On the face of the facts as known up to now
the charge does not seem to be true. If upwards of three hundred people
have been, as stated in the last reports, saved by the _Storstad_, then
that ship must have been at hand and rendering all the assistance in her
power.
As to the point which must come up for the decision of the Court of
Inquiry, it is as fine as a hair. The two ships saw each other plainly
enough before the fog closed on them. No one can question Captain
Kendall's prudence. He has been as prudent as ever he could be. There
is not a shadow of doubt as to that.
But there is this question: Accepting the position of the two ships when
they saw each other as correctly described in the very latest newspaper
reports, it seems clear that it was the _Empress of Ireland's_ duty to
keep clear of the collier, and what the Court will have to decide is
whether the stopping of the liner was, under the circumstances, the best
way of keeping her clear of the other ship, which had the right to
proceed cautiously on an unchanged course.
This, reduced to its simplest expression, is the question which the Court
will have to decide.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363