Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tragedies better left in history
It’s easy to feel sentimental and maybe even a bit possessive about the Delta Queen.
The big paddlewheeler will not be allowed to have overnight cruise passengers beyond 2008, effectively signing the death warrant for the 81-year-old ship, which periodically stops in Winona.
Congress has continuously granted exceptions since 1970 so that it could have passengers. The primarily wooden structure could pose a significant hazard to guests, in case of an accident or fire.
Winona has been watching and greeting the Delta Queen almost forever it seems. Many turn out to greet passengers and get a look at the superboat. It’s also one of the links to Winona’s heritage as a Mississippi River town.
But after you get past the outrage of losing it, the rationale makes a great deal of sense.
While we don’t doubt every precaution is taken to ensure passenger safety on the Delta Queen — wood is wood and it can be flammable and not as sturdy as other materials.
Efforts to save the structure are well meaning, but fall short when stacked against the possibility of life loss.
Minnesota’s own Rep. James Oberstar, who heads the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said: “I can’t imagine the number of lives that could be lost if a fire started on the Delta Queen when everyone is asleep. Congress would never exempt a particular 747 aircraft from FAA safety standards and we should not exempt a vessel carrying hundreds of sleeping people from Coast Guard safety standards.”
That makes perfect sense.
Because if some tragedy did happen on the Delta Queen, it could make the recent loss of life
during flooding small in comparison.
We praise Oberstar and others who enforced the rule in the name of safety, but at the risk of becoming villains. While we also understand why Reps. Tim Walz and Ron Kind voted to continue the exemption, it’s better they found themselves in the minority. History and nostalgia must necessarily give way to safety.
We hope this doesn’t mean the end for old paddlewheel cruises, even if they are only daylong; or even if the boats are retrofitted or replicas.
If one reads just a little about riverboats, fires and wrecks along the river, seemed about as commonplace as mosquitoes. But those tragedies, while historic, are better left in the past.
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call (507) 453-3522 or e-mail letters@winonadailynews.com.
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