The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-05-09

| tBy Patrick Gallagher in san Francis
co CALI
HALIFAX, A. S., April 3O.1The |
morgue ship Mackay Bennett has re.
turned from the sea of the dead The
coffned bodies of those whom it sal
vaged from the ocean after the ocean
! bad claimed the last Pickering breath
of life repose in groups of three oni
the white draped biers which have
transformed the Mayfower rink into
mortuary
AS the Mackay-Bennett crept slowly
up the three-mile stretch of the har-
Dor. bringing the dead to port, the
Mount Temple steamed out. The
steamer, which, some say, might have
saved all who we're lost that awful
Sunday night off Cape Race, greeted
and passed the barge of death.
Sad Salvage From Sea.
! One hundred bluejackets in a
launch and long boat patrolled the es-
tuary, keeping the stream clear for
the funeral ship, The gangplanks we're
lowered, seamen in dark dungarees
assembled over the side and, one by
one, the bodies were borne to the pier
on ,stretchers, placed in the waiting
pine caskets, sealed up and removed
on trucks to the rink. The uncoffined
bodies were first taken off, then the
dead in the baskets. From bows to
bullying stern the decks were crowded
with the sad salvage from the sea,
bodies bound up in canvas, canvas
caskets, piled one upon the other, all
covered by tarpaulin, roped down to
prevent Slowing with the slant of the
ship as it rolled home through a
troubled sea.
Captain and sailors, chaplain and
cable trimmers, told the story of how
the morgue ship picked up the trail
of death and tracked its course until
her thwarts sighed for the weight of
woe sustained within them. The bod
les recovered numbered 190
Death Mocks Efforts.
They told how death Knocked at
. their efforts to salve the dead-how
116 poor, mutilated, inanimate human
beings had to be cast back into the
waters, and how they were tenderly
buried with Canon X. o. Hind of All
Saints cathedral, Halifax, breathing
the prayers that the God of land and
sea and armament may have mercy
upon their souls called so suddenly
J into his presence.
They told with eyes wet as the tears
came from the heart that one of the
first bodies picked up was that of
two-year-old girl, little flaxen haired,
blue eyed mite, who still smiled, her
lips curled in a lisp. The seamen
have dubbed together to bury this un-
known waif of the sea, whom he who
loves the little children has taken to
himself in the beauty of her infancy.
A sailors monument will grace this
little infant grave.
They told how Colonel John Jacob
Astor was still erect in death, floating
, with head still serene and peaceful,
feet treading the waters-the one
, corpse found whose head and Shout
ders were not prone, subdued by the
ice chilled waves. He still wore the
belt containing $500 in currency,
which he always carried for emergen-
cies, girding his waist beneath cloth
ing and life belt.
The body identified as that of
George B. Widener of Philadelphia
ives SO mutilated that Captain Lard
ner could not say positively whether
! 1t was that of Widener or his valet
This body was buried at sea.
, All day long the funeral procession
passed between pier and rink, while
the church bells tolled their knells
and the flags of the city hung at half
pole.
Experts Shake Ismay's Hand.
WASHINGTON, April 3O.-When ]
, Bruce Ismay left the stand after his
, final cross examination before the
, Senate committee investigating the
Titanic disaster Admiral Hutch
Cone, chief of the bureau of steam
engines; Richard Morgan Watt, chiei
of the bureau Of construction and re
pair, and Captain John ]. Knapp. chief
Of the hydrophotographic office, all OF
the United States navy, and General
George Uhler, chief of the steamboat
Inspection service, all expert advisers
Of the committee, went to Ismay and
shook hands warmly, as did also
those members of the committee who
3 were present
6 The investigation practically closed
this afternoon, though an adjournment
q was taken to Friday morning. 1t il
o possible that the stories of a few o
the survivors NAV then he heard bu