The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-10-14
Steamer La Touraine Ar
rived at Havre, France,
with Volturno People
THE DEVONIAN
BROUGHT FIFTY
Cause of the Fire on the
Volturno Not Yet Ex-
planned

Havre, France, Oct l4.-Frist Lieu
tenant Izenic of the steamer La Tou
raine, which arrived here to-day will
az survivors of the Voturno, told {
graphic story of the work of rescue
SAT $3.50 Thursday morning we received
the first word that the Volturno was
burning and was 200 miles away. Va
reached the Volturno at 0 that even
ing after working the engines at theii
greatest speed. Meanwhile the news was
distributed among the passengers ano
preparations were made for the work
of rescue
'sWhen we reached the Volturno we
found 10 steamers on the scene. Heavy
smoke was streaming from her matches
while the passengers had gathered in the
afterpart of the ship. The women and
children were placed fartherest from the
fire while the men formed a line nearest
the point of danger. Everything on
board the Volturno was quite under or
ganized control, but the obvious efforts
to extinguish the fire We're futile"
Liverpool, England, Oct. l4.-on board
the Devonian arriving to-day were many
remnants of families crazed with grief
and terror over the great tragedy on
the volturno through which they had
passed. Ernest Herman, one of the pas
sengers, asserts he was one of the first
to notice the fire in the Volturno's hold.
The flames even then were beyond con-
troll.
Among the rescued was baby which
its hysterical mother had flung into the
sea. Arthur Hazelwood, a seaman on
the Devonian, jumped overheard and res
cued the mite.
London, Oct. l4.---The Camania ar
rived at Fishguard yesterday with one
survivor on board, The stories told by
the passengers of the Carmania, describe
the heroic efforts in the face OF almost
insuperable difficulties to save the pas
sengers and crew of the doomed ship,
As yet information is lacking as to
how the fire originated, but it is shown
lost was due in the first place to the
wireless, and, in the second, to Captain
Barr's happy idea of calling the Nara
gansett for oil.
There is some discrepancy in the stor-
les with regard to the behavior of the
crew, but it is significant that OF the
crew numbering 90, it is reported that
rs perished, while most of the officers
remained aboard and we're eventually
rescued.
What issues clearly from all the mar
ratives is that practically all the lives
that were lost were sacrificed in at
tempts to launch the boats before the
arrival of the other steamers, and that
had Captain Inch known so much help
would be Forthcoming, practically all
might have been saved.
The fire on the Volturno appears to
have originated in her cargo hold and
when it became evident that the flames
had gained the mastery, Capt. Francis
Inch devoted all his energy to the sal
walton of his hundreds of passengers.
Two Boats Got Away.
The story told by the Carmania's
ships bulletin maintains that six small
boats were launched from the Volturno,
that two of them with 35 persons each
on board got away and that the other
four were smashed against. the ships
side and that all their occupants per-
isbed
After the failure of the lifeboats from
the Carmania to reach the burning ship. |
and when Captain Barr maneuvred his
vessel close to the Volturno, the pas
sengers on board the Cunard liner did |
everything in their power to encourage
the terrified crowd huddled together in |
the after part of the Volturno. They |
waved handkerchiefs and shouted cheer |
ing words through megaphones to which |
they received answering signals from the |
emigrants on the Volturno.
Baked in his attempts to establish |
communication between the Carmania |
and the Volturno, Captain Barr sent out, |
broadcast, wireless signals which brought |
to the vicinity an international fleet, |
the vessels of which had changed their
courses to hurry to the succor of the |
doomed ship. The Seydlitz was the |
first vessel that hove in sight at $3.50 |
o'clock in the afternoon. She was fol-
lowed by the Grosser Kurfurst and then |
came the others in quick succession.
Late on Thursday afternoon Captain
Barr made another attempt to reach the
Volturno by means of lifeboats which |
he hoped might be secured by those on
board, but this attempt also proved fu.
tile.
In the meantime the despairing mes
sages from Captain Inch of the Vol
turno calling for succor grew more in
sistent as the flames ate their way
through and great clouds of smoke en-
veloped the larger part of the ship.
At about O'Clock in the evening Cap