The sun., 1913-10-15
VOLTURNO FIRE FROM
CIGARETTE, HE SAYS
Passenger Rescued by La Ton.
rainc llamcs Immigrants
Carclcssness.
CRTTTCISES THE BOATS
Others of Survivors at Uayrc
Deny There Was
a Panic.
sptciai cable Despatch n Ts, Suk.

The immigrant was afraid tina, hs
would he fned IL caught with A lighted
r garrett" and so he hastily threw it down
4 grating. II fell in the hold reserved
for immigrants baggage. smouldered there
shor, time and then started q blaze
Nhch quickly reached a hold whore
cnsmiclcs and oils we're stored. Then
mere wss an explosion which spread the
IRE r,ridly and doomed the ship.
This story has been repeated om.
r1ttirslly. but no confirmation Of 1t has
.cn obtained from officers Of the Vol.
DO, 10.
Tn" newspaper men were struck with
81" appearance of the men and women
survi'ots who had been cared for OH the
Toursine These are mostly Jews from
,u''n Poland. They were the picture
O. sery and hopelessness. The little
w., dad IN tho world was gone and they
seemed to lack courage even to plan for
.i" .utur'. They stood on deck apathe:i-
caih. some smoking cigars or cigarettes
that had been given to them in enormous
'uAnii;ies. others gazing of into space
dull eyed and silent.
Tie Touraine's passengers had collected
,othing for these men and women. some
the immigrants wore expensive silk
shirts and clothes thai bore the stamp OF
cool tailors. To others had been given
mo overcoats. One of the survivors was
8. consumptivc girl who coughed drcad-
iull, Three OF the survivors hadnt
SPOKEN IA word since they were taken on
the Noturno.
says Boats We're Rotten.
l.a Touraine's passengers We'd with
each other in giving accounts Of what
n,
a German soldier vino was returning
TO the United States after performing
his three years military service. said:
The Volturno's boats were not III good
condition. l saH only nine and they were
ola and rotten. The sea crushed them
like .Sgshells. TWO boats are said to
have escaped. I saw four smashel. Ev-
erybody In them was drowned.
II myself gave the alarm OF fire at
A. NJ Thursday. as breakfast was pre-
parlnI. ! saw w:sp OF smoke coming
from one OF the numerous holes in the
flooring Of the iminig rants oOmpa rtment
/ opened trapdoor and saw that the
comI ar .ment unds rneath was ali afhanie.
Then ] ran to the bridge and cried to
the captain. ! shouted In Polish. Ger
man and Ytddish. but It was some time
befor" hc understood. Iic followed me
ueu to the forward part OF the ship and
IN a,arm wes sounded.
AS soon as the passengers realized
the ship WAS on fire there was a panic.
When the boats were ordered out men
made rush for them. Those who did
% committed suicide. because the first
boats lowered were rotten. and SO were
The ropes that swung them overheard. The
panic lasted only a few minutes. while the
boats were being smashed against the
side of the ship.
SIX Killed when Deck Fell.
k,o
we're destroyed. but about noon the Car
mania got to US. and this restored calm.
about . 40 T.. NJ. there was a second
panic. when the deck collapsed. Four
sailors and two children were carried
down into the flames by the falling deck i
commodore Caussin. commander of La
Touraine. said that when he arrived near !
the Nolturno the forward part OF that
ship looked like vast brazier Of /
The volturno had her stern in the
air. said the Commodore. but forward
and amidships she was blazing fur
mace. We reached her at 0:30'- on
Thursday night, Wind and sea had
fallen to some extent. bu; II was en-
tremely dangerous to launch lifeboats.
We sent out two whale boats and one !
larger boat. Both officers and men
TOO heavy. The cries Of the Volturno's ,
messengers were maddening. Eventually
We rescued many who jumped into the
water
Lieut. Izenic Of La Touraine told a
graphic story. He said
We reached the Volturno at about
n'elock' in the evening and found ten
other steamers already on the scene. :
Heavy smoke was streaming away
from the forward matches Of the Vol
turno. whose passengers had assembled
n the after part Of the ship. ! noticed
md oh hr.o or1
the Volturno had all been placed fnrthest
from the fire. while the men formed a line
nearest to the point Of danger.
Everything appeared quiet and under
oraaniSed control. I could observe the
oPew working steadily with the hose pour
ing water into tho matches. from which
rod tinged smoke was issuing. II was
obvious from the bridge Of the Touraine
hat the efforts Of the crew OF the Vol
tqrno to extinguish tho fire were futile,
AZ the flames rapidly gained strength
Denies story Of Panic.
u. Magowsky, a sailor Of the volturno.
denied that there had been q panic He
said the flre WAS caused by an explosion
~ vas early In the morning. He heard
ships boy yelling, saw the boy running
az and then heard the passenger: scream.
thought that the flames had been smoul.
dering for some time.
II saw no panic" he said. I'VE all
turned in and fought the fire as hard as
ve could. Our hair and eyebrows were
sinscd of and the soles Of our shoes were
burned through. Not a man refused to do
his duty. II Capt. Inch drove any OF the
men with a pistol I didn't see It. On
Thursday morning Capt. Inch cut the i
tackle OF the remaining boats because the
tackle was tangled and couldn't be han
died.
The fact that the last to be taken on
we're women and children doesn't show
nat the men were towards. A great
pany we're lost In the first boats that were
owered Many men Jumped overheard
during the night"
llendrick Mcnnema, the Dutch second
cook OF the Volturno. also denied that
there had been panic.
! saw no cowardIce and no cruelty"
h' said. Those who lost their lives were
he Victims Of their ovn haste. II they
dad stayed with the ship they would have
cen all right
Partially bearing out the stories OF panic
ssh rough usage OF women and children
aS the fact that many OF the survivors
'Nowed signs Of violence when they were