NEW ZEALANDER RESCUED.

Grey River Argus, 1 June 1914, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDER RESCUED.

QUEBEC, May 30. -(Received, June i, 12.20 a.m.} Miss Thompson, New Zealand, was rescued: The final official report is that the total of the Empress or Ireland's dead is, io32>and saved 353. HOW AN ACTOR DIED. Laurence Irving- and his wife secured lifebelts: "Dearie," said Irving, ! "hurry, there's no time to lose." ' Irving* placed a. lifebelt around his wife, calmly donned his own, climbed 1 over the rail as the huge vessel caj reened. 1 Mrs. .Irving: was terror-stricken. ' Irving- carried .her on deck. ■ The first explosion occurred as the I Irvings prepared to leap into the water and apparently the shock killed 1 them. DEEDS OF HEROISM. I . , Sir Seton Kerr gave up his belt to another passenger, insisting- that he accept it, saying- that he would easily get another. " He himself entered the cabin to procure one and was never seen again. *Vlany women could- easily have escaped, but waited to procure articles of dress 1 . \ -' A Salvationist, Ensign Pugmire, declared that all his comrades died like Salvationists. Commisisoner Recs rah back to icbcue his^ wife. Another Salvationist tried to save him but failed. c Major AtweJl swairw half a mile carry ing- hio wife on his back. Then ''when succumbing- through cold and exhaustion .his wife kept i p her husband's head and both were saved. Another Salvationist descubed walking down the side of *he <.->i^i ed js'hip just as if walking- down a alop-ng beach into the 1 sea. There was no disturbance and little panicOnce the ship turned sideways i- waa simply like entering- tj c water m < ider to take a swim. Silver bars amounthg to a Trillion dollars were en route to p ngrlarid. Large quantities ,tf vdluab l^ mail were lost. THE CAPTAIN .OF VH£ COLLIER'S NARRATIVE. - Captain Anderson <>l >ho Stoi--.->U arrived aboard <the fiorsUrf. He declared that -ihe collision was entirely due to the f qgr which shut dow n on "both" vessels cmicidv. The Storstad picked up three hundred persons ,transfer.ing them later aboard the Government vevels. * ' This fact grave rise to the belief that • additional people were rescued than those first reported. The Storstad's bnws were «;tovp, in 1

1 and the anchor lost having sunk witli the Empress of Britain. Captain Kindallisihcapicated from nervous shock and is speechless. v It is understood that Captain Kindall signalled in the customary way indicating that thp Empress of Ireland was maintaining' her course. OFFICERS STATEMENT. The officers of the Empress of Irelaad assert that the Storstad answered the signals but failed to change her course. t , The Empress ot Ireland was moving slowly when the Storstad struck her fully on the side, A BRAVE CAPAIN. Thomas Smart, Toronto, sa>s that Captain Kindall wheu tb« crash came, was on the bridge, and shouted: "Keep your heads-there: Don't get excited!" He then ordered the stewards to assist the passengers, shouting: "Women and children first 1 Break open any locked doors!" There was so much screaming and moaning that although the captain spoke thToucrli a megaphone his voice was drowned. When told by the ship's doctor that! the ship was lost Captain Kendlall buried his face the taTpaulia vhereon he was lying". -After the rescue he cried as if heart bioke'n.. Several passengers assert that lifeboats fell from the port davits and. crashed across the sloping- deck killing- passenger* against tKe further, rails. ■A BRAVE NEW ZEALANDER. • (Received June i t at 12.45 a.m.) Miss Townsend swam alongside Clinton Burt, rnotnr car manufacturer, umil they caught a suit case whichneld up Miss Townsend until the o.torstad picked her up. • "■ Mrs. Price, Miss Townsend's aunt, 'was lost. • After being- rescued Miss Townend busied herself among-st . the rescued^ heroicalh aiding the worbt stricken. A BRAVE CREW. An Englishman, -named Duncan, declared that every one of -the crew acted like v m en,. _ attempting- to rouse the women and secured numbers of lifebelts. When Duncan was thrown -into the water by the ship's lurch, five men 1 attempted to grasp him and he was obliged to fight them off, otherwise -he would have been drowned. The rapidity wherewith the vessel caieened and *ank made it Impossible to. do more than, was done. A TERRIBLE NIGHTMARE. The uhole thing- was like a terrible nightmare wherefrom one must awaken at any moment. The thick fog-, the dark waters, and the sinking- ship seemed wholly unreal, and the passengers'' did not grasp the danger until thrown from their births, or torrents of icy; water fell in cascades down the companionways drowning- people before they were able to mak« a single effort to save themselves. Same women describe in horrorstricken tones how they slid down the deck into the icy water sinking and coming- to the surface grasping- wreck, age and being: dragged into the boats half unconscious. ,One woman described the sensation as being chlorofoTrned in order to undergo a surgical operation and then reviving- to find death had taken some loved one. l . Meanwhile the rescued are bem'g cared for in Quebec. Many last everything- they possessed s "(Received June 1, 2$ i-a-m.) The Coroner has opened an investigaion at Remouskic. Captain Kendall has recovered from the effects of his immersion, but is very depressed. He was the chief witness. He stated that he saw the Storstad two miles "ff before the fog- obliterated the ship. He stopped the ship and whisfled three short blasts. The Storstad replied with one long blast. - Some minutes later the otorstad loomed up in the fog- a ship's length away. He megaphoned to her to 'back* water ,and he himself went full-speed ahead hoping to avert the collision. . He afterwards asked the\Storstad. to continue full speed ahead, in the hope of filling- up the hole, but the Storstad backed. He failed to beach the Empress of Ireland because- the engines became useless in three minuts. She filled rapidly when the Siorstad backed,. I - k He added that he saw the fog\bank approaching- and had plenty v of .time to prepare and took every precaution humanly possible. " 'The behaviour of the officeis anc 7 ciew was beyond- praise.