DANGER OF BIG SHIPS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12790, 15 June 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

DANGER OF BIG SHIPS.

MR JOSEPH CONRAD ON THE LESSON OF THE TITANIC. Mr Joseph Conrad, the noyelist, who holds a) master mariner's certificate, and has more experience of the sea than almost any/Jiving writer, has ah article^ entitled '.'"Some. Reflections, Seamanl'ike and Otherwise, on the Lois of the Titanic/" m this month's number of' the English -.Review. Mr Conrad does not hesitate, to declare that the Titanic was too large .'jfor safety. He writes: — „ "You can't,' let builders say what they like, make a ship of such dimensions as strong proportionately as a much smaller one. , "For my. part I could much sooner believe m --an unsinkable ship of 3000 tons than m one of 40,000 tons. it. is one of those things that stand to reason. You can't increase the thickness of scantling and plates indefinitely.* Ahd the mere weight of this bigness is an added disadvantage. • "In reading the reports, tlie first reflection which occurs to, one is that if that luckless ship had been a couple- of hundred feet shorter she would" have probably gone clear of the dange£ ! "We shall have presently) in deference to coriimercial ana industrial interests, a. new kind of seamanship. If you see anything m the way, by no means tryto avoid \t ; ; smash at it full tilt. And then— and ; then only, you shall see the triumph/ 6f. material, of clever contrivances, -of the whole box of engineering tricks. .' / "Doubtless the Board of Trade, if properly approached, would consent to give the needed instructions to its examiners of masters^ and mates. Behold the examination/room of the future. Enter to the grizzled- examiner a young man of modest aspect : "Are youi well up m modern- seamanship ?'■ 'I hope so, sir.' ' ' 'H'm, let's ,«ee. You are at night on the bridge m charge of a 150,000 tons ship, with a motor track, organloft, etc.,, etc., with a full cargo of passengers,, a full crew of 1500 cafe waiters, two sailors, and a boy, three collapsible boats as per Board of Trade , regulations, -and going at your three-quarter speed .of J' Hsay, about forty knots. You perceive suddenly right ahead," and close '• to,, something that looks like a large ice-floe. What would you do?' " 'Put the helm amidships.' .'Vei-y well. Why?' 'In order to nit -end on.' 'On \yhat grounds should you endeavor to hit end on?' 'Because we are taught by our builders, and masters that the heavier /tlie smash the smaller the damage, and because the requirements of material ; should be attended - to/ " ! Writing of the Board of Trade, Mr Conrad says »• — "An office #jth adequate and no doubt cbmfortable furniture 1 . A lot of perfectly ; irresponsible gentlemen, who exist packed m its equable atmosphere softly, as if m a lot of cotton wool, and with" no 'care m the worjd; for there can be ho care without personal respon-sibility—such,-.for instance, as the seahien haye — those seamen from _ whose mouths this irresponsible institution can take away the bread — as a disciplinary measure.?- -' ■'