The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-06-05
FUNERAL VESSEL
REACHES QUEBEC
BEARING 1888 BODIES RECOVERED
FROM WRECK OF EMPRESS
OF IRELAND.
DIVERS SEARCH FOR BODIES
Officers of Storstad Which Rammed
lff-Fated Ship Deny Charges
of Neglect.

Quebec.-The Canadian government
steamer Lady Grey brought from Ri
mouski 1888 bodies recovered from the
wreck of the Empress of Ireland. The
historic heights overlooking the st.
Lawrence were black with spectators
as the funeral ship was moored. The
collins were carried ashore and work
of identification begun without delay.
The Lady Grey was escorted by his
majestys ship Essex and fifty sailors
from the warship carried the collins
down the gangplank and laid them in
rows under the freight shed on the
pier. The building was draped with
black. A crowd that included many
of the survivors and relatives and
friends of the dead grouped at the
doors and waited for permission to
enter
Babes in Mothers Arms.
Three tables, each 100 feet long,
held collins of every description. AS
sembled on one were twenty-five small
white baskets that held the bodies Of
children. Although the Lady Grey had
taken to Rimouski all available cof-
fins they were not enough. Besides
he children's baskets there were eigh-
weight containing the bodies of
adults. Other victims were brought
N rough pine boxes. There was no
sadder sight in the building than the
table where rested these improvised
collins for many held the bodies Of
mothers and children locked in the last
embrace just as they had gone to their
death off Father Point Friday. Amid
pathetic scenes, many victims were
recognized and claimed by relatives.
1t may be days before others are iden-
tilted. Besides the 1873 bodies which
the Lady Grey had on board as, escort
ed by H. M. S. Essex, she steamed into
port, eighteen have been identified
Collier Storstad in Port.
Montreal, Canada.-With her bows
crumpled in and twisted around at an
acute angle to port and gap showing
on the port side only foot or so
above the water line, in mute evidence
of the tragedy in which she figured.
the collier Storstad, limped into the
harbor here. A few minutes later
warrant of arrest taken out by the
Canadian Pacific, railway was nailed
to her mainmast by order of w. Simp-
son Walker, X. c., registrar Of the
Quebec admiralty. "By what authority
do you come on board my vessel and
place it under arrest?" asked Captain
Anderson, commander of the collier.
by authority of the British empire"
CURLY replied the deputy sheriff
Search for Bodies Continues.
Search of the waters near Father
Point, where the Empress of Ireland
sank, has revealed few more Of the
victims, and it seems probable that the
bodies of hundreds of the more than
nine hundred who persisted lie impris-
oned within the shattered hull of the
big steamer.
Officers of Storstad Explain.
According to the captain and officers
the Storstad did not back away after
the collision. On the contrary, she
steamed ahead in an effort to keep her
bow in the hole she had dug into the
side of the Empress. The Empress,
however, according to the Storstad's
officers, headed away and bent the
Storstads bow over at an acute angle
to port. After that the Empress was
hidden from the view of the Storstad,
kept her whistle blowing, she could
not locate the Empress until the cries
of some of the victims in the water
were heard.
Captain Denies He Moved Mile Off.
Captain Anderson denied he moved
a mile or SO away from the Empress
after his vessel struck the liner. The
Storstad had not moved. 1t was the
Empress which had changed position,
he declared According to the report
made by Captain Anderson to the own
ers, Immediately the collision occur
red, he heard Captain Kendall shout
calling on him not to pull away. Il
won't" shouted the Storstad's cap
tain, as loud as he could. After that
the Empress disappeared from the
Storstad's view.