SHIPPING DISASTER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12254, 3 June 1914, Page 5

SHIPPING DISASTER.

[By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. ] (Per Press Association,) Received June 2, at 1.20 p.m. " Ottawa, June 1. The Government lias fixed 9th June as the -date for opening the Empress, ot Ireland disaster enquiry. Two judges of the Canadian Admiralty Court and ) one representative of the British Admiralty will comprise the Court. ' The" House of Commons passed an amendment of the, Shipping Act, providing for a separate commission to investigate the disaster. Sir Wilfrid Laurier endorsed the Bill, which was read a- second time. The third leading was fixed for the following day. The amendment provides for the appointment of the Canadian Admiralty judges above mentioned. _ Mrs Anderson, at the inquest, stated that her husband endeavored to keep the Storstad pressed against the Empress of Ireland's side, but that the Empress' speed was too great, and Captain Anderson ordered out all the boats. At first it was not thought that the , 'Empress of Ireland wp.s' in <mv ■da/nger of sinkiug. She said Captain Anderson I gave up everything he possessed to aiii tile survivors when he rescued: tlieru.

I CONFLICTING STATEMENTS. AWFUL PLIGHT OF PASSENGERS. Received June 2, at 1.0.25 p.m. Quebec, June 2. •Mr Quartly,, his wife and 1 daughter, of Sydney, are believed 'to have been passengers by the Empress of Ireland, and the. Canadian-Pacific Company is unable to ascertain if they were aboard. Romouski, June 1. Starved and raving as. the result of her experiences, a stalwart Norwegian j passenger by the Empress of Ireland, | was found wandering -on the sand , dunes clad in a single garment. Tlie j men sought to aid her, but the woman I ran off, and was only caught when exhausted. She had forgotten her own name. She had apparently drifted in the water for 18 miles, clinging to driftwood. She has not yet been identified.

Mrs Anderson asserted that after the Empress of Ireland sank, she heard continuous screams all round her Captain Anderson sent out lifeboats, picking up everyone possible. She was confident Captain Kendall did not assist any of the passengers; instead he came aboard and lay down in the- Storstad's chartroom 'while- the Empress' crew came aboard, refusing to go and assist the drowning passengers, stating that they were too numerous. Montreal, June 1. The agents of the Storstad state that the Empress was seen off the port, bow of the Storstad. Her green light was visible. The rules of navigation gave the Storstad the right-of-way. The Empress of Ireland's course was changed, so as to pass safely, but the fog descended and the Storstad:'s engines were slowed and then stopped. Her course was not altered. Whistles were heard from the Empress of Ireland. and answered, and green lights were again seen through the fog. The engines of the Storstad were sent astern, and her way- had been nearly checked when she collided. The Storstad tried to keep her prow in the hole, but the Empress slewed away and'disappeared. The Storstad subsequently whistled in order to locate the Empress of Ireland, but failed. She then manoeuvred close to the Empress of Ireland and' lowered boats. Everything possible was done to assist.

The officers of' the Storstad confirm the agents' statements, and declare that scores of people with lifebelts on were lying dead in the sea. The freezing water had benumbed them. Staff-Captain M'lntyre, a Salvationist, declared that there was unspeakable confusion on board the Empress of Ireland 1 . As the vessel lurched and listed the people climbed higher on the diecks, and when the Empress of Ireland sank lie was carried clown for yards by a swirling cataract, but keeping his head after a fearful suffocating moment, he came to the surface and grasped an overturned boat. Bandsman Green, a Salvationist, lost his father, mother and sister. The effort to reach the deck was like climbing a wall. There was little panic excepting among the foreigners. He saw a man push into a boat before a woman, but another man knocked him down. The Salvationists sang "God be with you" till the engulfing waters caused an abrupt termination. Dr.. Grant's efforts are unanimously praised. He relieved both physical and mental sufferings, and brought order out of chaos. When taken on board the Storstad! he directed the laying out of the corpses, and arranged to supply di;y clothing to the women. The latest_retnrn shows t-hat 1467 were aboard the Empress of Ireland, and 444 were saved, whereof 360 were first-class, 38 second, and 164 third', and 207 of the crew.

THE COURT OF INQUIRY, MRS ANDERSON'S EVIDENCE*

Received June 2, at 11;20.p.m. ' Vancouver, June 2. i The cadets who visited New Zealand express, the- keenest sympathy with'the ■ Bloomfieltf family. During their recent , visit to Auckland the cadets were en- ' tertained at Colonel Bloomfield's. ■ Received July 3, at 9.10 a.m. j Montreal, June 2. The Government- has appointed Sir ' Adol'phe Rout'hier and 1 the Hon. Eze- ! Kiel M'Leod, and the British Board of Trade has appointed Mr George- Vttux, | to compose the Commission to inquire j into the loss of the Empress of Ireland. - • Received June 3, at 0.5 a.m. Sydney, June 2. . Advice has been received that the Qunrtlys are safe in London. They intended to join the Empress of Ireland, but sailed in an earlier steamer. Received June 3, at 10.45 a.m. London, Jane 2. The newspapers are giving prominence to "a- controversy on the question whether the. Empress of Ireland was moving ahead, as the captain of the Storstad avers, or whether the vessel was at a standstill, as Captain' Kendall [asserts.

Lord Mersey represents Great Britain on the Empress of Ireland inquiry. Received June 3, at 11.55 a.m. Quebec, June 2. There is great difficulty in identifying ing the. victims of the of Ireland wreck, owing to the mutilated state of tlie bodies. It is apparent that many were killed instantly, owing to striking wreckage or being crushed by the Storstad's impact. Mr Louis Gosselin, K.C., declared that the Storstad's captain did nothing. When he (Mr Gosselin) reached the Storstad, after being an hour in a collapsible boat, he appealed- to Captain Anderson to assist the drowning persons, but the captain ...merely looked at him.

Mr Gosselin -says lie is willing to swear that no boats were launched from the Storstad and that the crew weie standing; idle on the deck when he (Gosselin) appealed to Captain Andei>. son using the words: "For God's sake, yon ought to do something." tiioneJ Kent, another passenger confirmed Gosselin's statement that the Storstad did not put out her boats for a considerable time after the collision..

Chief Engineer Sampson says that a desperate effort was made to beach the Empress of Ireland, but the engines were useless. After the lights went 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, whAi some of the vessel's top hamper fell, carrying them into the water. ' Identification of Mrs Price, of New Zealand, was made after about 16 members of the crew had: claimed the body as that of a stewardess. Some doubt still exists whether the body of Mr Laurence. Irving has been found. Identification was established by means of a ring with his initials, but there were other passengers with the same initials also lost. MISS TOWNSHEND'SBEAVr . STRUGGLE. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Quebec, June 1. A happy reunion was that of the Greenw'ays (Salvationists), who were on their honeymoon. They were separated in the commotion. The wife was blown into the water, burned and bruised, but was picked up. On the raft that rescued her a man said, "Don't be afraid, little girl. I have lost my wife." He opened his coat and vest, drew her close, and then buttoned his coat around her. She replied. "I have lost my husband." She didn't remember anything till she was aboard the Storstad. The raftman was. lost, but the pilot boat picked up Green way.

Miss Townshend (Blenheim) plunged into the water, and was kicked by struggling victims, but closed her eyes and struck out bravely, never thinking of the possibility of. drowning. She swam a mile before she was picked up. Quebec, June 2. The Mayor had to decide the parentship of a child who was killed in the Empress of Ireland which two fathers claimed. The Mayor compared tht features of the fathers, also those of the dead mother, and awarded the cotfin to the Toronto claimant. Lionel Kent, of Montreal, declares that the crew of the Empress of Ireland knew the whereabouts of the lifebelts and provided themselves but. left the passengers to search vainly. Pf.r Press Association. '< Auckland, June 3. A private cable received from Canada, states that the body of the late Colonel W. R. Bloomfield has been found and identified, but that the bodies of Mis and Miss Bloomfield have not yet been recovered.