The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-05-31

! were exchanged Then, as mariners
| will tell you often happens on the
broad mouth Of the 1T. Lawrence. a
| fog quickly settled down, and both
! ships were lost to-one another. The
whistles of. the two ships called to
each other in the mist, and those calls
| were mistaken. Captain Elliott, of
the marine department. OF the Cana
| dian Pacific, admitted today, and
| friends of the Storstad insisted, that
as result. from what could he learn
/ ed tonight without actual conference
with Captain Anderson, the Empress
/ sought to run across the bows Cf the
collier. The Canadian officials do not
admit the responsibility for the
disaster, and they insist that irvesti-
CATION will show that the Empress
was not in the wrong course.
/ StOrstad Backed.
/ 1T has been said" explained Cap
tain Elliott, that the Storstad back
ed away Immediately after she HIT
the Empress. and that for this reason
the Empress was permitted to fill
with water more quickly than other
4 wise would have happened. As n
fact, the PROV of the Storstad was
torn away from the Empress by the
momentum of the two ships. That
fact is shown by the manner in which
the bow of the Storstad was buckied
and twisted, and her anchors driven
through her own plates. The Stor-
! stad stayed close to the Empress rs
| long az she could"
1t seems there is a question as 10
what the three blasts blown by one
of the ships Immediately before the
collision meant Three short blasts
mean Il am going fun speed astern.'
but three blasts every minute are sup
! posed to he blown in a fog. II is easy
for the blasts to he misunderstood in
a fog. Survivors tell Of having heard
/ blasts Just before the crash.
I Just what The Empress was doing,
/ whether she was travelling ahead or
| going backward at the moment of
! the impact may have to be decided
/ by raising the vessel from the st.
Lawrence, where one of her smoke
stacks and her masts remain at low
! tide a dismal monument to the dead.
! one other point that was disputed
| Yesterday and settled today, may have
some bearing on the intentions OF the
i two captains a few minutes prior to
/ the collision. 7. is said that the COL
| lier rammed the Empress on the star
board side and crushed her side to
| the screws, That point liz used by
supporters Of the Stors+ad TO indicate
/ that the Empress, having put off the
pilot. was moving northeast from the
! southern shore of the ST. Lawrence TO
/ midstream. while the Stersta3. seek
/ ing a pilot. was driving southwest
The Empress was making for deep
/ water not realizing that the collier
was near. or her direction. That APP
parentIy has given rise TO the charge
i that the Empress was steering right
| across the bow Of the StorStad, and
WAS rammed. Captain Anderson.
! however. has not told his story To
Captain Lange, marine underwater.
and John W Griffin. born Of New
| York, who represent the owners Of
| the Storstad
Arrives With Dead
RIM0GSkI QUEBEC. May 90
| This village having done all that was
j possible for the living. it is now re
I ceiving the dead More than three
I hundred bodies recovered from the
I St Lawrence have been roUght here
/ for shipment tn Quebec The Lady
/ Evelyn left Emouski this morning
I with nearly three 'funffr.c bodies and
/ the cruiser Essex. which is anchored
/ off Father Point. is ready to steam up
i the river as soon as she receives her
burden Of corpses,
The first measure taken this morn
I ing WAS the appointment of corps of
special constables to patrol the beach
for fifty miles to the eastward a
strong south wind ~ blowing, and IL
+ is likely that as the river gives up
the dead they will he fioated farther
1 out. thus delaying the work of re-
eovery IT is expected, however, that
/ many bodies will he found tonight
and tomorrow.
/ 4 few bodies have been identified,
! Among these was the body of Mrs
/ Gallagher, az Winnipeg Her son
made the identification, Upon the
! body Of Mir. Taylor, probably J. T.
Taylor a first cabin passenger was
a money belt containing s2,oeo in
! gold Another body is believed 10 he
Alfred Anderson. Of London. A wom-
ans body has been identified as Mrs,
/ p f'lack. of Gravenhurt, ontario.
In a few cases. and these among
/ the dead from the Empress steerage.
! identity was established in a rough
/ way by means of the ater~s0aked
+ immigrant tickets Some of these
bits ~ paper told a story In them
selves In one hastily made coffin is
/ the body of u man in the prime nf life.
! Martin Siorinyki Fastened around
i his neck was a wallet which contained
! a roll of water soaked postohice
/ money order receipts for sums re-
I mitted to his mothes in a central
/ Russian village He was on his way
/ to Russia from Fernie. r c.
Heartrendin2 Scenes,
The number of children lie among
! the dead in the temporary nprgue at
/ the Rimouski wharf Is heartrend-
/ ing thing There were many chill
I dren aboard the Empress of ireland.
and only two. 40 far as can be learn
/ ed, escaped
! A low freight shed at the end of
| the long wharf is being used as a
moraue. The dead have been laid in
rows and covered with sheets or
/ blankets MANY of the bodies are
! bruised or display cuts. In some cases
arms or legs are broken. Rough pine
boxes are being prepared so that the
bodies can be shipped as quickly as
possible.
!, Great quantities of wreckage are
reported along the Gaspe coast be-
low, Father Point. 1t seems likely
that there are many bodies upon, o.
caught in, this wreckage.