1032 People Lost

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 11, 1 June 1914, Page 5

1032 People Lost

Terrible Sea Tragedy

Magnificent Liner Sunk in Few Minutes Collision in St. Lawrence River Collier Rams Empress of Ireland Hundreds Perish in Piercingly Cold Waves New Zealanders Among the Victims

_>THB IMMINENT. DANGER SIGNAL. "SAVE OUR SOULS." By Gable—Presa Association—Copyright Ottawa, May 29. A thousand lives are believed to have been lost when the Canadian Pacific iteamer Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian collier Storstad off I Father Point, near Eimouski, during a dense fog, sinking ten minutes after the collision. Pour hundred and twenty of the total of 1400 crew and passengers were taken from the lifeboats to Eimouski by Government steamers which are standing by. J The list is not known, but the passen- { gerg included Laurence Irving, the actor, > and a number of New Zealanders. Nothing is known of the fate of the Storstad. : Immediately on receipt of the S.O.S. lignals the Canadian Government steam- ! ere Eureka and Lady Evelyn, from Father Point, hurried to the rescue. The early news was barely more than the S.O.S. call, naming tSe ship and ' stating she was in fear of immediate ■inking. The absence of a further call was explained by the fact that the vessel sank almost at once. There must have been a terrible •hock. The vessel is believed to have been cut in two. At the earliest dawn boats were seen hovering over the spot, but there was no sign of the steamers. BAFFLES DESCRIPTION. WAILING, CRYING, AND RUSHING WATERS. The steamer left Quebec yesterday, with 900 passengers for Liverpool. The scene immediately after the collision baffles description. The shrieks •f the passengers rudely awakened from i their slumbers, the hoarse cries of the captain and officers, and the wailing of Women mingled with the sound of the rushing of water in the gulf opened up in the bow. There was little time to liunch the boats. The call from the Empress of Ireland reached the Government steamers Lady Evelyn and Eureka, which immediately ■teamed at full speed to the scene of the disaster at Father Point, and sent the Government a message reading:— ' "There is no sign of the Empress of Ireland. Lifeboats arc visible in the distance circling round. The Government steamer Eureka and the steamer Lady Evelyn are also on the scene now." The Empress of Ireland had hove to in the fog when the collier struck her •midships. When the vessel steamed away from Quebec the brass band of the Salvation Jr. Army played "God be with you till we meet again." The Empress of Ireland was commanded by Captain Kendal!, R.N.R., who commanded the Montrose when the murderer Crippen was captured. He is among the saved. THE STORSTAD PROCEEDING. Latest reports state that the Storstad was badly damaged about the bows, but was proceeding to Quebec under her own steam. She has on board the survivprs and dead bodies from the Empress 1 of Ireland. She is reported to have rescued two hundred passengers. INSURANCES AND LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES. ( W i - .' Quebec, May 2D. The insurances on the Empress of Ireland are £400.000 on the hull and £150,000 on the cargo. »She was one of the roo>t popular ships in the Canadian trade, double-bottomed. md divided transversely by ten bulkheads, so that a normal draught any two adjoining compartments might be iooded without endangering her safety. The vessel carried sixteen lifeboats, seating 704; twenty Englehardt collapsible boats, seating 170; also 2212 adult «nd» 150 children's lifejackcts.

SUNK IN SHALLOW WATER. THE FUNNELS VISIBLE. "RELIEF VESSELS SAVE 459 PERSONS. j , Quebec, May 29. The rescued include Mr., Mrs, and Miss Bryne, of Brisbane. . The fate of Mr. Laureuco Irving's party ia unknown. Many of the survivors had arms and legs broken. Twelve bodies lie on the wharf at Rimouski. They were fatally hurt by tie collision, but escaped in the lifeboats and died ' before landing. Wreckage strews the St. Lawrence, The funnels of the Empress are visible at low tide. The Evelyn saved 390 people and the Eureka CO. Moat of the members of the crew escaped. Many passengers leaped into the waters and clung to wreckage, thus escaping." Scores of prominent Salvation officers, including Rees, the South African Commissioner, were lost. Twenty-two are reported dead as the result of injuries. SOME OF THE PASSENGERS. Quebec, May 29. The Empress of Ireland carried many Canadian members of the Salvation Army on their way to attend the conference in London, including most of the head officials. The list included many Australians and New Zealanders, including Colonel Mrs. and Miss W. R. Bloomficld (Auckland), Miss C. Townsend, E. Bryne and G. Bryne (Brisbane). There is no hope of Colonel Bloomficld being saved. The Storstad landed only a handful of survivors and several bodies. Passengers who were unable to dress flung themselves overboard in their I night-clothes into the icy waters. The crew hurled themselves over the vessel's side when the terrific impact shook them from their bunks. Much wreckage was torn off the vessel's side, to which they were enabled to cling until rescued. Irving's death is practically certain. In the Canadian House of Commons the Premier expressed, sympathy with the sufferers by the terrible disaster, explaining that it was impossible to avert it even by anything the country could have done to render the river more safe. Sir Wilfred Laurier joined in expressing sympathy with the relatives. SCENES IN LIVERPOOL. London, May 29. The majority of the officers and crew of the Empress of Ireland belonged to Liverpool, where there were distressing scenes. The office was besieged all day. Long prayers were offered at the Salvation Army headquarters for the safety of the missing Salvationists. ONE OF THE SADDEST SCENES. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received 31, 5.5 p.m. London, May 30. Perhaps the saddest scene at Liverpool in connection with the Empress of Ireland disaster occurred when a woman wearing mourning was entering a claim (at an insurance office for her dead husband's policy. She heard a conimis(sionaire describing the collision and enquired the panic of the steamer. She fainted on hearing Hint it was the Empress of Ireland, on which her son was a sailor.

TORN FROM MIDDLE TO SCREW. WOMEN GREATEST SUFFERERS. Ottawa, May 29. Sir Thomas O'Shaug-hnessy declares that the disaster is the worst in St, Lawrence history. The Empress oi Ireland was torn middle to screw, and eank before there was time to rouse the passengers or get them on deck. An unfortuante featuro 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 darkness 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 eaptain remained half an hour in the water before being rescued. CONTRADICTORY MESSAGES. London, May 29. Renter's, Lloyda and the shipping companies all confirm the loss of at least fiix hundred people. There was renewed sensation in Liverpool at six o'clock, when .the CanadianPacific Company published reports from the captains of the Lady Evelyn and the Eureka that no lives were lost, they having landed four hundred people, and being about to return to pick up the balance of the passengers and crew from the lifeboats. The facts are etill ' doubtful. Most of the survivors stood on the wharves almost naked, in a temperature o; 36 degrees. The majority were in a state of collapse, trie terrifying rapidity 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. A PANIC AMONG THE PASSENGERS STEEPLY SLOPING DECKS HURL PASSENGERS OVERBOARD. A COOL OFFICER. SINKING 'HASTENED BY EXPLOSION OF BOILERS. SOME HARROWING STORIES. Received 31, 5.5 p.m. Quebec, May 31. 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 many lives, owing to his coolness, cupable direction, and medical attention when the survivors were picked up. Captain Kendall stood on the bridge when the vessel sank. Two hundred and fifty dead bodies were recovered. Dr. Grant, the surgeon, went down with the ship, but managed to escape through the porthole. The search still continues amongst the wreckage in the river. Five persons were found clinging to the wreckage, still alive, but they are unlikely to survive the exposure. A steerage passenger, Phillip Lawler, asserts that an explosion really caused the Empress of Ireland to sink so 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 the special emergency staff of the Canadian-Pacific Company was derailed, and a .second train was promptly despatched, which brought the survivors to Quebec. Twen-ty-two- altogether died from exposure. "Only twelve women were rescued. The King, Prince Alexander of Teck and Mr. Borden telegraphed their condolences. The Government has ordered a searching enquiry. A relief fund has been opened, the Government promising a largo contribution. The Salvation Army lost heavily, the whole territorial field force for Canada being wiped out, including Commissioner Rees. The Army promptly mot here and organised a new set of delegates, and despatched them by the next outgoing steamer, the band playing through the streets, "God be with you till we meet again." Enormous crowds awaited the arrival oi the rescued at the station, but the survivors wore unable to give a coherent account of the disaster. NO CHANCE OF LAUNCHING THE BOATS. ICY WATERS END THE STRUGGLE. A PATHETIC NARRATIVE. OFFICERS FACE DEATH FEARLESSLY. Received 31, 5.5 p.m. London, May 30. Duncan, 'a Londoner, states that . there was a terrific crash and a frightful grinding of plates.

The Empress.of Ireland heeled ovei Though there was a sufficiency of boat! they were unable to launch them owin to the list. There was no panic, though there wa s some confusion, in the midst of whic ;> the Empress of Ireland lurched. Th , { passengers rolled down the decks int I the sea, women crying and praying, am e men shouting. The cries continued un til the icy waters ended their sufferings . Some swam for an hour before the 3 were rescued. They felt the bodies o t dead men under their feet. , The officers behaved splendidly, facin; -> death fearlessly. Captain Kendall stay . cd on the- bridge until the vessel sank.' 1 Duncan was taken aboard the collier . He says that many of those rescue* , were raving mad from shock and ex posure. . Dr. Johnson, the Canadian-Pacific Rail . way Company's medical officer, says that i if tho 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. Bhcn an explosion sent a burst of steam all over the vessel, which seemed to turn turtle. OVER A THOUSAND LOST. 355 SAVED OUT OF 1387. FOUR HUNDRED BODIES FOUND. Received 31, 5.5 p.m. I/ondon, May 30. The official report states that the Empress of Ireland carried 87 flrat-elass, 153 second-class, and 715 third-class passengers, and a crew of 432. Eighteen of the first-class, 131 of the second and third, 200 of the crew, and four undrcd bodies have been recovered. THE APPALLING SUDDENNESS. MAKES LOSSES HEAVIER. "GOD BLESS YOU, ALL THE SAME!" A NEW ZEALAND GIRL RESCUED. Received 31, 5.5 p.m. i London, May 30. Sir Henry Seton-Karr is among the missing. Among the survivors is Miss Towns- J bend, of New Zealand. I There was no time to arouse all the passengers. Laurence Irving tied a lifebelt on his wife. The vessel then lurched, and Irving was thrown against the door, cutting his face. He carried his wife upstairs. A passenger offered his help, but Irving said, "Look after yourself, old man, but God bless you, all the same!" Both climbed the rail as the explosion occurred, and were I not seen again. Burt, of Toronto, on coming to the surface, saw Miss Thomson (? Townshend), who besought his help. He caught a floating suitcase, which kept both up till they were rescued. The captain was found clinging to the wreckage, and was picked up by a lifeboat, of which he assumed command and saved 73. Afterwards l.hey 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, ■ POIGNANT SCENES. J HYSTERICAL CROWDS AROUND i COMPANY'S OFFICES. I Received 31, 3.5 p.m. London, May 30. 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 griefstricken 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 cargo, £100,01)0 on the freight and disbursements, while the individual policies on passengers' lives and effects are estimated at another £IOO.000. A Mansion House fund has been open-' etl. The newspapers e-nphasi-i' that the nature of the disaster has nullified many of the precautions carried out since the Titanic catastrophe. M. Poineare telegraphed to the King his personal condolence anil France's great sympathy.