The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-04-30
Captain Of the Morgue Ship Tells of the Picking
Up Of Corpses Which Floated Upon
the Waves
AL WORE THE LIFE BELTS OF SHIP
Ninety Bodies Were Picked Up in One Morning,
Being Found All at Once and Looked
Like Gulls.

was asked why 80 many OF the bodies
brought in were bruised and broken.
When the water swept her decks
many must have been rushed before 1t |
and carried against stanchions, spars
and other parts of the vessel. All of
| those picked up wore life belts and
they rode upright in the waves, the
belts carrying them high above the
water.
Then the captain ontinued his out
line of the cruise, consulting the log
before him from time to time.
| "All day Wednesday we were in
thick fog and it was blowing hard
from the southwest. We saw nothing
i all day. About midnight the weather
eased up and we shaped our course
4 back for the bodies. At $50 Thurs
i day morning We found one drifting
4 near us. We let her drift until day.
light and then commenced work. We
picked up 81 bodies that day. Thurs
day / got a message saying the Nina
was coming out to assist us. She
arrived about As minutes after mid
y night Friday
81 AT daylight the two ships com
81 menced searching together. At noon
q II picked up IA more bodies and then
we started for Halifax because we
had as many on board as We could
!, look after. We experienced bad wealth
= er on the way in
Captain Lardner outlined the meth.
DDS OF caring for the bodies after they
had been picked up.
g Five Men In Boat.
a I'VE had five men in each small
q boat" he said when they went out
II to look for bodies they kept withir
2. sight of the bridge of the Mackay
y Bennett and We signalled them b,
81 wig wagging. When they picked W
o four or five bodies, If the weather wa!
heavy, we would bring them in. If thu
IS weather was calm, they could handle
'e seven or eight in a boat. The bodies
\. were hoisted on board and when the.
were searched, the contents of th'
~ pockets and their valuables were plao
le ed In canvass bags having on then
n the same number as that on the body
U, In this way we made some identifica
IN tions. long after the bodies were take
- aboard.
OF .We brought in the bags OF all VIII
were buried at sea and some of thos
q committed to the deep may vet b
8. identified by the contents OF thes
n bags. We covered square OF Sc
n about thirty miles long and thirf
y. ". miles wide. about sixty miles nortl
~ east of the scene OF the disaster. A
%, of the bodies found were In the col
u water, north of the gulf stream.
.; NO bodies that We found containe
" any bullet wounds.
The captain then related the col
!. fusion in the Identification OF Geors
Y D. Widener.
RS eve thought 1t was Widener
ad first. because the body had letters a
ng dressed to Mr. Widener but the qua
tv of the underclothing worn by II
ay body was not such as would be Wor
We by a first class passenger. His owe
ay coat bore the initials F e. Il
ire head was terribly crushed and u
We BODY would not keep so we buried hi
ng at sea. Mr.. widener,s son after exaI
rk ining the envelope containing u
lit. nossessions found on the body, sa
lily ha was certain that the body was tn
OF Edward Keating his fathers vale
~ feel certain that all OF the pa
sengers picked UP have already ne'
I'M. identified and that the unldentiti'
styl were members Of the ships coTnan
,er feel sure that those buried at s.
ION we're practically all either seame :,
stewards or other employees OF y
er. White Star company.
No ~ think there were about Is or
RS women among the bodies We pieh'
me nm We have quite lot of jewel
yer taken from both men and women
If don,t know how much cash we TO
,,,s from the bodies Lardner SAID IN
Its ba did not believe that the MN
wn would succeed in securing many mo
bodies unless she strikes a streak
red them 80.
AMI .arhe Minia had seven bodies a boa
~ .ta., Tho Mackay started for HailiaN