THE ST. LAWRENCE HORROR

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 98, 1 June 1914, Page 7

THE ST. LAWRENCE HORROR

WRECK of THE EMPRESS of IRELAND

A TERRIBLE DEATH ROLL FIVE NEW ZEALANDERS LOSE THEIR LIVES •;':y ' ' ' v FURTHER DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY

"Further particulars received by cable irt regard to the disastrous wreck of the Empress of Ireland show that out of a total of 1387 on board only 355 were saved. ~ There is also now no doubt that Mt W. Bloomiield, Mis Bloom- * field, and Miss H. Bloomfield, of Auckland, have lost their lives. Other-New Zealanders to perish were Mrs Hugh Wynn-Price, of Auckland, and Mrs Bailey,- mother of Mr A. P. Hailey, of Gisborne. A young lady ftfom Blenheim; Miss Townshend, managed to keep afloat until she was picked v Fears are entertained that a merchant of Suva, and several Australians have also gone down with the ill-fated liner. Thrilling accounts are also given of the rescue work after the collision, and the evidence given at the coroner 's inquest discloses many details of interest.

By Cable. —Press A.

tsociation.- —Copyright.

QUEBEC, May 29. A panic broke out after the terrible collision between the Empress of Irer landandthe Norwegian collier Storstad. •Men and women rushed from their cabins. •

THE yiNAL TOTALS.

A GRIM DEATH ROLL.

QUEBEC, May 30.; The final official totals are:-—-» Dead .. .. .... 103 a

Some reached, the deck, and were hurled off it into the river, owing to the angle of the deck. .Parents were separated from : their , children, husbands from their wives. Di Grant, the ship's surgeon, saved ' many lives, owing to his coolness and , capable directions in giving medical at- ; tention when the survivors were picked • up.' ■ ' Captain Xendall stood on the bridge when the vessel sank. Two hundred and fifty dead bodies . have been recovered. ; Dr Grant went down in the ship, but managed to escape through a port- • hole. The search still continues amongst the •wreckage in the river for five persons - keen clinging to wreckage. If still alive they are unlikely to survive the exposure/

Saved .. ...... 355

EXPLOSION SINKS THE LINER.

PITIFUL STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.

A steerage passenger named Phillip Lawlor asserts that, an explosion really caused the Empress, of Ireland to sink so rapidly. People were shot out Of the ship like peas frpm a-pod* i Lawlor, his,- wife■ and " son, slipped overboard, being unable to stand on the sloping deck.- V''"'...';*

His wife slipped from Lawlor's grasp and was drowned.

Another woman leaped from the sinking steamer and swam round awaiting succour for nearly an hour. Then she was picked up, but died aboard the

rescuing tug. A relief train, conveying the special .emergency staff of the Canadian-Pacific Co., wa» derailed. A second ' train waspromptly disr patched, iand brought the survivors to Quebec. - HOW THE IRVINGS DIED. GO TO THEIR DOOM TOGETHER. LONDON, May 30. Many limbs were broken. There was no time to arouse all the passengers.' - ! I Laurence Irving tied a lifebelt round

r PASSENGERS AND CREW. -, DEAD NUMBER 1032; , LONDON, May 30. An official statement -says the Empress of Ireland carried the following passengers:First class *. >•: 87 Second class : >• ... >• 153 Third class' 715 Crew ' ■ , y * - v: *;u:. f" 1387 The saved f 5 i : .. 18 , T, a • • 131 .. , h . ■' ■ . -f . £'mCr; 355 , pour Hundred Bodies RecoverecL Four hundred bodies have been recovered. The Missing. - The missing include Mr Bloomfield, his wife and daughter, of Auckland, and Sir Henry Seton-Karr, the wellknown sportsman.

NEW ZEALAND LADY SURVIVES.

SAVED BY A SUIT CASE.

Among the survivors is Miss Towns rltend, of New Zealand. I ' . QUEBEC, May 31.

Miss Townshend, who left New Zea- « land by the Niagara, swam alongside Clinton Burt, a motor car manufacturer, until he caught a suit case find held Miss Townshend up until the Storstad picked them up. Mrs Price, Miss Townshend's aunt, •was lost.

After having been rescued, Miss Townshend busied herself amongst the rescued, heroically aiding the most

stricken

RESIDENT OF BLENHEIM.

i> ,: 'MISS TOWNSHEND'S "SWIMMING SKILjL.

BLENHEIM, June I.

Miss Tiriah Townshend is the daughter of the Hon. E. Townshend, Crown Lands Ranger in Marlborough, and was travelling with her aunt, Mrs Hugh Wynn-Price of Auckland. , Yesterday morning Mr Townshend received a cable from Quebec stating that his daughter was safe but that her aunt was lost, and requesting that money and instructions be cabled.

■ Miss Townshend was a good swimmer and received emergency training at the Blenheim baths.

[Miss Townshend has relatives at Fendalton, and visited them shortly before her departure for England in April last. They describe her as a big strong girl physically, and ■ X. ■ . able to take care of herself in the hour of danger.]

his wife. "Dearie," lie said, t( hurry; there's no time to lose." .

When the vessel lurched, Irving was thrown against a door and his face

was cut.

He carried his wife upstairs, -where one of the other passengers offered his help. Irving said, '' Look after yourself, old man, but God bless you all the same." Both Irving and his wife climbed the ship's rail as the explosion occurred, and neither was seen again.

WOMEN SUFFER HEAVILY.

ONLY TWELVE RESCUED.

Twenty-two persons altogether died of exposure. Only twelve women were rescued. Enormous crowds awaited the arrival of the rescued at the station. The survivors were too hysterical to be able to give a coherent mceunt of the disaster. WIPED OUT! CANADIAN SALVATIONISTS.

The Salvation Army lost heavily, the whole of the territorial field force for Canada being wiped out, including Commissioner Bees.

The Army promptly met here and or

ganisi'il a new set of delegates and dispatched them to London by the next outgoing steamer, the band playing through the streets, "God be with you till we meet again, ,} the hymn that the band played for the victims of the Empress of Ireland on her departure.

AWFUL EXPERIENCES,

by a lifeboat, of which he assumed command and saved 73. persons*

. Afterwards he rowed round the wreck for three hours.

He subsequently became incapacitated by the nervous shock and lost the power of speech. Dr Grant was penned in his cabin, lie got his head through the porthole and a passenger pulled him through, and he was rescued.

HORROR-STRICKEN WOMEN.

Some of the women describe in hor-ror-stricken tones how they slid down the deck into the icy waters, and then sank and came to the surface, grasping wreckage and being dragged into boats half unconscious. One woman described the sensation as like being chloroformed in order to undergo a surgical operation, and then reviving to find that death had taken some loved one in the meanwhile.

AFTER THE COLLISION.

HOW LIVES MIGHT HAVE BEEN SAVED.

Dr Johnson, one of the CanadianPacific Company's officers, says that if the Storstad had not backed out after the collision many more would have been saved.

The 'Mareoni operator states that Father Point responded promptly to his call. H 6 was unable to talk, as the Empress of Ireland's dynamios failed within five minutes. -

The rescued are being cared for in Quebec. Many have lost everything they possessed. ;

Many of the women could easily have escaped, but they waited to procure articles of dress.

M'lntyre, a Salvation Army officer, says the vessel lay wallowing on her side for a few moments and then an explosion sent a burst of steam all over the vessel, which seemed to turn turtle.

THE ARMY PEOPLE'S FATE.

'' DIED LIKE SALYATIONISTS.''

" ' ' ENTIRELY DUE TO TOG.''

Ensign Pugmire, a Salvation Army officer, declares that alL'his comrades died like Salvationists. Commissioner Rees ran back to rescue his wife, and another Salvationist tried to save him, but failed. Major At well swam half a mile carrying his wife on his back, then when he was succumbing through cold and exhaustion, the wife kept her husband's head up. -Both were saved. '

STORSTAD'S CAPTAIN EXPLAINS.

QUEBEC, May 30. Captain Andresen, of the Storstad, has, arrived. He declarer that the collision was entirely) djie to the fogy down everything on. both vessels very quickly. The Storstad -pieked up-30Q persons/ transferring them ■ latere aboard the Government vessels;— ■ * ' '

Another Salvationist described walking down the side of the eareened Ship just-as if he were walking down a slop ing beach into-the sea. There was no disturbance, and- little panic. ship turned sideways it was -simply like entering the water in order to take a swim. 1

; ,This fact gave rise to the belief that j there were additional persons -rescued besides those at first reported. The vStorMad's bows were stove in and -her anchor lost, having sunk with th« Empress of Ireland. • .... It '\is Understood that Captain Kendall signalled in the customary way, indicating > that the Empress of ' Ireland was maintaining her course.

MAIL AND BULLION LOST.

Silver bars.jimounting to one million dollars, which were en route to England, together; with large of valuable mail rhatter,. wej"e, 1 " v m ' A -■ CRASSH] BOATS CANNOT BE J&VNOH^D,. " j ! ■■■• v- • ; • L6NDONy-^ky:SO;; ;; ' Mr Duncan, ; a Londoner, states tha't the terrific crash of the > collision Was frightful. There was a grinding of plates, and the Empress of Ireland heeled over. Though there- r : was a sufficiency -of ». boats - they were • iunabte to be launched owing to ite list'of the vessel.;-' I ;'^here,/ no though there was some, confusion. When the Empress of Iceland lurched, the passengers rolled down the. deck into the sea, the women' crying and praying, the men shouting. The cries continued Until the icy waters ended the sufferings of the criers.

LINER 'S OFFICERS ASSERTIONS.

STORSTAD DISREGARDS " SIGNALS.

officers of the Empress of Ireland assert that. the Storstad answered the. signals; but. failed to : change her course. . The Empress of: Ireland was moving - slowly when the Storstad struck her full in the side.

Thomas Smartt, of Toronto, says that Captain Kendall, when the crash came, was on the bridge. He shouted, Keep your heads,: there! Don't get excited!'' Then he ordered the stewards to assist .the passengers,- shouting, '' Women and children first. ■ Break open any locked doors."v * ■:v ; "■ •

There was so much screaming and moaning that> although the captain spoke through a megaphone, his" voice ■was drowsned.

Duncan swain for an hour, before he was rescued. He felt the bodies of dead men un<ler his feet.

The officers, he says, behaved splendidly, facing death fearlessly. Captain Kendall was on the bridge until the vessel sank. i Duncan was taken aboard the Collier. - • ■' '•

He says many of thosq i-iesfjued> went raving mad owing to the shock arid "exposure.

''CREW ACTED / LTKE MEN."

A TERRIFIC NIGHTMARE,

Mr Duncan declares that every one of the crew acted like men. They attempted to rouse the women, and secured numbers of lifebelts on deck for the use of those below. When Duncan was thrown into the water by the ship's lurch five men attempted to grasp him, and he was obliged to fight them off, otherwise he would have been drowned.

The rapidity with which the vessel careened and. sank made it impossible, he says, to do more than was done. The whole thing was like a terrible nightmare, from which one might awaken, at any moment, The thick fog, dark waters, and the sinking ship seemed wholly unreal, and the passengers did not grasp the danger until they "were thrown out of their berths or torrents of icy water fell in cascades down the companionways, drowning people before they were able to make a single effort to save themselves.

CAPTAIN LOSES HIS SPEECH.

DOCTOR'S GOOD FORTUNE.

Captain Kendall was- found clinging to the wreckage. He was picked up

STOP THAT COUGH WITH "STOP IT,"

Don't neglect a cough or cold. It is easy to cure now with Loasby's "Stop It," but if let run on it may affect the lungs seriously. This is what a mother thinks of Loasby's "Stop —"Please send me a large bottle of your '• Ftop It" by return mail. Last season one bottle cured my seven children of very bad, feverish colds with bad coughs. We had tried lots of other cough cures before we got "Stop It," but they gave no relief; but "Stop It" soon got to work and eased them at once.'' This is how you will Snd '' Stop It" act with you or any of your family, no matter how old or how young. "Stop It" always gives satisfaction. Price, 1/6, 2/6, and 4/6 (larger bottles are the cheaper), from all chemists and grocers. Wholesale agent: H. F. Stevens, and all merchants; or direct from A. M. Loasby, The Only Prescribing Chemist, 679 Colombo Street/ Christehurch. .38

When told by the ship's doctor that the ship was lost, Captain Kendall buried his face beneath the tarpaulin whereon He was lyiiig after the rescue, and cried as if his heart was broken.

Several passengers assert that, lifeboats fell" f*om% the port davits and crashed'across tne .slbping deck, passengers against, the'further '

¥he insurances.

LONDON, May 30.

.. The Empress of Ireland's insurances with Llpyd's were £27,000 on the hull, £2oo*ooo on the cargo, £IOO,OOO on the freight and disbursements, while the amount covered by the individual policies on passengers' lives and effects is estimated at "another £IOO,OOO.

CORONER OPENS ENQUIRY.

CAPTAIN KENDALL'S EVIDENCE.

«EVERY PRECAUTION HUMANLY

POSSIBLE."

QUEBEC, May 31. Thfe Coroner has opened his investigation at Rimouski. iCaptain' Kendall/ who - had recovered from the effects of his immersion but was very depressed, was the chief witness. He stated he saw the Storstad two miles off before the fog obliterated her. He stopped his ship and whistled three short blasts. The Storstad replied with one long blast. Some minutes later the Storstad loomed up in the fog. The ships were a length away. He megaphoned to her to backwater, and he himself went full speed ahead, • hoping to avert a collision. Afterwards he asked the Storstad to continue at full speed ahead in the hope that she would fill up the; hole in the Empress of Ireland's side, but the Storstad backed away and failed to beach the Empress

of Ireland.' The engines became useless in three minutes, and the Empress of Ireland filled rapidly when the Storstad backed away. Captain Kendall added that he saw the fog bank approaching in plenty of time to prepare, for it, and he took' every precaution humanly possible. The behaviour of the officers and crew was beyond praise."

ENGINEER DENIES EXPLOSION.

THE ORDERS PROM THE BRIDGE

The <iliief Engineer, Mr Sampson, gave that he remained in the engine-room until the lights went out and the steam had gone. He soon reached .the deck. The lifeboats broke

loose and swept numbers of persons under the water including himself. He was entangled in wreckage and narrowly "escaped. He scrambled into a boat. He could see the collier a mile and a-half distant. Immediately before the collision the Empress of Ireland went full speed astern and stopped. He then got the order '' full speed ahead," but had only started the engines when: the crash came. There was no explosion of any kind. If the eollier had kept closer to the liner's side many lives would have been saved. If she had pushed against the hole in the liner's side the Empress of Ireland could have reached ihe shore before sinking. ' . : ~ ;

OVER ONE HUNDRED.

SALVATION ARMY'S LOSS.

WELLINGTON, May 31. The National headquarters of the Salvation Army in Wellington to-day received a cablegram from the International headquarters in London, stating that over 100 officers and soldiers had been lost on the Empress of Ireland.

The officers who perished include Commissioner and Mrs Rees (Canadian commanders), Colonel and Mrs Maidment (Canadian chief secretary), Briga-. dier Scott Potter, Major and Mrs Findlay, Major and Mrs Creighton, Mrs Major Simcol,, and thirty other officers, also the Canadian Staff Band, : and' Brigadier and-Mrs; on ful- ; iouglr in Canada from India; were inade to the disaster in'all churches to-day. It is -not thought any New Zealand Salvationists were aboard.

The inquest was adjoMrnetl for T & week.

No Australians were lost in the Empress of Ireland.

GOVERNMENT ENQUIRY ORDERED

LATER PARTICULARS.

RELIEF FUND OPENED.

TALES OF WRECK AND -DEATH.

OTTAWA, May 30. The Government has ordered a searching enquiry into the affair. A relief fund has been opened. The Government is promising a large contribution.

CASES OF SELF-SACRIFICE.

(Received June 1, 9.15 a.m.)

LONDON, May 31.

There were references throughout England in churches and chapels to the disaster, and notable 'services were held' by the Salvation Army. Two Board of Trade representatives have gone to Canada. English correspondents in Canada give many interesting incidents of the disaster. Over a million dollars' worth of silver was lost. -

GRIEF-STRICKEN RELATIVES.

ALTERNATING HOPES AND FEARS,

LONDON, May 30.

There were-poignant scenes in London, hysterically anxious ; crowds besieging the-Canadian-Pacific Company 's; London office.

Out of 140 Toronto people aboard the Empress of India 108 were drowned. Otft of 160 Salvationists, including the delegates to the London Congress, only twenty-two were rescued. .

< It was a day of alternating hopes and fears. '

The dearth of news, especially the absence of the survivors' names, intensified the. depression.- * Many of those waiting for news determined upon an all-night vigil. The majority were interested in the fate of members of the* crew. There ' were > numerous . theatrical artists the crowd, who despairingly enquired, as to Laurence Irving's fate. ,

The Storstad's bow was smashed for a distance of fifteen feet, and her anchors were driven into her hull, Mr and Mrs Neville were returning after a tour with Laurence Irving's company.

Captain. Kendall, bade Hayes, the purser, farewell on the bridge.

"When the water was lapping roiind his feet he gave a passenger his belt. - Hayes and Captain Kendall' jumped together. Hayes was soon picked up and Captain Kendall was fotiiid later clings ing to some wreckage. Hundreds of people were drowned in their sleep. Sir Henry Seton-Karr insisted *>n a. Mr Darling, of Shanghai, taking his' belt, and Darling was saved. The King has cabled to tke Duke of Connaught, stating his deep grief at the awful disaster, and. his heartfelt sympathy with the mourners. The Kaiser telegraphed to King George, deploring the catastrophe and loss of valuable lives.

The offices of the company at Liverpool continued to be surrounded till a lajfee hour with a grief-stricken crowd of women and children, while men, stoically speechless, struggled to obtain, a glimpse of the latest messages at the windows. THE SADDEST SCENE. A WIDOW'S SAD LOT. Perhaps the saddest scene in Liverpool in connection with the Empress of Ireland disaster was that of a woman wearing mourning, entering to claim insurance at the office of the CanadianPacific Company on her dead husband's Wiett ' she heard a coiriinissionaire describing the ebllisfon, she enquired the name of the steamer, and fainted upon hearing the name of the Empress of Ireland) whereon her son was a sailor.

THE TOLL OF THE SEA,

AN ILL-FATED FAMILY,

Among the watchers at the London offices was Captain Kendall's niece, Mrs Wild, whose father was drowned in the Britannic., Her husband was chief officer of the Titanic and penshed, and her brother, George Evans, was sixth officer of the Titanic and. was also dropped. Her brother Frederiich was an officer on the; Empress of Ireland*

EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW.

WORLDrWIDE SYMPATHY.

The feingj Prince Alexander;of jTe<jk, the Governor-General , designate,; and Mr Borden, the Prime Minister, ■ telegraphed their condolences., i :• j

; THk WOR& OF RESCUE.

CAPTAIN'S theiujng STORY.

M. Poincar«S telegraphed to tlie. King his personal condolences ,and Francis's greatsympathy.

i SURVIVORS STRUGGLING IN

WATER.

MESSAGE FROM NEW ZEALAND.

(Received June 1y10.30l y 10.30 a.m.) QUEBEC,/sgy 30.

HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE.

The Storstad has been; docked in order to ascertain the extent of the damage. '

Press Association. DUNEDIN, May 30. . The Prime Minister has sent the following cablegram to the Prime Minister of Canada: —

Captain Kendall, further examined at the inquest, declared that he gav» the ordei to go full speed ahead in order to attempt to beach the Empress of Ireland.

"On behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand, I desire to express sincere sympathy with our sister Dominion in the appalling loss of life which has taken place in the foundering of the steamship Empress of Ireland, and our heartfelt condolence with the relatives and friends of those who

He ordered th<? lifeboats out and directed that wireless calls be despatched, but the vessel went down too rapid- : • . •

Captain Kendall was shot from the bridge while he was giving these directions. ,

have perished." Mr Massey has cabled to the Prime -Minister of Canada,, asking for the names of New Zealanders on the passenger list of the -Empress of Ireland, and for a statement whether they are saved or lost, in order that friends and relatives may have information as quickly as possible regarding those who may have been passengers.

He seized a piece of grating and later on, when he was nearly unconscious, some people pulled him into a boat.

He then todk command of the rescue work and saved numbers of struggling people.

He put ten men over the side and attached ropes to them and dragged them to safety.

CANADA'S REPLY.

After leaving the first boatload of people aboard the Storstad Captain Kendall returned in another boat, but was unable to find anyone alive. He said it Was' impossible that the Storstad's captain could fail to hear his (Captain Kendall's) order to stand fast and not to go astern. Even if he did not hear the call to keep ahead, as a seaman he ought to know what .to do.

NEW ZEALANDERS ON BOARD,

DUNEDIN, May 31. The Prime Minister on Saturday afternoon received the following reply sent from Ottawa at 12.45 p.m.:"Prime Minister, Dunedin. "On behalf of the Government and people of Canada I send our deep and sincere appreciation of your message, and: our -warmest sympathy for those in your Dominion who have "been bereaved by loss of relatives and friends in tfti;* appalling disaster. Signed, Borden." In reply to the other message, the following was dispatched at 1.35 p.m., from Ottawa: —

There was no explosion, but the escaping steam might have made a noise like one. ..-..v:

The Empress of Ireland carried ample boats and there was room for hundreds more than those aboard: the boats which Captain Kendall cut free.

< < New Zealand saloon passengers Empress of Ireland were:— Colonel Bloomfield, Mrs Bloomfield, Miss H. Bloomfield, of Auckland; Mrs F. W. Price, Miss Townshend, address not known. Miss Townshend was saved, but fear Bloomfield family and Mrs Price were lost. Signed, Borden."

These boats floated off when the vessel sank.

SHIPLOAD OF COFFINS.

A GRUESOME BURDEN".

'' NAZOL'' stops coughs and eolds as a puff of wind blows out a lamp — can't help doing it. Each bottle contains sixty doses, and every drop gives relief. Use with the Nazol Inhaler. .3

The Storstad rescued only a few sur vivors.

The Government steamer with the ensign and her flags at half-mast brought one hundred and seventy-five coffins to Quebee. lt is believed that the

remainder of the dead are stiy soned in the Empress of Ireland's. Inta*? THE IK. FATE UNKNOWN.

AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE ABOARD.

(Received June 1, 11.20 a.m.) MELBOURNE, June 1. 'f* It is feared that the passengers lost in the Empress of Ireland include Ml Gabriel Marks, of the Suva firm, of H. Marks and (Jumpany, and his wife, who' ■are'touring the'world; " • » r Ss| Also, possibly, the father, mother, and brother of Colonel Macmillan, of the Salvation Army Training College in "i," Melbourne. They had' announced intention of"travelling to the Conference with • the Canadian delegates. • THEARMY'/LOSSES. ' ' REPLACING COMMISSIONER REES. ' - According .to advides received at the Vyjj Army, headquarters, the Salvationist death roll aboard the Empress of Irei. land totals 130. ... .A. cable from General Bramwel? Booth states, that' he has sent Commissioner M'Eie td stand by Canadian forces/ to. whom he pays a high- tribute ' for their bravery.

FEELING IN AUSTRALIA.

MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE.

(Received June-1, 11.20 a.m.) * ( ' H:f SYDNEY, June 1. Mr W. A. Holman is ./'cabling *: to Canada- a message of sympathy in con- :'M nection "with the-loss: cfthe Empress qt Ireland. / ; ; \ Sympathetic reference to the, disaster % was made in various churches of the --f Commonwealth.' ' ANOTHER NEW ZEALANDER LOST, V •' ■ - ' ' MRS OF (HSBORNE. f< ■ ' > ; ,^ai ' Press Association. ' GISBORNE, JuneX ~"J| Mrs Hailey, mother of Mr A. P. Hai- : ley,., of Gisfeoriie, and formerly f of .' "Hf Rotorua, left Vancouver oh -May 21, in-- v";I •tending to. embark, on- the Empress oi ->l| Ireland. Mr Hailey gram siting that : she wa& ancM» <l| that! there is no*hdpe- of feerfeving-lreer saved. v. r_A CRAIG FAMILY'S - ' " '■' : • , s -" - • A FORTUNATE POSTPONEMENT. , Pnss Association., _ . " "yi HASTINGS, June «1.~ ' Mr J. J. Craig, of Auckland, who is on a visit here, has received' a cable message, from Charlotte Prince Edward Island, stating,.that Mrs Craig,' Mr J. C. Craig, and Miss Craig had *<s postponed thein departure, and were aboardthelkapress of Ireland.