LOSS OF VESTRIS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 53, 26 November 1928, Page 12

LOSS OF VESTRIS

FEAR AMONG PASSENGERS TWO HOURS BEFORE SOS SENT OUT EVIDENCE AT INQUIRY New York, November 23. The chief engineer, John Adams, told of his inspection at the inquiry into the loss of the liner Vestris. The firemen left their posts at 10.30 In the morning, others of the crew of the Vestris being compelled to replace them for the remaining half-hour before further work became impossible. , In the meantime, before Mr. Tuttle’s inquiry, an affidavit signed by an English first-class passenger named E. M. Walcott- was read stating that intense excitement, and fear prevailed among the passengers for over two hours before an SOS was sent out. The passengers appeared on the decks with lifebelts, while stewards assured them that there was no danger. Mr. Walcott also declared that the captain’s voice was “so hoarse that I was unable to understand what he was saying, and on. giving his* last order it broke down altogether.” . Mr. Walcott corroborated the testimony of other witnesses that the captain went down still wearing his heavy overcoat, but without a lifebelt