THE Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, 12th DECEMBER, 1894.

Southland Times, Issue 13090, 12 December 1894, Page 2

THE Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, 12th DECEMBER, 1894.

After a long, patient, and eearebing examination, the Court of Enquiry has pronounced judgment on the causes of the wreck of the Wairarapa and all ensuing disasters. As must have been anticipated, the blame has been laid at the door of the master of the ill-fated ship. The task is a painful one for critics, as it must have been for members of the Court, to have to record such a verdict; and nothing but a regard for the public safety could warrant its full significance ;being pressed home to every mind. In the guidance of the steamer on that fateful nigbt, it must be admitted there was the absence of almost every precaution that the circumstances required. Not only was there no certainty as to the position of the vessel, but known influences bad been at work to make even conjecture extremely difficult; and yet, in the midst of a dense fog and in waters studded with dangers on every side, she was driven ahead at a speed of more than 12 knots an hour. The officers recognised the peril, and offered all the remonstrance that naval etiquette seems to allow. Bat the one mind that must in the end command was unimpressed, and the disaster came. It would be a hopeless attempt to ascertain with any precision the motive under which Captain Mclntosh acted. No one knew better than he the risk he was running, and there must have been some very strong influence prevailing to induce him to disregard it. The theory that he was incapacitated by illness for forming a proper juigment will scarcely bear scrutiny; for the duty of caution to which he was called was so simple and elementary that nothing but the entire loss of mental power could have prevented him from recognising it—-and there is no proo f whatever that this was the condition of Captain Mclntosh’s mind. It is impossible to resist the conclusion that it was an overwhelming desire to gain a few hours in the passage and an overconfidence in his power of determining his position that led to the abandonment of his usual caution and the catastrophe that ensued. While it is necessary to lay every stress on this fatal error and to give up every attempt to excuse or palliate it, the sternest critic will not only feel at liberty, but will rejoice, to turn from that error in ord-.r to survey the long record of cautious, anxious and successful guardianship of life and property which stands to the dead man’s name. It is impossible to exaggerate the sadness of the close, through one act of abnormal recklessness, of so long and honourable a career. The hours of agony which must have been endured before the waves closed over Captain Mclntosh’s bead, and the sacrifice of his own life, must be taken as at least some expiation of the fatal error with which his memory must be charged. The Court of Enquiry has seen fit to absolve, at least from blame that should involve suspension of their certificates, all the three surviving officers .of the steamer ; while one of them, the third, has been commended for bis efforts after the wreck. The engineers have received unqualified praise, and the heroism oi the stewardesses, as well as of Sume of the passengers, has met with the commendation it deserved. It is indeed the self sacrificing bravery of so many that forms the one bright feature in the awful calamity. The public must have noted with satisfaction that no evidence was forthcoming of a desire on the part of the Union Steamship Company to see safety subordinated to speed in the navigation of their vessels. What did come out in the investigation was that it was the passengers themselves who sometimes chafed under the prudent caution of masters. Indeed it is hardly too much to say that the general impatience of an hour’s delay in travelling, and the spirit that it engenders in all who are in command, may have lain at the root of what befell the ill-starred Wairarapa. One thing requires to be specially noted in connection with this event—the evidence that it affords of the want of preparedness to meet any sudden demand on the boats which the steamer carried. There was the parade of provision in the number of boats and rafts which she had on board, but there were entirely wanting the discipline and method to give to that provision its due effect. What has been revealed will no doubt lead to a revolution in this most important part of the duty of a steamer’s crew. It is a terrible price to have hid to pay, but it cannot be questioned that the result of the lamentable loss of life at Great Barrier Island wifi be a largely increased amount of safety those who may hereafter have to travel by sea. We may feel assured that there will be no more driving through a fog at 12 or 14 knots an hour, and that in event of any casualty, the means of rescue will be

more complete and more available than they have ever yet been. The dead cannot be recalled, and until a generation has passed away there will be mourning in many a home for those that are not, b-cause of the dread catastrophe of the present year. But it is some consolation to know that through the suffering that has been undergone life on the sea has been made safer, and that other calamities will have been averted by the one of which the record may now be said to have closed.