Delaware City press. (Delaware City, Del.) 1913-19??, 1913-10-17
Six HundredHelpless on Blazing Steamer
Volturno in Midocean.
TWENTY SHIPS ANSWER WIRELESS CALL
A Survivors, Thrilling Story of the Scene on the
voIturno- Declares the Sailors Made
Panic Worse.

H1shguard, England--One OF lle
most thrilling stories OF the sea that
have ever been told is that of the
destruction of the liner Volturno, OF
the Uranium Line, by fire in mid
Atlantic last Thursday night and OF
the loss OF from 131 to 1856 lives OF
her complement Of ~ cabin and 53S
steerage passengers and SO In the
crew, 65T In all, 521 or 52S were saved.
The Voltwno was bound from Rotter-
dam to New York. by way of Halifax,
having sailed October l.
There are some discrepancies in
the figures OF the rescued given by
the captains of the Carmania and the
Grosser Kurfuerst, but they are prob
ably due to errors in transmission
and do not greatly alter the figures.
Ten Liners Race To Rescue.
Ten big steamships, eight of them
4 transatlantic liners carrying thou
sands of passengers, clustered about
the burning ship for 20 hours until
Rhe was abandoned, fighting terrific
gale and mountainous seas in the
work of rescue.
ALI lnOb6 bdNeu Dut OhC htAC
off by lifeboats of the 10 vessels
standing by, as there had been time
to launch but six OF the Volturno's
lieeboats, and four of these were dash
ed against the iron sides of the vessel
and destroyed. The Cunard liner
Carmsnia picked up one of the Vol
turno's steerage passengers from the
waves.
Fight Between Elements and Science.
It was fight between the elements
and modern inventions, and the ele-
ments won partial victory. But for
the Marconi wireless, which flashed
the news of the fire through the ether
for hundreds of miles on every side
probably all aboard the Volturno
would have persisted.
The rescue ships reached the scene
OF the disaster In plenty of time to
save all, but for hours stood by the
blazing vessel, impotent because Of
the storm to reach the agonized men
women and children crowding the at
} ter part of the ship and within &
stones throw.
Nl-NiBHA 1ohetN "'h' SSN'
+ All night Thursday thu lifeboat:
made desperate effort to get along
D side the Volturno, but the waves bea
a them back again and again. and no
until the storm abated at daylight
Friday did the rescuers succeed II
: removing the survivors from thu
e doomed vessel
: The Volturno was well equipped
with boats, sufficient, the agents say
y for 1000 persons. but the boisterou
sea or lack OF boat drill or PAM
among the passengers prevented tn
successful employment of them. Tn
rescue ships were able to lower life
boats, but apparently most of tn
boats launched from the Volturn,
were smashed or upset and the occi
pants drowned
London The latest accounts OF tn
disaster to the steamship Volturn'
t burned and abandoned in midocea
= on Friday morning, confirm that tn
loss of life will be limited to about on
hundred and thirty.six. The Ca
II mania, first OF the rescuing ships
,r reach the burning steamer, arrived o
! Queenstown. but owing to the ga
II proceeded direct to Fishguard.
e graphic story by the solitary su
~ Vivor aboard the Carmania was r
: ceiyed by wireless, and presents
terriable picture of the horror, Il
panic and confusion aboard the bur
ing liner. Walter Trintepohl. &c
IN man. who tells the story. however,
III clearly suffering from the stress
j.. illness and awful experiences. and h
W story is too incoherent to be accept,
OIL In every detail. Most important,
ST true, is his denial that two boa
got away from the Volturno.
. According to other accounts, Ca
he tain Inch was the last to leave /
%. vessel. which was still burning la
Friday night and was a danger
navigation.
nj Arthur Spurgeon. passenger
sd the Carmania. In a wireless dispat,
supplements his own description
ul the race Of the Carmanis to the bu
Ils. Ing vessel and the rescue of the p
mr. sengers of the Noturno by the ste
told him by the survivor, Walter TT