The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 1, 19l4. A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 11, 1 June 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1914. A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

The Titanic disaster is recalled by the uewg received by cable from Quebec' in the early hours of Saturday morning, reporting the sinking of a. trans-Atlan-

tic liner in the river St. Lawrence, owing j to a collision. Though the Sydney office of the Press Assocation "held" all New Zealand newspaper offices until late, no further news, confirmatory or otherwise was then cabled. The original message is now known to have been incorrect, the vessel that collided with the popular passenger liner,.the Empress of Ireland, of 14,191 tons, being a Norwegian collier, the Storstad, and not a Red Star

liner. The details of the disaster make almost horrifying reading. Ploughing her eastward way, with over

thirteen hundred souls on board, the Empress of Ireland was cut in two by the collier/ and the vessel immediately heeled to such an alarming extent that her decks presented no foothold. An explosion followed, and the vessel sank in a few minutes. Many who survived the actual collision perished in the icy waters, or failed to survive the shock even after reaching'terra firma. New Zealand has more than an outside interest in this awful catastrophe, from the fact that New Zealandcrs are among those who perished. To their relatives and to all, in fact, who have been bereft of someone dear to them, heart-

.felt sympathy will be extended. A catastrophe like this, appalling in its nature, moves not only tflie people of one particular nation, but humanity the world over. This and the Titanic disaster show that despite the tremendous advance made in flhip construction and in the safety of navigation, it is impossible to prevent accident. The very size of tho vessels engaged in the Atlantic passenger service is a disadvantage at a time of trouble, for to provide Adequately for the big number of passengers and crew b difficult, if not impossible. Both in the case of the Titanic and the Empress of Ireland tho vessels sank in a few minutes. No matter how complete the life-saving appliances may

have been there was no time to use them. After the Titanic wreck, the British Board of Trade insisted on greater precautions for the safety of passengers being taken, but the very nature of the latest disaster absolutely prevented them from being carried out. Human agency, it will thus be seen, has its limitations when it comes to dealing iwitk Nature's forces. The "peril of

the sea" is just as present and real nowadays aboard the world's most magnificent and "unsinkablo" liners as it was in the days of the sailer. Accidents are certainly fewer, but when they occur thev claim a terrible toll of iife.