Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-10-15
UsT FOLLOW AS THE NIGHT THE DAY: THOU CANS
'UTH CAROLINA. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10, 1918.
ANOTHER HORROR AT SEA.
A3o Lives Lost Of English Coast.
Vessel Burns to Water.

AS""'u, EhBlaHu, OCt. L.
wireless messages from the steamer
CaTmanla report that the steamer
Volturno had been abandoned afire at
sea, and that 1876 of the passengers
and crew were missing.
Ten steamers responded to wire
less calls for help and fought for
hours In a raging gale to save the
hundreds aboard the doomed boat.
Ihe Volturno caught fire in mid-At-
lantlc and was abandoned Thursday
morning.
she sailed from Rotterdam on Oc-
tober I'd for New York 1t is be-
IleVed she carried $40 steerage and
"a cabln passengers and crew of SO.
Capt. Barr, OF the Carmania, was
rs miles distant when he got the call
for help. He crowded on full steam
and made for the vessel in the teeth
of roaring gale. When the Carma-
MIA reached the vicinity Of the VOL
turno it found the latter burning
fiercely. Six life boats had been low
cred. Four of them, filed with pas
sengers, smashed against the ship's
side in the high seas. The Carma-
MAS life boats made a gallant but
futile effort to get alongside the
doomed Volturno.
After two hours battle with the
waves the attempt had to be given up.
Capt. Barr then manoeuvered his
vessel close to the Volturno and got
within a hundred feet. but the storm
prevented his getting line to the
vessel or rescuing any Of the passen-
gers on decks.
The passengers and crew Of the
Carmania stood on the decks and
watched the hundreds on the burn
ing vessel as they rushed panic
stricken back and forth Most Of the
Volturno's passengers got into life
boats.
The crew, meantime, was vainly
battling with the flames, which were
eating up the forward end Of the ves-
sci. Capt Barr kept the wireless at
work, sending out calls for help. Late
in the afternoon the steamers Grosser
kurfuerst and Seydlitz came in sight,
and were Joined later by the Kroon-
land, DeVonian, Rappahannock, Min
neapolis, La Touraine and Asian.
The gale moderated toward night.
All OF the ships. lowered life boats.
-The~waves were still so high It was
impossible for the small craft to get
alongside the ship. Approaching
darkness drove them back to their
ships. At 9 o'clock at night the
flames burst through the amidship.
AS the fire threw light across the
sky :. terrific explosion on the Vol
turno hurled the burning pieces of
Wreckage into the sea. All that could
be done by would-be helpers was to
throw overheard lighted life buoys
and stand by hoping to pick up some
OF those cast into the sea
About midnight a ray of hope came
when it seemed the flames were not
making such great headway.
At daybreak the Volturno was still
foating and the sea was moderating.
The vessel was still burning and the
passengers were still huddled on the
decks.
Reports Confirmed.
London, Oct. 12.-The latest ac-
counts OF the disaster to the steamer
Volturno, burned and abandoned in
mid1ocean Friday morning, confirm
that the loss Of life will be limited to
about 1876. The Carmania, first of the
rescuing ships to reach the burning
steamer, arrived off Queenstown this
morning, but owing to the gale pro-
ceeded direct to Fishguard, where she
is due to arrive at L a. m.
The Carmania has one lone survi-
vor Of the Volturno aboard. From
that survivor, however, comes a
thrilling story Of the burning Of the
steamer, Of the terror the struggle
for the boats, the death Of those who
went over the sides and his own des-
perate fight for life.
To Destroy Blazing Derelict.
London, Oct. 13.-The British
cruiser Donegal was dispatched to-
day from the west coast of Scotland
to destroy the blazing derelict You'll
turno.