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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1914-06-05, Page 6uVEK 1,000 LIVES ARE LOST T'i're Empress of Ireland Sinks in Collision With Collier, THE STORY IN BRIEF. TOTAT. SAVED LOST ,First Cabin Passengers on Board , 87 18 69' Second . Cabin Passengers 153 29 124 Third Class Passengers 715 101 613 officers and Crew . .... .... 432 207 226 1,387 355 1,032 A despatch from Quebec seas: 'Un'cheeked s;Jed`in a fog cost 1,032 lives Friday' morning whet .:the col- lier Storstadt sank the Canadian 'Pacific liner Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence River, About 400 were saved from the whole ship's company of 1,387 crew and passen- gers. Among the dead are Laurence Irving, the English actor, who was Meon 'of Sir Henry Irving; his wife, abel Hackney, and Sir Henry Se- tan-Iierr, a females hunter of big game and prominent at the English •b.ar. Very few of the first or second cabin passengers were saved. Only few women were rescued. The .second greatrest disaster in the history" of the - Atlaantic naviga- tion occurred Sat l'.45 a.ni. Friday. The Empress of Irelarnd, the finest steamship of the Canadian Pacific fleet, was motionless in the St. Lawrence awaiting the lifting of a heavy fog. The Norwegian collier Storstadt hardly a fifth of the liner's bulk, crashed into the Em- press' pont side Sand rsplit her from amidships to the 'Screws. The Empress sank within fourteen minutes. There wan; time only to lower nine lifeboats. More than 1,000 persons were asleep and were .unable to get to the decks before they were carried down in seven- teen fathoms of water. Scores were crushed to death by the bow of the Storstadt as it ripped through tiers of staterooms. The :survivors in the lifeboats and upon bits of wreck- aago were :picked up by the Domin- ion Government steamers whichi reached the scene of the disaster from Rimoueki. The ' ; urvivors were ;taken to Riznousli4 by the Government reitear;*re Eureka: and Ladd' Evelyn. Later marry were placed on a spe- cial train and ,started for Quebec. Captain Kendall, of the Empress' was saved, but he was badlyhurt from falling upon wreckage es his ship sank. The chief officer was lost. Ae•counte which have reached here from survivors make it clear that the sinking of the Eanprese of Ire- land will rank with the Titanic digs- aster as one of the dreadful mis- fortlmes of marine History. The fact that strands ;out was the com- plete helplessness . of most of the passengers. They were trapped in their rotate rooms and were killed or drowned before officers and crew .had time to help them. It was all over within fourteen minutes. The collier was near to sinking, but wasable to make her way to. Rimouski after picking up ka.. few of the survivorsfrom the Empress. Her bow was shattered ter the waiter tine from the collision. So far as could be learned the collitian tame without warning. A 'frightful blow came out of the fog and ruined the Empress of Ireland before her careens 'knew that .lou- ver was near. It was 1.45 a.m. when the Norwegian collier -and freighter 'Stosrstaclib, a ship ha'rd'ly a fifth of the •size of the Empress, blundered against, her and out her dawn as if she head been made of pasteboard instead of wood and iron. The collier, weiaghted with 7,000 tons of coal, was out of her course in the channel as she came on at a good 'speed. She drove; into the Port ;side of the Empress and herr steel sheathed bow raked .inward and backward.' I,t cut througha length of state rooms, watertight compartments and deck beams, un- til there was an enormous gap that opened from ;amidships to the stern of the ..liner. • The watee rushed in with the power of Niagara. Captain Ken- dall and his oflioers did all that was humanly possible in the fourteen minutes that the Empress hung on the river. captain Kendall was hurt and in great pain, but 'he showed the .pluck and decision of a naval officer. In the first minute of the disaster he ordered young Edward Bamford, the wireless operator, to flush the S.O.S. ca11, the ery for help that every ship must heed. He ordered officers and stewards to collect as many passen- gers as could be found and hold them for the boats. He had nine lifeboats overside within ten min- utes. No Time for Flight. Had there been time, hundreds who went down with the ship would have survived. But time there was not. A thousand m,en and women who had been asleep woke too late to scramble to the decks. They were crushed or mangled by the bow of the Stoestadt, injured by splintered timbers or overwhelmed in the terrific rush of waters. It is probable that scores were killed instantly, but hundreds perished. while feebly struggling -for door- ways, while trying for a footing on the sloping <leeks. The terror and confession of the few minutes while the . Empress staggered, listed and sank can hardly, be put in words. The survivors themselves •could nai. describe those moments .adequately. • Quebec, May 29.-A grim, remind- er .of the fact that•even. the- most perfect of modern Atlantic liners was subject to the dangers of the sea was given here to -night; when the 355 'survivors of the 1;387 pas- sengers and erew who• so gaily sail- ed from Quebec on Thursday re- turned to this eity, ragged, . ex- hausted and wounded, leaving nine hundred and mom of their ehip- metes dead in the river or strew- ing the shore with their corpses. The survivors were brought by a special Inbereolonial train, and a more mixed, warn out -crowd of passengers never appeared on a train in Canada, It was more like a relief train after .a battle than .a returning pasty from a steamship. The men were weary and worn, dressed in anything that could be secured at Rimouski to cover them, most of these having been rescued either nude or in their night clothes. Several of them were So badly injured that they had to be removed in ambulances to the Jef- frey Hale rand other hospitals, while others suffering from minor injur- ies were assisted from the train by their More fortunate comrades. The women in rthe party were few, it being evident that the terrible experiences of the early part of the day, when the Empress of Ireland went to the bottom of the St. Law- rence, had elainie•d a far greater toll of the, weaker sex. Such few women es were left showed shocking traces of the hard- ships end anguish they had en- dured. Most of them were support- ed by me:n, • and after ddsembarlking front the,train walked through, the SCENE OF WRECK OF EMPRESS OF IRELAND A�U 111a1OUoIil WHERE RESCUED WERE LANDED NEW .. GULF` OF 8T. LAWRENCt N TIC% ?RINE WW THE ILL-FATED EI/ZI RESS . O1 IRELAND. line of curious sightseers with drawn features arid_ with 'utter in- difference of suffering and fatigue. A Few Children. A pathetic contrast was furnished by the presence of a, few children in the sad procesweion, who had with the buoyancy of youth recovered from the shipwreck and prattled merrily to mothers or to their pr'a- tectors when their mothers were not there, They came ashore. at Rimousk stunned mentally as well 'as phys; tally. The proportion of the crew e far outnumbered the proportion passengers rescued. That is gleaned, however, by the statemer than an unusual number of the ofl cels and crew were on duty' at th^: time of the colli,sie'n, rand it was in - possible for them in the brief tins they had to arouse and save the pessengere. Very few of the first cabin passengers were alive when the .Eureka, and the Lady Evelyn the little relief steamships, four' the w.ieck and the nine over -crows., ed 1ifeiboiats. ' - save lives. The ship. he said, had been going slow 'before he heard the first warning signal, which was followed by the crash. It was all so sudden," said Mr. Dun- can, "tliat I can hardly think of it clear- ly. From the time I jumped out of bed not fifteen minutes elapsed from the time I was fighting for life in the sea and the Empress of Ireland was at the bottom," Mr. Duncan stated that lust previous to the sinking of the Empress the lights all went out. and there was a sud- den and there wmachinery inceoonly broken by the cries and prayers of the people in the water. Then the vessel made a litter plunge then fogd suddenly lifted and the sun shone brightly on the drowning hundreds. Mr. Duncan paid a warm tribute to ea the splendid work of the ship's sur- geon, Dr. Grant. Several 0 1 those re- �'. 'cued died from exhaustion before being ee brought to land: and many more would have died but for the heroic work of Dr. Grant, . One of the most stirring escapes of the disaster was that of the chief steward, who refused to leave the ship, and ran _to the support of Capt Ken- dall on the bridge, together with Pur- ser A. B. Macdonald. The three officers were the last living people on the Em- press, and went dower with her. Later Capt. Kendall and Steward Gaade were rescued, but the purser . followed the ship to death. Twenty>,two Died of Injuries. Twenty-two' persons died of their' injuries arid from exposure after be- ing taken out of the lifeboats or from &,siting wreckage. One man suffered from broken legs. A wo- man was found who had a leg .end en arm brroke'n. Others were crusdl.- ed or injured internally. Many of the survivors were rushed to •Que- bec this afternoon after they had had preliminary care, and at Ri- mouski. a smart -crows STORY. Several of the women tried to et - plain what they had suffered, but in every case they broke down and were only able to sob a few incoherent ex- pressions as to the horror of it all. A much more clear statement was made by Mr. Fergus Duncan, of London, Eng- land. I heardthreewhistles, said "when I am keeping on my course.' A moment later came two short blasts, meaning 'I have stopped.' I was scared and jump- ed out of bed like a shot and started to dress. Then the engines, suddenly stop- ped, and a moment later they were re - 'versed. tatxthet^e wase atdensehfog.e Tobe there carne a toriffic crash, which keel- ed the whole ship over with a terrible grinding and smashing of bulkheads. - "I started to rush on deck half- dressed, but before.I got there the Em- press had listed so 1 could hardly get along. There was not the slightest chance to lower lifeboats owing to the sudden list. :They all stuck in the day-` its, Those who could got lifebeits, but the time was too short even for that .with many." Crew Behaved Well. Mi- Duncan howsaid,far as crewhcould see, they had behaved very well, and he had seen no sign of panic amongst them. Of course, there was disorder," said Mr. Duncan, "there could be nothing else in such a frightful emergency, but I :saw the crew helping passengers and saw several mon hand their lifebelts to women. I had a 14febelt in my cabin," said Mr, Duncan, "but I• met a man who had two and gave nee One, otherwise 1 should not be here. While we were all in this confusion the ship gave a sud- den lurch and the whole lot of .passen- gers were rolled down the decks into the sea. It was, of course, a case of each man save as he could then. I hope Bever againgcto have such a terrible experi- ence," shriek asldtheMship turned over 1 heard women crying and . praying and men shouting as they fell into the water. When .1 came up there was the same terrible noise in the sea. '"Women were crying and then drop- ping; out of sight in silence, while men were fighting together with dying grips. Half a dozen grappled me and I had to fight them off as best as I could while od; ees often as Imen undefelt el nyhfeet 1{e r. was in the water about an hour and was; finally picked up by one 0E the drifting lifeboats, nearly dead with exhaustion. and cold. 1 :don't suppose one out of a' hundred of the passengers was dressed; for the excitement was' so terrific no one -tthought htbfof that, We cannot speak too g y the 'kindness shown us •etnoe we landed at Rlmouslxi, but I suppose it will -be some time before most of 1.25 recover sufficiently to travel," Paced Beath >E•barlesiily, As to the officers, Mr, Duncan racier - ed cedatdelaththad earleeas ,a Capt. Rendal'. standing* at the bridge Until the ship. frank, and doing everything possible e Ileider Arrest. • 'Montreal, . May 31.: With her bows cr'unsppled in and twisted n• acuteennead at angle to -port, and a gaping rent showing on the port side but a foot or so above the water line, in ante evidence of the tragedy in which she has figured, the .. Norwegian collier Storstad limped into the harbor early this afternoon. A few minutes later a warrant of .arrest, taken out by the Canadian Pacific Railway, was nail- ed ;bo her mainmast by- order rof W. Simpson Walker, K.C., Registrar of the Quebec Admiralty Court. . "By what authority do you ,Come on board my vessel and place it under arrest 1" asked Captain An deiirsn, commander of the collier. "By authority of the British Em- pire, curtly replied the Deputy Sheriff, who was commissioned to execute ..the w.aera+nt, and who forthwith proceeded to affix. the warrant in, the customary place. Ring Cables Sympathy. King Goole: cabled to the Duke of Connaught, Governor-General of Canada : "I am deeply grieved over tbe. awful disaster to the. Empress of Ireland, in, which so, many Cana - dilate lost their"lives•. Queens Af ry and: I both assure you .of our heart- felt sympathy with &ose who mourn the loss of relatives and friends." SIR JOSEPH SWAN DEAD. Was Inventor of the First Ideals- deecent Electric Lamp. • A despatch from London says : The death occurred on Wednesday of Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, inven- tor (in 1879) of the first incandes- cent electric lamp. He was 86 years of age, and was born in Sunder- land, Eng. He. was the inventor of many other electrical devices, in- cluding a. miner'e safety lamp and an electric meter, and was probably also as well known for his photo- graphic appliances, as he perfected the 'carbon' poetess and ,,the dry .plate. LIi tENA.N ELECTROCUTED. A despatch from Cobalt says Thomas Taylor, aged 19, an em- ploye : of the Tima;tktaning Telephraee Company, was ele etroc u red hers on Wednesday, while repairing the telephone lire, when he touclxed a wire earrying 1.11000 volts, Despite his injuries, he laved for eight hours after the. accident. • PRICES QF FARM PRODUCTS THE NEWS IN A PaRAGR REPQi6Ts •,r e34e*,n Teti enaDel.Pfi Tit&EB` GENTILES Oz'' AMZIBIQA. Prices of Cattle, Grain, Mamie ma; Other Produce at nome and Abroad. Ereadstuge. Toronto, • June 2.-.F$lottr--Ontario Wheatezd and at, $0 3r86 to $339 , Torontoo.. Mahttobas- First patents in lute bags, $5.60; do„ seconds, $5.1&; strong bait= ers', in jute bags, $4. Manitobawheat--Bay ports No. 1 Northern, • 998c, and No. 2, 972c Ontario wheat -No. 2 quoted. at $1.04 to $1.05, outside, and $1.06, on track, Toronto. - - Oats-No.Ontario 4cioa�r,ouide, nd a2ntrackToonto Western Canada oats quoted at 42c for No. 2, and at 398c for No. 3, Bay ports, Peas -$1 to $t.00 -outside. Barley -Good malting barley, 56 to 58c, according to quality. Rye -No. 3 at 63 to 64c, outside. I3uot 8Soutside. 2American ln-dried, 783c, Toronto. Bran -Manitoba bran, $24 to $26 a ton, in bags. Toronto freight. Shorts, $26 to $27.• Country Produce. in- ferior, Butter-Choice5 c dairy, to ' separator prints, 20 do22storage prints,i22stor23c solids, storage, 20 to 21c. Eggs -21 to 23c per dozen, in" case lots. Honey -Extracted, in tins, 103 to 110 ner ib. Combs, $2,25 to $2,5.0 per doz- en for No. 1, and 32 for No. 2. Cheese -Neve cheese, 14 to 148c for large, and l43 to 16c for twins. Beans -Hand-picked, $2.25 to $2.30 per bushel; primes, 32.10 to 32.20. Poultry -Fowl, 17 to 190 per ib; chickens, 19 to 20c; ducks, 20c; geese, 15 to 16c; turkeys, 20 to 23c. Potatoes -Delawares, 20 on track here, Otarios1.10per bag, ontrack. Baled Hay .and Straw. tonaon track Nhere No.$24quoted a1 5313 toB$ ted st and clover-at to 138.50, on track, Toronto. Provisions. Bacon -Long clear, 14 to 140c per lb. in case lots. Hams -Medium, 18 to 19c; do., heavy, 17 to 18c; rolls, 148 to 15c; breakfast bacon, 18 to 19c; backs, 20 to 23c. Lard -Tierces, 128c; tubs, 122c; pails, 13e. Winnipeg Grain. Winnipeg, June 2. -Cash wheat clos- ed 8c to Sc higher for contract grades; cash oats 9c lower to lc higher; cash barley unchanged to 8c higher, Montreal Markets. Montreal, June 2. - Corn, American No. 2 yellow, 80 to Sic. Oats, Canadian Western, No. 2, 432 to 448c; Canadian Western, No. 3, 429 to 43c. Barley, Man. feed, 51 to 62c. Flour Man. Spring wheat patents, firsts, $5.60; sec- onds, 35.10; strong bakers', 34.90; Win- ter patents, choice,' $5.26 to 35.50; straight rollers, 34.70 to 34.90; straight rollers, bags, $2.20 to $8.35. Rolled oats, barrels, 34,55; bags, 90 lbs., 32.15. BrShorts, Middlings, 3rMouille,3288o32.R,N.p ton, car lots, $14 to 315.50. Cheese, fin- est westerns, x2$ to 128c; finest east - erns, 112 to 12e. Butter, choicest creamery, 228 to 238e; seconds, 22 to 22263e. to 27c; Eggs, fresh, 1 .sock, to to423 o; selected. stock, 21 to 2180. " Potatoes, per bag, car lots, 95 to 31.25. United States Markets. Minneapolis, n.l9Jsha190c Ty, 1c, Cah,2.-Wheat-May. o1 ad to 98c; No. 2 Northern, 009 to 9280, Corn, No. 3 yellow, 68 to 688c. Oats, No. 3 white, 388 to 3880. Flour and bran unchanged. - Duluth, June 2. -Wheat -No. 1 hard, 949c; No. 1 Northern, 9090;' No. 2 Nor- thern, 919c to 94c; July, 938 to 938e. Live Stock Markets. Toronto, June 2-Catle--Choice but- chers', 38.65; good, $7.90 to 38.30; common cows, $5 to 35.25; canners and cutters, $3.60 to 34; choice fat cows, $6C lves 37.50; choice 381175 $tot 310 50; common, 34.30 to 37. • Stockers and feeders -Steers, 800 to 900 bs., 37.25 to 37.90; good quality. 700 to 800 lbs., 37 to 37.50; light, 36.25 to $7.25. Sheep and lambs -Light ewes, 36 to $6.50;. heavy, $4.50 to 35; bucks, 34.75 to 36.80; Spring lambs, each, 36 to $7.50;• yearling lambs. to 38. Hogs -$8.35 to. 38.40, fed and water- ed; $S.60 to 38.65, off cars; $7.95 to $8, f.o.b. Montreal, June 2. -Prime beeves, 7$ to 88c; medium, 58 to 72c; common, 48 to 58c; milch cows, 330 to80 each; calves, 3c to 7c; sheep, 58 to 78c; lambs, 34 to 36 each; hogs, 8e to 9e. C.IIURCIULL TO BE AIR PILOT. Hopes to Qualify for His Certificate Next. i'Veek. A despatch frown Salisbury, Eng., dere: The First Lord of the Admir- alty, Winston Spencer Churchill, accomplished the first ' series of tests required in order to obtain an air pilot's certificate. Mr. Church - i11 at the steeeteg apparatus of a naval aeroplane' rose at Nether- avon, and after aflight over Salis- bury Plain, landed with ease in the yeoma0,ry camp. The First Lord hopes to qualify for his certificate next week. DIED IN GRBA.T AGONY. Sliver in Ms Finger Was Fatal to Wallterville 'Ian. A despatch from Windsor, Ont., says: Two days ago Archibald Le- sperenee, 45, ran employee of Walk- erville distillery, ran a, small sliver into his finger. He died to -day at the Hotel -Dieu from blood poison- ing after suffering from intense agony. Soon after -the aceident oc- curred the man's entire . body be- came affected, the arms and legs swelling, and delirium, set. in. He leaves :a widow, and six young child- ren. Several Montreal poltiaem,en are under instructions to• give would be street "mashers" a sound trouncing in•Stead of arresting them. tlap',ell INelS PRO 31 ALL a TUE GLOBE I N •, A I4 V1611E140 Canada; the Empire anis the 'W Iti General Before Your • Eyes. Canada. Shale's, 'K1ngston, alai appointed science' 'master ;at, In soil 0. I. • The German flag which for e teen `years has flown at Bea Ont., Victoria Pa,rk, below Union Jack, was cut down mutilated, Antonio Russo, arrested in M real for murder a week ,age on strength. of a telegram frem York, was not the man wanted. James Ebert, farmer, near 0 bell's Bay, Que., and his 21 -year son are dead, after eating to. stools. The mother and th young children are critically ill. A systematic exploration Noetliern Alberta with a view to location ,and development of oil posits in the remote township's Entheglispro hoilvincinteree is stoontes,mmplated The Canadian Pacific Railway has made a, out of $2 in the we bound immigrant rate of $31. agreed to 'about •a month ago by t steamship lines in the North At tic conference. Premier McBride, of B.C., su ge:sts that it is a, curious coin donee that the Hindu questi should be brought up as an add worry to the British Govern= already perplexed/ by the Ulster i sue. Quebec Board of Trade urges tl Dominion Government to insist th one of the conditions of the adc -Lionel aid to :the Grand Trunk P cific be a, freight rate of ten .cen per bYshel on wheat from Winnip to Quebec, and a proportionate. re, to. Halifax and St. John, N.B. Great Britain. • Sir Charles Waldstein has pr stinted the Victoria. and Albert M scum with a velvet cope -which tr dition asserts was given by the E. peror Charles V. to the Cabhedr of Burgos in Spain. United States. ' The estate • of Lord Strarla:co will pay nearly $100•,000,1n1'Leriten tax to the State of Wisconsin on h Northern Pacific Ry. holdings.-`.'` General. A woman who, after forty, a sumed man -like physique, with lou black beard, was exhibited • to th Paris Academy of Medicine.. A German e liner, the Bavaria evaded the U.S. blockade and land ed 1,800,000 rounds of ammunitio and 3,000 rolls of barbed wire, to' Huerta, at Puerto, Mexico. What is believed to bo the re- mains of the balloon in which Prof: Salagen A. Andres ascended from Dane's Island, near S;pitzbergen, with a. retinue of servants to minis - have more for the new, The butler was no ordinary servant. He did not work by himself. An autocrat July 11, 1897, in an attempt to reach the North Pole, have been found in a forest in eastern Siberia. There was a violent ,scene in the lobby' of the Spanish Chamblee cif Deputies when Antonio Moura, at- tacked with his sane and his. fists the radical 'deputy, Rodrigo Soria,. na, who bad called his father -a caw. are' ES 01 edr tbG Inc e Coax •sold .a e, Gla y ii,ecm h, mus 11i1I Li s per' he opt 'ion .b n pro , Jun •e nes eted a ek, he •lie bt b axed alid el •ned b chterh rho t Gia tampia menta, he C e Chur e amot `butior. Johnti aided 1 asgow to a v Isabel) S elki :burbai anon, Damai 1•fYllsan� re at alliery e thrc The p ea ne snplai pen w g irhe The n' as leu tewarl bipb ui 'oven. Then w.ned Idy, l rice b eing In Lr ear •B^ anieikc eaisul burial": li.g An p ep<irtd 'fid Kr ess, v rem 1 An i on the Maryfi beams mals A c Stever ant pedigr ten The e mated Who atter discov North abely away Thr :r•ahi prapr Argy' bonen: at ch. Ton ,• was' S A. hunt wo r'k• esti 1* A.bo' thro TO TEACH GARDENING.. Young Englishwoman Will Join the Grenfell' Mission. A despatch from. London says: Miss Christina, Fellows, a Yarmouth, lady, has sailed to Newfoundland a3 a volunteer helper at Dr. Gren-, fell'e mission to teach the fishermen sub -Arctic farming. The .idea is to introduce the cultivation of cereals and garden produce in the Labra- dor, so as to combat the i11 affects of a diet, too much restricted to salt pork, fish and molasses. e 80 .MILLION BUSHELS. Estimated that Milch Wheat will Go Through Montreal. A despatch from.. Montreal says According to Mr. James Cebruuth- ers, eighty million bushels of wheat will this .season pass through the harbor ^of Montreal, This :estimate is based, on sant year's figures, which were 65,0002000 bushels, ; by far 'the' lairg+esrt shipment in year. One order for a million 'bushels wars received this week for expert, bringing Lite total amount for the: week up .to i,6op,000 or.,2,000,000 bushels, Th char, Ok1•. rake who act ly slier Sher leen clar man eaiol ceu (wale the' tY aloft wLt tCA bias