THE PENGUIN TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 52, 2 March 1909, Page 4

THE PENGUIN TRAGEDY.

The intense and painful sensation evoked throughout the Dominion by the wreck of the Penguin, has not yet abated, and the judgment of the Nautical Court of Enquiry upon the disaster has been awaited with eager interest by the general public. For though such tragedies must have for the moment chiefly a personal bearing, their real significance consists mainly in the extent to which they involve the enormously important interest of the public safety. In these small islands with their disproportionately, long and broken coastline, nearly everybody is compelled to do a certain amount of seavoyaging sooner or later, and to a large percentage of our population steamer trips, especially across Cook' Strait, *re quite a common experience. The occurrence of. such a disaster brings home to every one of us the reality of the perils that inevitably beset the path of those who through choice or necessity "go down to the sea in ships"; and now that the first poignant emotion of grief and sympathy has had its way, the general public are chiefly concerned to discover what light the tragedy and the subsequent inquiry can throw upon the prospects of security for the many thousands who pass daily up and down our broken and dangerous seaboard. To the whole population of the country, therefore, it is a matter of the most momentous importance that in the opinion of the Nautical Court the wreck of the Penguin could have been avoided if the master of the vessel had been more careful to follow the strict and clearly-worded regulations which prescribe the precautions to be taken under such conditions as prevailed on that disastrous night.

We have no desire to add to -the suffering which the captain of the ill-fated steamer has already endured by unduly emphasizing the Court's judgment; and the fact that the case may be taken before a higher Court naturally precludes us from criticising the judgment at length. It is certainly some consolation learn that in the opinion of the Court the boats and lifesaving appliances on the steamer were in good order, and that when tie disaster occurred everything, humanly speaking, that could be done was done by the captain, the officers and the crew. The conduct of Captain Naylor and his subordinates and of the -passengers generally seems to have been entirely praiseworthy and admirable. But admitting that ali these* facts to some extent mitigate the horror of the tragedy the fact remains that in the opinion oi the Court the Penguin would probably not have been wrecked and all these valuable lives would not have been sacrificed if the captain had only gone at a more moderate speed and stood out to sea when he found that he had lost his bearings. No doubt Captain Naylor did only what many ship masters have done on this coast before with perfect impunity. But the question naturally arises whether the necessity of reaching port at a certain hour or of running strictly to time-table, or in fact any materiqi consideration that could be named, -will justify a captain in taking suck-risks as this. In Wellington, where the tragedy has naturally come home to the whole population in a keenly personal sense, it has been strongly urged that' the Cook Strait trip should never be undertaken by small steamers in bad weather at night. And without venturing to support this view unconditionally, we are strongly of the opinion that those responsible for the. safety of steamers and passengers on such a voyage should feel that they nave the utmost latitude of judgment and the widest possible discretion as to the rate at. which they should travel and the time at which they must reach port. It is intolerable that such risks as this should be run merely for the purpose of keeping to an arbitrarily arranged time-table, and we trust that the strong' public feeling that lias been aroused by this terrible disaster will not subside till -some clearer - assurance 13 - offered that the safety of the travelling public is the first consideration of our shipping companies and captains, and tn»t7adequate precautions are taken to eecure

The .following is Captain Edwin's weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 ajn. this moderate to strong winds,; glass little movement.?''• ;';

■Chic of thjjse cases of cruelty to' others - of their own age of. which children are sometimes guilty occurred in Dunedin a few days ago, and it had a very sad ending. A little 'boy was in -the habit of going home, from school sopping wet, as if he had been -paddling in water. This occurred so often that -his parents at last said that he would ie punished if it continued. The warning- apparently ■had the desired effect, but later the boy was seized- with pneumonia, of which he died. Before his death the confessed what had" been the cause of his getting wet. He bad been "ducked," she said, by other children, and; being afraid of the punishment with which he had been threatened, he used to loiter about until 'his clothes dried before ge-ing home. Then followed the pneumonia. The state of the parents, it may 'be imagined, who know not whom to blame, but cannot help blaming themselves, is a sad one. Further investigations may be made to find out the particulars of the case.

A petition signed by 366 Parnell residents was presented to the general manager of the Tramways Company '(Mr. J. J. "Walklate) by the Parnell Borough Council yesterday afternoon. The petition, in asking for an extension of the penny section from . Garfield-street to Bishopscourt, stated that the penny section to Parnell was by far the shortest of the penny sections connecting Auckland city with the suburbs, placing Parnell residents at a most unfair disadvantage as contrasted -with those of other suburbs. The Garfield-street section, it was pointed out, only extended a third of the distance covered by. the two sect tions, Auckland to Newmarket, instead of one-half, and it was further urged that a verbal promise had been given by the company when the lino was being" formed to Garfield-street, that the section would be extended so soon line w.ere "completed to' NewmarSet. 'Messrs. Johns and Fitt supported the petition, which. Mr. "Walklate promised to consider carefully, 73ie irregularities in the running of cars and the use of the electric sprinkler on the Parnell section were also matters brought before him which fie promised to investigate.

A meeting of creditors was "held yesterday afternoon in the bankrupt estate of Harry Albert Towers, a baker, of Devonport. In the absence of the official assignee, Mr. R. Duder presided. Sir: Baxter appeared for the bankrupt, who started business in 1907, giving £ 16C 16/- for the concern. He furnished also a tea room, which proved a failure, while a runaway had put him to an outlay of £40 for a new horse and cart. A rise in the price of flour and no Corresponding rise in bread swallowed up the discounts, and he ultimately filed. "Unsecured creditors totalled £ 307 iO/8, and assets were estimated at £231 16/9, leaving a deficit of £70 13/11. The assignee's estimate of the assets was placed considerably lower than that of the insolvent, and after a short discussion a week's adjournment was made to allow of a possible arrival at some arrangement for carrying on the business.

At an inquest held in Christchiirch on the body of James Moran, who died from I injuries received by a fall from the roof: of a railway carriage on Saturday, the:' evidence showed that the carriage from | which, was ejected was.-locked by i a passenger with a pair of scissors. A verdict was returned of death from injuries received by falling off a train.

The recent valuations of the Ohinemuri County show a large increase in the value p.f ratable property. The figures are as follow, those for 1907 being given in parentheses:—Waitekaurv £26.032' (£47,982) ; Waitoa, £323,883 <£114,196) ; Paeroa, £336,193 (£215,381); Karangahake, £145,567 (£98,497)---totals,- £831,----675 (£476,056) ..

In order to give parents and. friends an opportunity of visiting the encampment at Papakura, and witnessing the various manoeuvres in connection therewith, the Railway Department announce that a special passenger train will leave Auckland for Papakura at 2 p.m. on "Wednesday next, 3rd March, and leading Papakura for Auckland on return journey at 5.30 p.m:, arriving -Auckland at 6.37 pjn.

Letters of administration--have been granted by Mr. Justice -Edwards in- the estate of Robert Cecil Taylor, deceased (Mr. Tunks). Probate has been granted in the estates of the following deceased persons: Anne Carr (Mr. Prendergast), Thomas Cowley (Mr. Cotter), iSamuel "Wild (Mr. Alexander), Thomas Mason (Mr.' Gribbin), Claude Leeson Mar telli (Mr. Russell).

Cambridge has at'last decided to have its town hall. After the project had been thrown out, the Mayor (Mr W. F. Buckland) retired. The Council held a special meeting on Friday morning last, and re-elected Mr Buckland to the position of Mayor. That same evening a special meeting of the Council was held, when the town hall question was again brought up. This time the Council "viewea the scheme in a more favourable light, having come to the conclusion that a. town hall after all was a desirable acquisition to the township. Accordingly it was decided to look into the tenders, and after due deliberation, that of Messr3 Chappell and "Woolley was accepted. This firm's tender amounted to £5194, and The erection of the town hall will be commenced without delay. The architect, Mr A. B. Herrold, attended the meeting to give councillors any information required.

A general meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants passed the following resolutions: "That this branch request the co-operation of all branches in urging upon the Minister for-Railways to recognise no other body of hien connected with the railway service other than the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and Railway Officers' Institute: that this meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants expresses its hearty sympathy with the movement for a universal Saturday half-holiday, and would urge all members -to support the proposal at a poll to be taken on April 28."

A woman named Ballantyne was severely scorched in a fire which occurred at Mangaone, near Nuhaka, in the Poverty Bay. district, yesterday, Mrs-.- Ballantyne's husband was away from home, and she was working out at the back.. Hearing the sound of flames, she went _in to find the place in a blaze, and in endeavouring to get some belongings out, she' was badly scorched. The place was completely destroyed. It was insured with the South British Office for £250.

At the inquest held by GVfr._T, Gresham (Coroner) yesterday, touching the death of Alfred Charles Percival Bennett, of Newton, drowned dn uShday'off Kauri Point, formal evidence of the fatality and medical testimony as to the proximate cause of death was received 1 , and a verdict that death was duo to da-own-1 ,-tg woa returned. \i