Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-16

coffee and helped ourselves to biscuit
and beef. But most Of the passengers
refused to eat.
DECKS HOTTER AND HOTTER.
we saw RATS sent from the ~Carmania,
but nobody told us to jump in. In fact
we knew not what they were there for.
About six o'clock the decks aft began to
get very warm, then hotter and hotter.
But we did not seem to feel the heat"
When shown lis boot with the sole
half burned through, T%rintepohl said:
II don't remember this, but 1t was
awful when the flames hurst on Some
of the men and women tore their mar. but
others were quite still.
After the explosion | thought It better
to jump, for | am a good swimmer. AMI
an English passenger and one of the crew
said they would accompany me. l jumped
first. They followed but | never saw
them again.
! made for the German ship. but they
did not hear me. Then | came towards
the Carmania and shouted 'Ielp. help'
and was seen by aid of the searchiight. |
was about an hour in the Sea and DecIme
'ltIl UNCONSCIOUS. klDN not now l was
got out.
During the day five sal ors and one
steward fell into the fire and we're burned
10 dean
Il know nothing more. | came away
because it was too hot % stay any longer,
and | feared the whole ship wo IL bio Y
up"
When Trintepohl was told / at accord
ing to the ga ptain's wireless message six
boats had been launched an two got
away, he said: 1T is not so. I was there
all the time and saw everything. No boat
got away"
Mr.. Spurgeon in his account tells Of
the attempts to get lifcboats alongside
the Nolturno.
Nothing" he says. was seen of the
two boats. launched witt, about twenty
passengers In each, after they left the
Nolturno's side. Four others were smash
ed against the ships side and the oc-
cupants either killed or drowned.
SAVED 521 PERSONS.
nine O'Clock Thursday night the
captain of the Volturno sent a despairing
message which read: For Gods sake
help us or we perish
by a miracle the flames did not spread
to the after deck. Eventually the seas
moderated and the boats saved five
hundred and twenty-one persons. The
death roll numbers one hundred and
thirty-siX."
The wireless operator aboard the Car
mania SENDS the following message:
Two boats We're lowered from the Vol
turno before the Carmania arrived. and
one hundred and ten passengers were
lost. Decentralization commenced before
daylight. The total number lost is one
hundred and thirty-six as far as known. -
, A wireless from the captain of the
Devonian, one of the rescuing steam
ers, says that he has 50 survivors aboard,
comprising Is men, 20 women, 81 chill
previously repor&ed.
A wireless from the steamer Saydlitz,
forwarded from Bremen. says she has
aboard 46, survivors, instead Of So, as
previously reported. This would account
for the 10 supposed to have been aboard
the Carmania, the latter steamer having
been credited with II survivors, whereas
she is bringing in only one.
Among the first-class passengers on the
Nolturno there were only two Amerl-
cans, John Krug and Frieda Krug.
PROMPT SUCCOR GIVEN.
The steamship Volturno of the Uran-
ium line was bound from Rotterdam
J to Halifax and New York and caught
fire in about 1925 degrees north lati-
tude and 34.33 degrees west longitude.
There We're 657 souls on board.
That the surviving 521 of the pas
n q - "a nr,"r ,,,-, -,
due solely to the prompt succor given
by II other vessels which raced TO the
scene of the disaster, by
the wireless call for help.
The tragedy began with an explo-
sion on board the Volturno some time
Thursday morning, while a terrific
storm was raging. All day the crew
fought the flames, while the constant
ly increasing fleet OF vessels, rushing
from far and near, were unable to
give any aid, owing to the mountain
Gus seas.
Not until Friday morning, when the
wind and sea had abated. were boats
able to reach the stricken steamer and
take off the survivors.
EARLY NEWS OF DISASTER.
All the facts at first known about the
disaster come from three sources: A
brief wireless from Captain Barr of the
Carmania, received by the Cunard COM
pany yesterday morning; a vivid, anony-
nous wireless message from a Carmania
passenger, and a wireless received al
Bremen from the Grosser Kurfurst.
The dispatch from the captain of the
Grosser Kurfurst says:
we received the appeals for help
from the Volturno on Thursday at -four
o'clock in the afternoon, while we were
In latitude $3.50 north, longitude 35.0t
west. When we arrived near the Vol
turno we found her completely on fire
THE fire apparently had arisen from a
violent explosion in the orward part OF
the vessel, and this explosion had killed
a number of passengers and sailors.
ELEVEN steamers gathered N thu
neighborhood of the disaster, whicn toek
place during a violent storm, blowinf
from the northwest with the sea break,
ling higl.