El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-12

that a great ret had been torn in the
! burning vessel This was later learned
to have been caused by an explosion
Of the boilers.
Up to this time the crew. assisted
by many passengers. had put uD
steady fight against the flames. For
been used to flood the hold. and when
the heat in the fire room became IN
bearable the hand pumps were put in
to action. Il
Many Of the passengers took their
turn at the sea pumps and It was
by the use of these that the flames
were prevented from reaching the after
holds over which the women and chill
dren were huddled-
A few minutes later the dawn shot
across the water and It could then De
seen that the fire had gone down con-
siderably. owing to its having burned
itself out
Fight at Rescue Resumed.
It was then that the fight to relieve
the passengers began II was also
then that the great value OF the Mar
rangansett, the Standard Oil tank
steamer, dawned upon the captains
few seconds later the pumps on the OIL
steamer were working and streams OF
oil were being poured out over the
water. With the battle line" still pre-
served, the Narragansett circled the
VOlturnO and as the oil spread over the
surface of the sea, 1t seemed TO ma
When the effects of the oil were
noticeable and it was apparent that
the gale had spent itself, the lifebOats
from the rescue fleet were launched
and the work of relieving the terror
stricken passengers began in earnest
Captain Last to Leave.
Captain Inch had dashed himself to
the mast Of the Volturno and directed
the mode OF leaving the vessel. The
general rule Of the sea. women and
children first" was Obeyed in the
strictest sense There were a larSe
number of women and children among
the passengers. most of whom had en-
barked in the steerage. When these
had been landed safely on one or the
other of the vessels the men and mem
bers Of the crew began to leave. Cap
tain Inch was the last man to leave the
vessel
The report reached here tonight by
wireless from captain Barr, Of the
Carmania, states that the VOlturnO was
abandoned at sea October 10, at $3.50
a m, when the vessel was in latitude
1925; longitude 54.33.
Bodies Hurled Into AIR.
The wireless accounts received here
their lives. Many accounts state that
many persons were either killed in
the explosion or blown from the deck
of the Volturno and were drowned.
One captain asserted that he could see
many bodies flying through the air
following the explosions. The belief
that many had been blown from the
ship was so strong at this time that
scores Of life buOys with lights at
tached, were set adrift in the hope that
some of those who ha0 been blown
from the ship would be able to reach
them in the dark. At the same time
the searchlight from the Carmania
swept the surrounding waters for trace
of any bodies. Several times objects
believed to be bodies were seen but
none of these were recovered.
About so persons climbed into a 1ife-
boat dashed to the davits near the
stern and at various times during the
night men and women were seen to
either fall or jump from this boat
Captain Barr believes that many Of the
136 were drowned after being thrown
from this boat by the rolling and pitcn-
ing of the VOlturnO.
Hope and despair alternated in the
breasts of the passengers gathered on
the deck of the VOlturno as the night
wore on When one of the circIing
liners about the Inflated ship would
come near, the passengers would yell
with delight, but when it pulled
further away, there would come a cry
Of agony and despair that chilled the
blood of the OnlOOkers.