The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-06-04
8 VICTIMS Of CRASH
BURIED At QUEBEC
First Funeral of Empress Dead
Is Held.
ROYAL BODY TO FIX BLAME
Relatives Confused in Identifying
Bodies-Lord Mersey Member of
Inquisisorial court-Saiiors'
Dispute 3ecames Heated.

Quebec, June 3.-The first public
funeral of victims of the collision be-
| tween the Empress of Ireland and the
! Storstad was held today when the
bodies Of nine of the crew we're
buried. Mayor Napoleon Drum aided
by Canadian Pacific officials and
prominent men of the town, arranged
| a ceremony, which was very i'm
posing. There was a procession
headed by the Royal Canadian garri-
son artillery band and attachments
from the warship Essex, and the local
military forces were in line. The
schools were closed and for time
business was suspended.
Dispute Becomes Bitter.
The controversy between the cap
tains of the steamers and the respect
i've crews in the Empress of Ireland
disaster continues hotter.
The steward of the Storstad has is
sued a statement in which he supports
the declaration of Mrs Anderson that
members of the crew of the Empress
who had been rescued and brought
aboard the Storstad refused to aid the
rescue work in lifeboats of the En-
press which were alongside the Stor-
stad Passengers rescued from the
Empress declare that the crews of
both steamers did splendid work in
rescuing and attending to the sur
vivcrs.
In the meantime preparations for
the official inquiry which will fix re-
sponsibility for the disaster are going
forward. In addition to the members
of the royal commission already
named, who are Sir Adolph Routhier,
Judge of the court of admiralty of Que
bee; Hon. Ezekiel Mcleod, chief JUS
tice and judge of the admiralty court
of New Brunswick, and George l..
Vaux of the British board of trade,
Baron Mersey of Toxteth, England,
has been named on the commission.
Lord Mersey was president of the
British commission which investigated
the Titanic tragedy.
Hearings Begin June 9.
The hearings will begin June 8, but
whether in Montreal or Quebec has
not been decided definitely.
Confusion as to the number of per-
sons who persisted in the disaster was
further emphasized when figures, de-
clared by the Canadian Pacific Rail
! way Steamship company to be official,
raised the death list to 1,024 from 500
on Sunday nights more. The COM
pany asserted that the Empress car
ried 1,473 passengers, officers and
crew.
Deny All Liability.
Owners Of the Storstad deny all LA
bility They will present petition to
Judge Dunlop in the admiralty court
asserting that ''the collision happened
without the actual fault or privity of
the owners Of the Storstad,' and they
deny all liability for the collision"
The direct object of the petition is
to obtain the release of the Storstad,
which still is under seizure on account
of the Canadian Pacific railway claim
for 100000 damages.
The body of Henry Seaton-Karr, ex-
plorer and author, will be buried in
Mount Herman cemetery, near the ST.
Lawrence. Officials of the Canadian
Pacific railway communicated with the
relatives of the traveller and were in
structed to inter the body here.
The report that Laurence Irving's
body had been recovered is untrue No
trace has yet been found of him or of
of Mabel Hackney.
There is great confusion in the
Identification of the dead. Some of the
bodies have been identified by as many
as four different people. Two women
were identified as men.
LIoyds May Raise Ship.
Mon -eal, June 3.-Lloyds, the In
surance underwriters, will decide
whether it will be feasible to raise the
foundered Empress of ireland from
the bottom of the st. Lawrence river,
it was learned. The Canadian Pacific
Railway company, owners of the i'll
fated vessel automatically relin-
quished all claims to her when she
sank.