SO great was the interest in the tragedy and so profound the grief at the tremendous loss of life that for a time the financial loss was not considered. It was, however, the biggest ever suffered by marine insurance brokers.
The value of the policy covering the vessel against all ordinary risks was $5,000,000, but the whole of this amount was not insured, because British and Continental markets were not big enough to swallow it. The actual amount of insurance was $3,700,000, of which the owners themselves held $750,000.
As to the cargo, it was insured by the shippers. The company has nothing to do with the insurance of the cargo, which, according to the company’s manifest, was conservatively estimated at about $420,000. Cargo, however, was a secondary matter, so far as the Titanic was concerned. The ship was built for high-priced passengers, and what little cargo she carried was also of the kind that demanded quick transportation. The Titanic’s freight was for the most part what is known as high-class package freight, consisting of such articles as fine laces, ostrich feathers, wines, liquors and fancy food commodities.
Prior to the sailing of the vessel the postal authorities of Southampton cabled the New York authorities that 3435 bags of mail matter were on board.
“In a load of 3500 bags,” said Postmaster Morgan, of New York, “it is a safe estimate to say that 200 contained registered mail. The size of registered mail packages varies greatly, but 1000 packages for each mail bag should be a conservative guess. That would mean that 200,000 registered packages and letters went down with the Titanic.
“This does not mean, however, that Great Britain will be held financially responsible for all these losses. There were probably thousands of registered packages from the Continent, and in such cases the countries of origin will have to reimburse the senders. Moreover, in the case of money being sent in great quantities, it is usual to insure the registry over and above the limit of responsibility set by the country of origin.
“Probably if there were any shipping of securities mounting up to thousands of dollars, it will be the insurance companies which will bear the loss, and not the European post-offices at all.”
In the case of money orders, the postmaster explained, there would be no loss, except of time, as duplicates promptly would be shipped without further expense.
The postmaster did not know the exact sum which the various European countries set as the limit of their guarantee in registered mail. In America it is $50.
Underwriters will probably have to meet heavy claims of passengers for luggage, including jewelry. Pearls of one American woman insured in London were valued at $240,000.
The Titanic and her valuable cargo can never be recovered, said the White Star Line officials.
“Sinking in mid-ocean, at the depth which prevails where the accident occurred,” said Captain James Parton, manager of the company, “absolutely precludes any hopes of salvage.”
In the life insurance offices there was much figuring over the lists of those thought to be lost aboard the Titanic. Nothing but rough estimates of the company’s losses through the wreck were given out.
The loss to the Carpathia, too, was considerable. It is, of course, the habit of all good steamship lines to go out of their way and cheerfully submit to financial loss when it comes to succoring the distressed or the imperiled at sea. Therefore, the Cunard line in extending the courtesies of the sea to the survivors of the Titanic asked for nothing more than the mere acknowledgment of the little act of kindness. The return of the Carpathia cost the line close to $10,000.
She was delayed on her way to the Mediterranean at least ten days and was obliged to coal and provision again, as the extra 800 odd passengers she was carrying reduced her large allowance for her long voyage to the Mediterranean and the Adriatic very much.
CHAPTER XXIV. OPINIONS OF EXPERTS
THE tremendous loss of life necessarily aroused a discussion as to the cause of the disaster, and the prevailing opinion seemed to be that the present tendency in shipbuilding was to sacrifice safety to luxury.
Captain Roden, a well-known Swedish navigator, had written an article maintaining this theory in the Navy, a monthly service magazine, in November, 1910. With seeming prophetic insight he had mentioned the Titanic by name and portrayed some of the dangers to which shipbuilding for luxury is leading.
He pointed out that the new steamships, the Olympic and Titanic, would be the finest vessels afloat, no expense being spared to attain every conceivable comfort for which men or women of means could possibly ask— staterooms with private shower-baths, a swimming pool large enough for diving, a ballroom covering an entire upper deck, a gymnasium, elaborate cafes, a sun deck representing a flower garden, and other luxuries.
After forcibly pointing out the provisions that should be made for the protection of life, Captain Roden wrote in conclusion:
“If the men controlling passenger ships, from the ocean liner down to the excursion barge, were equally disposed to equip their vessels with the best safety appliances as they are to devise and adopt implements of comfort and luxury, the advantage to themselves as well as to their patrons would be plainly apparent.”
Lewis Nixon, the eminent naval architect and designer of the battleship Oregon, contributed a very interesting comment. He said in part:
“Here was a vessel presumed, and I think rightly so, to be the perfection of the naval architect’s art, yet sunk in a few hours by an accident common to North Atlantic navigation.
“An unsinkable ship is possible, but it would be of little use except for flotation. It may be said that vessels cannot be built to withstand such an accident.
“We might very greatly subdivide the forward compartments, where much space is lost at best, making the forward end, while amply strong for navigation purposes, of such construction that it would collapse and take up some of the energy of impact; then tie this to very much stronger sections farther aft. Many such plans will be proposed by those who do not realize the momentum of a great vessel which will snap great cables like ribbons, when the motion of the vessel is not perceptible to the eye.
“The proper plan is to avoid the accident, and if an accident is unavoidable to minimize the loss of life and property.”
The Titanic disaster was discussed by Robert H. Kirk, who installed the compartment doors in the ships of the United States Navy. Mr. Kirk’s opinion follows:
“The Titanic’s disaster will cause endless speculation as to how similar disasters may be avoided in the future.
“The Titanic had bulkheads, plenty of them, for the rules of the British Board of Trade and of Lloyds are very specific and require enough compartments to insure floating of the ship though several may be flooded. She also had doors in the bulkheads, and probably plenty of them, for she was enormous and needed easy access from one compartment to another. It will probably never be known how
“A Lloyds surveyor in testing one of these hand-operated doors started two men on the main deck to close it. They worked four hours before they had carried out his order. If all the doors on the ship had worked as badly as this one, what would have happened in event of accident?”
