1024 Lost.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 36, 4 June 1914, Page 5

1024 Lost.

THE ILL-FATED EMPRESS. additional details. m —. [Bt Eleotbio Telegraph—Copyright] Quebec, June 3. There is'every likelihood ol the . Empress of Ireland being raised. She lies in 29 fathoms at low tide. Her A highest point is only nine fathoms be- ® low the surface. There is talk of numerous suits for damage against the Canadian Pacific - Company. The Lord Mayor’s fund totals £lO,000. Baring Bros, gave £IOOO, Lady Strathcona and Mr W. M. Singer £SOO each. RESCUED TOTAL 452. ESTIMATE OF RELIEF FUND. (Received 9.35 a.m.) London, June 3. It is officially stated here.that 1024 were drowned and 452 rescued. Two hundred bodies have been recovered. The Canadian Pacific Company contributed £IO,OOO to the London and Liverpool funds. According to the estimate based on the Titanic fund, £BO,OOO will be required for the relief of Qie crews and dependents, and at least £IOO,OOO for ' the passengers. NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY. (Received 9.30 a.m.) <• >. \ Sydney, June 4. ■The Premier, Mr Holman, referring to criticisms of his remarks on the '■ * Empress of Ireland disaster, said: It :■ does not require expert knowledge to ' ■ ■ .’understand the fact that when a ship ! 1 moving slow is run down by another ship moving in the same direction there is no head-on impact, and no full-speed smash on an iceberg like ‘ the Titanic. If the skill of a naval architect cannot guarantee under these circumstances that the ship will float half an hour after she had

struck; —if there are no* such things watertight compartments or buoyancy chambers known to naval ar- • * chitecture—the Sooner t|ie fact is pro- • claimed the better. Passengers must 1 : 'be made 1 aWkre by the directors of ,i; shipping companies that the impact 'frbifi another ship 'overtaking !.theirs 1 : #iU be followed by almost instdntan©- ' - tuts destruction. * Then, perhaps; they .' ‘ wdl ‘insist 1 that ships will nbt travel *' ih fogs with 1500" .lives aboard; - that' “ p their extreme delicacy ,of structure 0 ’ be recognised 1 : and such murderL ‘ ''otti'A* will not & taken. I-Jll .0/;.. T:ti ,i ~ -•; ; i ' TO HOLMAN. INVENTIONS OF THE. YfUOW . , - .; press. • ■ ■■■ - (Received 11.10 a.m.) Ottawa, June 3' The Canadian press severely criticise 7{3r> Premipi;. .for prejudicing the y . impress of, Ireland , inquiry.;, The j statemejit that, people make money by * .human lives is pa’rticplarr -U It is pointed out that Canadian-Pacific Company emfc, 7/ ploys only the best .officers for their ;rtv steamships, that they > are able to pro- ,( It never had a, serious , mardue , to., .negligence in its history. Newspapers ask for the suspension of judgment of all parties un?ti.L. tkfr-ajndiea}-'''‘ inquiry settles the question. r The' Storstad’s owners state that the Storstad’s crew rendered every assistance after the accident. Mrs Andresen never made the charges attributed to her, which- were merely inventions of the “yellow” newspapers. STORSTAD’S REPLY TO SUIT FOR DAMAGES. f (Ifeceived. 12.0 p.m.) - < "i Ottawa, June 3. ’; The Storstad’s owners have filed a reply to the Canadian-Pacific Go’s, suit for damages, alleging that the accident was really due to the Empress of Ireland’s faulty navigation. STARVED AND RAVING. Rimouski, June 2. Starved and raving, as the result of her experiences, a stalwart Norwegian woman, who was a passenger by the Empress of Ireland, was found wandering on the sand dunes clad in a single garment. A man sought to aid her, hut the woman ran off, and was only caught when she was exhausted. She had apparently drifted in the water for eighteen miles, clinging to driftwood. She has not been identified yet. THE AGENTS’ STORY. Montreal, June 2, The agents of the Storstad state that the Empress was seen off the port bow of the Storsad, a green light being visible. The rules of navigation gave the Storstad right of way. The Empress’s course was changed so as to pass safely. The fog descended, and the Storstad’s engines were slowed and then stopped. Her course was not altered. Whistles heard from the Empress were answered, and green lights were again seen through the fog. The engines of the Storstad were sent

astern, and way was nearly checked when the vessels collided. The Storstad tried to keep her prow in the hole, hut the Empress slewed away and disappeared. The Storstad frequently whistled in order to locate the Empress, but failed. Then she manoeuvred and came close to the

Empress, lowered the boats, and everything possible was done to assist. The officers of the Storstad confirm the agents’ statement, and declare that scores of people in lifebelts were lying dead in the sea. The freezing water benumbed them. A HAPPY REUNION. MISS TOWNSHEND’S PLUCKY SWIM. Quebec, June 2. A happy reunion took place between Mr and Mrs Greenway, of the Salvation Army, who were on their honeymoon. They were separated in the commotion, and the wife was blown into the water, burned, and bruised. She was picked Up by a raft, and a. man said: “Don’t be afraid, little girl, I have lost my wife.” He opened bis coat and vest, drew her close and buttoned the coat round. She replied: “I; have lost my husband.” Then the woman did not remember anything till she was- aboard the Storstad. The raftman was lost. The pilot boat picked up Mr Greenway. Miss Townshend plunged into the water and was kicked by struggling victims, but she closed her eyes and struck out bravely, never'thinking of the possibility of drowning.' She swam a mile before she was picked “P%! ■■..;! ■ '< .1 vCONTINUOUS SCREAMS. ijjwi ■■ • b- , . A , Rimouski, ’June 2<. Mrs Anderson, asserted that after the Empress sank she head continuous streams all around, i Captain Anderson .sent out the liftboats, picking up.everyone;possible. She was positive that Captain Kendall did) not assist any of 1 the passengers. Instead, he came aboard and lay down in the st6fstad : ’s chart-room, while the Em-■ press’s crew came aboard, refusing to go to assist the drowning passengers, stating that they were too numerous. “UNSPEAKABLE CONFUSION.” ; 1 Montreal, June 2. Staff-Captain Mclntyre, Of the Salvation *Army, declares that there was unspeakable confusion aboard the Empress. As tK© vessel - lurched, and -listed, the people climbed higher on the decks. When the Empress sank, hfeH was carried down yards in a swirling cataract. Keeping his head, after fearful .suffocating moments, he came to the surface and grasped an overturned boat. -

Bandsman Green, of the Salvation Army,, lost his father, mother, and sister. He said that the efforts to reach the deck were like climbing a wall. There was little panic except among foreigners. He saw a man push into a boat before a woman, and another man knocked him down. The Salvationists sang '‘God be with you,” till the engulfing of the vessel caused an abrupt termination. Doctor Grant's efforts were unanimously praised. He relieved both physical and mental sufferings, and brought order out of chaos. When taken aboard the Storstad, he directed the laying out of the corpses and arranged for a supply of dry clothing for the women.

“NO BOATS WERE LAUNCHED.” Quebec, June 2. There is great difficulty in identifying the Empress of Ireland’s victims, owing to the mutiliated state of the bodies. It is apparent that many were killed instantly, owing to striking wreckage or were crushed by the Storstad’s impact. Mr Louis .Gosselin, K.C., declares that the Storstadt’s captain did nothing. When Mr Gosselin reached the Storstad, after being an hour in a collapsible boat, Mr Gosselin appealed to him to assist the drowning persons, but the captain merely looked at him. Mr Gosselin is willing to swear that no boats were launched from the Storstad, the crew standing idle on the deck; when Gosselin appealed to them, "For . God’s sake, you ought to do something.”

Lionel Kent, another passenger, confirmed Gosselin’s statement that the •Storstad did not put out boats for a considerable time after the collision.

Chief-Engineer Sampson says that desperate efforts were 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 when some of the vessel’s top-hamper fell, carrying them into the water.

The identification of Mrs WynnPrice, of Auckland, New Zealand, was made after about sixteen members of the crew had claimed the body as that of the stewardess.

Some doubt still exists whether the body of Laurence Irving was found. Identification was made by means ot a ring with initials, hut there were other passengers with the same initials, .also lost. “YELLOW” JOURNALISM. Ottawa, June 2. The statement published in Toronto that foreigners in the steerage of the Empress of Ireland fought with knives when their escape was barred is denied on the authority of the Canadian 1 Pacific Marine Superintendent. He says the crew behaved splendidly, and there was little or no panic among the passengbrs, who seemed too dazed by. the suddenness of the accident to make any panic. Mr Welsh also de-nied-Mrs Andresen’s statement that Captain Kendall was drunk when he arrived on thp He says that Captain Kendall never took drink once in his life.

Sensational, stories are appearing in the American “yellow press” that the Empress, of Ireland’s crew were cowards.

Miss Townshend, of New Zealand, declares that such statements are absolutely wicked. The crew, she says, did everything they possibly could.

j .A, New York; newspaper is publishing; “scare stories” of foreigners fighting abroad,.,the crew deserting the ship and leaving the passengers to drown,, the captain.drunk, and similar untruths. Mrs Andresen further alleges that then Captain Kendall arrived aboard the which already had on board a number of passengers with legs and arms broken, ■ Kendall was so anxious to board that he scrambled across the suffering people. The Canadian-Pacific Marine Superintendent has described the story as “a tissue, of lies.” He is fully convinced thfit Captain Kendall intended to go down with his ship, and was only prevented by Fate. When the Empress of Ireland heaved over Captain Kendall grasped the rail, intending to go down, but the imprisoned air blew up the deck of the bridge, throwing the captain into the water. The Toronto World, referring to the steerage passengers, says that some fear-crazed demons, armed with murderous dirks, slashed ( their way through the crowd, stabbing and maiming.

It is the growing conviction that here are several who are in close ;ouch with the w'hole situation.

It is further stated that the undertakers of Quebec, who are embalming, bodies, declared that the limbs were ’.lashed in a way that no accident could muse. The statement is not generally supported, although it is declared posi--ively that nine-tenths of the victims whose bodies were recovered were not drowned, hut killed by injuries received in the collision or by the debris. A MEMORIAL SERVICE. Quebec, June 3. The incoming White Star liner Megantic held a service over the spot where the Empress of Ireland sank. The passengers and crew lined the decks and sang "Abide with Me,” standing with bared heads. It was an impressive spectacle. The Canadian-Pacific arranged for the funeral of the unidentified and unclaimed dead on Thursday, and bears all the expenses. An inspection of the Storstad’s bows indicates that it was impossible for the stem to have remained locked in the Empress of Ireland’s side, as the boat was twisted out of shape by the Empress of Ireland’s motion. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Captain Hbltung, of the Norwegian collier Aided, asserts that when he was passing the Empress of Ireland thirty miles above the point of disaster, she

was steering a strange zig-zag course, him with anxiety. Altogether 110 bodies have been identified. It is not expected that many more will be recognised, but they will be kept unburied for a month. THE BLOOMFIELDS’ BODIES. [Pee Peesb Association.] Auckland, June 3. A private cable received from Canada states that the body of the late Colonel W. R. Bloomfield was found and identified, but that the bodies of Mr and Miss Bloomfield had not yet been recovered.