TOPICS OF THE D.Y.
THE LOSS OF THE ' TITANIC.' THE appalling loss of life in the ' Titanic ' and the story of what is in some ways the most terrible wreck in the history of shipping have not only compelled the emotion of the whole world, but have turned both Great Britain and the United States to wide and solemn search- ings of heart. The destruction of the largest ship afloat on her maiden voyage, of a ship reputed to be unsinkable, of a ship followed everywhere with admiring thoughts as the last word in ingenuity, in luxury, and in the impressive accomplishments of science, brings to every thoughtful per- son a deep sense of powerlessness, of smallness, and humility. Even in these moments of crushing personal sorrow oue is conscious—perhaps only to deepen the sorrow—of the overwhelming reverses of human confidence. One thinks of the flattering tales of the immensity of this pride of the ocean, with her restaurants and cafes and sun-parlours and Roman baths and racquet court and private suites of cabins ; one contemplates the ineffectualness of it all against the great hidden elements of nature and the sudden stroke of fate, and one feels inclined to sit in sackcloth and ashes.
Although we do not know as we write these lines the details of the wreck, it is certain that the 'Titanic ' struck an iceberg, and that there were not enough boats to take off more than about one in every three of the passengers. All the life-boats carried by the ' Titanic' were picked up by the Carpathia,' and the passengers in them—chiefly women and children— were saved. Although there was a slight swell there was no wind, and one cannot possibly escape from the conclusion that if there had been enough boats all the passengers might have been saved. Most people have learned with astonishment that it is possible for a ship like the Titanic' to pass the Board of Trade tests with an insufficient number of boats. They had supposed hitherto that the invariable rule was " boat-room for every passenger." The fact is that the Board of Trade regula- tions are quite out of date. They have not been revised (except in unimportant particulars in 1909 and 1911) since 1902. They were then framed under powers conferred in 1894. It was assumed that vessels larger than 10,000 tons were unlikely to be built. The rule, we believe, is that ships of 10,000 tons and upwards must carry at least sixteen boats " under davits," representing 5,500 cubic feet contents. The ' Titanic' probably had more boats " under davits" than the law required. But when one remembers that the ' Titanic' was of 46,000 tons, and that she put to sea under regulations which did not contemplate the build- ing of ships very much larger than 10,000 tons, one is simply indignant and ashamed at the slowness of the Board of Trade to keep abreast of the times. We believe that the French rule is what most people supposed it to be here, " Boat-room for every passenger." We wish to avoid all exaggeration. It is useless to cry out against the White Star Company as though a crime had been com- mitted. Not a single British company, we believe, would have had a better equipment of boats, and some would have had a much worse one.
Let us look into the matter a little more closely. According to the Board of Trade regulations, which we see conveniently set forth in the Manchester Guardian, there must, of course, be life-saving appliances besides boats. One life-belt must be carried for every person, and must be capable of floating for twenty-four hours with fifteen pounds of iron attached to it. A life-buoy must be carried for every boat under davits and have a ninety-foot line attached to it But the boats in the davits do not even under the Board regulations exhaust the number of boats that may have to be carried. If the boats in the davits do not provide room for all the passengers on board, there must be additional boats—which may be collapsible or of metal—or rafts. These additional boats need not be kept on deck, where they might encumber the work of the crew. Unfortunately here again there is a minimum standard which never contemplated the carrying of so many passengers as were in the When the boats under davits and the additional boats required by law have been added together they need not exceed twenty-four in all. However many the ' Titanic ' had they were not enough.
Even in fixing the minimum of additional boats to be carried the Board of Trade takes into account the construction of the ship in respect of bulkheads and watertight compartments. Such a vessel as the "ritanic ' is assumed to be for practical purposes unsinkable. We know now that this is a delusion ; a ' Titanic ' or 'Olympic' may inset with an accident which will sink her as quickly as the much smaller ' Oceana ' was sunk the other day—a rare accident, it is true, but still always possible. We ought, however, to remember when we are bestowing blame that this theory of virtual unsinkability has been. acted on by the Marine Department of the Board of Trade • and constructors alike when the question of the number of additional boats to be carried has been discussed. The argument has run somewhat in this fashion.. If a storm were bad enough to sink the ' Titanic no small boats could live in such a sea, and, therefore, it is immaterial whether there are few or many. Further, it is impossible for the Titanic' to sink quickly even if she could sink at all ; and as wireless telegraphy would bring other ships hurrying up to the rescue the chief use of boats is to ferry passengers from one ship to another, and for that purpose a large number of boats is quite unnecessary. And this point is reinforced by the consideration that a multiplication of boats is in itself a danger. You cannot lower a great many boats at the same time. A boat needs sea-room; if there were many boats being dashed against one another alongside the ship disaster would be certain. We do not say that such an argument is auy excuse for the failure to have enough boats or rafts—we distinctly think that it is not—but it is an explanation of why the conditions of disaster were accepted. The truth is, as we said the other day in writing about the Oceans.,' that every passenger ship puts to sea with the assumption that disaster will not happen. Far too much is taken for granted. The whole subject ought now to be threshed out and the proper provision of boats or rafts insisted on for ships of whatsoever size they may be. Even if seamen declare it impossible to manage more than an inadequate number of life-boats, we cannot see why other means of life-saving should not be perfected, such, for example, as having the top deck entirely detachable, so that in the last resort it could be floated off in sections, each of which would be a duly equipped raft. As for increasing the buoyancy of the ship herself we do not know whether experiments which are being tried with submarines would be possible with ships of great size. Perhaps not ; the inflation of special floats in an emergency would probably not be possible on a large scale. But, however that may be, it is necessary seriously to meet the tragically established fact that all the bulkheads of the largest ship in the world may be so damaged, strained, or knocked away that she will sink just like a cheaply built tramp steamer.
Many other questions are raised by the disaster, but it is impossible to do more than mention them. It should be considered, for example, whether it is really worth while to save time by running through a zone where floating ice may be met even on rare occasions. With wireless telegraphy a. more circuitous route to the south might soon become toler- able even to the most impatient operator in Wall Street. Another question is the manageability of these huge modern ships. We do not profess to have a decided opinion. Seamen themselves are divided, and there are no doubt advantages and disadvantages. It is certain, how- ever, that one of the disadvantages of a 50,000-ton ship travelling at well over twenty knots is that she cannot easily avoid an object suddenly sighted in her track unless it be seen almost half a mile away. A " growler," or sub- merged iceberg just awash, would be extraordinarily diffi- cult to detect, moreover, from the towering bridge of the ' Titanic.' In contact with ice the greater the bulk of the ship the more terrible is the impact. Steel, so far from being a protection by reason of its great strength, magnifies the shock by its lack of resiliency and conveys it from stem to stern. All ships built for ice- work are of wood Finally, we trust that if it be true that the heavy cr,lik-) of false rumours about the wreck, bringing infinite pain to the relations of those on board, should be traceable to the operations of amateur wireless telegraphists the American Government will quickly take steps to bring the practice of wireless telegraphy under control. The amateur sends superfluous messages and impairs the transit of those which are of vital importance.
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