THE POLICING OF DISASTER.
IN a letter to the Times last week Lord Brassey, who understands the affairs of the sea as well as any amateur living, described an experience in a large ocean liner. In conversation with passengers he found that nothing had apparently been done in the way of explaining to them what they ought to do in case there should be a mishap and it were necessary to take to the boats. The possibility of a disaster most be present to the mind of every passenger in these days when submarines lie in wait for merchant vessels; yet, so far as Lord Braesey's inquiries went, the passengers, with some- thing much worse than a vague apprehension in their minds, had not been told what to do and did not know what to do. When Lord Brassey asked their ideas about the proper method of taking to the boats, one said that the right thing was to go to the ladder ; another said he should go to the boat deck; another that the passengers must get into the boats as best they could after they had been lowered. Only a few of the more experienced voyagers knew how to fit on a life-belt "Such a state of things," says Lord Braesey, " surely points to the need for some simple standing instructions. . . . Such knowledge given beforehand must help to the avoidance of panic and the saving of life."
An answer to Lord Brassey's very natural criticisms came from Sir Owen Philippe, the well-known chairman of several steamship lines, and was published in the Times. He explained that life-jackets are placed in the cabins of all first- and second-class passengers, together with handbooks explaining how to wear them. They are also supplied to third-class passengers, and large photographs showing how to fit them on are displayed in the companion ways. Moreover, dosing a voyage personal demonstrations of hoer to wear the life-jackets are given by some of the ship's officers. Sir Owen Philipps says that in the ship about which Lord Brassey wrote the passengers were informed by the captain, "in reply to a question," that in case of need they ought " in a general way " to assemble in the saloon, and thereafter follow any instruc- tions they might receive. As for the possibility of giving boat drill to passengers, Sir Owen Philippe pointed out that there are objections. Theoretical instructions are useless, because every disaster has its own character, and general rules cannot be applied. For example, a ship may have a heavy list and the bonte on one aide will be unworkable. It would obviously be dangerous to have more or lees drilled passengers trying to use the boats on that side. It might even happen, when they found that the arrangements in which they had trusted were of no avail, that they would be the easier prey to panic. Nor can the best way of actually getting into the boats be taught to passengers while the vessel ie at sea. Such is en fair a summary as we can give of Sir Owen Philipps's answer to Lord Brassey. His conclusion is that 'everything depends upon the disciplined movements of the Brew," and that the best lines are most careful that their seamen shall be well trained and disciplined.
Everything that Sir Owen Philipps says is, we think, true, and yet his statement leaves something very much to be desired. Probably general instructions for taking to the boats cannot profitably be given in advance. The captain must decide what is best to be done when the emergency arises. At the same time, it seems to ns that all is not well if the passengers do not know exactly to whom they are to look for orders. Surely the most important point is that the passengers should feel confidence that, in the event of a disaster, some- body—or rather some appointed body—should instantly assume control of their movements, and if necessary coerce those who by wildness or panic are endangering their own OT others' safety. It is useless to have life-belts for all, boats for all, and regular boat end Ere drills for the crew—all of which things are required by the Board of Trade regulations— if the passengers defeat the object of those regulations by becoming an uncontrolled, or at all events an inadequately controlled, mass in a crisis. Lord Braesey's experience certainly seems to show that his fellow-passengers, for all the instruc- tions about life-belts, were not in a satisfactory frame of mina for meeting a disaster. They should have been able to say: "Yee. We know exactly what to do. It is not possible to assign us to boats beforehand, because everything will depend upon the circumstances. But we know that we have got to bring our life-belts and pot ourselves under the orders of the ship's police. We shall be told what to do all right. Our best chance of safety will be to do exactly what we are ordered." It cannot be said that in the vessel in which Lord Brassey recently made a voyage the passengers had any such feeling as this. If they had had it, they would have expressed it. In a large modern ship it its quits impossible for a captain to take persona/ charge of his passengers One has heard of a captain in the old days bawling orders from the bridge which were beard from one end of the ship to the other. But the old personal relation between the captain and the passengers is necessarily lost. A great liner with its population of a thousand or two thousand persona is a small town. Its streets, so to speak, are as intricate as the geography of a town is for a stranger. For two or three days passengers scarcely know their way about. We should not think highly of the organiza- tion of a town in which, in the event of a fire or an earthquake, the police did not instantly appear on the scene and control the people while the firemen were doing their work.
A similar provision should be made for large passenger ships. It may be said that such a provision is made, and that we are hammering on an open door. But are we ? It seems from Sir Owen Philippe's statement that the captain of the vessel in which Lord Massey came borne informed the passengers what they should do "in reply to a question." In other words, when the vessel was approaching the area of submarines, some passenger (we presume) invited the captain to tell the passengers what to do. In another statement by an official printed in the Times it was said that "the stewards have the duty of seeing that the passengers are assembled on deck." That is to say, in an emergency the stewards act as police. H this rule holds good in the line about which Lord Brassey wrote, the captain must have changed the rule for the occasion when he told the passengers to "assemble in a general way in the saloon." And why "in a general way "? Surely whatever the rule is it ought to be definite so that even timid persons can act on it almost mechanically. We have written on this subject several times during the past three years, and we were very glad to notice that Lord Mersey in one of his shipwreck Reports recom- mended that there should be some system of "policing disaster." We cannot think that in a large vessel the stewards would have sufficient authority or sufficient skill to act as police. By an ancient custom of the Navy, when there is a mishap to a battleship the Marines load with cartridge and fall in on the quarter-deck. So far as we know, they have never once been called upon to overawe panic-stricken men by firing. But the custom is a symbolical proof of the need for police work on board ship. If this is thought neces- sary in a company of perfectly disciplined men, it seems most desirable that in our great modern passenger vessels there should be a body under a competent officer who will inspire respect, will enforce their orders, and may be recognized everywhere and always as the guardians of public order in an emergency.
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