The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1914-02-06
TO PROBE WRECK.
Government viii Investigate
Collision at Sea.
DEATH LIST NOW FORTY-ONE

Captain Barry of the Nantucket Crit
icsed for Immediately Backing His
Vessel from the Crippled Monroe
After the CoIison--More Persons
Might Have Been Saved Otherwise.
NORFOLK, VA. - An investiga-
zion of the fatal collision of the liners
Monroe and Nantucket off Chesapeake
bay was begun by inspectors Of the
department of commerce and of the
government steamboat service.
Instructions from Washington were
that the inquiry be thorough and ev-
cry effort will be made to fix the re-
sponsibility for the disaster and loss
Of life
Forty-one persons were drowned, ac-
COrding to the revised figures Nine
teen were passengers and twenty-five
were members of the crew of the
Monroe.
The steamship /. J. Merritt, with
searchlights swathing the waves in
every direction, searched all night
and is still hunting for bodies.
Ninety-one persons were saved bs
fore the Monroe went down. The
sixty members of the crew and many
o. the thiTty-nine passengers saved,
and officers of the Nantucket have
been served with summonses to APP
rear before the department of com
merce investigators
Monroe Called TopheaVy.
The Monros was topheavy and in
an unseaWOrthy condition, according
to one report which the government
will probe
There is criticism here of Captain
Barry of the Nantucket for backing
his vessel from the crippled Monroe
after the collision.
eff the two steamers had remained
Wedged together" said one Of these
critics, "the Monroe would have re
manned afloat until all the passengers
and crew had been rescued"
Captain Barry refused to discuss
the collision with the newspaper men
on his arrival here. In his report to
his superiOrs Captain Barry insisted
that the collision was unavoidable,
and could be attributed solely to the
dense fog.
A hundred versions of the story
have been told, and through the
weaves of exaggeration, facts and
fancies, the truth appears to stand
out plainly for the investigators.
Facts All Agree Upon.
Both ships were going slowly and
sounding their sirens in a dense fog.
The Monroe was seen so suddenly
and so close at hand that Captain
Barry of the Nantucket had time only
to reverse his engines Despite the
reversed engines the steel bow OF the
Nantucket tore such a hole in the
Monroe that the old Dominion liner
sank in ten minutes
The fact that the Nantucket's en-
gineS were reversed when she struck
accounts for her Immediately backing
off after ramming the Monroe. This
precautiOn perhaps cost many lives.
There were eight life boats on the
Monroe, enough to care for every pas
Senger and member of the crew The
peculiar nature of the accident de-
strOyed the usefulness of five of the
boats, leaving three to accommodate
all.
List of Passengers Lost.
A list of passengers lost from the
steamer Monroe corrected and com
piled by the old steamship company
is as follows:
First class: Mrs. w. L. Bolton,
Newark, N. j.; Lieutenant L. B. Curtis.
q. S. army, died aboard life boat; J.
Edward, U. S. navy; Mrs. D. Gibson,
New York; J. Haskell, Cortlandt, n.
~: Mrs. T. R. Harrington, Bridge
port. Conn, died aboard Nantucket;
w. H. Ingram, Sumter. S. c. Mr. Jel-
left, Macarria Theatrical company;
Mr.. Lewis, Macarria Theatrical com
pany; j. Okakamato, Japanese: Mrs
c. w. Poole, Gray, Va; Infant Poole,
child, Gray, Va; J. F. Ray, New York;
O. Wagner, L. S. marine corps
Steerage: ]. Gilbert, New York; M.
BOlen, New York; c. Roper, New
York; I. Wilson, New York, and an
unknown Italian New York