STORIES OF SURVIVORS

Evening Star, Issue 15537, 6 July 1914, Page 8

STORIES OF SURVIVORS

FROM THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND. PATHETIC SCENES AT QUEBEC. IDBXnFICATION~OF THE BODIES. The 'Toronto Globe' supplies the following additional particulars of the Empress of Ireland disaster: The deep is yielding up ■ yts dead. Thronehout the weu-ry hours of a long imirkv" night group* of drawn, tense faces gazed'unseeingly over the sdent- bt. Lawrence, shrouded in damp darkness. Dawn broke clear: sunlight bathed the water*. U the Sabbath bells ot the historic "Basilica -ave forth their early call to wordno there rounded into view, far down ;i-...' rrretrt river, the revenue cutter Lady Grey! The " funeral ship." the inhabitants called her. in quaint reverence. The little steamer, commanded by Captain Memer, and conveying 176 bodies tiom the Empress of Ireland, was guarded and eseorted'by H.M.S. Essex, f tormidable first class armored cruiser of the bn li-dt fleet. despatched by the Admiralty for this sen-ice at the personal request of the King. The Hags of both vessels dinned at half-mast. It was shortlv after 7 clock when tIM two ve«e'ts approached the Government r.ier. half a mile below the citv. The warship came to anchor out in the river, and 1-vero.nilv sa'.mad. The little Lady Urev. with her sad steamed _slowly t'-. the pier. On her btidge. with Cap ton; Mercier and the pilot to Commander Tweedie. of the British warship, while, standing guard over the tiers of caskets and boxes which ciowded both her tteow, were Tines of British bluejackets. Wit'.dn the Canadian Pneitic freight shed zuarded by Dominion officers and officials, iw-re rows upon rows of crepe-covered uiblir-g. Upon these the dead were laH Vr identification. All about- the great wilding, on the tops of sheds and other xiints of vantage, were clustered scores of •ombre, curious men and women.

Amid the mourning there arose profound respect for the* British tar. The task of removing the dead was allotted to His Majesty's sailors. Silent, reverent. itud efficient*. 103 marines went about their r.-ork. They carried the rough boxes upon :heir shoulders, marching in solemn step. :hc rhvthmie beat of their feet the only <ound 'heard. As each body was placed upon its temporary resting-place in the shod the sailors reverently saluted and ictiirued to the vessel for their next ghastly burden. Peculiarly pathetic was the removal of the tiny caskets, the remains of the children, on the shoulders of the " little middies." It took an hour and lea minutes to land the bodies. —Whole Family Lost.—

Most pathetic is the experience- of C. A". Cullen, a merchant of Montreal, who rid: ssnt his wife, two children, and a naid, Jennie Blythe. on the Empress of

Vdjtnd for a summer trip to England. ("he-'ji maid alone survived. Cullen. iu a ~he<|k grey suit, and wearing a straw hat, 7-111$ from" one coffin to another looking 'or pis wife, but in vain. Then he turned -.'} tjjfeze on the 25 coffins of children. He :pjicily found the body of his daughter, Maijde. six years old, who in the exciteine.ii following the collision had been seized by the mother. The search among the babies ranging from 12 months to •hret* 'years then went on. Some of the babiea" lying in the coffins looked as if they we're asleep, with their-hair curled •a- ruflied by a, light breeze. Others had bruised foreheads, suggesting vividly how they'had been hurled against stanchions iu - the sides of their cabins and killed before the water came upon them. The legs and arms of others were, cut and bruised terribly. —Two Claim Same Body.— Upon the little ones Cullen grazed, and finally picked out one baby with blonde hair that curled in a wavy manner. He turned to Canon Scott, rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, and said '"That is my boy." Then Cullen turned again to search throughout the bodies of the adults for his wife. Scarcely had ha turned away than T. H. Archer, of Saskatchewan, who had lost a wife and baby in the /wreck, and had escaped himself, began to stnHy the faces of the babies. He had found the body of a. woman that he supposed to be his wife. He cama ,ipon the body of a child marked 118, which had been identified only a few inrutes before by Cullen as the body of ii's baby Archer insisted that the body v ■** that of his baby Alfred. He was old that Cullen had decided that the boy >va-. hj s own child. The two men were biotiTjht together by Canon Scott. Both nete gr-Hions ami affable, and both con--trted to studj the features of the face l iga r> A polite officer lifted up the coffin in h's aims ar i held it while the two men scanned the face of the child. Cullen deeded he would go and get the maid. He disappeared Then Archer asked tho o f h er to carrv the baby to a window, ii'-re he lookeJ igain at the face of the 1 jr\ He waited to see the knee of the i \\t\ but that was so bruised and disitored that the little knee proved no 'p He insisted, however, that the baby \ i- h'-5, and dttompanied by the elergyin k back to Coroner G. Will J i oiuf ii.d had the child registered as 1 - C a! on S. rit. leeling that there i i.dit re a mi-take, counselled tho man i n , ke a st id\ of the features of his •< aid cranial e them with those of the I 1 Axcner consented to do so. While i uus fcoing on Cullea returned with nn.il u 1 > after a quick glance, „ ted thit the iaby belonged to Cullen. I i hj buea-itd 'ither clung to the belief ihe child uas his. Xhero came a ho k. «i,id tinaliy someone suggested ' tin deciiio'i oe left to Mayor Drouin. Mil inc. 1 n Mayor was called, anil \ lather pi- -r iteii what he considered ( i tnat iTiikl belonged to him. I . Mi\or, hr.ivt.vr. after a study of the t 'unci Mi- ireher and those of the 'rt deuqVd thv baby was not the Archer 'd a d he fiiallv awarded the babv to tin NEW ZEALAND GIRL'X EXPERIENCES. Ml>S TOWNSHEXITs SWIM FOR LIFE. T. Townshend. of Blenheim, a. girl of 17 years, noted in athletics, dived from the- vessel .in her night robes, and set out to swim for shore, some five miles distant. She was picked tip by a boat, in perfect health and condition, after swimming over a. mile. " I did not dare look back?" she toid a representative of the- Toronto 'Globe,' "lest whit 1 might ,-ee would unnerve me." Miss Townshend lost her aunt, who was accompanying her on the trip. Miss Townshend went to the pier to look for her aunt. Mrs Wynne Price, of Auckland, New Zealand. " Miss Townshend. in tilt; company of Dr Grant, surgeon of the Empress,'looked at practically all of the bodies on the pier before she lifted ihe lid of coffin No. 4. containing the body of her aunt. She displayed remarkable self-control, but at the sight of her aunt's body she began to ween. GIRL LEARNS TO SWEM AFTER DISASTER. Almost superhuman courage and rare presence of mind were displayed bv Miss A lie* Bates, a slight, girlish young lady, who owes her life to her own efforts. Two other ladies who shared her cabin were ;dso saved by her wonderful coolness and initiative. " t was asleep when the ship was .'true}:." she said, " and so were my two riHn companions, Miss Wilmot and Muss Coult. I jumped up and said : • We have struck an iceberg.' Th© shock did not s-eem like that of a collision at all. It was just as if the ship had grazed the bottom. I sprang out of bed and put on a skirt o\ - er my nightdress, and this was my only clothing- Suddenly I noticed the water pouring in at a porthole on the side which was struck. I handed a lifebelt each to the other two ladies and fastened one on myself. Then we parted as we made for the deck. "The ship was heeling over frightfully, and to keep my feet I had to cling to .-» ventilator. When the list became too great to rsmain on deck I tried to climb o.er th* rail on to the side. A - man helped m# over, and as the ship slowly rolled over its side I crept down, bit bv bit, until I was on the keel. I know

| nothing whatever about swimming, for I was never in the water in my life, but as I felt, the ship going I had to jump. The water was freezing, and as I reached it the ship sank, dragging me down to what seemed a fearful depth." A shiver shook Miss Bates as she described her descent into the black, icy depths. "' Luckily for me," she con tinned, " I had the presence of mind to take a deep breath before I jumped, I which I held till I came- up. As I sank I covered my ftvee with my hands, and, overcome by intense agony, I wished to die while 1 was under water. When I reached the surface 1 was shot about by the swirl of the suction like a piece of wood, but the lifebelt held me up. Suddenly I saw a man swimming past, and I seize"d him by the arm. I thought we might be able to reach the boat which struck us. but lip shook me off, crying : ' Don't hold me. I am exhausted, and we shall both drown.' I cried to him : ' Oh, do show me how to swim.' and watched his movements in the water. Imitating them as best I could I moved slowly along, making for a boat I saw some distance off. Then I heard a heartrending cry : " Save me ! oh, save me!' but I can not- say whether it was from a man or a woman". While I was swimming towards the bout a man caught me, gasping : 'Help me! save ine !' 'I would if I could,* I said. But 1 was unable to give him anv assistance. His head -sank below tho water, his grasp fell H'f. Audi knew the poor fellow was dead. Then £ strusuded on towards tho lifeboat. My only" thought at that moment was for my mother in England, to whom 1 was going to keep her company. I made desperate efforts in reach the'boat, and cried out: 'Oh. save me for my mother's sake.' The men in the. boat cried : " Yes. bear up. we will save you.' While T was swimming to-v.ards the boat the men were pulling a man in. and could not reach me for some time. They reached me at last, and pulled me in. 1 was quite stiff with cold, and helpless, and collapsed when 1 was pulled into the boat. f was raised by means of a rope to the Storstad. where the captain's wife did everything 'to restore me, placing her wardrobe at my disposal and caring for me." Miss Bates was"in the water about 30 minutes, and though she remembers nothing striking her, her body is covered with bruises. SURVIVAL OK THE STROXG.

In one tragic feature the catastrophe mils! stand unique in the annals of murine disasters. It whs the survival of the strong. Most of the recovered dead are women and children. There was no time to help the weak. The 14 short minutes —or loss—and all was over. The great ship had plunged to the bottom. There was no rude impact, no brutal shock. Th'"> low-laden collier pierced her vitals as by stealth. " She cut us as clean," was the homely simile of a. survivor, "as a can-opener." The liner quivered almost imperceptibly. There was a rush of waters. The stricken Empress listed sen*!;--. then. without warning. she lurched. It was that lurch which roused those who slept. Men sprang- from their berths to see what happened. Few of them had time or opportunity to return to waiting wivps and children. Even as they gained the corridors the ship settled now completely on her side. Stairs led nowhere. Apartments were torn apart. Belongings were hurled about. All was confusion. There was no deck to reach. It was a perpendicular wall. And in darkness came cruel irony. The lifeboats, there to save, were ihe greatest menace. Swinging loose from their davits they crashed down upon those who sought to climb the deck or swept over the upturned side carrying clinging folk before them. LACED HIS BOOTS. Tho ruling passion is strong in death. Several survivors told with amazement of a young Englishman who, when scores were waiting on the upturned side of the doomed vessel for the final engulfing, calmly put on and laced his boots.