Heard on the Train.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12807, 3 June 1914, Page 5

Heard on the Train.

Whar an awful calamity that Em press of Ireland disaster lias proved t< be! Here we were thinking that aftei the Titanic, tragedy everything pos sible would be done to ensure safety at sea!

So it is; but no man can foresee all possibilities or guard against unforeseen dangers. ell it seems strange and startling (hat such things occur when we know that the officers of vessels leaving London for this country can with confidence tell the passengers the very hour at which they will dine in Wellington. One does not like to prejudge anv man, but so far as the evidence yet given shows the captain of the Norwegian vessel seems to be blameable tor the disaster. Why did he not keep his vessel in the cavity she made in the Empress? Suppose he had done so, and kept up steam, would not some people blame him for doing so? Then, again, if he had remained too close his own vessel might have been sucked down into the vortex when the Empress sank. His first duty was to his own vessel.

It seems to me a most singular thing that people of nearly every foreign nation are very poor seamen as compared with the British. The old Norsemen whose Vikings ranged the ocean were the ablest seamen of their day, but now there is none like the British. Look, for instance, at the coolness of the Empress's Captain and many others on board in the hour of danger, and under the tre-

mendous strain of imminent death. Compare this wreck and that of the Titanic and other British vessels with some others where the helpless women and children have been trampled down by burly beings in the shape of men. I would not go so far as to blame

he Captain of the Norwegian, for it

is quite possible that his crew consisted of Dagoes or Lascars, whose first thought is always for themselves.

That some were saved seems to have

been mainly due to the fact that out of the deep the wireless call for aid

an be made. The "5.0.5." the three

dots, three dashes and three dots—the simple but pathetic message—never falls upon dull ears nor fails to secure response from those at sea. The tragedy almost makes one fear to go to sea.

My dear fellow, every man is immortal till his time comes. It is all

fate, or Providence, or luck—call it what you will. Why almost at the same time there was a shocking fatal disaster on our railways, yet here we are quite unconcerned as to what the next moment may bring forth. It would be an awful thing if we lived

in constant fear. It is far better to hope for the best, and never imagine disaster, but if it comes meet it bravely, as those heroes did on the doomed liner. What could be more munificently unselfish than the action of some of them who gave up their own chance of life to give others a chance? What an amount of misery and pain such disasters cause not only to the victims but to relatives! What a vast number of cogs in the social machine are thrown out of gear! What a multitude of ambitions perish, and human hopes are blasted!

it is the attendant circumstances that make this tragedy more appalling than many others. For instance, some recent earthquakes have caused much greater loss of life, while the battles in the Balkans far exceeded this in destruction of human life and the maiming and mutilation of human beings. But there is something specially horrifying in the idea of being hopelessly doomed to death at sea, and being suddenly swept into eternity by the surging wave. Well might Longfellow exclaim "God save us all from death like this.'' *

Why is it that improvidence seems to be so rampant in some countries? According to latest news the Irish landowners are running into debt at the rate of two millions a year. Out here you find the Irish people well to the fore, energetic, thrifty, prosperous, and in many cases occupying leading positions and acquiting themselves well in all walks of life. They have made splendid colonists wherever they have gone, either here, in Australia, in the States and in Canada. Some of our best politicians, our bravest fighters and our most capable captains of industry are Irishmen. Well, you need not trouble about the rate the Irish are running into debt. After all that is a matter in which the moneylender is more concerned, and you may take it for granted that there would t>e no increase of the debt if he was not satisfied with the security. Besides, please don't forget that little New Zealand, with its less than half a million breadwinners has for many years past been running into debt with much greater speed. What I am concerned about is that just as Home Rule holds out some promise of improvement tbe distressful country exhibits signs of impending disaster. _ , „ , You need not fear tor the future of the Emerald Isle—the spot dear to every son of the soil wherever he may be, whether in our beautiful and fertile land, under Africa's torrid sun or in the frozen solitudes of Canada Ireland has a destiny to work out and a land which produces such people will ultimately have all its problems solved. There may be frit, tion for a time, but events are profrressing. ''The moving linger writes, and in good time Ireland will take her rightful place in the Congress of the Nations. VIATOR.