The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-10-13
From the Scene of the VOlturnO
Disaster.
WORK OF RESCUE DESCRIBED
In a Wireless Message From
the GrOSser Kurfuerst.
Total Loss of Life Now Placed
at 1876.

scene of the disaster to the Nolturh"
arrived here shortly after O'Clock thlS
afternoon. Captain Barr met the news
paper correspondents with positive
refusal to say word about the Eoi-
turno until the Carmania reached LlN
esrpooI and he had delivered his report
to the Cunard company. He referreu
his interviewer to the ship bulletin Ior
an account of the tragedy. The great
er part of the contents OF TINS hdu d.
ready become history.
The fire on the VOlturno appears "
have originated in her cargo holu,
When it became evident the flames mao
gained the mastery, Captain FrahciS
Inch devoted all his energy to the Sai-
walton of his passengers Ihe CaI
mania bulletin says that six shldll
boats were launched from the poat'
that two of them with 50 persons each
on hoard got away and that the othel
four were smashed against the SNIP
side and all their occupants perlSheu
After the failure of the lifeboats Ircin
the Carmania to reach the burning SNIP
and when Captain Barr maneuNeIteo
his vessel close to the Nolturno' Lll
passengers on board the Cunaroer uIu
everything in their power to encour
age the terrified crowd huddled IN the
after mart OF the Volturno They WaVeu
handkerchiefs and shouted cheerihS
words through megaphOnes, to WhlcH
they received answering signals from
Whole Fleet Responded.
Ea1Led in his attempt to establish
communication between the Carmanla
and Volturno. Captain Barr sent out
broadcast wireless signals Wnlch
brought to the vicinity an information
al fleet to the succor of the dooheu
shin At about seven o'clock ThurS-
dav evening Captain Inch succeeded
i'm lowering a boat in charge or the
second officer of the Volturno and
crew of four men with the intention or
taking line to the Grosser Kurfuerst-
The small boat after desperate strug-
ole reached the German liners side
only to be dashed to pieces. Its oc-
cupants managed to seize lines thrown
out by the German sailors and were
thus saved.
About half past nine at night the
skv was suddenly Illuminated with a
lurid glare as the flames burst through
another part of the Volturno Captain
Inch then sent a last appeal and twen-
ty minutes later there occurred a ter
rife explosion which to the helpless
thousands of spectators on board the
surrounding vessels seemed to seal the
doom of those on the stricken ship.
After describing the rescue of the
German. Walter Trintepohl, the only
survivor taken on board the Carmania,
the bulletin proceeds that the hope
of saving any more of those on board
the Volturno had been almost aban-
doned when the suddenly moder-
ated and the fleet of rescuing ships
was able to get away a number of life
boats and take off all the survivors
Captain Inch left his vessel at o'clock
on Friday morning carrying with him
all the ships papers.
Humphrey Jones. a passenger on
the Carmania, describing the scene at
the wreck, said the international fleet
worked splendidly and with the regu-
1arity of a naval review. The Grosser
KurfuerSt. the KroOnland and the
Gar did wonderfully.
THE spectacle of the burning ship |
in the middle of a ring of vessels i'm
potent to help" he said. was too ter
rible TO describe: but for the subsi |
dence of the storm, all On board the |
NoIturno must assured1y have been
lost"
Loss of Life 1876.
The Minneapolis is due at Gravesend |
in the Thames at half past l o'clock |
tomorrow afternoon; the Devonian at
Liverpool and Car at Rotterdam to-
morrow evening, While La Touraine |
may arrive at Havre this evening. |
The Uranium line had made arrange
ments to send those survivors who de !
sire to proceed to their destination to !
America on board other vessels as |
soon as possible.
The latest accounts of the disaster |
confirm that the loss of life will be |
limited to about 1856.
A graphic story by the solitary sur
vivOr aboard the Carmania as re- !
CelNed by wireless presents terrible i
picture of the horror. the panic and |
confusion aboard the burning liner |
Walter Trintepohl. German. who |
tells the story, is clearly suffering /
stress of illness from awful exper-
fences and is too incoherent for his /!
version to be accepted in every detail |
Most important, if true. is his denial |
that two boats got away from the
Volturno. According to other ac- |
counts Captain Inch was the last to |
leave his vessel which was still
burning late Friday night, and was
q danger to navigation.
\ survivors, Story
"All went WELL" said Trintepohl. sun- |
til o'clock Thursday morning when
the fire alarm sounded. We were arous- |
cd and told to go deck. as fire had |
broken out in the hold. We were told /
that the fire might soon be quenched /
but the captain thought it wise for all |
to be given life belts as a precaution /
THE fire frightened the captain who |
cried bitterly. There were many ba- |
bieS in arms.
1.-The fire grew worse We saw
things blazing down below. About 1 O |
o'clock there was a cry to lower the
boats.
The Captain behaved splendidlv So i
did the officers, who were English. II
am sorry to say that the crew who
were Germans and Belgians behaved
very badly. The people rushed about |
wildly and the crew seemed to think
stead of quieting the passengers they
made the panic worse.
THE first officer took charge of |
the first boat, but, although he want