“A full statement obtained to-day from Mr. W. F. Maginnis, the operator in the _Kentucky_, who sent the wireless message received by the _Alamo_, is a most dramatic narrative. The wireless telegraphic apparatus was installed in the _Kentucky_ just before her departure on a 14,000-mile cruise round Cape Horn, and to it forty-five men owe their lives. “Early on Friday morning, during a heavy storm, the engineer informed Mr. Maginnis that the ship was doomed. An hour later Mr. Maginnis got into wireless communication with the _Alamo_, then about ninety miles away, but not until noon was it possible for the captain to get an exact observation of his position. “‘Half an hour before that,’ says Mr. Maginnis, ‘the electrician came to me and said that the water was creeping up and that the dynamo power would soon be lost. All hands were then directed to abandon all other work and devote themselves to keeping the water away from the dynamo. The turbine engine and dynamo were wrapped in canvas and power was thus preserved until the vital message was despatched.’ “When the _Alamo_ at 3.30 p.m. reached the _Kentucky_, the deck of the sinking vessel was almost awash. The crew, despite the high seas, were rescued by the boats without mishap, and when they had clambered on board the _Alamo_ they immediately gave three cheers for Mr. Maginnis. “The _Kentucky_ was insured for £14,000. Her seams opened wide during the storm.” CHAPTER XIII SOME STEAMSHIP PROBLEMS I have left till the end of the story the consideration of some of those points which, though of the highest interest to many who are anxious to know something of the intimate character of the steamship, may seem to some readers to possess a special rather than a general concern. However, now that I have shown the manifold manner in which the steamship has advanced from a thing of scorn to a vessel of admiration, and have indicated as far as possible within the limitations at my disposal the ways and means that have brought this about, we may pertinently stop to consider for a few moments some of the problems which still have to be encountered even to-day, when naval architecture and marine engineering have attained to such heights of perfection. I shall endeavour, as, indeed, has been my aim throughout the course of this volume, to make myself perfectly clear without the employment of more technicalities than may be necessary. To the reader who may happen to form one of that large class who regard the ship, whether propelled by sails or by steam, with an admiration that verges on affection, I need offer no apology; for no one can possibly reverence the ship and, at the same time, be content to remain in ignorance about her complex nature.