sea to destroy and sink derelicts, 'but so far they have proved helpless in scattering icebergs. It is true that they can locate them and report their finding's by wireless. Other ships finding icebergs make similar reports, and in this way track is kept of the great floating dangers. The Government every summer and fall makes out an iceberg chart. When some ship reports a certain iceberg in a certain latitude and longitude, a little red dot is placed on the iceberg chart. It is drifting in a southerly, direction, and allowances are made for so many miles of advance every twentyfour hours. So the red dot 'is moved slowly forward. But adverse winds, seas, and currents mav ■ , ;-.:y\ the course of the berg, and this sort of reckoning may prove all wrong. Then another ship reports the same or another iceberg in a different place. More red Jots appear on the chart, and as the season advance the danger points increase. These charts are issued as warnings to mariners. Ships sailing in certain northern latitudes must study the location of the icebergs, and for the sake of safety the captains provide themselves with duplicates of the charts. But even with all of these efforts to plot out the floating bergs, the danger of colliding with one is always present. The icebergs are dangerous obstructions to navigation on dear, dark nights, as well as in times of fog. They carry no lights, and they cannot be detected in the dark until close upon a ship. . The ocean liner has little more chance of escaping collision with :>n iceberg than the smaller sailing craft." WHITE STAR LINE. STEAMERS LOST. The following casualties have occurred to vessels of this company:— Atlantic, 1883, wrecked off Sambro, about 481 lives lost. Suevic, stranded on coast of Cornwall, 1907, part got off, part abandoned Medic, collision with the Turbo, 1907. Baltic, on fire. New York. 1008. Olympic, collision with H.M.S. Hawke, 1911. Oceanic, on fire, 1907. Georgic, in collision with and sunk the Finance, off Sandy Hook, 1908. Republic, collision with Florida, 1909. Naronic, 1893. Germanic, sank at her mooring at New York during a blizzard; vis coaling at the time, subsequently rai*"d. SIZES OF BERGI On December 23, 1-900, in 50 R 47 W, the Walden Abbey passed many bergs varying from 360 ft to 1000 ft. In February, 1.910, between New Zenland and Cape Horn, the Invertay was close to several bergs, two of which were 1000 ft high. On September IG, 1910, the Footing Suez, an American sailing ship, passed many Ibergs between 54 'S and 51 W and 49 S and ,46 W, and a solid field of ice, which was 50 miles in length. The sailing ship. William P. Fry, in about the same position, was surrounded by icebergs and field ice, which covered an area of 18 miles. The clipper Loch Torridon once actually sailed 50 miles along the side of an ice island, before being able to round its extremity. Nearly the whole of the exceptionally long iceberg's of the south are passed by ships soon after rounding Cape Horn, in the homeward trip in the South Atlantic. Between December, 1854, and April, 1856, a hook-shaped ice island acted as a trap south-east of the Cape of Good Hope for sailing vessels bound to the Antipodes. Tts longer side stretched 5(1 miles without a break; its shorter side, was 40 miles long, and between these two promontories of ice was a capacious bay Hpiite 40 utiles across. Several ships were .embayed, a.<d at least one was lost with all hands. ""hese entered this cul de sac with a fair wind under the suppositiion that there vas an opening at the further end, and uiled to boat back into the open sea and safety.