The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-01
AN4 or WRECK VICTIMS NAN1EI GRAVES


faln;ing on the lid of the coffin. she
had just raised. Thus It went on all
day long until forty-eight bodies were
Identified
a man would find the bodies Of his
wife and children. a woman would
identify the body of her husband. In
the hunt for bodies of the victims there
was no distinction of class. Every
person. whether finely dressed or
roughly clad. took his turn in the line
that moved constantly from coffin to
corin, The great majority of persons.
however, were disappointed in their
search.
Lost His Entire Family.
At times a frantic man would hurry
from coffin to coffin looking over the
shoulders OF persons near II and trying
10 satisfy himself by a quick glance
that the body was not that OF the loved
one--most of the bodies were so marred
tina, quick identification was impossible
and then dash to the next. The most
pathetic is the experience of c. w.
Cullen. candy merchant of Montreal
who had sent his wife. two children
and maid. Jennie Blythe. on the
Empress Of Ireland for summer trip
10 England. The maid alone survived.
Cullen. in a check gray suit and wear
Ing straw hat, ran from one coffin to
another looking for clis wife, but in
vain. Then he turned to gaze on the
twenty-five collins of children He
quickly found the body OF his daughter,
Maude. years old. who in the excite
ment following the collision had been
seized by the mother. The search
among the babies ranging from IL
months TO 3 years then went on. Some
Of the babies lying in the collins looked
as II they were asleep. with their hair
curled or rufiled by a light breeze.
others had bruised foreheads, suggest
ins wildly how they had been hurtled
against stanchions or the sides OF their
cabins and killed before the water came
upon them. The legs and arms of
others were cut and bruised terribly.
Upon the little ones Cullen gazed and
finally picked out one baby with blond
hair that curled In wavy manner. He
turned to Canon Scott. rector OF st.
Matthew's Episcopal Church, and said:
Two Claim Same BODY.
That is my boy" Then Cullen turned
again to search throughout the bodies
Of the adults for his wife. Scarcely had
he turned away than T. II. Archer of
Saskatchewan. who had lost a wife and
baby in the wreck and had escaped him
self, began to study the faces Of the
babies. He had found the body OF a
woman that he supposed to be his wife.
He came upon the body OF a child
marked No. 11s. which had been iden-
tilted only few minutes before by Gull
len as the body OF his baby. Archer in
sisted that the body was that of his
baby Alfred. He was told Cullen had
decided that the boy was his own child.
The two men We're brought together
by Canon Scott. Both were gracious
and affable and both consented to study
the features Of the face again. A po-
lice officer lifted up the coffin in his
arms and held II while the two men
scanned the face OF the child. Cullen
decided he would go and get the maid.
He disappeared. Then Archer asked the
off,cer to carry the baby to a window,
where he looked again at the face Of
the baby. He wanted to see the knee
OF the baby, but that was so bruised and
dlscolored that the little knee proved
no help. He insisted, however, that the
baby was his and accompanied by the
clergyman he took 1t back to Coroner
g. VIII Jolicoeur and had the child reg
btered as his. Canon Scott feeling that
there might be a mistake. counselled the
man 10 make a study of the features of
his wife and compare them with those
OF the child. Archer consented to do so.
While that was going on Cullen returned
with the maid. who. after a quick glance,
agreed that the baby belonged to Cullen.
Each bereaved father chung to the be-
hef that the child was his.
The Judgment of Solomon"
There came a deadlock and finally
some one suggested that the decision be
LETT to Mayor Napoleon Drouin OF Que
nee The Mayor was called and each
father presented what he considered
proof that the child belonged to, him.
The Mayor. however, after a study of
the features OF Mrs. Archer and those
OF the child decided the baby was not
ne Archer child and he finally awarded
the baby to Cullen.
Both the Cullen children were packed
In boxes and forwarded to Montreal to-
night
While the controversy between Gull
zen and Archer was going on a woman
a'tred IN clothes OF crude texture wan
dered past the bodies OF the children,
stopping to lift up the coffin lids and
gaze tenderly on the little faces. She
was survivor and was loking for her
BABY that had been torn from her arms
one child with dark hair and features
OF chcrub, bearing many bruises, at
Uacted her attention. She believed the
baby was hers. but she was not sure.
My child" she said, has one tooth or