The particulars of the loss of the unfortunate mail steamer that have come to hand this week go very far to show there were no valid reasons to blame Captain Ward, or the owners of the ship for having manned her with a Chinese crew. There had been a dense fog all night and on the morning of the accident, and a smooth sea, so that there were no breakers to give warning of hidden dangers, and the Fessel was in charge of a pilot who bad, no doubt, brought in hundreds of ships. The ship lay to until 4.30 a.m., and Qua ter master Lindstroem gave evidence that the lead had been carefully used while the ship was coming in, and that the soundings taken a moment before the ship struck showed a depth of water more than sufficient to float a vessel double the draught. Fog signals were given and every possible precaution taken against accident, Under the circumstances it strikes one as particularly ungenerous that pilot Jordan, who was saved, should have endeavoured to throw the blame upon the captain who made no attempt to save himself, but bravely went. down with his ship.
Jorday's story is to the effect that when the ship had entered the Heads the fogs enveloped her. He_ notified the captain that it was unsafe to proceed, but the latter ordered him to yo ahead. The captain's order was obeyed, and therein the pilot confesses himself at fault, for from the moment he took the ship in hand his authority in all matters pertaining to her navigation was supreme, and he was responsible for her safety, and the lives of the people aboard her.
That there should be some confusion when the ship struck is very natural, and that would have happened on any ship. no matter how well drilled the crew might be, for the drill cannot extend to the case, the pilot was in cornu of the ship and we cannot believe that master of Capt. Ward's high standing and lence would have acted contrary orders. On the contra seems that the ship was navigated with all possible care, and that the accident was due to causes that human foresight cannot render inoperative, although each case may offer suggestions how life might have been saved, and such suggestions reflect no discredit upon any one, but in the interest of all concerned.
And the most primitive idea _is generally best adapted to be carried into practice. Such an idea is suggested by the floating spar, and in many of the modern ships it" has been adopted. amongst other appliances for saving life, in the shape of life rafts which can be quickly detached. Such lifo rafts can easily" be stowed under the boats, also, when at sea, inside of the bulwarks, and, in various sizes, almost anywhere on board of a ship, and the aluminium cla suggests a very good pattern for life rafts made of light but strong air-tight. ste tubes, on which appliances for the erection of low sheet steel bulwarks could easily be fixed, if considered necessary. on both sides, and in which compartments for water, provisions, lights, etc., coul easily "be made. ' Each <ide, indeed, might, at the outset, be furnished with a low iron handrail which persons struggling in the water might grasp. The mere sight of such life rafts, and perhaps drill with them at the outset of a forage, would inspire passengers with a degree of confidence that would prevent any mad rush for the boats, and, in the case of an accident involving any possible danger to life, a number of those rafts might he Taunched at once and kept alongside of the ship with painters, so that even if a boat got swamped or capsized the people struggling in the sea could reach them.
'A-couple of thousand dollars would be sufficient to provide each ship with such life rafts, and it is evident that the ships provided with them would take the passenger trade from ships without them. An advertisement to the effect that such and such a ship is provided with life rafts for say 300 or 500 passengers, or whatever the figure may be, and boats for so and m: passengers, would soon tell its story in the receipts.—" Eastern World."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.