Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



57 



THE LESSONS OF THE "TITANIC." 



The Serrctiiry of the American Navy, Mr. George 

 von L. Meser, discusses in the North American Revieio 

 the question of safety at sea in a manner that 

 suggests that the American Government is prepared 

 to take the matter in hand with a directness and a 

 peremptoriness that shines by contrast with the lialf- 

 hearted and dilatory movements of our Hoard of 

 Trade. Mr. Meyer begins :— 



It is within the power of all countries under whose flag ocean- 

 going steamships sail or into whose ports they come to prescribe 

 such rules and regulations to govern their equipment and navi- 

 gation as would minimise the danger of such accidents as that 

 which befell the White Star steamer Titanic, enlarge the possi- 

 bilities of obtaining assistance, and render it possible to save the 

 life of every person on board in the event of the sinking of the 

 vessel. 



First and foremost, then, laws should be at once enacted pre- 

 scribing that no passenger-steamer shall carry more persons on 

 boaril, crew and passengers, than can be accommodated in the 

 boats and on the life-rafts provided in the vessel's equipment. 



The Congress of the United States, Mr. Meyer 

 declares, has power to make such laws binding, not 

 merely upon American vessels, but upon any vessels 

 trading in American ports : — 



The regulations in the United Slates Navy cover the fol- 

 lowing points : the exact location of each boat is known to 

 every man assigned to it, and frequent drills are held in 

 which the boats are manned, equipped, lowered, and sent 

 away from the ship. Every boat is fitted with water, provi- 

 sions, and equipment for navigating ; one ofticer is placed in 

 charge of each boat and is held responsible for its condition 

 and readiness for service. 



The Government owns and operates its own wireless tele- 

 graph sets, and on every vessel equipped with one there is 

 an operator on duly and listening for calls during every minute 

 of the day and night. 



He would assign every member of the crew and every 

 passenger a certain boat or raft, and inform him of 

 the assignment. All boats and rafts should be provided 

 with water, provisions, lanterns, etc., and should be 

 inspected. Among other similar precautions, Mr. ^feyer 

 insists that the Government should prescribe regula- 

 tions covering all wireless telegraphic activity, either 

 by international agreement or by national legislation. 

 Sufiicient operators should be employed so that one 

 or more >hall always l)e on duty. He would enforce 

 similar regulations upon all passenger vessels. Mr. 

 Meyer proceeds : — 



After the Hourgognt disaster a large money prize was offered 

 by certain people wno had lost relatives or friends on board the 

 ill-fated ship for the liesl device for saving large numbers of 

 men in the event of the sinking of a vessel. The award of this 

 prize was made by a committee during or just after the Paris 

 Exposition in 1900. The device suggested consisted in making 

 the bridge of the vessel in the form of a raft or cigar-shaped 

 vessel which could be easily and surely detached from the 

 ship itself when she fank, and which woulil support six or seven 

 hundred p.isscngers. A similar and perfectly practicable sugges- 



tion of having a detachable and floating deck-house to support 

 several hundred passengers has also been made. 



Either one of these two devices, had it been fitted to the 

 Titanic, would doubtless have meant saving nearly all the lives 

 of those on board. There is no inherent impossibility in fitting 

 both of them should it be desired, and the provision of one or 

 both would insure against a repetition of such accidents even 

 should the sinking of the vessel be so rapid as to make it im- 

 possible to lower and fill all the boats. 



In the same magazine Mr. Lewis Nixon derives his 

 lesson from the Titanic disaster : — 



There will probably be an extension of the double bottom 

 up the sides, a lifting of transverse bulkheads, fewer water- 

 tight doors, and a rearrangement of construction forward. But 

 the general construction of the metal hull has been a matter 

 of slow evolution, and no effort is spared in making it of 

 ample strength. 



Mr. Nixon expects that eventually all the ships' 

 lifeboats will be fitted with motor-boats. He also 

 supports the idea of a part of the vessel aft being 

 detachable as a floating pontoon or raft. He con- 

 cludes : — 



We have had a sad awakening to the fact that while we 

 have applauded progress and improvement in ocean liners 

 during this generation, laws affecting their management in the 

 interest of the travelling public have not kept pace with 

 advance in construction. 



THE ENGLISHMAN. 



By Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



Born in the flesh, and bred in the bone, 



Some of us harbour still 

 A New World pride : and we flaunt, or hide, 



The Spirit of Bunker Hill. 

 We claim our place, as a separate race : 



Or a self-created clan : 

 Till there comes a day when we like to say, 



" We are kin of the Englishman." 



For under the front that seems so cold. 



And the voice that is wont to storm. 

 We are certain to find a big, broad mind 



And a heart that is soft and warm. 

 And they carry their woes in a lordly way, 



As only the great souls can ; 

 And it makes us glad, when in truth we say, 



" We are kin of the Englishman." 



He slams his door in the face of the world, 



If he thinks the world too bold : 

 He will even curse : but he opens his purse 



To the poor, and the sick, and the old. 

 He is slow in giving to women the vote : 



.\nd slow to pick up her fan ; 

 But he gives her room in an hour of doom 



.\nd dies — like an Englishman. 



{Written on hoard the " Olympic," April tSth, 191;, 

 after the " Titanic " disaster.) 



