The Green Forest tribune., 1914-06-05


 explosion that almost rent the ship in twain.
 It was the explosion of the boilers struck by the cold water. A geyser of water shot upward from the midship section, mingled with fragments of wreekage, that showered down upon the passengers still clinging to the rails forward end upon those strug- gling in the water.
 The explosion destroyed the last hona. af4he shig,~ ef.siiitssg ss1attti'i assssas could arrive, for the shock had smashed the forward steel bulkhead walls that had lp to then shut out the torrents invading the after part. The water rushed forward and the Empress of ireland went swiftly to her doom, carrying down with her hundreds of passengers who stood on her slanting deck, their arms stretched upward and their last cries choked in the engulfing waters.
 One of the survivors, relating that last tragic scene on the decks of the liner, said:
 T was asleep like most of the pas. sengers when the collision came. There was a sickening crunching of wood and steel and then a grinding, ripping sound as the Storstad smashed her way along the port side of ouI ship.
 T knew that we had been struck and 1 rushed to the staterooms of some friends and shouted to them to get up, as the ship was sinking. Stateroom doors flew open all along the corridor and men and women began to rush for the grand companion forward. Those aft must have been drowned in their berths.
 Darkness Is Intense.
 ''On deck officers of the ship. par tially dressed, were rushing about urging passengers to be calm. Sailors under orders were trying to launch the lifeboats.
 'The darkness was intense and a few minutes after I reached the deck the electric lights went out. At that time there were still hundreds of pas sengers below trying to grope their way through the darkened corridors to the companionway and reach the deck. Most of them went down with the ship. for the corridors below filled right after the explosion of the boilers.
 q leaped overheard in despair just before the ship went down and mau- aged to find bit of wreckage to which I clung"
 Intense darkness covered the waters when the Empress of Ireland made that final plunge. tut the fog lifted a few minutes later and then came the first faint streaks of dawn
 It lighted waters strewed with wreckage and struggling passengers, who strove to keep afloat.
 The crippled Storstad, which had wrought this tragedy of the waters, had lifeboats out picking up as mary survivors as possible.
 The gray dawn revealed the govern. ment steamers Lady Evelyn and Flu. reka near the scene of the disaster and hastening to aid.
 Some of those in the water tried to swim to the Eureka as she neared the point where the Empress had gone down. One woman, wearing only an undervest, swan to the Lady Evelyn. and was helped on boar, but died of exhaustion soon afterwards.
 The work of rescue still was going on when the sun arose in a cloudless sky.
 Men and women were clinging to spars and bits of broken blanks. Many of the survivors were injured. Some had broken legs, others fracturet arms and still others had been injured inter. nally in that last mad rush to gel hawav from the sinking linen fhe grd women cil't II the country has pd to little ones, will show here Moi they tSted to acs.