A NEW SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING 

 COLLISIONS AT SEA 



THE wreck of the Titanic was a severe and painful shock 

 to us all ; many of us lost friends and acquaintances by 

 this dreadful catastrophe. I asked myself: "Has Science 

 reached the end of its tether ? Is there no possible means 

 of avoiding such a deplorable loss of life and property ? 

 Thousands of ships have been lost by running ashore in a 

 fog, hundreds by collisions with other ships or with icebergs, 

 nearly all resulting in great loss of life and property." 



At the end of four hours it occurred to me that ships 

 could be provided with what might be appropriately called 

 a sixth sense, that would detect large objects in their im- 

 mediate vicinity without the aid of a searchlight. 



Much has been said, first and last, by the unscientific ot 

 the advantages of a searchlight. Collisions as a rule take place 

 in a fog, and a searchlight is worse than useless even in a light 

 haze, because it illuminates the haze, making all objects beyond 

 absolutely invisible. 



Some have even suggested that a steam whistle or siren 

 might be employed that would periodically give off an 

 extremely powerful sound, that is, a veritable blast, an ear- 

 piercing shriek, and then one is supposed to listen for an echo, 

 it being assumed that if any object should be near, a small 

 portion of the sound would be reflected back to the ship, but 

 B i 



