THE LUSITANIA OUTRAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15932, 1 June 1915, Page 11

THE LUSITANIA OUTRAGE.

STOEIES OF PASSENGERS.

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

SURVIVORS AT QUEEXSTOWX.

IDENTIFYING THE DEAD.

TrRTH" I detail* <f the sinking of tile great Cuuaid liner Lusitania by a German submarine "" May 7 are given in a cable. tram Irm-. ijui-enstowu to a Canadian paper d..t<- i May 9. Tweiitx Hirer miles limid this port as the trow 111.-. .in irregular smear of flotsam 11] a i.ij-ii so., marks the grave of the Cunarder 1.u.-iuini.i. first trans-Atlantic liner sunk by ,i (iermau submarine. One hundred and forty.ninr of 1100 souls who perished v it!i her lie within improvised morgue* in <>'.l buildings bordering Queenstown Harb-'tir. They wore either picked up dead "i stii\'.;mhed after landing. The -55 survivors here are quartered in bote's, residences and hospitals, some too badly hurt to he moved. Two groups left town mi Niturday afternoon and evening , lad in misfit clothing bound for Dublin by rail and thei.ee by boat to Holyhead. The injuries of some are so serious that addition*! deaths are expected. The survivors do not agree as to whether the submarine fired one or two torpedoes, though many attest to tracing the wake of foam as the projectile came towards the vessel. Trey are certain that the torpedo struck th< vessel a vital blow amidships, causing her to list almost immediately to the starboard. How far the Lusitania struggled after being struck and how long it was before slia disappeared beneath the waves are points upon which few agree. Estimates of the time si e remained afloat vary from three to twenty minutes. The list to starboard elevated tho lifeboats on the •ort side, making them useless, and it is said only two on that side were launched. Women Thrown Into Water. The first of these, according to custom of the sea. was filled with women and children. It struck the water unevenly, capsizing and throwing its 60 occupants into the sea. After that several boats vere launched successfully, but tho ..tamer's list ?rew more perilous, tho decks slanting to such a-i angle it was imperalive for ail to cling to the starboard rail. Many by this time had donnfed lifebelt* and jumped overboard. Several lifebelts broke adrift unoccupied and the sea became a froth of oars, chairs, debris and human bodies. Stokers Save Drifting Boat.

Two stokers, seeing a drifting boat, ] dived overboard, recovered it, and pulled I in nearly forty people, mostly women. The Lusitaniu's crew meanwhile adhered to the letter of instructions which ho.d been given them, and discipline was rigid, although two su'oordinate officers are said to liavo told paisengers there was no danger, and to remain on board a while lunger. The body of Charles Frohman, tho clothing water-soaked, but his features placid, lay face upward in a bare room in an old building or. a hillside 100 yds away from the water's edge, Around him were ranged 50 bodies of Wh sexes, over which attendants were bending, sorting and ticketing their belongir gs. The men best fitted to chronicle the last moments oi tho Lusitania. Elbert Hubbard, Justin Miles Forman, Charles Frohman. Alfred Givynn Vanderbilt, and others, apparently all went to their graves with her. Was Not Going Full Speed. - Her speed at the time she was struck is variously estimated from 18 to 21 knotsWhen forced, the liner could do 25 knots, outstripping even the fastest and latest submarine?; hence it i 3 the belief of survivors and Cunard line officials that a squadron' of underwater craft, numbaring perhaps four or fin;, lay -in wait in the clear' sunshine of Friday, posted advantageously along the route it was surmised the vessel would take. It was ea.<y to keep all but the tips of the periscopes submerged and then for the craft nearest her to let go torpedoes.

The first train to arrive here yesterday morning carried some of the Cunard Line officers at Liverpool, including Captain William Dodd, the marine superintendent, and Dr. Duncan Morgan, tho medical superintendent. The former busied 'himself with relieving the material wantu of surviving passengers and crew and the identification of the dead, while the latter attended the injuries; several of the injured were suffering from severe wounds and shock.

Every train from Kingston and Rosslare carried complements of second and third-class passengers and members of the crew. Most of the first cabin survivors, sadly few in number, will lemain here temporarily. The townspeople have been generous in extending aid and sympathy to the survivors, none of whom was able to save more than the clothes on his back. Many are dressed as they would have been if the disaster had occurred at night, for the explosion and Die long struggle in the water viitually denuded them. Didn't Think It Was Fatal. Dr. J. T. Houghton, of Troy. NewYork, one of the survivor*, said there was no reason to fear any danger after the fi.'st explosion, as it was believed the vessel would be headed for Queenstown and heat lied if necessary. Meanwhile boats were being got ready for any emergency. Just then, said Dr. Houghton, the liner v,a« again struck, evidently in a moie vital tj.il, for it to settle rapidly. UinVrs then came from the bridge to lower all boats. A near panic took possession of the women. People were rushed into the boats, some of winch were launched successfully; utheis net so successfully.

Youth Helps Children. G. D. Lane, a youthful but cool-headed second cabin pascenger, who w.is returning to Wales from New York, was in a lifeboat which capsized by the davits as the LuHtama lieeltd over. " 1 was o.i tin- ' B' deck," lie said, "when I saw the wake of a torpedo, i hardly realised what it meant when the big ship seemed to stagger and almost immediately listed to starboard. 1 rushed to get a lifebelt, but stopoed to help get children on the boat deck. 'I lie second cabin was a veritable nursery. .Many youngsters must have drowned; but 1 had the satisfaction of seeing one boat get away filled with women and children. When the water reached the deck 1 saw another lift-boat with a vacant seat, which 1 took, as no one else was in sight, but we were too late. The Lusitania reeled so suddenly our boat was swamped, but we righted her again. Plunged Prow Foremost. "We witnessed the most horrible scene of human futility it is possible to imagine. When the Lusitania had turned almost over, site suddenly plunged bow foremost into the water, leaving her stern high in the air. People on the aft deck were

fighting with wild desperation to retain a footing on the almost perpendicular deck, while they fell over the slippery stern like crippled flies. Their cries and shrieks could be heard above the hiss of escaping steam and the crash of bursting boilers. Then the water mercifully closed over them and the big liner disappeared, leaving scarcely a ripple behind her. "Twelve lifeboats were all that were left of our floating home. In a time which could bo measured by seconds, swimmers, bodies and Wreckage appeared in the jpaco where she went down. We Mere almost exhausted by the work of the rescue when taken aboard .the trawler. It all seems like a horr'ble dream now." EXPERIENCES OF CANADIANS LIFEBOAT PICKS UP MANY. Several -Canadian passengers, who escaped death in the doomed Cunarder Lusitania, "cached London on May 9, arriving in the metropolis in the early hours of a beautiful Sunday absolutely bereft of all personal belongings save the clothes they were wearing when the vessel sank. Many of them were too exhausted physically and mentally to give any account, of their experiences. Mrs. Pat Wilson, of Moose, Jaw. who was travelling on the Lusitania, to see her husband who is among the Canadian troops at the Canadians base at Shornoliffo, told the correspondent a thrilling story. "I was sitting on the deck," she said. " When the ship was struck I wn: thrown right out of my chair. All the women and children I saw just stood quietly until they were ordered into boats. I got into the last boat. This boat had to be cut away from its davits for the Lusitania, leaning over as she sank, was coming down right on top of us

" Tho submarine's second torpedo wnt tho steamer's funnels crashing over, but I don't believe myself there was a third torpedo. A great explosion was caused by tho bursting of the boilers, as one torpedo went right through the engineroom. " Our lifeboat went cruising for three miles around the scene of the sinking vessel, picking up people all along. There were many live people, swimming among dead bodies, and as we went Along we were really sorting out the livlnj; from the dead bodies.

"When I «a* going into the boat 1 nicked up a baby boy from i man who had the child in his arms and was trying to get into the :00. He was nearly frantic. '1 .vant to jave my baby, but they won't let me in the boat,' he cried. I said, 'Give me the baby,' but he would not, although I thi-iK he could have saved the child. Poor man, he was quite distracted. He kept crying, 'Oh! why don't they let me save my child!'" Another survivor, R. L. Taylor, of Montreal, told the correspondent that he was thrown into the water when the Lusitania heeled over, and after being picked up by a rescue boat he saw the periscope of the submarine six lengths away. It immediately disappeared. Donald Barrow, belonging to Falmouth, was returning from Canada with his wife, who was a Canadian, only 20 years old. They were married but 10 months ago. Barrow's mother received a telegram from Oueenstown raying, " I am safe, but May is gone." May was the name of his Young wife. Barer? was returning to England to join the army. v

THE DAY OF SAILING.

PASSENGERS UNCONCERNED. MANY LAUGH AT THREATS. If actions speak louder than words about 1258 passengers tn the Lusitania were loud yesterday in their defiance of the Germany Embassy's warning to all travellers who elected to book transportation on steamships of Great Britain or her allies, said the New York Tribune of May 2, the day after the great liner sailed on her last voyage. Practically all of tho Lusitania's passengers had an opportunity before departing to read the notice published in many newspapers by the German Embassy warning Trans-Atlantic voyagers that the ship was liable to destruction. Many who had read the notice laughed at it, as did the Cunard Line officials when their attention was called to it aboard ship. The best answer to the German note of warning was the fact that no passage was cancelled. Moreover, there were 10 additional bookings made in the saloon shortly before the Lusitania sailed. At the Eleventh Hour.' / At the eleventh hour a cable message from Liverpool advised the agents of the Anchor Line that the Cameronfa, ready to sail in the forenoon, had been requisitioned by the Admiralty and arrangements were made to send her passengers over on the Lusitania. Here again was evidence of the travelling public's confidence in the Lusitania to make the journey safely to Liverpool. The Cameronia's seven saloon and 34 second abin, passengers were elated over the prevision made or them on the fast Cunarder, although they bad the alternative of a return of their passage money. There were about 300 third-class passengers on the Scotch vessel anxious to get away on the Cunarder, but as their transfer would cause a delay of sonfe five hours in the Lusitania's departure they were provided for On the Transylvania, which will sai* for Liverpool on Friday, Reports Branded as False. Rumours v.-ere current on the pier yesterday that several of the Lusitania's prominent saloon passengei* hod received telegrams, some anonymous and others bear. ing fictitious names, advising them not to sail, as tha vessel was sure to be torpedoed. These reports were branded as false by the Cunard officials. A representative of the line said last night:— " There is not one word of truth in the receipt of these alleged telegrams by our patnws. If such messages had been received the recipients would undoubtedly have called it to our attention. There was not a single cancellation, and that in itself speaks for the absurdity of the reports, which have, perhaps, given unnecessary alarm to friends of all passengers on the LuHtania who sailed yesterday. ''The vessel can do 25 knots easily under pressure, and there is not a submarine on the ocean, or under it. that can catch her at that speed. Besides the Admiralty is taking mighty cood care of the Lusitania, There is absolutely nothing to fear for her safety, for she will go up to Liverpool as regularly and as surely as she has been doing."

Baggage Delays Lusitania. The Lusitania did not get aw on the scheduled hour of 10 a.m., the delay being caused by the personal identification of all baggage by the pnsrengers themselves, Long before the travellers becan to arrive on the pier a score of detectives were on hand watching baggage to sec that nothing menacing was taken aboard. No piece of baggage was taken aboard the vessel unless it was identified by the owner, and then onlv ,ifter the owner had shown his ticket and proved he was the actual owner of the ticket. This piwe.ei? was slow and tedious, and held the liner at her pier until 12.30 p.m.. when she finallv backed out inU) the stream. Alfred G. Vanderhilt was among the saloon passengers. He said he was going abroad on business ;ind nleasurc and would remain abroad about three weeks.