Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1913-10-13
FIRST DETAILS
OF V0LTURN0
DISASTER
the CARMANIA, WITH SURVIVORS
FROM the ILl,FATED Liner,
REACHES ENGLAND.==THE OTHER
STEAMERS PARTICIPATING IN THE
RESCUE ARE ARRIVING.
DETAILS OF THE WRECK
ARE MADE PUBLIC

Fishguard, Oct 13.-The Carmania
one of the first of the vessels on the
scene of the disaster to the Volturno
arrived here shortly after 2 O'Clock
this afternoon. Captain Barr met the
newspaper correspondents with pos
tive refusal to say word about the
Volturno until the Carmania reached
Liverpool and he had delivered his
report to the Cunard company.
He referred his would-be interview
ers to the ships bulletin for an ac
count of the tragedy.
The greater part of this had al
ready become history. The fire in the
Volturno appears to have originated
in her cargo hold, When it became
evident that the flames had gained
the mastery, Captain Francis Inch de
voted all his energy to the salvation
Of his passengers.
The Carmania's bulletin says that
six small boats were launched from
the Volt,rno, that two of them with
and that the other four were smashed
against the ships side and all their
occupants perished. After the failure
of the life boats from the Carmania
to reach the burning ship and when
Captain Barr maneuvered his vessel
close to the Volturno, the passengers
on board the Cunarder did everything
in their power to encourage the terri
fed crowd huddled together in the aft
er part of the Volturno. They waved
handkerchiefs and shouted cheering
words through megaphones, to which
they received answering signals from
the emigrants on the Volturno Balk
ed in his attempts to establish com
munication between Carmania and the
Volturno, Captain Barr sent out broad
cast wireless signals, which brought
to the vicinity an international fleet
to the succor of the doomed ship.
Late on Thursday afternoon Cap
tain Barr made another attempt to
reach the yolturno by throwing over
board life RATS, which he hoped might
ne SGCuIHu US tIOot Oil pcoiu, co' 'AA'''
attempt also proved futile.
In the meantime the despairing
messages from Captain Inch OF the
Volturno calling for succor grew more
insistent as the flames ate their way
through. Great clouds of smoke en-
veloped the ship.
At about o'clock in the evening,
Captain Inch lowered boat in charge
of the second officer of the Volturno
and crew Of four men with the IN
Kurfuerst. The small boat, after a
desperate struggle reached the Ger
man liners side, only to be dashed to
pieces. Its occupants managed to seize
lines thrown out by the German sail
ors and were thus saved.
About half past nine at night the
sky was suddenly illuminated with a
lnrid glare as the flames burst
through another part of the Volturno.
Captain Inch then sent last de-
spairing appeal and in twenty min
utes there occurred terrific explo-
sion which to the helpless thousands
of spectators on board the surround
ing 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 sea suddenly moder-
ated and the fleet of rescuing ships
was able to get away a number of life
boats and taken off all the survivors.
Captain Inch left his vessel at eight
O'Clock on Friday morning, carrying
with him all the ships papers.
Mr.. Mansfield, of New York, pass
enger on the Carmania said:
"The people on board the Volturno
seemed to be paralyzed and helpless.
They made no effort to seize the lines
of the RATS thrown to them. | saw
one man kiss his wife and children
and throw them overheard. He jump
ed after them. They were seen for
only a moment and then disappeared
together. 1t was an awful sight to see
the ship burning with so many people
on board. The fire is believed to
have started in cotton seed oil in the
cargo"
T. w. Duller, of New York, describ
ing how the passengers were saved,
said that ropes were cast from the
life boats to the Volturno and the
passengers were made fast to these
and swung overheard. He continued:
l saw no panic. The passengers
of the Volturno were all wearing life
belts and seemed to be quiet | saw
two boats floating bottom up
II will be up with the milk in the
morning. was the cheerful reply ra-
diographed by Commander Harwood
of Anglo-American oil steamer Mar
rangansett to the Carmania's call for
help. AS soon as Captain Barr of the
Cunard steamer, realized the situation,
he told the Marconi operator on board
the Carmania to get in touch with the
oil steamer, as an abundant supply of
oil seemed to be the only means of
subduing the violence of the seas and