December 8, 1900.]
CABLE CONNECTION OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE
U. S. A.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
THE DANGERS OF UNCERTIFI-
CATED NAVIGATORS.
With regard to the practice which is permit ted of British vessels being allowed to proceed to sea with uncertificated officers, the following letter has been despatched to the Board of Trade by the Merchant Service Guild in con- tinuance of their previous ropresentations:~~
Merchant Service Guild,
25th July, 1900.
The Assistant Secretary,
The United States Government transport Burnside, in charge of Major C. W. Brooke, with Captain Latham as Navigating Officer, arrived at Colombo from New York on her way to the Philippines with a vast quantity of cable to connect the Islands with the States. The Burnside was a Spanish vessel captured in the war with the U. S. A. She left New York on September 26th with 550 miles of deep sea (Marine Dept.) Board of Trade. cable-the first deop sea cable made by an Sir.-The Guild have received the Official American firm (the Safety Inculated Wire Notice (M. 9126) to Ownors and Skip Cable Co.), and costing about R1,500 a milo -
pers relative to the navigation of steam fish- and 250 miles of inshore cable, and the usual ing vessels, the same having been prompted appliances for cable laying. The Burnside has from reports, of formal investigations re- on board only a portion of the machinery re-cantly held at Hull into the circumstances quired for cable laying, as sho is expected to attending the losses of two steam trawlers. take the machinery from the U.S. transport This Society is keenly gratified to observe the Hooker which was recently wrecked in the remark of the Board of Trade, that the ro Philippines with a quantity of cable and ma- quirement of the Merchant Shipping Act, The Burnside has been dealing with trawlers of 25 tons and upwards, chinery on board. commissioned to take out a very large quantity clearly implies that the watch ou board should of cable from New York, but was only able always be in charge of a certificated person and, to take on the prosent voyage the portion accordingly, the Board cautions owners and mentioned. This will be used to connect the skippers as to the consequences which may different islands of the Philippines With Manila, arise through non-attention to this in the fu- the work being expected to last till about April, tura. Under the same cover there also came when she will return to New York to take the to hand the Report (No. 6059) of the Court remainder of the cable on board, and this will of Inquiry which investigated the Emrys be used in connecting Manila with Honolulu Wans Fall (s.8.) collision through which and San Francisco, thus completing communi- loss of life cusued. At the time of the collision cation with the States.
the Wans Fall, a steamer of 30313 gross tonnage, was in charge of an uncertificated por- son-the boatswain-and little surprise need be felt at the decision of the Court that she was not navigated with proper and seamanlike care and that the casualty was brought about by his neglect. severe punishment would have been meted out to a certificated officer, but, in this instance, the responsible man is quite outside the pale of justice. I am directed to quote the following extract from the Official Notice of the Board of "In Trado, who evidently endorse the same: the opinion of the Court, boatswains of steam frawlors should, under all circumstances, be experienced men, and thoroughly conversant with the regulations for preventing collisions at sea, seeing that it is clear that not only the safety of their own vessels and the lives thereon should be protected, but also the safety of other vessels navigating the high seas. The custom and practice of having inexperienced boatswains ip charge of steam trawlers is a matter which the Court considers is in the strongest possiblə way to be deprecated.”
THE CHINA STATION. Owing to the operations in China and the importance of maintaining unimpaired the strength of the fleets belonging to the allied Powers, says the Naval and Military Record of the 1st ult., some of the British warships in Chinese waters have been detained on the station considerably beyond the usual commissioning period.
The Centurion, flagship of Vice- admiral Sir E. H. Seymour, K.C.B., was, for instance, recommissioned at Hongkong April 1st. 1897, and under ordinary circum
оп
stances should have been relieved some months
ago. Her successor, the new battleship Glory, will be commissioned to-day (November 1st). the but she is not likely to arrive on station much before the end of the year. By the time the Centurion reaches home and is paid off, the Commission will have lasted rory little short of four years. The cruiser Undaunted was recommissioned at Trin- comalee on May 12th, 1897, and is still on the station. But for the Chinese revolt she would have returned to Devonport and been paid off before now, as her relief, the Argonaut, was commissioned at Chatham last April, and has
boon on the station for some time. As the Undaunted has been appropriated for service a seagoing tender to the Cambridge, it is most likely that she will be the first vessel to be with drawn from the station as soon as the situation has so improved as to justify the authorities in reducing the squadron to its normal strength.
New crews are to be selected from the depôt ship Pembroke for despatch to China, to man the shallow-draught steamers Woodcock and Sandpiper.
It therefore appears to the Guild to bo most inconsistent that, whilst it is requisite that small steam trawlers should be navigated with care and efficiency, large vessels in both the home and foreign trades are permitted to pro- ceed to sea in charge of totally irresponsible per- sous without any certificates whatever, ondan gering not only their own lives and those immediately under them, but exposing other vessels in charge of properly qualified officers to perils which the general public are quite un-
aware of.
The Guild bare proviously represonted this grave scandal to the Board, the last case boing that of the Raith, where the Court found that the mastor was not a competent man, and thoroughly ignorant of the duties he undertook to perform." Although this was noted" by the Board at the time. further accidents have taken place, and no stops have 8 yet been taken in bringing about a reform. For the avoidance of great, and perhaps terri- ble, disasters in the future, it is earnestly trusted by the Guild, as representing over five
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G. Moore, thereupon inquired whether, in the event of legislation being initiated by that body, it would receive the support and approval. of the Board of Trade. This elicited a further important communication from the Department, who state in regard to ensuring the navigation of British vessels by certi- ficated officers that "the Board fully recognise the importance of the measures advocated by the Merchant Service Guild, but, having reguid to the practical difficulties in the way, they are not in a position to give any general undertak- ing as to the attitude of the Department to- wards the proposals in question. They will, however, be happy to consider any proposals on the subject which the Guild may desire to sub- mit."
The Guild have the whole matter well in hand, and, having gained the sympathetic ear of the Board, hope eventually to remove the scandal which they have agitated upon for so long.
THE TYPHOON AT GUAM,
THE LO88 OF THE
16
YOSEMITE.” Further particulars as to the recent destruc- tivo typhoon at Guam, and the loss of the U. S. S. Yosemite, are given in the Manila Times of Saturday last. That journal says that Guam was devastated on November 13th by the fiercest typhoon that had struck its shores with- in the memory of man. Houses were wrecked, the crops were rained, and unless relief is at once sent the people will die of starvation. There were several vessels in the harbour, among them the cruiser Yosemite and the Justin.
The cruiser Yosemite was dashed twice. upon the reef, then blown 100 miles out to sea, where she was abandoned and scuttled on the 15th ult. The navy collier Justin which had been in the harbour and miraculously escapod do- struction, took off the officers and crew of the cruiser. During the early part of the storm five members of the Yosemite's crow ordered to find shelter for the ship's launch in
wore
the lea of Cabras Island. The launch was capsized and all hands lost.
The storm came up suddenly at 8 a.m. The Yosemite was lying in the harbour with her The fires banked and two anchors down. direction of the wind was north-east until 1 p.m. when it suddenly shifted to south by east, and attained a velocity of 107 miles per hour. The barometer went down to 27.40 during the height of the storm. Before the Yosemite could get up steam she was dragging her anchor and drift- About ing about a mile across the harbour. 11 a.m. she struck on the South reef and knocked a holo in her forward compartment. Sho then drifted half a mile wost, and brought up an hour later against a cliff near Sumaye, carrying away her rudder post and greatly damaging her propeller. About 1 p.m. there was a sudden calm for a few minutes, and then the wind blow with increased violence from the south west.
After
During the interim a volunteer crow of twelve attempted to take a life-line ashore. Their boat was stove in and capsized and the crew thrown into the surf. battling for an hour and a half on the sharp coral every member of the boat's crew reached the beach in safety. During this time the Yosemite was blown off shore and drifted away in the darkness. The cruiser was entirely help. less, the forward 80 foot compartment being full of water so that sho was well down by the head. The engine room was fortunately water- tight, so that it was possible to keep all the pumps going.
When the storm cleared, about 6 p.m., the Yosemite was found to be miles north and west of the island. That night and all of the follow- ing day she was kept afloat through the united...
A despatch received in Shanghai from Wu- chang, Hupeh reports the arrival in that city on the 18th ult. of H.E. Sung Fan Viceroy of the 'Yun-kwei province, from Peking ea route to Yunnanfu. The Manchu Governor and staff were almost in rags when they arrived, having been plundered and robbed on their journey through Chihli and Honan provinces by dig thousand certificated British Captains and efforts of officers and crew.
banded soldiers and Boxers, who stripped them of their baggage and everything. Sung will remain a few days in Wuchang for a short rest and to get a new wardrobe, etc., for himself and staff. H.E. was called to Peking from Yunanfu for an audience just before the Boxer outbreak in Peking and remained in the capital until after the fall of that city. Thinking matters had quieted down a little in the provinces, H. E. started on his journey south and seems to have fallen among thieves en route, says the N.-C. Daily News, his life even being threatened on one occasion.
Officers, that the Board will now take measures
to enforco British vessels being in charge of capable persons, both in knowledge, experience, and the possession of a certificate issued by the Department. I am, Sir, your obedient ser- vant,
T. W. MOORE, Assistant Scoretary.
The Board of Trade in reply stated that in accord with their previous letter the matters referred to were under their consideration, but they were not prepared to initiate the legislation which would prevent the practice complained of. The Secretary of the Guild, Captain John
About 1.44 p.m. on the 15th the Justin was sighted and was soon alongside. After several attempts to tow the disabled cruisar, during which two chains and two Manila cables were parted, Lient. Birere decided to abandon her. By 7 o'clock in the evening the 138 members of the crew, 26 marines and 9 officers were abroad the Justin.
Lieutenant Birero decided it would be best to scuttle the vessel before abandoning her. Chief Engineer Vichols of the Justin volun- toored to go down into the Yosemite's engine- room and open the stop-cock. This was hastily done and the cruiser was left to her fate.
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