THE ST LAWRENCE DISASTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16568, 4 June 1914, Page 7

THE ST LAWRENCE DISASTER.

QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY ALLEGATIONS AND DENIALS. WERE KNIVES USED ? SENSATIONAL STORIES. Uj TelegTaph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, June 2. Tho newspapers are giving prominenco to the controversy on the question of whether 1 the Empress of Ireland was moviug ahead, as the Captain of the Storstad avers, or whethor she' was at a standstill, as Captain Kendall asserts. Lord Mersey will represent Great Britain on the Board of Inquiry. A Montreal message says that the Canadian Government has appointed Sir Aclolph Routhier and tho Hon Ezekicl M'Leod, and the British Board of Trade has appointed Mr George Vaux, to compose the Commission of Inquiry into the loss of the Empress of Ireland. . NO FIGHTING WITH KNIVES. CREW BEHAVED SPLENDIDLY. PANIC STORIES DENIED. OTTAWA, June 2. A statement published in Toronto to the effect that foreigners in the steerage of tho Empress of Ireland fought with knives when escape was barred is denied, on the authority of tho Canadian Pacific marine superintendent, who says that the crew behaved splendidly. Thorc was, ho added, little or no panic among the passengers, who seemed too dazed by the suddenness of the accident to make any panic.

The superintendent also denied Mrs Anderson's statement that Captain Kendall was drunk when he arrived on tho Storstad. He says that Captain Kendall never took drink once in his life.

Sensational stories are appearing in the American yellow Press that the crew of the Empress of Ireland were cowards.

Miss Townsend, of New Zealand, declares that such statements are absolutely wicked. Tho crew did everything they possibly could. A View York newspaper is publishing scare stories of foreigners fighting aboard, of tho crew deserting the ship and leaving the passengers to drown, of the captain being drunk and similar untruths. CONFLICTING STORIES. THE STORSTAD'S PART. K.cs Appeal to idle crew. QUEBEC, June 2. There is great difficulty in identifying the victims owing to the mutilated state of the bodies. It is apparent that many were killed instantly owing to striking wreckage or being crushed by the StorstadV.impact.

Mr Louis Gossolin, K.C., declares that the Storstad's captain did nothing. When Gosselin reached the Storstad after being an hour in a collapsible boat, Gosselin appealed to Captain Anderson to assist the drowning persons, but the captain merely looked at him. ■ Gosselin is willing to swear that no boats were launched from the Storstad, and that the crow were standing idle on the deck, when he appealed, " For God's sake, you ought to do something." Mr Lionel Kent, another passenger, confirmed Mr Gosselin's statement that, the Storstad did not put out boats until a considerable time after the collision.

Chief. Engineer Sampson of the Empress of Ireland says that a desperate effort was made to beach the Empress of Ireland, but the engines wero useless. After the lights were out, Sampson told the men to save themselves. They scrambled up the ladder, which then, owing to the vessel's list, formed part of the ceiling of the engine-room. The men crawled out on the derrick posts, when some of the vessel's top hamper fell, carrying them into the water. DIFFICULTIES OF IDENTIFICATION. QUEBEC, June 2. The identification of Mrs Wynn Price, of New Zealand, waß made after about sixteen members of the crew had claimed the body as that of one of the stewardesses.

Some doubt still exists as to whether the, body of Laurence Irving has been found. Identification was mado by means of a ring with his initials, but there were other passengers with the same initials who were drowned. SERIOUS CHARGE. CREW AND THE LIFEBELTS. PASSENGERS SEARCHED IN VAIN. ." Times " and Sydney " Sun " Servicea. QUEBEC, June 2. Lionel Kent, of Montreal, declares that the crew of tho Empress of Ireland knew of the whereabouts of tho lifebelts. They provided themselves and left tho passengers to search vainly. Tho Mayor had to decide the claim of two fathers to the parentship of a child who was killed on the Empress of Ireland. Tho Mayor compared the features of the fathers, and also those of tho dead mother, and awarded the coffin to tho Toronto claimant. MRS ANDERSON'S ALLEGATIONS. FURTHER CHARGES AGAINST . CAPTAIN KENDALL. DESCRIBED AS TISSUE OF LIES. (Received June 3, 9.50 p.m.) MONTREAL, June 2. Mrs Anderson further alleged that Captain Kendall arrived aboard the Storstad with a number of passengers whose legs or arms were broken. Kendall was so anxious to get aboard that he scrambled across tho suffering people. The Canadian-Pacific Marine Superintendent described the story as a tissue of lies. Ho said that he wa.s fully convinced that Captain Kendall intended to go down with the ship

and only was prevented by fate. When the Empress of Ireland heaved over Captain Kendall grasped the rail intending to drown, but tho imprisoned air blew up the deck of the bridge throwing Kendall into tho water. " FEAR-CRAZED DEMONS." SLASHED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE CROWD. TORONTO NEWSPAPER'S STORY. MONTREAL, June 2. Tho "Toronto World," referring to tho steerage passengers, Kays: —"That some fear-crazed demons, armed with murderous dirks, slashed their way through tho crowd, stabbing and maiming, is tho growing conviction of several who wore in closo touch with the whole situation. Further thoso who assisted undertakers at Quebec in embalming bodies declared that limbs were slashed in a way no accident could cause." The statement is not generally supported although it is declared positively that nine-tenths of tho victims whoso bodies wero recovered wero not drowned but killed by injuries received in the collision or by debris. NORWEGIAN CAPTAIN'S STORY. EMPRESS OF IRELAND STEERING STRANGELY. (R«ceived Juno 3, 7.5 p.m.) QUEBEC, Juno 2. Captain Holtung, of tho Norwegian collier Aided, asserts that/when passing tho Empress of Ireland thirty miles above the 6cene of the disaster she was steering a strange zigzag course, fillins him with anxiety. One hundred and ten bodies have been identified. It is not expected many more will bo recognised. They will be kept unburied for a month. AN IMPRESSIVE SERVICE. THE LOST AND' THE SAVED. (Received June 3, 10.30 p.m.) MONTREAL, June 2. The incoming Mcgantic held a servioe on tho spot whero the Empress of Ireland sank. Passengers and crew lined tho decks and sang " Abide With Me," standing with bared heads. It was an impressive spectacle.

Tho Canadian-Pacific Company has arranged for the funeral of the unidentified and unclaimed dead on Thursday and will bear all the expenses. An inspection of tho Storstad's bows indicates that it would have been impossible for her stem to have remained locked in the Empress of Ireland's side as the bow was twisted out of shape by the other vessel's motion. The final official figures show that 1021 were lost and 432 saved. COLONEL BLOOMFIELD'S BODY. [Per Pkess Association.] AUCKLAND, June 3. A private cable received from Canada states that tho body of the late Colonel W. R. Bloomfield has been found and identified, but that tho bodies of Mrs and Miss Bloomfield havo not yet been recovered.