“IT WAS HELL!”

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 38, 15 October 1913, Page 5

“IT WAS HELL!”

* THE VOLTURNO DISASTER.

UNFORGETTABLE DETAILS.

[By Electric Telegraph—Copyright] [United Press Association.] Loudon, October 14. Accounts of the Volturno disaster describe the night spent in rescuing the vessel’s complement as unforgettable. Some prayed for souls in peril, and all were racked with anxiety watching the burning vessel. It was a very holocaust. The finest fleet of liners ever assembled in the middle of the ocean were powerless, owing to the fierce wind and the furious seas. Soon after midnight the steamer Grosser Kurfurst lowered a boat with a double crew. After fighting the waves for three hours they got within speaking distance, but were forced to return. Tongue-tied with Horror. The steamer Minneapolis put out a boat and got within lisfil, and the officer shouted to the passengers to jump. Apparently he was not heard, on in the hypnotised terror nobody responded. The passengers .were almost tongue-tied with horror. It is said that a hundred of their follows were engulfed, and they knew that the fire was stpadily gaining. They saw the, rescuing boats tossed helplessly in the angry sea. It was hell. The Minneapolis’s boat narrowly escaped destruction. A terrific sea carried off her rudder, and she was at the mercy of the waves. Her plight was detected by searchlight, and the Carmania steamed alongside and rescued her just as the boat was smashed to atoms. \ Most of the Crew Perish. It is believed that 78 of the crew out of 93 perished, while most of the officers were saved. This lends color to the statement that the crew rushed the boats. It may also account for the failure of the Volturno to make some attempt to second the Carmania’s attempts to get a line aboard. The Narragansette’s timely arrival was an important factor in the rescue. The oil calmed the waters and enabled the boats to reach the Volturno. The passengers were reduced to a statq of collapse, after a day and night of horror,' when they saw the heroic efforts of the boats from the Minneapolis and other steamers fail, '* ■ ’ 7 ' U i 1 ' - Ml T. 1 . i Officer's Magnificent Heroism. 'On the arrival of the Carmania dt Fishguard, Smith, a Cambridge University graduate,'interviewed, said that the first sign of anything wrong was a sudden increase of speed during breakfast on Thursday morning. The Carmania rushed through the water with the spray flying high over her decks. After four hours’ steaming they saw the smoke of the doomed steamer. The people huddled on the decks, dumbly appealing for aid. They launched a boat quickly, but owing to the high seas could do nothing. Chief Officer Gardner’s heroism was magnificent. When the attempt of his boat to reach the Volturno was abandoned, he first volunteered to save a drowning man drifting hear. A deck hand, however, jumped overboard and rescued him.

The appearance of the Volturno at night was

Like a Picture from Dante’s Inferno. The flames enveloping her forepart up to the funnels lit up the ter-ror-stricken faces of the men and women." .On the Cur mania women wept and men were dumb-stricken by their inability. When the detonator rocket in the Volturno’s chart-room' exploded those aboard thought the end had come, and terror drove them almost mad. At the Mercy of the Sea. The boat sent out by the Minneapolis was out for five hours, and had its rudder broken and was at the mercy of the sea. The Carmania, going to its assistance, lost her position in the plan of rescue operations, being then farthest from the Volturno. Captain Barr signalled that as the Carmania was difficult to manoeuvre ho would stand aside if handier ships could do the work. Mr Lloyd, second officer of the Volturno, with four men, launched .a boat and made a gallant effort to carry a line to the Grosser Kurhirst. The boat was dashed to pieces against the Grosser Kurfurst’s side, but all were rescued.

SOME TERRIBLE SIGHTS. On the Volturno, the spectators hardly appreciated the significance of the presence of ten great ships in the face of the terrible sights enacted. An eye-witness saw a passenger with his wife and two children clustering round him. The man evidently despaired of rescue by the boats, fastened lifebelts to his wife and children, and dropped them one by one into the sea and then jumped after them. All were drowned close to the Carmania. Groups of passengers were seen kneeling in prayer aboard the Volturno. Their hopes of salvation waned, until in abject despair, tossed by the sea, it seemed as if all must be washed overboard. As night came on the heatincreased, and they passed through an inferno. Saved the Situation. The Narrangansette having saved the situation, a fleet of boats raced to the derelict. The Devonian’s lifeboat was first alongside, and took off 21 children. Other boats took the women and children, carrying 56. The Volturno’s officers passed ropes around

them and lowered them to the rescuers, and within 15 minutes the boats i filled with survivors were transferred. The Final Spectacle was Impressive. The various commanders signalled complimenting Barr on Lis leadership ,of the operation. Then the vessels sailed on their different courses in search of missing boats, leaving the derelict shooting flames 80ft into the air. Parents and children were widely separated in the rescue work, some being taken to America and others to Europe. ! RACING TO THE RESCUE. When the Volturno’s call reached the Carmauia, Captain Barr asked for more speed. The chief engineer said to the stokers: ./"‘‘ljoys,; t there’s a ship burning. We’re going to try and save her.” The ‘stokerV dell .over crih another ruphing to the furnaces. Tile Carmania went full speed ahead in the gale, and was" swept from bow to stern by the seas. The lifeboat trews were all standing by. i The Seydlitz and Grosser Kim’urst were the next after the Carmania to reach the scene of the disaster. The Grosser , boat rescued 32 from the sea during the night. Heighway, the sailor who rescued Trintopohl, is\a New Zealander. He plunged into the tempestuous sea and tied a lifeline round the half-drowned emigrant, and swam back to the ladder at the vessel’s side. It is now denied that Captain Inch sent a message, “For God’s sake, help us.” PASSENGERS’ NARRATIVES. (Received 8.0 -a.m.) London, October 14. Describing the rescue of the VolIturno’s passengers, Mr Mansfield, of |New York, said that though the liner ■of the rafts were thrown to the (people in the water, none attempted (to seize them, and appeared to be (stricken helpless. He saw a man kiss his wife and children, throw them overboard, and jump after them. 1 The man was visible for a" moment, struggling frantically, and then disappear ed. It was awful.

Another passenger, a New Yorker, states that ropes were cast from the life boats'to the Volturno’s passengers, and were made fast and siting overboard, wearing lifebelts. He saw no panic.

• When the Marconi operator got in [touch with the Narragansette, the Captain replied ; “I will bo up with milk in the morning.” True to his promise, he arrived early on Friday morning, and poured hundred of tons of oil on the waves, reducing their force considerably. ATTRIBUTED TO CHEMICALS. CAPTAIN INCH NEARLY BLIND. (Received 12.30 p.m.) “London, October If. The Volturno’s explosion io attributed to the smashing of boxes of chemicals in the hold and the mingling of the contents. Wisborg, a survivor, aboard the Minneapolis, states that the sailors jumped overboard when the fire became serious, and many were afterwards hauled back by the passengers. A wireless message from the Kroonland states that Captain Inch, is temporarily blind owing to the injuries received 'at the fire.