Liner Fires It is, to say the least, an astonishing
coincidence that the fire in L'Atlantique should have been followed immed- iately by an outbreak in ` La France.' Now that the charred wreck of ' L'Atlantique ' itself has been docked at Cherbourg, it may he possible for the experts to determine the origin of the disaster. But it needs no great technical knowledge to infer that a fire, once started on a vast floating hotel of this type, must spread rapidly down the long corridors, and can hardly be stayed. Incendiarism has been suggested, but without proof ; carelessness--the throwing down of a lighted cigarette in sonic odd corner-- might explain the burning of the ' Europa' and the `Paris ' while in dock, or of the ` Georges Phillipar ' in the Red Sea, or L'Atlantique ' in the Channel. The under- writers, who have lost millions by these ship fires, might well begin to press for stricter methods of construction as an alternative to an increase in their rates of insurance. No great British liner has experienced a fire in recent years, which suggests that our building regulations are more severe or more carefully enforced. Nowhere is the maxim "Safety first, luxury second " so vital as at sea.
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