Collisions at Sea.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 266, 10 November 1888, Page 3 (Supplement)

Collisions at Sea.

To secure the prevention of collisions at sea, or to discover some means to lessen the risk of their occurrence, is (says the London ' Evening- News') an object worthy of the best minds in a aiariiime nation such as ours. The highway of the ocean is year by year traversed by ever-increasing fleets of mighty argosies laden with costly bales, and with the more precious freight of human life. Hence the need for increasing caution, of more aceu rate meana of observing the course and position of contiguous vessels. The late fatal collision between the Danish ships Thingvalla and Geiser has again brought up the question in great bulk and acuteness. The ' Times' publishes nearly four columns of closely sefe letters on the subject, and of course the indefatigable Admiral Colomb is to the front in blaming the Board of Trade, their rules and their interpretation of fcheirrules. Many pfOposalsare made. Oneis to distinguish course bytheutteranceofsoundsshortorlong,sharp or flat from a fog-horn; but this does nothing to indicate position in a fog, and all the fine adaptation or modification of the Morse alphabet falls to the ground, or into the sea. The Scotch Lord Advocate, known for his scientific avocations, writes to describe a device he hasinvented which will beof immense advantage for ships fitted with electric light. His proposal is that of a traversing electric beam moving simultaneously with the helm; but here again there is a difficulty, for comparatively few vessels have the electric light. The outcome, of all "the correspondence is that nothing effective has yet been done, and that there should be a national prize offered as an incentive to inventors.