TOLL OF THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 127, 30 May 1914, Page 5

TOLL OF THE SEA

PREVIOUS DISASTERS. The principal marine disasters include the following :— Lives * lost. Titanic. April, 1912 1503 French steamer General Chanzy, lost off Alinprca (February, 1910) ... * 200 Blue Anchor liner Waratah, vanished off Durban (September, 1909) 211 Steamer Berlin, lost off the Hook of Holland (February, 1907)... 128 Italian emigrant shin Sirio, wrecked on the Spanish coast (Au0 gust, 1906) 300 Railway steamer Hilda, wrecked off St. Alalo (November, 1905) 128 Emigrant steamer Norge, wrecked onßockall Reef (June, 1904)... 637 Excursion steamer General Slocum, burnt at New York (June. 1904) 1000 Excursion steamer Stella, lost off Alderney (September, 1899) v . 105 French liner La Bourgoyne, sunk in collision off Nova Scotia (July, 1898) 4 ... v. t ... , .... 545 German liner Elbe, sunk in collision off Lowestoft (April, 1896) ... 334 Drummond Castle, wrecked off Ushant (June, 1896) § ... ... 247 Emigrant steamer Utopia, sunk in collision off Gibraltar (Alarch, 1891) 564 Steamer Cimbria, sunk off Dutch coast (January, 1883) ... ... 454 Excursion steamer Princess Alice, lost in Thames collision (September, 1878) ... 700 Reina Rcgente, Spanish cruiser, sunk off Cape Trafalgar in 1895 400 French battleship Liberte, sunk by explosion (September, 1911)... 500 THE TITANIC. The White Star liner Titanic, in April, 1912, struck an iceberg on, her maiden voyage from Queenstown to Now York. The passengers and crew numbered 2206 and of that number only 703 wero saved. "5.0.5." RESCUES AND WIRELESS. THE CALL t6~ALL NATIONS. Wireless telegi'aphy has a glorious record of lives saved during the few brief years in which it has been used at sea. A stricken ship can send out a call which spreads in all directions, and every vessel within hearing distance and carrying wireless apparatus is instantly summoned to her aid._ Only a few years ago a vessel might meet with disaster, and others, utterly ignorant of any mishap, might pass within a few miles. But now the occurrence of a marine disaster results very differently. Every ship within wireless hail turns towards tho scene of the catastrophe ; and already thd popular mind has accustomed itself to tlie picture of a noet of vessels succouring their unfortunate sister, 'mat was actually the case when, on 10th October. 1913, the big liner Volturno called for diet. She was burning in mid-Atlantic ; and her chattering cry of "5.0.5.," startling the ears of listening operators, brought ton ships a,t full &pcod to her aid. Three dots, three dashes, three dots— -that is thp "Alorse"' for 5.0.5., and the' most potent combination of pounds to tho marine telegraphist. To all nations it sounds alike, whether it is interpreted in the official words, or in the more iiberal "Save Our Souls," whether the bearer" is Freuch,

Russian, or Italian. The whole world knows t'ae call, and many nations clustered round the Volturno. Over 500 lives were saved by the wireless on that occasion. Rescues effected as the result of the wireless summons include- the following: — lyOS— -S.S. Kroonland, broke down, in the Atlantic ; saved all on board. 1909— 5.5. Slavonia, Btranded off the Azores ; sa.ved 410. 1909-S.S. Republic, collided 22nd January with s.s. Florida, 170 miles east of Now York j s.s. Baltic rescued nearly all on board. 1911— S.S. .Delhi, ashore off north coast of Africa ; warships and other vessels rescued nearly all on board. 1912— 5.5. Titanic, wrecked 15th April, by striking an iceberg. Olympic, Carpathia, and other vessels summoned. About 1500 lives were lost, but 703 survivors were rescued. 1912— 5.5. Oravia, struck a rock off the Falkland Islands ; saved all on board. 1913— 5.5. Volturno, burned in midAtlantic, 10th October; sa.ved 521. In 1904 it was ordered that the letters C.Q.jJ., sent by the dot-and-dash code, should be the recognised appeal for help by a vessel in distress. _ Later, tin's \yas altered to 5.0.5., the signal now in use. These letters were selected simply on account of the ease with which they call be sent and identified even in the most exciting circumstances. It is not always in fire or wreck that wireless proves its value. In April, 19jlu, the Allan liner Carthaginian, bound from Liverpool to St. John's, Newfoundlahd, was disabled at sea, owing to tho fracturing of a piston-rod. By means of wireless telegraphy she was able to inform the Hesperian, of> the same line, of her mishap. _ The Hesperian at once went to her assistance, and towed her, with 800 emigrants on board, to the Clyde. Before the days of wireless telegraphy the Carthaginian would, have dritted about in a hopeless condition until some ship had sighted her and towed her home at the cost of a heavy salvage. Every British, and nearly every foreign warship now carries the wireless telegraph ; and its use in the mercantile marine is spreading very rapidly. Its use in commerce is already enormous, and passengers at sea on big liners may be kept supplied with the current news almost as if they were ashore. But it is for safety's sake that merchant ships have _ adopted the wonderful invention ; and it is in times of disaster that its real value becomes apparent.