THE GREAT SEA TRAGEDY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 99, 2 June 1914, Page 7

THE GREAT SEA TRAGEDY.

ST. LAWRENCE DISASTER. CONFLICTING REPORTS CURRENT SURVIVORS' THRILLING STORIES. COLLIER'S CAPTAIN DEFENDS HIS ACTION. By Cable.—Press Association. —Copyright. QUEBEC, May 31. It is difficult to fix the responsibility for the disaster, as so many conflicting stories are current.

. In an interview at Toronto Major Attwell, a Salvation Army officer, said he did not see. the captain on the ship. He" heard no orders given, and did not see the officers at their posts.

Other survivors corroborate his statements.

A survivor says that the. boat he clambered into had fifty people in it. The davit ropes were fouled, and the people were sitting on the oars, making rowing impossible. He saw th 6 stern of the vessel rise and the bow There was a hiss and a gurgle, and the steamer sank. Some people when rescued went crazy. The balance of evidence suggests that the best traditions of the race were not dishonoured. confusion and frenzy, but over all was concern for the weak, self-sacrifice,' splendid patience, and endurance.

SORROWFUL ENQUIRERS,

COMPANY'S OFFICES BESIEGED.

LONDON, June 1

The Canadian-Pacific Company's offices in London were again besieged throughout the day by a big crowd of sorrowful enquirers. Every new list of names posted iat - the entrance was eagerly scanned. During the : afternoon the celebrated "Silver Band,' r belonging to the Regent Hall branch of the Salvation marched playing '• 1 Eternal Fatherj Strong to Save;," The band was- accompanied by the New Zealand contingent attending the London conference. -The company 's officials stood in the doorway with bowed heads". Subsequently the Salvationists held a memorial meeting in the vicinity, the New Zealanders addressing the mourners. •, ' 1 The Lord Mayor has opened a; Mansion House Fund for the victims' deHe invites Mayors throughout the Ignited Kingdom to 'open similar funds.

A convention in London, representing 2,000,000 Irish residents in Great Bri-

tain, offered its profound sympathy to the victims'dependents.

THE COLLIER'S CAPTAIN,

BIG CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION.

MONTREAL, June 1.

The Storstad has arrived here* The Canadian-Pacific Coihpany : has issued a writ against Captain Andresen, claiming dollars. The seamen on the Storstad say that Captain Andresen was not on duty , at the time of the collision. They also state that the Storstad was ordered astern before striking the Empress of Ireland. The Government has ordered an investigation into the disaster .in conjunction with the British -Board of Trade. The Government has appointed Captain Lindsay, Superintendent of the St. Lawrence pilots, to hold a preliminary investigation, the object being to secure declarations from the survivors. The steamer Lady Grey has arrived with 176 bodies on board, . SATETY AT SEA. N.S.W. PREMIER'S STRONG • EXPRESSION. . SYDNEY, June 1.

The Governor-General and the State Governors have cabled expressions of sympathy to Mr Borden. The Hon. W. A. Holman, Premier of New South Wales, referring to the disaster, said he supposed the enquiry would end in the condemnation of some unfortunate second mate or a seaman. There would be no safety for the travelling public till the directors of companies which sent 1500 people to sea in a ship capable of destruction in fifteen minutes were put on trial as accessories to manslaughter. He hoped the Canadian Government would..deal with the calamity in that spirit, not merely by saying that those implicated were innocent or guilty. The disaster might have been a mere act of God, but if it vas due to human failing, the people who made money by gambling in human lives ought to be punished. DREAM OF DISASTER. A MOURNFUL PROCESSION. (Received June 2, 8.30 a,m.) -i QUEBEC, June 1. Ensign Smith and; Mrs Smith cancelled their passage to London by the Empress of Ireland, because of Mrs Smith's dream of another Titanic disaster. Pitiful scenes occured in the shed where the corpses were laid out in plain pine coffins. Thirty of them have not been identified. Distraught women and heartbroken

men searched through the shed for their missing relatives.

Men-o'-warsmen carried the coffins ashore, the procession along the gangway lasting for an hour.

FUND FOR SUFFERERS.

VICTIMS IDENTIFIED,

(Received June 2. 9.55- a.m.) LONDON, June 1.

The King has given. £SOO, and the Queen £250 to the Mansion House Fund for sufferers through the Empress of Ireland disaster. Advices state that the bodies of Sir ! Henry Seton-Karr, Mrs H. Wynne- ! Price, of New Zealand, and Miss G. Byrne, of Brisbane, have been identified.

QUIVERING- UNDER THE BLOW.

DEATH AT DEAD OF NIGHT,

(Received June 2, 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, June 1.

Bishop Ryle, Dean of Westminster, preaching at the Abbey, said that the English people quivered under the blow of the disaster. It was but an enlargement on a terrible scale of daily disasters on road, rail, aeroplane, and motor car, but was more dreadful because death and destruction had been caused to hundreds of their own kith and kin through no fault or foolhardiness in the protected waters of a river iat dead of night.

A BLOODSTAINED ANCHOR.

GHASTLY REVELATIONS.

(Received June 2, 10.50 a.m.) , OTTAWA, June 1.

An examination of the Storstad shows that the anchor point pierced through the Empress of Ireland's side, killing numbers 6f people in their- cabins, .

The anchor was covered with blood.

The anclior evidently opened the Empress of Ireland's plates like a salmon tin-opener. , \

STORSTAD CAPTAIN'S DEFENCE.

A SPIRITED PLEA,

Captain Andresen, of the Storstad, ,asserts that th<p Empress of Ireland changed her course, as he maintained his undeviatingly. The Storstad's speed was checked l effore she struck the Empress of Ireland.

Captain Andresen says he attempted to keep the Storstad's nose against the Empress of Ireland's side, but, owing to the speed at whieh the Empress of Ireland wa's proceeding he was unable to do so.

Captain Andresen asks that judgment be suspended Until a compensation tribunal apportions the'blame. !

&ANNOT BE RAISED.

VALUABLES MAY BE RECOVERED.

Commander Tweedie, of the cruiser Essex, says it will be impossible to raise the • Empress of Ireland, but he thinks that divers may red over the money and valuables from the hull. .

AUSTRALIA'S SYMPATHY.

THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

(Received Juno 2, 9.55 a.m.)

MELBOURNE; June 2

The Governor has cabled to the Secretary of State for the Colonies as follows:

"Will you convey to Canada Australia's deepest sympathy with her sister Dominion and the relatives of those who perished in the terrible shipping disaster."

LAWRENCE IRVING' S FATE.

HIS BODY DRIFTS ASHORE

(Received June 2, 12.45 p.m.)

LONDON, June 1

News has been received that Laurence, Irving's body has drifted ashore.' The. face is unrecognisable. His hand was clutching a piece of his wife's night attire. The fund being, raised .in Liverpool has reached £15,000.

Mr James Hughes, who was in Christchurch yesterday, probably has the distinction of being the only person in New Zealand who was off board the Empress of Ireland when she made her maiden voyage in 1906. Mr Hughes joined the liner as second steward,when she left the builders' yards, and voyaged in her to Liverpool, whence she sailed for Quebec. MEMORIAL SERVICES. SALVATION ARMY ARRANGEMENT. In connection .with the Canadian disaster, the Salvation Army authorities at Wellington have issued instructions for memorial services to be held in all Salvation Army Halls throughout the Dominion on the night of Sunday, June 7. This will probably be the rule in every Salvation Army Corps throughout the world." Staff Captain Gunn, Who is in charge of the Canterbury division, in the absence ,of Staff Captain Newby, who is at the London Congress, will conduct the central memorial service at the Citadel in Christehurch.