A NIGHT OF HORROR AND DEATH

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 34, 1 June 1914, Page 5

A NIGHT OF HORROR AND DEATH

HE DISASTER IN TIE ST. LAWRENCE. SURVIVORS RELATE THEIR ERPERIENCES, The latest catastrophe at sea has caused world-vile sym »aihy a;;«l regret, the loss involving over one thousand human lives, and the destruction of the well-known ocean liner, Empress of Ireland. However, amid the wreckage and death and the terrible experiences of that night, there stands out in welcome relief- which is the only comfort many relatives and friends have—a splendid record of brave deeds and heroic deaths nobly faced. The fact that some of those who were so suddenly called away lielong to our own Dominion brings the sad event more closely home to all of us, but the poignancy of the grief of the bereaved will he lessened by the knowledge that they are not alone in trouble and that they share with thousands of others the condolence of the Empire and other world communities. Father Point, the scene of the disaster, is on the south coast, of the estuary or"*th© St. Lawrence, about 200 miles from Quebec. The St. Lawrence at this point is 30 miles wide.

; STORIES OF THE SURVIVORS. ! Quebec, May 31. i Panic broke out after the terrific 'collision. Men and women rushed from their cabins. Some reached the deck , and were hurled off into the river, ■ owing to the angle of the deck. [Parents were separated from their children, and husbands from their wives. Dr. Grant, the ship's surgeon, saved may 'lives, owing to his coolness, capable direction, and medical attention when the survivors were picked up. A steerage passenger, Philip Lawler, asserts that an explosion really caused the Empress of Ireland to sink so I rapidly that people were shot out of the ship like peas from a pod. Lawler, with his wife and son, slipped overboard, being unable to stand on the sloping deck. His wife slipped from her husband's grasp, and was drowned; but the others were rescued. Another • woman leaped from the sinking steamer and swam round awaiting succor for nearly an hour. She was then picked up, dying aboard the rescuing tug. A relief train conveying special emergency staff of the Can-adian-Pacific Company was derailed, and a second train was promptly despatched, which brought the survivor,, to Quebec. Twenty-two altogether died from exposure. Only twelve women were rescued. WOMEN AWAIT THE END. Ottawa, May 29. Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy declares that the disaster is the worst in St. Lawrence history. The Empress of Ireland was torn middle to screw, and sank before there was time to rouse the passengers or get them on deck. An unfortunate feature was that women suffered most, being unable to leap overboard as the men did. Most of them stayed quietly in their cabins or were drowned while attempting to ascend the companion way. , Nine lifeboats were loaded in the dark- i ne'ss and pushed off into the river. ! In- the meantime help was summoned | by wireless. The Storstad picked up the survivors, many of. whom were maimed. The Storstad's crew did their utmost. One Woman swam to the Lady Evelyn, but died by the effort. The wireless operators jumped overboard ,and were saved. The cap-.* tain remained half an hour in the | water before being rescued. - i

A LONDONER'S EXPERIENCE

London, May 30.

Duncan, a Londoner, states that there was a terrific crash and a frightful grinding of plates. The Empress of Ireland heeled over. Though there was a sufficiency of boats, they were unable to launch them owing to the list. There was no panic, though there was some confusion in the midst of which the Empress of Ireland lurched. The passengers rolled down the decks into the sea, women crying and praying, and men shouting. The cries continued until the icy waters ended their sufferings. Some swam for an hour before they were rescued. They felt the bodies of dead men under their feet. The officers behaved splendidly, facing death fearlessly. Captain Kendall stayed on the bridge until the vessel sank. Duncan was taken aboard the collier. He says that many of those rescued were raving mad from shock and exposure. VARIOUS REPORTS. Dr. Johnson, the Canadian-Pacific Railway Company's medical officer, says (that if the Storshad had not backed out, many more would have been saved. The Marconi operator states that Father Point responded promptly, but he was unable to talk, as the Empress of Ireland's dynamos failed within five minutes. Mclntyre, a Salvationist, says the vessel was wallowing on her side for a few moments. Then an explosion sent a burst of steam all over the vessel, which seemed to turn turtle. The official report states that the Empress of Ireland carried 87 firstclass, 153 second-class, and 715 thirdclass passengers, and a crew of 432. Eighteen of the firstclass, 131 of the second and third, 200 of the crew, and four hundred bodies have been recovered. THE CAPTAIN ANO THE SURGEON The captain was found clinging to the wreckage, and was picked up by a lifeboat, of which he assumed command and saved 73. Afterwards they rowed around the wreck for three hours. Surgeon Grant was penned in his cabin, but got his head through the porthole and a passenger pulled him through and he was rescued. SAD SCENES IN LONDON. There were poignant scenes among the hysterically anxious crowds besieging the company's London offices. It was a day of alternate hopes and fears. The dearth of news, and especially the absence of the survivors' names, intensified the depression. Many determined on an all-night vigil. The majority were interested in the crew, but numerous artists among the crowd despairingly enquired as to Irving's fate. The offices at Liverpool continued to be surrounded till a late hour by grief-stricken women and children, while the men, stoically speechless, struggled to obtain a glimpse of the latest messages in the window. The Empress of Ireland's insurances at Lloyd's are £27,000 on the hull, £200.000 on the : eargo, £IOO,OOO on the freight and disbursements, while the individual policies on passengers' lives and effects are estimated at another £IOO,OOO. -

A Mansion House fund has been ope tied. The newspapers emphasise that the nature of the disaster has nullified many of the precautions carried out siiK>e the Titanic catastrophe. M. Poincare telegraphed to the King his personal condolence and France's great sympathy. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, May 30. Perhaps the saddest scene at Liverpool occurred when a woman wearing mourning was entering a claim at an insurance office for her dead husband's policy. She heard a commissionaire describing the collision and enquired the name of the steamer. She fainted on hearing that it was the Empress of Ireland, on which her son was a sailor. 1 OmTim Press AseooTAnnwO There was renewed sensation in Liverpool at six o'clock, when the Canadian Pacific Company published reports from the captains of the Lady Evelyn and the Eureka that no lives I were lost, they having landed four J hundred people, and being about td rei turn to pick up the balance of the passengers and crew from the lifeboats. Most of the survivors stood on the wharves almost naked, in a teniper'ature of 36 degrees. The majority were in a, state of collapse, the terrifying ranidly of the disaster having apparently affected their brains, and they were unable to give a coherent account, except that when awakened by the shock scores jumped into the perishingly cold water. THE TOTAL DEAD. Quebec, May 30. The final official totals are: Dead, 1032; saved, 355. THE LAST OF THE IRVINCS. Lawrence Irving and his wife secured lifebelts. ''Dearie," said Irving, /'hurry, there's no time to lose." Irving placed the lifebelt around his wife (Miss Dorothy Braid), calmly donned his own, and climbed over the rail. As the huge vessel careened, Mrs Irving was terror-striken, and Irving carried her to the 1 deck. The first explosion occurred as the Irving'? prepared to leap into the water, and apparently the shock killed them. HOW THEY DIED. Sir Henry Seton-Kerr gave up his lifebelt to another passenger, insisting on the latter accepting it and saying ho could easily get another for himself. Ho entered the cabin to procure one, and was never seen again. . ,• I

Many women could easily have escaped, but they waited to procure articles of dress. A Salvationist, Ensign Pugmire, declared that all his comrades died'like Salvationists. Commissioner Rees ran back to rescue his wife. Another Salvationist tried to save him, but failed. Major At well swam for half a mile, carrying his wife on his back', and then/ when succumbing through cold and exhaustion, his wife kept her husband's head up and both were saved.

Another Salvationist described his walking down the side of the careened ship just as if one were walking down a sloping beach into the sea. There was no disturbance and little panic. Once the ship turned sideways, it was simply like entering the water in order to take swim. ARRIVAL OF THE STORSTAD. Captain Anderson, of the Storstad, arrived aboard the Storstad. He declared that the collision was entirely due to the fog, which shut down on both vessels quickly. The Storstad picked up three hundred persons, transferring them later aboard the Government vessels. This fact gave rise to the belief that there were more rescued than those at first reported. The Storstad's bows were store in and her anchor was lost, having sunk with the Empress of Ireland. FOG SIGNAL DISREGARDED. Captain Kendall is incapacitated from nervous shock, and is [speechless. It is understood that Captain Kendall signalled in the customary way, indicating that the Empress ot Ireland was maintaining her course. The officers of the Empress of Ireland assert that the Storstad answered the signals, but failed to change her course. The Empress of Ireland was moving slowly when the Storstad struck her full in the side. "A TERRIBLE NIGHTMARE." Miss Townshend swam alongside Clinton Burt, a motor-car manufacturer, until he caught, a suitcase, which held up Miss Townshend until the Storstad picked them up. Mrs Price, Miss Townshond's aunt, was lost. After being rescued, Miss Townshend busied herself amongst the rescued, heroically aiding the stricken.

Duncan, the Englishman, declared that everyone of the crew acted like men, attempting to rouse the women They secured numbers of lifebelts ori dock for use when those below should reach there. When Duncan was thrown into the water by the ship's lurch, live men attempted to grasp him, and he was obliged to fight them off, otherwise he would have been drowned. The rapidity with which tlitt vessel careened and sank made, it