The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-05-29
MANY SURVIVORS Die after BEING RESCUED
The Captain and Many of the Crew Were Res.
cued From Boats.
Very Few Women and Children Saved; Were
Asleep in the Cabins.

iicAHOctS Ou DoaIus Only tWcHly were
rescued. They had left Quebec bound
for the arrays international confer
ence in London.
So quickly did the Empress sink
that those passengers fortunate
enough to get into the lifeboats found
themselves garbed only in their night
clothes. No baggage was saved.
The condition of the survivors was
pitiable. The arms and legs of some
were broken and all had suffered ter
ribly. L. E. Gossetin, a prominent
lawyer from Montreal, saved himself
by clinging to a raft. When the rescue
ships docked here, the station plat
form was converted into a hospttal
and the townspeople bringing food
and clothing. united to aid the suf-
ferers. Twelve bodies lay sid by side
on the wharf. They were passengers
who had made the lifeboats but were
fatally hurt.
River Strewn With Wreckage.
Wreckage strews the st. Lawrence
Tor long distance near the spot
where the Empress sank. The sun
shone bright during the forenoon.
Though the water is still icy, the tenn
perature today was not low enough
to increase the suffering of the sur
saVed The msmhss vast majority of the
crew. Early estimates here indicate
that not more than sixty passengers
were saved.
Besides Captain Kendall, the first
and second engineers and the ships
surgeon were rescued. The captain
was too overcome to give at first any
| extended account Of the disaster. He
had sent a wireless to his line after
the vessel was struck. saying:
Ship gone.'
The residents of Rimouski, num-
bering 5000, came silently to the dock
where the dead and exhausted living
, were being landed and under the di-
! rection of the mayor. H. r. Ffset. gave
aid wherever possible. Every doctor
many Of the injured were taken to
| private homes.
From cedar chests and closets the
townfolk brought garments of all de-
scriptions for those who had lost
their belongings. Two headquarters
| at the station Of the inter-colonial
railway. At the station, those injured
and not removed to homes were cared
for.
Reminder OF the Titanic.
The rescue boats. Eureka and Lady
where the Empress sank. scene not
| unlike that which greeted the liners
which rushed to the aid of the Titanic.
They found the ship sunk and the sur
| face Of the water fortunately calm,
dotted with life boats and smeared with
floating debris.
In the lifeboats were huddled the sur
vivors, dazed and moaning. some OF
| them dying of injuries sustained IN the
era sh or in the rush of leaving the
sinking Empress
Few could give anything but inco-
herent almost hysterical accounts OF
what had happened. ]. l. Black and
Mrs. Black Of Ottawa said they had
! jumped together into the river. They
had been reused by the shock Of the
i! collision and unable to get into a life
boat. had z-isked the leap.
They were picked UP by a boat from
the Lady Evelyn. Another survivor
| was Mrs. Patten Of Sherbrooke. Quebec
First reports had 1t that the collier
Storstad had also sunk These proved
! badly damaged, the Storstad was able
to keep afioat. Some reports said she
had aboard 800 survivors. This If true
would reduce the death list materially
from more than !. 900 to less than TOO.
Among the survivors here, "a were
from the Empress second cabin.
The Empress OF Ireland was valued
at 81 .0oo,000 and with her cargo valued
at $250.0O0 was fully insured.
i At low tide today the top OF her fun
mel could be seen. She is lying in the
channel It IL thought by navigators
that It may be possible to raise her. At
present the wreck h a menace to nav
legation.
Stories Of Survivors.
The water that poured into the
! ships engine room caused an explosion
and this forced many to jump. Ernest
Hayes. an assistant purser. told Of leap
ing from the upper promenade deck. He
climbed into No. 3 life boat. The boat
unanswered about the wreck for q
1ng - piece oe uyeckage> He had