^^6 : The Atlantic 



inherent danger in size which is often overlooked. This is the matter 

 of accidental injury to passengers and crew. In the superliners the 

 large dance floors, the libraries, the grand salons with their period 

 furniture seem to be very reassuring to inexperienced travelers. They 

 are very impressive as long as the vessel stays on an even keel, and 

 this some of the large ships will do even in fairly stiff breezes; but 

 once really heavy weather sets in and the superliner with her high 

 speed begins to roll or pitch, each of these vast roomy spaces becomes 

 a hazard to life and limb. Once the furniture comes adrift or passen- 

 gers begin to stagger and fall there are almost certain to be serious 

 casualties, because the period of the ship's motion is very long and 

 the farther wall is very far away. Likewise, in heavy weather in the 

 kitchens and pantries below decks the accidents to cooks and waiters, 

 as well as to glassware and china, is terrific. With respect to accidents 

 of this kind the smaller vessel is actually safer and more comfortable. 

 There is always a handhold close by and usually a comfortable place 

 to sit or lie or stand, even when work is going forward in rough 

 weather. 



Experience is always more impressive than arguments, so a refer- 

 ence to a personal experience in this place may be in order. The forty- 

 ton schooner in which I used to sail the Atlantic was, of course, a 

 large vessel when compared with the small yachts and boats whose 

 adventures we have been following. Yet, I am sure that some of the 

 small yachts would be just as safe at sea and almost as comfortable as 

 Kin\ajou. On the other hand, Kin\ajou would be a small vessel com- 

 pared with a commercial freighter or any kind of passenger ship 

 operating on the ocean. Kin\ajou was probably as safe at sea as the 

 average vessel many thousands of tons larger. I had a vivid experi- 

 ence of this on one occasion when we were caught in a hurricane off 

 the Bay of Biscay. Kin\ajou survived wind speeds up to no miles an 

 hour without suffering serious damage, while four large commercial 

 vessels in the same waters and in the same storm were driven ashore 

 or were otherwise wrecked. There are many records of lifeboats sur- 

 viving at sea through storms that disabled or destroyed the larger 

 vessel from which the lifeboat was launched. 



The small-boat voyages illustrate the extreme contrasts presented 

 by the ocean. The Titanic, the largest, fastest and safest ship of her 

 time, was sunk on a calm night before she had even completed one 

 ocean crossing; yet a little cloth-covered box less than fifteen feet long 

 sailed across safely and two men have rowed across the Atlantic in 

 an open boat. 



