New-York tribune. [volume], August 08, 1915, Page 2, Image 18

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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N. i?D
YOIRUi FEAR
AN ?ASTL A
I:
?TER?
By William W?son Taft.
,** ,< a*"""***"* i) FAR as it is humanly possible to
^?W Judge, there is not the lra-t danger
kkw.? of a disaster, like that of the East
land. occurritip in New York.
Every boat carrying passengers out of Mew
Vork City has been thoroughly inspected
at least twice this year, and another inspec?
tion will tak'- place before long, The eon
struction, equipment and manapement of these
steamers are excellent, and there is no reason
it any clanper to per-?ns travelling on
them.1'
This was the statemenl made to tue by Diek
erson X. Hoover, jr., acting supervising m
spec;.' -? - of the Steamboat Inspection
Service in Washington, and the man who has
The fire hole of every steamer is open to careful inspection
The Acting Inspector General of the Steamboat Inspection -Service de?
scribes the Methods hy Which He Ss Able to Assure Millions of Pas?
sengers That Go Up the River, Across the Harbor, or Down to
Coney, That Life Is Safer by Water than by Land-?The Precautions
Are as Strict as Man Can MaRe Them.
immediate charge of the safety of the i-ca
going public. I had asked Mr. Hoover wheth?
er, m his opinion, there was the least chano*
of a disaster paralleling that of the East
land in Chicago occurring in New York, whir.
millions of persona annually intrust them
????ves to the thoiisaiids of ships which ply U|
and down the Hudson, t?> Coney Island ?r t?
any of the numerous resorts so generally pat
ronized during the heated season. The reply
t.f the acting supervising inspector general
was emphatic and ?to the point New Vortei?
lte saiil. ? ???I have no fear <>f the boats at
their disposal.
ANONVMOI S LETTER < OMI'l. VIM s.
"There is nn one mure ?!<? irou? of ?knowing
the faults of any steamers which carry pas?
sengers than the Steamboat Inspection Ser?
vice," continued Uncle Sam's guardian <>f sea
travellers. "The responsibility for the wel?
fare of the boats and those who travel on them
rests upon our shoulders, and we wish to lind
?.ut everythinir possible about defects in these
.-hips. Then-fore, when we receive communi?
cations usually anonymous telling us that
such and such a vessel is unseawoithy. thai
her boilers ?ire defective, or thai ?lie i :".t
carrying the proper lifesaving equipmen . we
investigate ?it once. We don't even wait i"
write our instructions. We telegraph orders
that the local inspectors -ball at once ascertain
if the vessel named is really in the condition
alleged, ami the report is made to Washington
by wire.
"\s i oniy ?o he expected, these anony?
mous communications ami no: a few signed
have been pouring into the Washington
office since the Eastland disaster, where nea ly
?i thousand persons losl their lives. Not a tew
of the.??' letters have come from N'ew Votk,
and the force of thirty inspectors, under I sp
tain Seeley ha been kepi busy investigating
the rumors and determining whether the-*e is
any foundation for them. ? am not at liberty
to say what any of these allegations referred
to, but I can -ay that the Ve.v York ships,
? far i we an find <?ut through thorough
searching ami investigation, are in the best
?if shape and that there is a minimum ?>f
danger attached to travel upon them. I*.very
?me take- a ehance with death at all times,
whetber he stays at home or walks downtown
the roof may fall in on him or he mav be
hit by a runaway automobile but it is our
duty to keep this danger at its lowest point
with re p?'?'t to ib?- people who travel by brat,
and I do not think that I am boasting when
I say that this duty has been strictly lived
up to.
"At New York we maintain the largest force
<.f inspectors stationed ?it any city in the
United States. This is no more than right.,
inasmuch as N<w York lias the greatest
amount ?>f shipping and the largest number of
ships to be examined. Thirty men are busy
all the tun?*, investigating, inspecting and re?
porting upon the condition of the steamers
-ailing from New York, ami every excursion
and ferry vessel is inspected at least four
limes a year.
ANN! \l. SPRING INSPECTION.
"The annual inspection usually takes place,
in the case of excursion steamers, at the be
ginning of the summer season, and is the only
inspection for which the owners of the vessel
are warned and t?il?l to be ready. In fact, the
master of the boat or the owners rcipiest this
inspection every year ami ask for an appoint?
ment. At least two inspectors are assigned to
the work, and ?I usually takes them the best
pari of a day to cover the ship thoroughly.
\f th" end of their examination they transmit
to Washington a detailed report of what they
have found th<* date of construction of the
hull and boilers, tin- condition of the hull and
the general condition of the essential portions
of tiie vessel, the number of passengers tnat
should be allowed on board, the total capacity
of the lifeboats, and all other information
which may be of interest, to the service. They
also state the length of time consumed in
making their in ipection, so that the depart?
ment may be certain that they did not hurry
their work and shirk their duties. This in?
formation Is then placed on a card prepared
for the purpose and indexed so that WC
fin?! it at once, in case any question mar
later with respect to the construction or equip?
ment of this particular vessel.
"The person who reads of the Ka-rland
disaster may feel disinclined t<? trust any boat
that float? until Uta first horror of the ?j_.
aster has passed^-but if he will ir,-,*e?jti??_fc
he will discover that during the fi^i
which ended June 30, 191 I. ? .
p - ' - ?.: more tha,\ tl , .
population of the United ?pre
ried on steam vesatll whi'-b arr rfiijij^j t*
-report to the government. Of this va?t b?_.
her only lu."> were loot - 0* .
one in every three million! The sai?t7 ?f
travel on the water, therefore, winds] lrmiw
te be much ?greater than it i.
credit for. and the of ap ^
water craft b seen to be "?^?liu,
than nearly any form of tras ?port-ties. ?Jut
can be mentioned.
"The work of tin iteS
the vessels operatinr from the city of S>?
York really bee 0f ?^
than 100 ion? g '".aximaa
?ed, if lau: i
ration is made by the - i Whip fc
fa.n?intird on aevaal- maaya,
Showing Great Lakes local inspectors testing lifeboat davits.
The M^?m Wh? Diroipped Italy's
? hbl tirs
n
Gabriele W Annurawo, asid ihe Story
of Mow Me Came To Be HI i s Coun?
t's Second Garibaldi, Mer
Great Voice inn the
Present War.
By E. S. Evans.
THE Italy ai d the great war is
story of Gabriel i io. Who
? ' history of I
Italy and the widening i *e that
shrines the Latid peoples, and can interpret
the j 'o this
last '? * ' ;??? i? . Italian hist .-. - best
the story of why, with month on month of
warning and the,spread canvas of the great
ent her
gray green legi? ?emy.
One version after another has come by post
and cable, and - explanation
in the moi arking ten?
sion, while diplomacy played for peace in Home,
ur way. From the I - <>f the
an comment when the end baa come, with
it- vehenrn if craven Italy, to accounts
of an Italy playing a sordid game to catch
' * and flinging lives away for a i al
culated ma n, to the story of an Italy
inflamed by a feverish poet and jingoed into'
rallying to /fa .- ed int.?
th? . dieting tales come.
BIGNOR STRAPPO t'l iGLIO'8 VERSION.
Hut Strappo Quaglio, in New York, friend
D'Annunzio, discards them ;?!!, and pomp
back to the Story of the gnat Italian p
gives a detailed account of GabYielle D'Annun
zio's feeling for the Italy of the Adriatic. He
never speaks of D'Annunzio, however as th?
man whose burning voids, to the reader of
cable dispal eemi d like the drop of th?
hat, but always a< the ai
It has m - mar
or that one man were Italy, so clear his call
has been. SO unalterable and Unforgettable bis
It
Curious it is thai in high moments of Italian
history all that the country is and hopes should
have been welded ? symbolic personali
- of two men. Garibaldi i,i\<l D'Annunzio,
in calibre and manner so dis
tin ' nidi was d?fini!
? ading, driving, setting
hi- torch for Italy. With D'Annunzio, not so
be ha- not set the torch. He is the torch, made
from the cumulative fli the folk hi
of Northern Italy, th< pardener who
lent the show. ition
of his countrymen. Th? ; speak?
ing what wild yet inarticulat the lips
of common Italy was the moment when,
he was ? .?:l.d to make the com?
inea peech at the anniversary of the
famous expedition of.Garibaldi that united the
two Sicilies and gave back .Naples i?? the
Kingdom of Its
THE FADING GAMBA) DL
A yt.ir ago ont migh have said that Gari
ialdi as a figure was losing lustre, and there
cas fairly dispasaiona nee in every
quarter of the cm ; udemic historians,
who, CAain.niiig the litio beneath the letal of
criticism and comparison, had labelled him "sol?
dier of fortune," and his following a senti?
mental attachment for a legend. Hut with the
war, in the hearts of Northern Italy, the e
. feeling for "their Garibaldi."
To that was added the rekindling memory of
all that these war? against Austria had cost
for there is not a family in Northern Italy,
in Lombardy or in Venito, that has not nncl? .
?grandparents, one martyr or twenty, who e
blood was lost and whose life wen' oui for the
redeeming of Italy. None could forget their
obligation to the duty of reclaiming the Tren
And for years D'Annunzio has been the
of voice? for Italy, hi? the memory 11.at
could no! forget, the brightest mirror of Italy's
half buried hope
There has be? n no period in the whole of hi?
life when he has not been D'Annunzio the
patriot. He wai thai in the day.? of his ear?
liest humble journalism. Th ough all his work
he has missed no chance to celebrate tl e -?
pat and future of hi< country. Take a
touch here and there.
It is in the preface t.. "I.a Na e" thai he
speaks of "the very bitter Adriatic," and latei
as "?mi' sea" a little wistfully, and dwells upon
the bett? da: thai ii shall ?"<? am! what free?
dom it shall take. For these touches, disagree
?tria, the sale of the book was for?
bidden. D'Annunzio ?lui not car?'. What I
!'i said. In another place he made a
point of expressing a wish that an Italian aero?
plane Bhould fly over all of those lands wl ?
Italian was spoken, ?uni the Italian- through
? the Trentino secretly gloated over his
daring.
None nioic thai, he watched with slow dis
faith tic policy of Austria in the Adriatic,
nor hear?! without . though the affair
was hushed throughout the whole Italian press,
of the pressure in the Italo-Turko war that
kept the Italians ling their victory
in the Dardanelles.
None more than he resented the dismissa
of a well known ?general in 1910 for making
a rather mild speech in which he touched on
the annexation of the Italian provinces to the
kingdom a? not impossible.
THE PRO-GERM W PARTY.
not been lacking in Italy a :are.e
party who from month to month in the p., I
have always been .are of what th?'
(ici man alliance meant in the establishment "i
? y Italy, manufacturing Italy, the Italy
?i tramways tnd a hundred
other undertakings, and during the cany
months of the war sanl again ai 1 again tha'
to turn against the alliance that had !>
rally created modern commercial Italy wa
?Je.
But to ?'th? ; - the steady growth of indus?
trial Italy at Germany's hamls has nvwr boded
good. The fact that the two hijjgest banks had
time German ?Controlling director^ who made
. For I t.? borrow
money easily, provided always all supplies,
machinery and such wen- purchased of Ger?
man firms, ?-??ubi not, they said, be a safe or
disinterested affair.
German capital wan good to Italy, bu1 was it
?m? how remotely like the case, which al?
ways excites suspicion, of ?i guardian who
faithfully increases the fortune of his waul
and marries her himself out of hand, ??r like
ng fowls? Certain it is that groups of
Italians felt a kind of uneasiness lest they
'.'.ere paying for kindness by the relinquish?
men' of national secret strings.
To D'Annunzio these banking problems bad
? res! the great <? sential lay in rousing
Italy to a sense of th?- deten,-,? sh? needs must
mal ?? against the robust alien Kultur of the
North that in it- gathering momentum dimin?
ished the will to grow of I.a? m faith in it
own ait. ?
One sa.\s Latin and m?! merely Italian
advisedly. D'Annunzio's success ?n France
since he wenl four yeais ago to Taris has been
one oi the wonders of the literary and artistic
world, so that he fell into a position of more
distinction than Rostand, and the critic, I.eon
Bloom, wrote of him following the publication
of "San Sebastian" in middle French, this
sttikinr tribute:
"To .?a French literature counts a new
great poet. We knew that he had written in
French directly 'La Ville .Mort?'' and that the
en by Madame Sarah Bernhardt were
an original text. But 'Le Ville Moite.' thouph
written in the poetic form, is really prose. The
fad that a foreigner, and especially an Italian,
could compon a French poem so freely, with
such an assurance, of such a greatness . . .
that he succeeds in most particular problems
of vocabulary and rhythm . . . that he ani?
mates oy his contact a tongue that is not his
own something that would have seemed im?
possible without this proof. ... It is some
Gabriele D'Annunzio, Whose Vision of New Rome and a New Life for
All the Latin ?'copier* Was the Torch of War in
Lombardy and Vcnito.
"Happy Those/9 Me Cried, SpeaRing
for AM Common lialy-, "Who
Have a Deep K^fie?, for with
Their Own Mands Shall
They Extirpai? M"
thing we must bow to I efore all with amaze?
ment and grateful admiration."
At the beginning of the war. D'Annunzio
was in Paris, where he Aung himself into an
aident sympathy with France, but with the
growth of the pro-war sentiment in Italy,
overwhelmed by his sei m of th?4 kinship of the
Latin peoples, he retui i : to Florence, but not
as an organizer. His was no part of creating
public sentiment nor spreading it, but the artist
in him, sympathetic, sensitive to popular emo?
tion, could do nothing else he spoke. The
time and the place were the commemorative
exercises of the fiftieth anniversary of the
Garibaldi expeditions.
The speech was made in one of the I?
Italian towns, but ?1 va- dl tined to be heard
the world around. Berlin was listening and
Vienna dreaded what she knew must come.
The man was Italy's memory. To him each
chapter in the last years had been full of the
degraded pride of one's own person, for poet
patriots with white i nal heat regard
their country's equivocal positions. 'Forty
eijiht and '59 and '66 were always real to him.
The memory of an artisl i f? .greet?
ing.
To him as to the student.? in Trieste the
twenty years of unkept promise for an Italian
university and the brutality of the police at
every student protest, was a sign of greater
and ill things yet to come if Austria were not
stayed in her will.
He was the very echo of the groan that rang
fron hearts Italian when Prince Hphenlohe, the
Governor General of 1 ed from
service all the Italians, no matt ' mg
in service, who held municipal and governn ?
posts. The harshness and suspicion involved
flamed ??own the whole penii
It is in a measure unfair to speak again tue
words that D'Annunzio ?pike thai day. It is
so manifestly among the tasks imp? ible to
render the purity of his ?lame, the living in?
candescence of th? speech as it fell from h;s
lips in the inspired sweet . the original
Italian.
"Happy th,.se who ha4 e more, for more shall
they be able to give; happy those who are in
hut the twentieth yea:, with a chaste mind, a
temperate bodj and a courageous mother;
happy those who, waiting and full of confi?
dence, did not dissipate their strength, but
kept it in the discipline of the warrior; happj
those who despised all I i be vir?
ginal to this first and last love; happy th?
who ha-, e in their hearts a deep hate, for with
their own hands shall they extirpate it and
make their offering.
"Happy thooe who, having but yesterday
cried out against t, accept now in
silence our high necessity, and, no more last.
come first; happy are the youths who are hun?
gry and thirst aft . for they .hall be
.--tufied; happy the compassionate, foi they
shall minister to n | d and ber.d
above a radiant pain; hs ? .;re of heart,
happy those returning ?
shall see the new :..
The storms of epp '- DAn'
nunxio before he spoke ??-.-.
crowd that had i
-ay of what the) ?
mined to have come '"? a l*01*
al*-ea<ly long sini ' ho!ce m*(**
waiting for their p??? ,nem*
As the words ?-? i '*?- f*
vulaed ? id bore the ' ****J
with round on round of ' ? ';ir,t?"*;
ready for the war - R"5***"1
Ii'Annua?
hia ??? ti
years ha?) ha ? >':* iimst
him.
For D'A
hated and the in?.-* Italy.
., rrao ktv**
him laughed i
" ? ' ?t\Z i
to hin . It mad?
the man were aim ' tr^\rtt9. |
? ry word, th< .iwleije*.
the brilliant faculty hi ' ' * **
torical background! ?? th^re J
wh.de emotions of pa
perfect mastery. '
"Bourgeoise Italy ihyed '*"'!?
toward v 0t*Mgs
termed his unkind h*.
read h.
Now and i
to his nu?
ll- I ?
Rome. T
Louvain ','.
? '
is . ipregnal
pie rh< .
spirit that first
appear-' the ! _,??
tion. and verilj there -hal i .,
ne* French ???
ation ?if the war, not '?*.,
chanical Germai ?.. .'jaje*
ho;:, l0
,,r France, nor B<
king, but a count! y just u
led nor persuaded, but I ^ ,
pre.-.-,.!. \ jay
perfect . ?poken in *?*? ' "*"/ip
,%'iff?**
fire ??:' 1 ranc? ' ' j,, |afl
and -fing theii ight I i '-'??**? "
ui ..Oilil?.. .