The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-15
Ia BOURGOGNE CREW DEFENDED
STEAMSHIP COMPANY'S AGENT
MAKES A STATEMENT.
Passengers Were Pushed Away In
Order to Save Those Already On
the Rafts-Heroism of Officers.

New York, July 1.-THE Times toda,
says;
I Paul Faguet, acting general agent
for the United States and Canada OF
/ the Compagne Generate Transatlan-
tique, has given out for publication e
statement concerning the charge:
made in relation to the conduct of the
crew of La Bourgogne at the time OF
the recent disaster. Among other
things, Mr.. Faguet says:
1T would be useless for me to defend
the captain and subordinate officers OF
La Bourgogne. They showed them
selves heroes by remaining at theii
posts and dying with those they could
not save OF the IS officers of the deck
and engine departments, only three
7 saved themselves, and they did not
leave the snip until they had done theil
whole duty.
Immediately after the collision. Off
GERS and men alike went TO the posts
assigned them. Several starboard life
boats were dashed to pieces, while the
( lifebcats on the port side had been rem
dered useless by the heavy list of the
steamer to Starboard. The crew, aided
by some of the passengers, succeeded
however in lowering two of them, III
which women and children took their
places. Unfortunately, these boats had
to be slipped along the hull of the
steamer to be lowered. and they cap
sized. It was only at the last minute,
when all efforts were of no avail and
the steamer was about TO disappear,
that the sailors, by order of their
chiefs, jumped into the sea, and 50 of
the 60 were lost.
THE three lifeboats that had been
launched, after having unloaded their
passengers in safety on board the Cro-
martyshire, made three more trips and
brought all the survivors. Captain
Henderson of the Cromartyshire has
made the consul of Halifax statement
declaring that the criticisms attribut-
ed to him by writer's in the newspapers
are untrue.
The firemen and coal passers We're
down in the engine room until the end,
striving against the water which was
invading it to secure the good working
OF the pumps. 1t was only five or six
minutes before the steamer sank that
the chief engineer, who died al his post
of duty, gave at two different times
two blows of his whistle. signaling the
crew to cease work of rescue and has
ten away.
Two occurrences brought to my at
tention may have started the report,
of brutal treatment on the part of our
crew. One of the passengers, a young
man, showed me a scar which he said
ne had received from a blow inflicted
by an oar in the hands OF some one,
whether a passenger or sailor, he did
not know, but he added that the man
who did strike him was justified in do
ing 50, because there were IS or 20 on
the raft he was trying 20 climb on,
and if he had not been repulsed, the
raft would have capEiZed and the whole
party lost The other incident was re-
lated to me by one of the passengers.
4 friend of his, while trying to climb
on an already overloaded raft, was
Knocked back by the blow from an oar
in a sailors hands, and thus the lives
of the Is or 20 men on the raft were
saved. What was the duty in these
two cases OF those who had charge of
the rafts-repulse one man who might
have been able to find succor elsewhere,
or let 20 perish?
"All of these facts were reported to
me by passengers. Several relatives of
unfortunate victims, by questioning the
cabin and dining room walters who
were saved have learned . few Incl
dents in the lives of their lost relatives
just before the ship went down. and
have been convinced that the charges
of stabbing and other barbarisms are
untrue