The Alaska citizen., 1914-06-01
CAPTAIN KENDALL OF STEAMER EMPRESS CHARGES CAPTAIN ANDERSON OF STORSTADT WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE AWFUL DISASTER.
GOVERNMENT WILL INQUIRE
EMPRESS HULL TO BE RAISED OR OYNAMITED TO CLEAR HANNEL-WRECk CONTAINS s1,O00,000 IN SILVER, IN BARS, FROM CoBoLT.

RIMOUSKI Quebec, May 31.-Tes- tifying at the inquest held here yes terday over the bodies of the hun dreds of people who lost their lives in the wreck of the Empress of Ire land Friday, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Captain Kendall, who was master of the Empress, laid the blame of the accident on Captain Anderson, who had command of the Danish collier Storstadt. which ram med the Empress.
 Captain Kendall testified that he sighted the Storstadt when the latter was two miles distant and that he gave the proper signals, which Were answered by the Storstadt Then the fog suddenly settled and the Danish vessel was lost to sight Suddenly the hulk of the latter appeared bear ing down upon the Empress at full speed, and Captain Kendall saw that there was no way to escape the col lision.
 Through a megaphone, Captain Kendall declared he begged the Storstadt to back up, but the plea was not needed. Then there was the awful crash that tore the plats from a large part of the side of the Empress, and all was confusion on board the latter.
 At first Captain Kendall declared that he believed that he would be able to run his vessel ashore, but this was found impossible as the steam failed and the vessel floated a helpless wreck upon the surface of the gulf.
 When he realized that the vessel was sinking, Captain Kendall said he personally loosened the grips of four life boats, and assisted in get ting them manned and loaded. These four were the only ones which float ed, he said.
 Later when he was on the bridge. huge wave struck the sinking vessel and washed him off the bridge. When he found himself floundering in the water, he managed to get hold of some wIeckage, and later he was picked up with 30 others and taken on a life boat. With the life boat loaded to it's full capacity and 20 others, who were tied by the wrists to keep them from sinking, taken in tow, the boat was rowed in the direction of the Storstadt, which was then mile and half away. After getting everyone safe on board the collier from the life boat, Captain Kendall and the members of the crew who were in the boat with him, returned to the Empress. but when they reached the place of the collision the vessel had sunk and everyone was gone. The Empress, he said, had life-boats sufficient to carry 2,00O people, but somehow there was not time to get them all lowered and loaded before the vessel sank.
 Continuing in his testimony, Cap tain Kendall declared that the Stor- stadt made little effort to save the drowning people, and that the vessel only lowered four of her life boats. He declared that he saw one of the Storstadt's life boats carrying but three people. There was no explo- sion he declared. The fog rose, Captain Kendall said, soon after the collision, and he could not under stand how it was that the Storstadt should have run into the Empress under the conditions that existed.
 RIMOUSKI. Quebec. May 31.-lt was announced today that the in- quest started yesterday over the re- mains of the victims in the recent marine disaster would be continued for a week. The purpose of the continuation of the inquest, it was explained by the coroner, is to see if there is any legal way to force Captain Anderson and his crew to testify.
 QUEBEC, May 31.-Captain Adder son, of the Danish collier Storstadt. declared today in an interview that the collision was due to the sud denness of the falling of the fog.
 Only IF of the bodies that have