the outlook? the tragedy of the titanic, article, 27 apr 1912

8/3/2019 The Outlook? The tragedy of the Titanic, article, 27 apr 1912

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T^? OutlookL Y M A N A B B O T T ,

T H E T R A G E D Y O P T H E

T I T A N I C ; T H E D I S A S T E R

the

A P R IL 27, 1912

Editor-in-Chief HA M IL TO N W

T H E O D O R E R O O S E V E L TContributing Editor

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MABIE, Associate Editor

What was the causeof the terrible andunexampled di saste r

story of which last week filled men andwomen the world over wi th sympathy andhor ror ? Th e ans wer may be pu t in a fewwords: Steaming a t high speed in an icezone after rep eate d warning . Wh y, afterthe disaster, was i t inevitable that a largeproport ion of passengers and crew shouldperi sh ? Again, in a few wo rds : Becaus e th eTitanic, like most ships of her class, carriednot merely inadequate but pitifully insignificant mea ns for pres ervin g l i fe, and waspe rm it ted so to do by the negligent lawsof Gr eat Britain and the Unite d States.Th ese and o ther aspec ts and lessons of thecalamity are discussed elsewhere in this issue.H er e we state the facts as they app ear from thestories of the survivors. Th e Titanic, of theWhite Star Line, the largest , newest , andfinest of ocean steam ships, sai led from Southamp ton on her maiden voyage on We dnesday, Apri l 10. Am ong the encom iums whichwer e published far a nd wid e on this marv elof ship-building none was more prominentthan that she was " absolutely unsinkab le ;"and the day af te r she sank the Line ' s representat ive in New York scoffed at the reportsbecause he " knew " tha t , whatever happ ened,the Titanic would float! Th e one gre at recognized dan ger to a m od ern ship is collision,wh ether wi th another ship, a derelict, the rocksof a coast, or ice. At this time of yea r thedanger from ice is serious, especially for west

bound vessels, which, under the lane systemfirs t propos ed by Lieutenant Mau ry, U. S. N. ,in 185 5, t ake a more norther ly route than thoseeast bound. W hen ice is reported by otherships or by the Hydrographic Bureau, thewest-bo und vessels shou ld, for safety, k eepnear the southern l imit of the northern lane ;mo der ate s peed , the u tmo st ca re in navigat ing, and the closest outlook are ob viousrequi re men ts . Ye t the Ti tanic , to save

maiden record, under own-in the teeth of war ning s,

speed variously put at fromtwenty-three miles an hour,

into the ice region, and took the risk. O na clear, starlight night, so fine that theMilky Way was noticeably bright , and wh enthere appears to have been no other icenear by than the one berg, at a l it tleafter half-past eleven on Sunday night oflast week, the vessel struck nearly, bu t no tqui te , bows on. Th e iceberg was not subme rged and invisible, but is described asfrom fifty to a hu nd red feet high. Prob ablythe ship hit a shelf-like projec tion u nd erwater, was l i fted up for a moment, andthen, as it forced itself forward, its platesben eath the water l ine were ripped op en(" l ike a grea t can-open er ," C olonel G ra desays elsewhere in this issue, and so manyforward compartments were fi l led thatshe beg an to sink by the head. Th e forceof the blow w as such th at the deck w asdeeply covered with bro ken ice. An interview wi th the quarte rm aster , who was a t thewheel , rep orts him as saying that the lookout telephoned twice that ice was ahead, thelast t ime just before the ship struck, bu t th ati t was impossible to ch ange the course in t imeto avoid the crash. On boa rd wer e 2,34 0pers on s ; of these 94 0 mad e up the force ofofficers, crew, and ser van ts, 33 0 we re first-class passengers, 320 second-class, 750 steerag e or third-class. All accou nts ag ree instat ing that the shock of the impact was com

parat ively sl ight; there was no panic ; a passenger tel ls us that at least one party ofcard-players resumed their game after thecoll ision ; probably some of the women passen gers we re lost because they did not realizethe dan ger and go on deck unti l i t was toolate. The commander of the vesse l . Capta inE . J . Smith, a veteran in the service, wen tdow n with his ship. M r. J . Bru ce Isma y,the head of the White Star Line, testi fied

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Th e T i t an ic sa nk in 41,46 degree s N . la t i tud e ; 50 .14 degre e s W . long i tude . T he d is tance f romtha t po in t to Bos ton i s 956 mi le s ; to Sand y Hoo k , N ew Je r sey , t he d is tance i s 1 ,083 mi le s . Fr omHal i f a x t he d is tance to th e spo t i s 610 mi le s , and to St . Joh n ' s , New foun dlan d , i t i s 362 mi le s

N O T A B L E M E N

L O S T

Am ong the four teen hund redme n who died on the Titan icmany deserve comm emora

tion ; bu t the re w ere thre e or four whoseperso nal achievem ents or public services ent i t le them to special remembrance a t th ismo me nt . Fra nk Davis Mil le t was what may

be called an ex ecutive art is t; he was not onlyan accom plished and widely know n pa inter,but he was greatly interested in the fosteringan d developing of the art . His career wasan adventure--^jf th e spirit. H e e nlistedas a drumm er-boy, and for more thana yea r saw real service in the CivilW ar . Th en he came home and enteredH ar va rd College. Hi s f irs t work afterhis gradu ation was as a repor ter on theBos ton " Adv er t iser ," and la ter he be cam ecity editor of the Bo ston " Co urie r." Butar t was drawing h im, and in 1871 he went to

An twe rp t o s tudy at the Royal Academ y,wh ere he won a prize in his f irst year. Th isbro ugh t him to the attention of Mr . CharlesFrancis Adam s, who was commiss ioner tothe Vien na Expos i t ion of 187 3, and he became Mr. Ada ms 's secretary . H e repor tedthe Exhibi t ion for several New Y ork journals ,t raveled extens ively in Hun gar y , T urk ey,Greec e, and I ta ly , spent a winter a t Ro meand a summ er a t Capr i and at Venice, and

pain ted his f irst picture s. In 187 7 journalism again called him from the palette andthe bru sh and he beca me the special corresponde nt of the New Y ork " Herald " in theTurk ish W ar , doing such admirable work thatthe L ond on " Dai ly New s " appointed h imin place of its veteran correspondent, Mr.Archibald For bes. His work was not onlyeffective, bu t his galla ntry was such th at hereceived decorat ions f rom the Rum anian andRuss ian author i ties . H e was a mem ber ofthe F ine A rts Jury of the Paris Expo sition in1 8 7 8 , and director of the decorations for theColum bian Ex position at Chicago, one of themost notable and influential ventures in artyet ma de in this country. Dur ing the Spani s h War he r ep res en ted the London "T im es "and the New Y ork " San " in the Philippine s,and later published in book form " T he Expedition to the Philipp ines." Mea nwhile his

han d was n ot only on the pen, bu t on thebrush . H e is represented in the Co ur t-Ho useof Ne wa rk, New Jersey, in the BaltimoreCustom-House, and in other public buildingsby large mura l w or k; an d his pictures a refound in almo st every mu seum of art in thecountry . H e belonged to ma ny societies ;and at the time of his death was an officer ofthe American Academy at Rome and deeplyintereste d in its welfare. A m an of equal

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87S* T H E O U T L O O K 27 April

dist inction, though in another f ield, was Mr.I s idor St raus , one of three brothers who

have made for themselves posit ions of greatinf luence, not onlj- as merchants , but as phi

lanthropists and workers for civic bettermentand as generou s-hear ted c it izens. H e beganhis career in the So uth, enlisted in the Con

federate arm}^ at th e age of sixteen, servedas a clerk in Savan nah an d af terward s in

Liverpool, joined his father 's f irm in NewYork in 1865, and, wi th his brother Nathan,

became a member of the well-known f irmof R. H . Macy & Co., of New York .Mr. Straus was a man of wide readin g and

of t ireless p ublic spir i t . H e was a me mb erof ma ny com mittees and comm issions for

various public purposes ; he was President ofthe Educational Alliance, which buil t and

man ages the Pe ople ' s Pa lace , one of the bes tkno wn and mo st useful of the various institutions in the Eas t Side tenem ent distr ict of

New Y ork ; he was a di rec tor in var iouscharitable organization s. H e was a man who

will be sorely missed in the larger life ofGr eate r Ne w Yo rk. O ne of the mo st affect

ing incidents of the calamity was the refusalof M rs . S t raus to leave her husban d. The yhad always been lovers and they were stand

ing toge the r when the ship w ent down.Th ere are ma ny peo ple in all pa rts of the

country who wil l a lways remem ber MajorArchibald Butt , the President 's Mili tary Secre ta ry, as a m an of grea t cour tesy and na tura l

kindness ; one who made what might have

been a merely ornamental posit ion of ser iousvalue by reason of his fidelity ; and whosetac t , judgment , and knowledge of men made

him the honored a ide and companion of twoPr e s i de n t s .

W I L L I A M T . S T E A DFor e a r ne s t ne ss o f pur pose ,

broadness of view, clearnessand vigor of style, and wide acquaintancewith public me n in m any coun tr ies, Will iam

T. Stead, who has go ne dow n in the wreckof the Titanic, was a noteworthy personal

i ty. H e was on his way to this coun

try to deliver an add ress on " Social andRel igious Nee ds of the Ag e " a t the Unio nSquare meet ing of the Men and Rel igionCon gress in Ne w York , and a lso to repre

sent the Brit ish Committee on the celebrationof the H un dr ed Yea rs of Peace , of which

Earl Grey is the Presid ent, in conferencewi th the Amer ican Commit tee , of which Mr .

Roosev el t i s the Ho no rary Chai rm an. Mr .Stead has of ten been called the most br i l l iant

journalist in Eng land. While editor of the" Pall M all G aze tte, " in 1 88 5, he was im

prisoned for three mon ths for the " MaidenTr ibu te to Mo dern B abylon "— an expos ure

of conditions so revolting and startling as tostir Eng land to i ts dep ths. In 189 0 hefounded the " Review of Review s " in Lon

don, which was followed in 18 91 by the establishment of the " Review of Reviews " in

New Y ork, and in 189 4 by th e Australasian'• Review of Re view s." H e has been oneo f

the most arde nt and tireless advoca tes ofpeace from the t ime of the Pea ce Cru sad efollowing his visit to the Czar in 1898, until

his visits to various Eu rop ean capitals lastsummer in the endeavor to procure the sub

mission of the differences betw een Italy andTurk ey to the Ha gu e Tr ibunal . On e of Mr .Stead's most useful character ist ics was an

extraordinary faculty for gett ing into personaltouch with peop le in every country which he

visited, f rom Em pe rors , pr im e m inisters,legislators, and officials down to the man in

the street , and using the information andsuggestions thus acquired to exert a widespread and continued inf luence which, though

often in advance of the t imes, was uniformlybased on high motives and devotion to th e

public welfare.

H

W e find the following paraa;raphP O O R ER A N D . j - , . • 1 • ^ i u r 11 S i ^

RICHER 1" ^'i edito rial m th e W all S tre et" Journal " of Friday, April 19 :

At a rough computation the world is fifteenmillions poorer to-day than when the Titanicwas afloat. Even this loss is trivial comparedwith the valuable lives, the sagacity, experience,the intellectual wealth, that sank with the ill-fated ship. W ha t can com pensa te for this irreparable misfortune? No thing in this wo rld; perhaps not even a lesson for the future; for shipswent down in the same place and under similarcircumstances m ore than half a century ago,while the lessons they taught have gone unheeded.

This is all t rue, and yet the wo rld has been

made incomparably r icher by the t ragedy of

the Titan ic— richer in i ts knowled ge of the

heroism, the courage , the sympathy , the sense

of brothe rhoo d, the desire to serve oth ers,the passion to protect the weak, which exist

in the human hear t .

A F F A I R S I NE U R O P E

Th e grea t ca tas t rop he has socomple te ly oversha dow ed Eng

land as to thro w political affairsinto the background. Th ere , as here , the

tragedy has so deeply impressed the imagination of the people that Parl iament is cer tain



1 91 2 T H E W E E K 879*

to t ak e legislative m easu res looking to theprotect ion of the patrons of the great s team-

' ship l ines. Th e Ho me R ule Bil l has passedits f irs t readin g. I t will be stubbornly fought,and is almost certain to be throw n out by theH ou se of L ords . In th is case, as T heOutlo ok pointed out last wee k, it will be atleast tw o y ears before it can b ecom e a law,

even if the L iberal Gove rnm ent rem ains inpow er . T h e announcem ent tha t an I t al i anfleet has bombarded the forts at the entranceof the Dard anelle s may m ark a crisis in t hewar b etwee n I ta ly and Tu rkey ; i t i s bel ievedthat it is the beginning of a new policy onthe par t of the I ta l ian Government—the f i rs tstep in an ag gressive policy which aims totransfer the seat of war f rom the nor ther nshore of Afr ica to Turkey itself. F o r m a n yyears the jealous ies of the Grea t Pow ershav e rriade Co nstan tinople the cent er of aneutr al regio n; and the Dardane l les has

bee n g ua rde d as closely as if gre at chainshad been drawn across the entran ce. Th eentrance of the straits by an Italian fleetdestro ys in an hou r the diplomatic traditionsof de cad es, and raises an issue which willcompel Powers ei ther to take concer tedaction to pre serv e the integrity of Tu rk ey inEurope or to abandon a long-es tabl ishedpolicy. I t is quite possible tha t Co nsta n;tinople would fall an easy prey to an Italianfleet; bu t it is impo ssible to conceiv e thatRu ssia would allow that city to pass intoItalia n han ds. W hat is mo re likely to occu r

is a concerted effort on the part of the GreatPowers to secure a conclusion of the war.

A W A R N I N G T O

M E X I C O

I t may be an open ques t ionwheth er the future relat ionsbetween the Unite d States

and M exico will be improved or endan geredby the no te of war ning sen t last week by th eU ni ted S ta tes S ta te D epar tm en t to P res iden tM ade ro. In it attentio n is called to thegreat proper ty losses suffered by Americansin M exico, and to the perso nal violence whichin some cases has been endure d by Am erican

citizens in Mex ico, a nd it is alleged th atAmerican life has been taken contrary to theprinciples governing many civilized nations.In view of these facts our G ove rnm ent g ivesnot ice that " i t exp ects and mu st dem andthat American l i fe and proper ty within theRepublic of Mexico be jus t ly and adequatelyprotected , and tha t th is Go vernm ent mu sthold Mexico and the Mexican people responsible for all wa nto n or illegal acts sacrificing

or en dang er ing Ame rican l ife, or da mag ingAmerican prop er ty or in teres ts there s i tuated. " Specifically, our Go ver nm ent d em and sjust treatment of American citizens who maybe tak en p risone rs as particip ants on one sideor the other of the present d is turbance, andinsists that they be dealt with in accordancewith h um anity as well as internation al law.

A similar not e of warn ing was sent to General Orozco , the m ost prom inen t of the insurrectionary leaders. Th is is beyo nd questiona r ight and p roper g roun d for our Governme nt to tak e, but as to its tactfulness opinionsdiffer. T he im med iate result has bee n areply f rom Pres ide nt Mad ero which is farfrom conciliatory in tone. T he Mex icanPresi den t som ewh at resentfully affirms Me xico ' s adherence to humane pr inciples and therules of international conduct, and in comment uses phrases which are hardly diplomatic , such as , " The3£exican Government is

perfectly acq uain ted with its duty ;" '" ' Neith erword nor deed warrants doubt of our sincerity or of our adhesion to intern ationa l privileges ;" " The Mexican Govern men t cer tainlycanno t recognize the right of your Government to give us instruction as to the methodby which we should perform our du ty ;"" Our Gov ernm ent cer tainly cannot undertake the responsibility for acts committed inthose sect ions beyond our control . " Th elast s tatement should at least be so modifiedas to recognize the gen eral responsibility ofany Gov ernm ent for cont inued and in toler

able ill-treatment of foreign citizens in anypa rt of its dominion. Until a s tate of recognized warfare exis ts betw een the insurgentsand the Mexican Gov ernme nt , that Government is morally bound to preserve order ; forinstance, if a large section of the country isoccupied by insurgent t roops , the MexicanGovernment may not be respons ible for individual acts of wrong-doing toward foreignersby the insurrectionary leaders, but it is bound,in sections of the country where it claimscontrol, to pro tect foreigners from pillageand mu rder . Th er e has been li tt le of im

portance in the last two weeks in the militarymo vem ents of the two oppo sing forces inMexico, and it is difficult to judge of theimmediate probabilities .

m

T o t h e a s t o n i s h m e n tTHE VOTERS' VERDICT , ^ i- r

IN PENNSYLVANIA a n d c o n s tc m a ti o n oft h e p o l i t i c a l m a c h i n e

i n P e n n s y l v a n i a , t h e p r i m a r i e s i n t h a t S t a t eo n S a t u r d a y , A p r i l 1 3 , f o r t h e e l e c t i o n o f

the outlook? the tragedy of the titanic, article, 27 apr 1912

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