THE BOAT ACCOMMODATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 249, 20 April 1912, Page 5

THE BOAT ACCOMMODATION.

A SHORTAGE. London, April 18. Mr. Oarlisl# states that when making the designs for the Olympic and Titanic he suggested special davits and the provision of forty boats. Those davits were fitted. The Board of Trade required sixteen "boats, and only twenty were supplied, not forty as he had advised. NO DETAILS OF TIIE DISASTER. Halifax, April 18. The Parisian has arrived. The captain reports that he received no news of the Titanic, except second hand. The call for help was not heard. St. Johns, April 18. The Allan Liner Carthaginian arrived. She lay two days in a thick fog off Cape Race, and wirelessly intercepted bulletins respecting the disaster, but heard no details. New York, April 18. The steamship La Brotagne reports huge icebergs in latitude 40 degrees. Bears were seen clinging to the surface. EXAGGERATED STORIES. INEXCUSABLE SILENCE. New York. April 18. The newspapers print stories purporting to be the latest wireless news from the Carpathia. These state that the Titanic Ibuckled amidships. Ladies in evening gowns were bundled into the boats, not believing there was any danger, but that when the danger wag apprehended a panic ensued. Scores of injured persons are reported to be among those rescued 1)y the Carpathia, many being nearly insane. United States warships sint to secure news from the Carpathia were unabla to secure any reply. The Navy Department believes that orders were given on the Carpathia not to answer any queries. 'Mr. Bruce Ismay is believed to have used his influence to prevent the transmission of news. Pathetic scenes continue outside the New York offices of the White Star Company. ft Oil E OF THE SAVED. I DELIBERATE SUPPRESSION OF NEWS. London, April 18. Amongst those saved from the Titanic are Mesdamcs G. Stone and F. ,7. Swift, society women; C. E. Stengel, racehorse owner; Margaret Graham, Californian actress; Thomas Cardeza, of Rio-de-Janiero and New York; P. Marcschal, of Washington; Colonel Archibald Gracie, W. T. Sloper, of Seattle: Master Harry Widener; F. T. Thayer, railway official; J. and Mrs. Snyder, of New York. Among those missing are: James Carlton Young, of Minneapolis; George Eastman, Colonel May, Professor J. 11. Ross, of Wisconsin; and the following New York residents: Mrs. Ettlinger, Mrs. Fig]er, and Miss Eustace. The White Star iC'onip;:uliieially ] states that the Titanic was equipped with life-saving appliances for all passengers, and the boat accommodation was in excess of the B.oard of Trade requirements. New \ ork is mvstifiid at the silence o| the officials of the steamer Carpathia as to how the Titanic sank. Even a request by President Taft was unanswered. BRITISH RELIEF FUND. OBSOLETE RULES. London, April 18. English subscriptions to the Titanic fund exceeded £30,000 tlrs afternoon. The White Star Company has forwarded a thousand guineas to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool's fund. Many theatrical and operatic performances are toeing arranged. Mr. Buxton, president of the Board of Trade, in the House of Commons, said the rules for life-saving on British ships have not been revised since 1804. The Board of Trade in 1011 asked the advisory committee of the Merchant Shipping Guild to report on the matter. It had never been the policy of the Board of Trade that vessels well equipped with watertight compartments should necessarily carry lifeboats to accommodate all on board. The Titanic ' carried boats for 1178 pee-de. also 40 lifeboats. She was certifi I to carry 3500 passengers and crew, and actually! carried 2208. He suggested an enquiry as to whether vessels should be forbidden to take the northern Atlantic route in the spring. There was not power to stop racing. AUSTRALIAN MESSAGES. ! London, April IS. : Lord Denman's condolences on behalf of the people of Australia, also the message of the New South Wales Government have been published, AMONG THE MISSING. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. The mother and sister of Charles Williams, the champion racquet player who was on the Titanic, reside in Wellington, the former having come to New Zealand two. ye.ars a-o to join her daughter, Mrs. Riggin, wife of the caretaker of Wellington (Boys' College. Williams, wno was in his twenty-fourth year, was racquet champion of EtHand before the age of twenty, and last "-ear, by defeating -Tamsetji, of Bombay, became world's champion. He was racquets coach at Harrow until he left last week to meet Jock Sutter, the famous player in the United States. Williams is married, and it is believed that his wife and infant sailed with him on the Titanic. His mother, who went Home to see him in September last, only returned by the Corinthic on Tuesday last. EXPRESS [OX ()F SYMPATHY. Nelson. Last Night. The City Council adopted a resolution to-night expressing profound sorrow a:

the international disaster occasioned by tlie wreck of the Titanic. At the meeting of the Harbor Board yesterday a resolution was passed, all the members standing, expiessing the g heartfelt sympathy of the Board with c the sufferers through the great loss of life caused by the wreck of the Titanic. ° WHO OWNED THE TITANIC? '' THE BUILDERS OR THE COMPANY? "Who were the Titanie's owners?" That is a question no doubt that has been exercising the minds of many people. This was the vessel's maiden trip, and it has never been stated that she . had been officially luuided over to the , White Star Line. THfc vessel had on board many of the principals of the firm 3 of Harland and Wolff, her builders, and the guarantee engineers of that firm. In ordinary cases a vessel is handed over by the builders after her trial trip has • been successful accomplished. But it is i said that this rule is departed from in . the case of these big ocean liners. It j is understood that they make a round trip across the "Fish Pond" before being handed over. If this is so, it will be interesting to see who has to foot the bill . for this dijjaater, DREAD TOLL OF THE OCEAN. WRECKS OF THE SEA. There have been many instances during the past fifty years or so of appalling lass of life through wrecks., though few of the cases on record can compare in magnitude with the Titanic disaster. The Austria, an emigrant steamer, was burnt in mid-Atlantic in September, 185S, ami of 687 persons on board only 67 were saved. In the same month occurred- the wreck of the St. Paul, on the way from Hongkong to "-dney, with 327 Chinese emigrants i b "-<l. She was wrecked on the islam! of Rossell, and only one of the emigrants escaped foeing massacred and devoured by the natives. An American emigrant vessel, the Lima, was wrecked on the rocks off Barfleur in 'February, 1860. and about 100 lives were lost. About the same date the Hungarian, a new' British mail steamer, -was lost oil' the coast of Nova Scotia, all on board, to the number of 205, being drowned. The American steamer Lady Elgin was. in September, 18(S0, sunkthrough a collision -with the schooner August on Lake Michigan, and of the 38; i persons on board 287 were lost, including Mr. Herbert Ingram, 'M.P., founder of the Illustrated London News. I lie foundering of another emigrant ship, the Eagle Speed, took place near Calcutta in August, 1865. when 2(15 coolies were drowned. In October, 1870, the Cambria, an iron screw steamer, was Jost in a storm off Inishtrahul Island, N.W. Ireland, about ] 7O lives being lost, ureat loss of life was occasioned by the wreck of the Nortlifleet. a vessel laden ■with railway iron for Tasmania (then Van Diemen s Land) and carrying many navvies. She was run into bv a foreign steamer off Dungeness in January, 187-3, and about 300 perished. ANOTHER WHITE STAR LINFR WRECKED. The White Star Company sustained a serious loss in April, 1873. when their ■steamer, the Atlantic, struck on Meagher .Rock, west of Sambro. She was said •to have fallen short of coal steaming for About 560 lives were lost, the .-aptain and 422 others being saved. In December. 1874, the Japan, a Pacific mail steamer, from Yokohama, took fire off .Hongkong, and many lives were lost. The Pacific, a steamer, bound from Victoria, 'B.C., to California, foundered off Cape Flattery in November, 187"), and 150 perished. One of the many mysteries of the sea occurred in 1870. In August of that ) year the Great Queensland, with 50!) souls on board, and a cargo of explosives, sailed for Melbourne. She is supposed 'to have blown up at sea, pieces of wreckbeing found near Finisterre. A similar fate overtook the iron ship Cairo, bound for Australia in January, 1877! She carried much gunpowder, and is said to have been wrecked off Tristan or .Cough Island. At any rate, she disappeared. The steamer Eten was wrecked near Valparaiso in Julv, 1877, and about 100 lives were lost. The steamer Atacama was wrecked in November of the same year, near Copiapo, 104 bein«drowned. ° OTHER STEAMERS THAT WERE LOST. The wreck of the J'riiicess Alice, an iron saloon steamer, belonging to the London Steamship 'Company, occurred on September 3, 1878. She was returning from Sheerness with over 000 persons, principally women and children, when she was run into by the steamer By well Castle in the Thames, near Woolwich, and sunk with the loss of between 600 and 700 lives. The next big disaster was the wreck of the Canadian steamer Borussia, off Carmina, on December j, 1579. She sprang a leak in the Atlantic and sank, 160 persons being lost and 184 saved by boats. The Union Company's Tararua, which was wrecked off Wa'ipara Point,' New Zealand, on April 28, 1881, caused the loss of 130 lives. In the ensuing month was reported the capsize of the steamer Victoria on the Thames, Canada, when several hundreds were drowned.' The Daphne, a coasting steamer, heeled over during her launch on the Clyde, on July 3, 1833, and 124 persons were drowned. On April 'lB, 1884, the list of maritime tragedies was added to by the collision between the Glasgow Bteamcr State of Florida and the barque Ponema in midocean, off the Canadian coast. Both vessels sank, and about 123 people perished. In July of the sarnie year, the British steamer Laxham and the Spanish steamer Cijon were both sunk by collision in a fog off Cape Finisterre, about 130 persons perishing. About 150 lives were lost by the foundering of the steamer Benton, off Singapore, on April 28, 1887 On March 9, 1888, the City of Corinth was sunk by collision with the Tasmania, near Dungentss. The Quetta, a Queensland liner, struck and sank off Cape York, Torres Strait, on February 2S, 1890, when 133 were drowned out of 282 aboard. FATE OF ATLANTIC AND OTHER LINERS. The City of Paris, an Inman Atlantic steamer, with 080 passengers and 370 of a crew aboard, left New York on March 19, 1890, for Queenstown. On March 25, the starboard engine broke down. The inflow of water stopped the other engine, and eventually the vessel was without machinery or sailing apparatus—a helpless log. Help arrived on March 28, and without losing a. single life the vessel was towed into Queenstown. Another Atlantic liner, the Egypt, left New York on July 10, 1890, and was burnt at sea a week later. All hands (95) were saved by the Gustav Oscar. I.he wreck of the British steamer Utopia, in March, 1891, resulted in great loss of life. She was conveying 830 Italian emigrants, with a crew of 50 from Naples to New York. During a gale she was sunk by collision with H.M.S. Anson (ironclad), at anchor in the Bay of Gibraltar. About 538 passengers and 2f« of the crew were drowned. On January If, 1892, the Nanchow. a , British steamer, foundered off Cupelii z Point, China, and 509 lives were lost.

y BIG STEAMERS GO DOWN. The wreck of the Union Steamship Company's steamer Wairarapa on the d Great Barrier, oil October 29, 1894, will " still be fresh in the minds of New Zeae landers. Whilst on the voyage from h Sydney to Auckland she was lost, the f captain anil 125 others being drowned. The Castle Line steamer Drummond Castle, came to grief on the Pierres Vertes, Molene Island, off Us'liant, about midnight on June 16, 1896. The cap- ? tain, 103 of the crew, and 147 passengers were drowned. Perfect order and much " heroism were displayed during this great s calamity. i- In June, 1807, the P. and O. steamer ), Aden was wrecked off Socotra, in the Ine dian Ocean. About 100 lives were lost, e The 'Mohegan, one of Die Atlantic Transn port Company's steamers, was wrecked n on the .Manacles, off Cornwall, on OctoI tier 14, 1898, when the captain and 100 . others were drowned, r 'During storms in the Atlantic, in 5 iMarcli, il&Oi), no less than eight British, 3 one American, and one German, steamers 1 were lost, involving 235 deaths. Tn 1i902 t the Huronian, an Allan steamer, was * lost at sea, and the Camorta, steam ir, ' sank in a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal with a crew of 81) and 030 native passen--1 ger«. ! By the wreck of the Elingamite, at the Three Kings, whilst on the voyage from .Sydney to Auckland, on November 9, 1002, over 40 lives were lost, 148 being saved. Great heroism, fortitude and suffering were characteristics of this calamity. Some of the passengers land- ' ed on the Three Kings, and were rescued therefrom by the Zealandia, others row--1 ed in an open boat to Mouhora, where they were tended by the Maoris until 1 picked up by the Clansman; whilst a 1 party on a raft, after being adrift for 4Ms days, was eventually saved by a warship and taken to Auckland. These latter suffered terrible privations. One boat, which got safely awav from the wreck, disappeared. One of the most famous wrecks of recent years was the collision between the White Star liner Republic and the Florida in a dense fog off Nantucket Island on January 23, 1009. Six lives were lost. The story of the wreck gained fame through the important part which wireless telegraphy played ill bringing other vessels to the rescue, and thus preventing a worse disaster. IN SOUTHERN WATERS. A disastrous wreck in New Zealand waters was that of the Union Steamship Company's steamer Penguin, which struck a few miles from Cape Terawhiti. on the West Coast, near Wellington, on the night of February 12, 1909. and sank in about half an hour. Upwards of 70 persons were drowned. The disappearance of the Waratali off the coast of Africa is a maritime mystery, which has never yet been cleared up. This Blue Anchor liner left Durban for London with 200 souls aboard in July, 1909. Jt is supposed that she capsized in a gale on the 28th of that month. SOME RECENT DISASTERS. In August, 1910. the British steamr.r Fifeslrire was wrecked 20 miles south of Cape Guardifui. Part of the crew and passengers were landed at Aden, but a boat containing 24 occupmts was lost. It was on (September 20, 19-10, that the collision 'between the Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic, and the Ilawke. in the Solent occurred. Both vessels were seriously damaged. The Adelaide Steamship Company's steamer Yongala, with over I,>o aboard, was lost in March, 1911. Wreckage came ashore on the. Queensland coast, and it is supposed that in a heavy storm she struck a rock and sank. None of her company survived. On March (16 this year the P. and O. liner Oceana collided with the German barque Pisagua, off Beachy Head, and shortly afterwards sank.' Seven teen livrs were lost. The Adelaide Steamship Company's Koombana, with 30 passengers, went missing in a cyclonic stom off the West Australian coast in March this year, and has not since been heard of.