Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-07-12
BLAME STORSTAD
FOR SEA DISASTER
British Commission Exone-
rates Officers of Empress
of Ireland.
CHANGED IT'S COURSE
Inquiry Results i'm Report That Col
liSiOn Occurred Through Collier
Changing its Course in Fog
on st. Lawrence.

Quebec. July 1.-The collier Stor-
stad is held to blame for the Empress
of Ireland disaster in the findings of
the wreck commission handed down
today The commission holds that the
disaster was due to the Storstad's
change of course ordered by the third
officer, who was in charge of the col
lier at the time. The Empress was
sunk in the st. Lawrence river on
May 20, with loss of more than 1000
lives.
The inquiry, into the disaster was
begun in Quebec on June 16 by a COM
mission composed of Lord Mercy,
formerly presiding justice of the
British Admiralty court; Sir Adolpho
Routhier of Quebec and Chief Justice
Mcleod of New Brunswick. Lord
Mersey also presided over the inquiry
into the Titanic disaster.
Commissions Finding.
The GOLFERS third officer found re-
sponsible is Alfred Tuftenes. He was
on the bridge when the crash occur
red.
1--WE regret" says the finding, "to
have to impute blame to any one in
connection with the lamentabln disas
ter and we should not do SO if we felt
that any reasonable alternative were
left to us. We can, however, come to
no other conclusion than that Mr..
Tuftenes was wrong and negligent in
altering his course in the fog. as he
undoubtedly did, and that he was
wrong and negligent in keeping the
navigation of the vessel in his own
hands and in failing to call the cap
tain when he saw the fog coming OF.
cit is not to be supposed that this
disaster was in any way attributable
to any special characteristics of the
st. Lawrence waterway. 1t was dis
aster which might have occurred in
the Thames, in the Clyde, in the Mer-
sey or elsewhere, under similar cir
scumstances.
"Such is the conclusion at which we
have arrived on the question as to
who was to blame for the disaster.
But the question OF much greater pub
lie interest and Importance remains
to be considered, viz: Why the ship
sank so quickly and what steps, if
any, can be taken to prevent the ter
rible consequences which SO often fol-
low such disasters.
IrrecOncilable Testimony.
"The witnesses from the Storstad
say they were approaching so as to
pass red to red, while those from the
Empress of ireland sayy they were
approaching so as to pass green to
green. The stories are irreconciliable
and we have to determine which is the
more probable. Time, distance and
bearings vary so much even in the
evidence of witnesses from the same
ship that it is impossible to rely or
base conclusions upon them.
after carefully weighing the evil
dence we have come to the conclusion
that Mr.. Tuftenes was mistaken if he
supposed there was any yintent!on on
the part of the Empress of Ireland to
pass port to port, or that she, by her
lights, manifested the intention of
doing SC; but it appears to use to be a
mistake which would have been of no
consequence if both ships had subse-
quently kept their courses.
shortly after the ships came into
the position the fog shut them out
from each other and it was while
they were both enveloped in the fog
that the course of one or the other
was changed and the collision
brought about. The question as to
who is to blame resolves itself INTO
simple issue, namely: which of the
ships changed her course during The
fog.
"There is, in our opinion, no