FROZEN TO DEATH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 7, 27 May 1914, Page 6

FROZEN TO DEATH.

AWFUL SUFFERINGS C-i-' :■: Id URR'S CREW. NEWFOUNDLAND M.-'.WI-X London, April 11. A terrible disaster in-, , r'.ukni the Newfoundland sailing l!ir!. Driven by a, furious Ul'r/.rnd into a mass of floating ice, the -hln NV.vfoundland was crushed like an ■■■ .; hell, Her crew, numbering 170, I'.'-k i,, (,;],,. j iCie ~.., their only chance of ch-m,i-. It was over thirty-six hours 1W..-1.. iv »Miers came on tho scene, and ; . ; , that lime most of the Nowfound.nn.!'., Inen had • perished. A mimiber of survivors .'.:,; taken ol! the ice exhausted'and badly :"rostbitten; many more were found dei---! or living; many move were found ,!■•. ! o. (lying: drifting floes. Another sealing vessel, !' > Southern Cross, with an equally l:>;;..c number of men on board, is missin", and it is feared that slio also met !u r doom in the blizzard that overwhelmed the Newfoundland. The Bella venture in-rived at St. John's, Newfoundland, at ■ :*.• . dock on .Saturday evening with -iv, • ::ne dead and fifty survivors of tb" ■: / of the sealer Newfoundland, who-- -i-.'iil fate and terrible sufferings in :li« idizzard constitute the most tra-r'e i'i itlent in the colony's history. Jfore impressing almost than tile sight of i.'ic : 'itrlaled corpses and 'maimed men w.< the fear that more than twice tin- :i;,nibe-r of fatalities had vet to h- -,■ .•- ; .Vd with the loss of the Souther;! (V.-.<, little hope of whose safety is r,i: : v ltertained. It is practically certain .'hat she foundered with all hands off rv ;>e Race. II ARROWING ST:'•!;.'11-', Most of the men are fro-il'il;- ;i, son::' i'nghlfu'ly so (?ar> (' ','■:■■ .*,•!s.'l;-i-j- ---) tion.) One in a n lias boj'i ;.■ ; • ed from the ankles, an ml '.' ■.■■■ >• 111 have to be amputated. Othr'.'.. ill lose fingers, toes, ears, noses, and ; '■-•■.; My have permanent mutilation abo": ;'■« bodies jas well. r The siurvivors tell Jia.:-row;'ng stories. J Two had brothers die in llieir arms. ■» Several others saw th/'r likiuiades per I ish.

I Many dead were nbsohteh frozen | into the ice, and tlie bodies had to be !'chopped out with axes, i fillers were j dead and floating in the water between ice fragments. One man fell into the water hi trying to reach the rescue parly. They; got him but, but he died in tv.vaty minj, iito;. Several others died, ■■•An- the re:eners reached tlu'in, and lWoro tip could he g'ot to the ship.

Fort'r-threo bodies were taken oft three fragments of ice within a short radius. The resellers pic 1 the dead in groups on level s'u'et-: of ice, and ■planted Hags obove them for the steamer to collect them as she ca.me behind, just as they.'would o with seids. v as they would do with te'ils.

| WAXDKRKD 1.0.V(i UI'STANCES, I Many of the dead hud iv ,::!ercd long distance! before the, ".".iffibed, sin i [ tliey were found in fri;,l,aui postureI the result of the agonies Ihe. had experienced in lighting the cold before j death. I AU admit that hut for the. prompt action of the Bella venture'., o.iptain in I orguinirtiny ell'ective iv cue v.ork t,he f.u- ---| alities would have been greater. ! Of one parly of ,W men, onl ,1 3(1 <>sI cupcd; of a second party of 4:| :nen.i:ni\ | 1 esvaped; and of a l-h ; rd party of U nie'-i | oiily 12 escaped. This 'purlv foun I ; j small berg- and sheltered behind it. anil , thev ascribe their s:ifetv to it. MKX <«> MAI) WfTII Si'KI'KKIN - ;;. J; Many men went insane. a:i I the-, ravings made the time hiibous, 'Others battered their faces again- 1 '.he ice, so '/■ that their bodies Mere a!m:.,-i uiirecog--1 ni-.i'ble. Many men, in walking or jumpMug to kef]), t'h.- .blood in ci.ivukition and to resist the ice stupor. stiKibled over, their dead comrades and often were too enfeebled to rise again, and met the same fate. One jumped from an ice (rag- and killed Imns:-!*'. iWhen the survivors reached ihe p.ellaventure, their boots ant! clothing' had to, be cut oil' their bodies to lessen their physical agonies Several c!H»h are very grave.

Tlle.lV are thirty ciwes in tile hospital Xoue will die, but three wi\ lose both bands and feet, five will h;se belli I'eel. while citfht will lose one foot. Eleven wi'.l loso one liand, or the lingers of lid!il hands. Lesser cases are .ini'iig « ,-!l. The disaster formed (he theme of til-rii-mioii» in the citv church's on Siuiibi A message of sympathy froiii (he Kinjt has received grateful recognition as has also a message fr: m the i'tuadian Pi im, Minister, mm ix ms KATiU'R',:. Anus.

The process of identifying (lie bodies lias been attended with harrowing scenes. Two bodies were found tightlv ehi-;pc<t teayther. These prow.], .to h • a man and his son. The latter had died in his father's arms. Another had the lingers on on.-* hand severed. Later one survivor explained that the dead man in the agony of frostbite slieed oil' his liniriTs with a seaman's knife. Four bodies from one faniiiy were a'so found. A nioiii'iiing woman fainted after identify im; her brothers and two cousins.

Hospital patients tell terrible stories of their experiences', (lie sull'erings en-(lin-d almost beyond ini:i!>'in:ilioii. •Some of three men saved themselves fro.n dout-a l)y cujtin;)- op-n seals, re •moving the entrails, and burying their heads and hands in flit- seal's stomachs, thus escaping the worst elleets of the frosts. Other, used dead bodies to Olivier thcm-ehvs. but in no e:i -e v.-sis any evidence shown that any man Jiad removed clothing ■from tho dead to help himself. All of (lie sixlyniue bodies rifovertd hull their entire' cn/aipmenl i.f 'clothing;, hoots and sealing jtoar inlaid just as the, were taken oil' the ice. THE Hv-VU.VC JN'IUISTOY.

The sealing industry at present is I carried on by Iwentv ships, will) about | 4(100 men. Tim ships .sailed from St. Jolin's on March I,'i and the lis'hing is usually over by April II!. The operation of killing the seals in performed in this v.ay. A ship with, say, 2.10' men on board, will run into u"here seals are on the ice. The ice consists of two or three i'vot of slab and pan-ice. Heat inu' "n lh-> top of the water. Tlii- ice. on whi-.'h the seals have been !.o;n, is not too thick to ]..-<-\ i-iit thi' ;--aling sUnicr going through , it. The mm are sent out from the shin in gangs. () f fori-,- or fifty, in chillies of an ullieer. These parties. travel fr' in twelve to fifteen miles, killing- their seals and piling them in heaps, fro.-n> which they are picked up by the steamer, and the men themselves return to the ship. itrcuKi' - I'vxn opi-ixkd. At a public meeting held at St .fohn's, N'owfounclilamt, it \va- deckled to 1 inaugurate .a relief fund for fhe suli'e.rer.s In the settling -disa-tcr. In view' of the liklihood of the total loss of the Southern Cross with 170 riien, it was hjso decided -to make ana-p----peal to Newfoundlanders abroad and to

<>(lu>r friends of (die >;,i,iuv for assistance, as the eom'bmed di-astcrs will re present a total of 2M fatalities. The, Canadian Parliament will vote ti'Ml The Premier announce- tlit*: il is tlui attention of (lie. (iovoruincnt to ask for an appropriation. Kins' George, lias contributed £1(1(1 and Queen Mary £SO.