Wave

When the world's largest ship, S. S. Majestic, nosed down Southampton Water last trip, she carried precious cargo. In the first cabin were Richard Bedford Bennett, Prime Minister of Canada', Novelist Mrs. Belloc Lowndes, Violin Prodigy Ruggiero Ricci, Rev. Cyril Argentine Alington, Headmaster of Eton College (see p. 38). In the hold were 311 boxes of gold --$15,000,000 worth--part of Britain's $95,550,000 War debt payment.

Dirty weather began as soon as the ship left Cherbourg. The second day out the great hull plowed into mountainous grey-streaked combers and a 60-m. p. h. head wind. Speed was cut to 7 knots, just enough to maintain steerage but so vast is the Majestic that first-class passengers remained in comparative comfort. At lunch time she creaked violently twice, a shudder ran down the ship. Few passengers noticed it.

It was different forward. A huge wave had smashed into the forecastle deckhouse and buried it under tons of water. Two cooks were working in the crew's galley when the wave struck. It stove in the door, ripped open a steel bulkhead, and as the cooks crouched by the wall drove the stove and two half-ton boilers straight through the rear bulkhead. Seaman H. J. Johnston of Portsmouth was in the alleyway. Fifteen minutes later when the water had ebbed enough for an officer and a quartermaster to wade in, Seaman Johnston was found dead, smashed against the wall. On Christmas Eve they buried him at sea. Captain Trant read the service and they slid his body over the rail wrapped in the Union Jack. Passengers subscribed a $250 purse for his widow and children. The Majestic made New York harbor 24 hours late. In January 1929 the Majestic shipped another great wave which smashed in the forward hatches for three decks down. That time it was one of the galley cooks who was killed. Five seamen were injured.

Into effect last week went the "International Convention for the" Safety of Life at Sea," a uniform series of marine safety laws agreed to by Britain, France. Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Spain, Finland, Holland, and Denmark. It was drawn up in London in 1929 after investigations into the sinking of S. S. Vestris with a loss of 112 lives in 1928. No party to the convention is the U. S. Both the International Seamen's Union and the American Federation of Labor backed the fight against it in Congress, claiming that U. S. shipping inspection laws are already more stringent than the proposals of the International Convention. They claim the following jokers exist in the Convention's wording: i) A safety certificate from a foreign vessel's home port would prevent additional inspection by U. S. inspectors, as is now possible. 2) Present provisions of the Seamen's Act covering experience of seamen shipping from U. S. ports could not be legislated upon. Alien seamen would no longer have to pass medical inspection. 3) Foreign vessels could dump immigrants in the U. S. by signing on double and triple crews, leaving most of them behind.

Two other nations which have not signed the Safety Convention are Belgium and Japan.

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