South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-05-29

This Is the account of the rescues
given by ]. McWilliams the wireless
operator st Father Point. in bis dis
patch:
THE Empress sank ten minutes
after the collision with the collier
Storstad and Immediately after she
had Marconied out the Save Our
Ship Mr. White. the wireless opera
tor, instantly notified government
steamers in view and the Eureka
Capt. Belanber was the first to get
away, his vessel having steam up
when he received word of the disas-
ter. She must have reached the
scene about so minutes after the dis
aster
THE Lady Evelyn had to get up
steam before she could go to the
assistance of the disabled ship.
When daylight broke 1 saw on the
gray horizon, with the aid of a tele-
scope, the collier with the two gov
ernment steamers and nine lifeboatS
all around the same spot and shortly
afterwards the Eureka came up with
80 survivors and several bodies.
Later came the Lady Evelyn with
Captain Kendall and more and still
more bodies.
All Landed at Wharf.
"All were landed at the Rimouski
wharf, to which point the scene of
activity and interest has now shifted.
About 337 saved in ALL
The dispatch from McWilliams
cOntradicted a report received earlier
in the day that the Storstad, in ad
dition TO picking up many bodies, had
al of
forts TO get a complete story of the
disaster were baffied by difficult
weather conditions that interfered
with the wireless dispatches.
McWilliams dispatch was corrobor-
ated shortly afterward by one sent
from Rimousk by G. w. Henderson,
a Montreal broker. who was rescued
when the Empress OF Ireland sank.
His despatch follows: 1897 saved;
% drowned while attempting to swim
ashore; II women rescued; $50 pas
sengers and 432 crew aboard
Earlier in the day Henderson had
sent a despatch saying 500 had been
rescued. When his second message
was received hope that the number
of survivors might be increased was
practically abandoned
The task of Identifying the vessel
which ramned the Empress of Ire
land was made difficult by the swift
ness with which she disappeared.
Wireless dispatches from the scene of
the disaster, said that both ships had
disappeared from view in less than
two hours after they came together.
AS soon as word of the disaster was
picked up along the coast the marine
department ordered out vessels to aid
the vessel
Capt. Kendall, Of the royal naval
reserve, was III command of the Emp
ress Of Ireland. He was captain of the
Montrose, which brought DR.. Harvey
Crippen TO America.
First Word OF Disaster.
The first word OF the disaster was
contained in frantic IS. O. s." signals
which were picked up at the station
at Father Point. The operator on
board the Empress of Ireland was
sending his message with the desper-
alton 81 despair. Up 10 the last mo-
ment he kept pounding his key and
the fact that the last message was
broken of in the middle. showed that
he had stuck to his post until the very
last
The Empress Of Ireland was a big
modernly- equipped liner with a steel
hull. bulkheads and ali the other pro-
visions designed 20 prevent disaster
at sea. When word was received that
she was sunk. marine experts guessed
that the vessel which ran her down
had been travelling faster than the
rules Of safety required.
IL was still dark when the vessels
came together and this feature added
to the difficulties Of the ships which