A NEW HERO

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 January 1931, Page 11

A NEW HERO

WIRELESS MAN HOLDS STAGE. In the old clays the hero of the sea was the captain who stuck to his ship when she was sinking. He was, by the best traditions, the last to leave the vessel, and often went down with his ship. It was a burden, a responsibility laid on him by the age-long tradition of the sea-, and sometimes it was better for the captain to go down with his ship than to save himself and face the aftermath, says a writer in the “Sunday News Pictorial.” But in recent years a change has come«over the scene. The beam of the limelight has wavered and shifted a little, leaving the captain in the shadows, and has concentrated on. another wireless operator, or “Sparks,” as he is irrevelently termed. “Sparks” has become the modern hero of the sea. He holds the centre of the stage, and he holds it on his merits, and with every justice, though he be out of his natural element, and, confronted with the dire necessity of saving the ship or rescuing her passengers and crew, he would be lost indeed.

A thousand years of the legends of story and song have passed away. With them has passed also the captain as the saviour of the ship. At the supreme moment of his career the limelight passes, leaving him in the gloom of semi-obscurity while the dazzling beam penetrates the wireless cabin and reveals a pale-faced young hero sticking to his post and feverishly sending out the last desperate S.O.S. as the ship reels and lurches beneath him. In one respect this young man has the advantage of the captain. The latter can do no good by remaining on board and going down with the ship. Ho may in fact do considerable harm, since his loss means that the survivors in the boats are bereft of his skill and guidance at the most critical time. The captain’s place at such a juncture is with the boats; but the longer the wireless operator can “stick to the ship” the better for all concerned, including himself. His first calls may not be picked up, and the longer he can continue to broadcast them the better.

This was clearly shown in the case of the Volturno, the migrant ship, whidh caught fire in mid-ocean with 630 persons on board. The call of tho wireless operator bn.tight a dozen ships racing to tho rescue, and by this means no fewer than 530 persons were saved from the raging furnace. The captain could no nothing to save his ship, nor could the crew. Everything depended on tho ability of the wireless man to stick it out to the end. All that the captain could do was to give him the exact positron of tho ship, her latitude and longitude, so that the rescuing vessels would lose no time in looking for her. Not that that was necessary since the flames and smoko were a beacon for miles. But the wireless operator stuck to his cabin despite the appalling heat and the imminent fear of death before him, though lie knew that the boats were being launched. And in consequence he became an international hero overnight. Meantime the captain and the crew remained obscure; they had little to do beyond putting the boats in the water and tho passengers in the boats. Then the rescuing steamers came racing up and took them all safely on board.

Such is the irony of circumstance, though one remembers that occasions may arise, as in the case of the Tahiti, when the skill and courage of the captain and crew are called upon before the rescuing ships can arrive. But wireless has destroyed the opportunities for captains to make a name for themselves. The interval between the disaster and the arrival of help is too short and the rescuing captain now shares the publicity with the wireless operator. It is certainly hard luck on the poor captain!