Mr. MacGregor for eighteen years was marine superintendent of the Dominion Atlantic Railway, whose steamships plied between New York, Boston and Nova Scotia. He retired a few years ago.
SUBMARINE BELL
Another opinion is that the use of the submarine bell would have prevented the collision of the Storstad and the Empress of Ireland. The bell is in use on lightships, but sea-going vessels use only the receivers, and the utility of the warnings by sound under water between approaching vessels is not appreciated. Many think that publication of the facts would aid in making the use of the apparatus compulsory, and point to the time when those who could spread the knowledge of the useful wireless system hesitated to “do anything that would advertise a patented article.” The report of the American Commissioners to the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, touching on submarine bells, says:
“While the American delegation was convinced of the value of submarine bells, it did not press their compulsory use, as this bell is patented and sold only by one company. In the official recommendations (No. 5) the use of this bell is recommended by lightships on important outside stations where fog is frequent. Congress has appropriated money for this purpose in the United States.”
The question has been raised by Mr. William Spiegel, whose patent on the submarine bell was granted in 1888, whether the fundamental invention is longer protected by the patent laws. His patent was bought up about five months before its expiration in 1905. But whether or not subsequent and patentable improvements have been made, if the bell will prevent collisions in fog it should be used, and, if necessary, its use should be made compulsory.
REGULATION OF TRAFFIC
It is probable that the wider investigation of the disaster will deal with traffic regulations or their absence which made the collision between the Empress and the Storstad possible. There are no regulations separating the paths of eastbound and westbound steamers in the St. Lawrence, although at the point where this collision occurred the river is nearly thirty miles wide and the depth of water ample for the whole distance across. The Empress of Ireland had gone out from Father Point and was proceeding down the river at a distance of three miles from shore, which is apparently the custom. The Storstad, with her 11,000 tons of coal, was steaming westward at about the same distance from shore, and this, too, seems to have been the custom. Cargo-carrying tramp steamers have equal rights with passenger ships in the St. Lawrence, and the path along the south shore off Father Point and Rimouski seems to be common to both classes of traffic both eastbound and westbound. It is not so long since the Empress of Britain, sister ship to the lost Empress of Ireland, ran into the collier Helvetia, but in that case the collier came off second best. Obviously, we must have more painstaking rules for the navigation of the Gulf and River.
The 32 pages of illustrations contained in this book are not included in the paging. Adding these 32 pages to the 319 pages of text makes a total of 351 pages.
Transcriber’s Note
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.