
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 15, 1994                   TAG: 9408150072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LONDON                                 LENGTH: Medium

EXHIBIT OF TITANIC RELICS ASSAILED AS INSENSITIVE

The controversial loss of the SS Titanic has fascinated generations of Britons and Americans: The ``unsinkable'' luxury liner with its famous passengers sank on its first voyage in 1912 after ramming an iceberg in the Atlantic.

Controversial aspects of the sinking of the world's largest ship, sailing from Southampton to New York, have often been recounted; 1,513 died and the actions of senior officers were criticized. The ship had lifeboats for only half the 2,228 passengers and crew and did not reduce speed or alter its course despite repeated iceberg warnings.

Now Britain's National Maritime Museum is preparing a major exhibition called ``The Wreck of the Titanic,'' and it has generated controversy, too.

The exhibit, scheduled to open Oct. 4, will include a porthole, a chandelier, a champagne bottle with its contents intact, crystal, travelers' checks, statuettes, bracelets, a shaving brush and a leather cigarette case - complete with cigarettes.

Relatives of the Titanic's victims and others argue that the relics, recovered by U.S. and French salvagers in 1987 and 1993, should have been left with the wreck and that it is ghoulish to hold an exhibition of them.

Don Smith, great-nephew of Titanic Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the ship, said the exhibition of 150 items is ``nothing short of grave robbery. The dead should be allowed to rest in peace.''

And the British Titanic Society says that the exhibition is ``insensitive'' and is ``compounding an already emotive issue.''

``We object to the fact that it's being used for commercial gain,'' said society vice president Bob Pryor. ``If they have to do this, they should gather the items into one place as a memorial."

by CNB