THE TITANIC DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 300, 15 June 1912, Page 5

THE TITANIC DISASTER

! A WORD IN DEFENCE. By CaW«—-Pmt Association—Ospyrifht. London, June 14. Sir Alfred Chalmers, formerly of the Titanic, and marine advisor to the Board of Trade, defended the Department's regulations. They had no right, he said, to impose requirements upon traffic so long as its record was clean. Sixteen boats was the maximum that could be rapidly handled and safely housed. The Titanic taught no lessons, because the disaster was an extraordinary one. Sir A. Chalmers' successor testified that there should have been at least twenty-six boat*. BOARD OF TRADE NEGLECT.

The shortage of boat accommodation on the Titanic was primarily due to the antiquated Board of Trade regulations, the revision of which has been for some time "under consideration." The rules made when a 10,000-ton ship was a huge vessel still obtain. In a copy of them obtained at the Board of Trade by the Daily Mail after the disaster the highest line in the table showing the "minimum number of boats to be placed under davits and their minimum cubic contents" was "10,000 tons and upwards, minimum number of boats sixteen, minimum cubic contents 5500 feet." This meant provision for 550 persons. Although ships have grown until they reach the huge proportions of nearly 50,000 tons, no more boat accommodation is required of the owners than if they remained at 10,000 tons. This fact is well known in shipping circles. It received official confirmation in the House of Commons in November, 1910. Replying for the President of the Board of Trade to a question as to the boats of the Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic, Mr. Tennant said:— "I understand that the Olympic will be provided with fourteen lifeboats and two ordinary boats, of an aggregate capacity of 9752 cubic feet, which is in excess of the requirements of statutory rules. I have no information as to any vessel carrying four times this number of boats (which had been suggested in the question). The Lusitania and Mauretania each carry sixteen boats." The Titanic was fitted with doubleacting Welin quadrant davits, which could have carried on the boat-deck thirty-two, or even forty-eight lifeboats. Yet only sixteen were supplied and a few collapsibles. Commenting on the position disclosed by the regulations Professor Ray Lankester, in a letter to the Times, expressed the opinion that there had been an approach to criminal neglect on the part of officials in Government employ. He added. "We must come to the conclusion that the disaster to the Titanic was necessary only on the supposition that we are content to put up with an expensive Government administration which neglects to take ordinary precautions for our safety which it is paid to take."

CAPTAIN SMITH'S FOREBODING. That Captain Smith, of the Titanic, believed the steamer was not properly equipped with lifeboats and other lifesaving apparatus was the statement made by Mr Glen Marston, a friend of the captain, in New York. Mr Marston said that while returning from Europe on the Olympic, in company with .Captain Smith, he remarked on the small number of .lifeboats. It was then, ac♦ording to Mr Marston, that Captain Smith spoke of the life-preserving equipment of the Titanic, then under construction. "I noticed the small number of boats and rafts aboard for the heavy passenger-carrying ei"i?cit.y of the ship, and remarked on it lo Captain Smith," said Mr Marston. "Yes," he replied, "if the ship should strike a submerged derelict or iceberg that would cut through into several of the watertight compartments, we have not enough boats or rafts ■■ aboard to take care of more than one-third of the passengers. The Titanic, too, is no better equipped. She ought to carry at least double the number of boats and rafts that she does to afford any real protection to passengers. Besides, there is the danger of some of the boats becoming damaged or being swept away before they can be manned." Mr Marston further quoted Captain Smith as saying that he thought the lack of equipment for saving lives was not due to the desire of the steamship owners to save money, but rather be«ause they believe that their ships are completely safe.

The Dunedin Star has been permitted to extract the following, written by an ex-New Zealander resident in London to a relative in Dunedin:—"Your cables will no doubt have given you nearly as full accounts of the tragic Titanic disaster ,by the time this reaches you as our journals have given here. I know of no incident in my time heve that has so profoundly stirred London. First, the send-off this day week, with great tooting of horns, whistles, etc., and the eheers of Press and public, of the world's largest liner—a floating palace, with Turkish baths, gymnasiums, tennis courts, garden restaurants, etc., gorgeous suites for millionaires at £BSO the passage, and «o on. Valedictory speeches mentioned that the Titanic was practically unsinkable, with her watertight compartments, yet she s'ruck an iceberg, and buckled up an-' sank like a toy ship, taking 1500 p;> sengers and crew down with her, within three days of her benediction. Our little social world has been thrown into mourning We had three friends on board, all seemingly drowned. One young fellow had just come into an inheritance of £IO,OOO, and after spending five years at unversities here and abroad for an electrical engineer's degree, decided to take a tour round the world and see the world's engineering work. The second, a very cheery ehnp, had a good appointment offered him in New York, and was full of enthusiasm at being able to go by the Titanic. The third we only knew slightly, but was a brother to some friends of ours. London was profoundly disturbed, as the enormous interests, apart from the matter of life and death, affected this city in every way. People all seemed to be reading papers in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, and each edition of the evening papers from noon onwards wiu soon sold out. The tragic item, however in it all is that the Titanic had boat accommodation for only 800, and she carried 2300, more or iess. Over 1500 people were massed together at the and waited there for an hour or so, until the huge frame buckled and the Titanie sank, and drowned them all like sheep, merely because there were no boats for them. One event stand* out clear, however, and that is that had it not been for Marconi possibly not a floul would have been saved, as the Carpathia, which went to the rescue and took the survivors from the boats, ran into a gale almost at once."