THE ST LAWRENCE DISASTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16569, 5 June 1914, Page 7

THE ST LAWRENCE DISASTER.

MORE CONFLICTING STORIES. HIE OFFICIAL FIGURES. CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, June 3. Tho official figures in connection with 1 tho wreck of the Empress of Ireland are:— Drowned . . . . 1024 Rescued . , . 452 Bodies recovered . . 200 Tho Canadian-Pacific Company lias contributed £IO,OOO to the London and Liverpool relief funds. According to an estimate based on tho Titanic fund, £BO,OOO will bo required for tho relief of tho crew’s dependents, and at least £IOO,OOO for tho relief of relatives of passengers who perished. “REPUDIATED.” COMPANY’S GOOD RECORD. EMPLOYS ONLY BEST MEN. ■ OTTAWA, June 3. The Canadian Press is severely criticising Mr Holman, Premier of New South Wales, for his statements in regard to the Empress of Ireland. His statement that people make money by gambling in human lives is particularly repudiated. It is pointed out that the Canadian Pacific Company, employs only tho best officers, and tho best steamships it is able to procure. It has never had a serious marine accident due to negligence in its history. Tho newspapers ask for a suspension of judgment on all parties until a judioial inquiry settles the question. The Storstad’s owners state that tho Storstad’s crew rendered every assistance after the acoident. Mrs Anderson never made tho charges attributed to her; these were merely inventions of the yellow newspapers. SUIT AND COUNTER-SUIT. OTTAWA, June 3. The Storstad’s owners have filed a reply to the Canadian Pacifio Company’s damage suit, alleging that the accident was really due to the Empress of Ireland's faulty navigation. IDENTIFIED. , OTTAWA, June 3. , The bodies of Colonel and Mrs Bloomfield have been identified. The identity of Miss Bloomfield is not quite certain.

“ MURDEROUS RISKS.” MR HOLMAN TALKS STRONGLY. SHIPS TRAVELLING IN FOGS. SYDNEY, June 4. The Premier, referring to the criticisms of his remarks on the disaster, 6aid that it did not require expert knowledge to understand the fact that the 6hip, while moving slowly, had been run down by another ship moving in the same direction, with no head-on impact and no full-speed smash against an iceberg, as in the Titanic disaster. “ If the skill of naval architects cannot guarantee under these circumstances that a ship will float for half an hour after she has been struck, if no such thing as water-tight cojnpartments or buoyancy-chambers are known to naval architecture, the sooner the fact is proclaimed tho better. “ Passengers must be made aware by the directors of shipping companies that impact from another ship overtaking theirs will be followed by almost instantaneous destruction. Then, perhaps, they will insist on ships not travelling in • fogs with 1600 lives aboard. The extreme delicacy of structure will be recognised, and murderous risks will not he taken.” MUTILATION DENIED. STATEMENT BY SHIPPING COMPANY. THE IDENTIFICATIONS. (Received June 4, 8-45 p.m.) MONTREAL, June 3. Tho Canadian Pacific Company denies mutilation of bodies by frenzied steerage passengers. An evil imagination is the only foundation for these ghoulish tales. The company is claiming £400,000 against tho Storstad, which counterclaims for £IO,OOO. The bodies identified include those of Lieutenant-Colonel Bloomfield and Mrs Price, of New Zealand, and Miss Byrao, of Brisbane. The bodies of many second-class passengers still are unidentified. FALSE CHARGES. CAPTAIN KENDALL DEFENDED. (Received June 4, 11.20 p.m.) MONTREAL, June 4. Dr Grant Hyamson, nn English traveller, declared that the charges against Captain Kendall wero false. Captain Kendall struggled to aid in the rescue when ho was in a state of collapse. Ho refused to leave a boat half full of water, remaining in the hope of rescuing others. Dr Hvamson added that Captain Kendall refused to abandon the search when others aboard tho Storstad were urging that it was hopoless-

Dr Hynmsen assorts that lie can swear that tho Empress of Ireland was stationary when the Storstad struck her.

AN AUSTRALIAN MISSING. (Received Juno 4, 10.45 p.m.) ADELAIDE. June 4. Jt is feared that W. J. Richardson, brickworks owner at Hindmnrsh, is a vetim of tho Empress of Ireland disaster. He wan making a world’s tour, and in reply to inquiries his son has received a cable that a man of that name was aboard and was not among tho rescued. THE SUNKEN SHIP. WILL PROBABLY BE RAISED. MANY CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES. nTSm»*" and Sydney “ Sun" Service*. A LONDON, June 3. There is e rcr >’ likelihood of the Empress of Ireland being raised. She lies twenty-nine fathoms deep. At low t cr ’ her highest point Is only nine fathoms below tho surface.

There is talk of numerous suits of damages against tho Canadinn-Pacific Railway Company. The Lord Mayor’s fund totals £IO,OOO. Baring Brothers gave £IOOO, Lady Strathcona £SOO and W. M. Singer £SOO. THE STORSTAD’S BOATS. IRRECONCILABLE STORIES. (Received June 4, 5.45 p.m ) QUEBEC, June 3. Irreconcilable statements regarding tho disaster are current. It is asserted that not a single boat loft tho Storstad till daylight, when two 6mall ones wore launched. On the other hand, tho officers of tho Storstad stato that four boats wero launched immediately and quickly loaded to their utmost capacity. They also allege that two officers of tho Empress of Ireland, after reaching the Storstad, refused to assist in rescue work, declaring that tho lifeboat was too heavy to pull. Thereupon three of tho Storstad’s firemen took tho lifeboat and rescued fifty persons. HARBOUR BOARD’S SYMPATHY. At tho meeting of tho Lyttelton Harbour Board yesterday, the chairman (Mr R. Moore) moved — “That this Board places on record its feelings of deep sorrow for the bereavement suffered by tho relatives and dependents of those who lost their lives in tho lamentable disaster to the Empress of Ireland, and that this resolution be forwarded to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.” Mr A. Kayo seconded tho motion. He said that he had travelled in the Empress of Ireland in 1910, and was pleased to noto the. behaviour of tho officers and men during the disaster. The motion was carried, members standing. RESOLUTION OF REGRET. fPaa Pans AssocTvrioN.l DUNEDIN, June 4. At. to-dny’s meeting the Otago Provincial Council of tho New Zealand Farmers’ Union a'resolution was carried expressing sincere regret over the Empress of Ireland disaster.