Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-06-01
ANDERSON SAYS He
IS NOT RESPONSIBLE


ICOntinued from First Pagc.]
was throng of officials, newspaper
men,, photographers and moving pic
ture men, while outside a sorrowing
crowd awaited admittance to search
for their dead. A number Of survivors
of the disaster were in the crowd
hoping to find the bodies of loved ones
they had lost when the steamer went
down.
! Among the disappointed ones in this
respect when the people were finally
admitted to view the bodies was H.
Luren. Norwegian. He and his wife
were bound for Norway to visit their
| old home after a fifteen years stay
| in the United States. His wife was
torn from his grasp when the Empress
of Ireland went down and though he
searched for her for a lung time as he
swan near the wreck he could not find
| her. He was saved, but this is mat
| ter of regret to him now that his wife
| is dead.
If / only had died instead of her"
| he said. I'VE slid down the deck into
the water in each others arms and
ship went under parted us. For a
moment | was stunned and did not
know what happened, but very soon
knew that was alone"
a section in the shed that caused
| deep sorrow to those who visited it
was that in which twenty-five little
white caskets lay. Persons after per-
son turned away crying from this sad
collection.
Killed i'm Their BerthS
Several of the bodies of the recov-
cred dead were badly gashed. prob
ably killed in their berths by the force
OF the Storstad's bow as it crashed
while nearly all were bruised and bat
| tered from contact with debris.
Additional bodies are being recov-
| cred slowly at the scene of the dis
| aster. reports from Rimouski and Ma
tama say. A force of men is patrolling
both sides of the st. Lawrence river for
miles, but thus far with little success
! Many boats are lowering on the river
with the same purpose in Niew
969 Persons Dead
| The latest lists furnished by the
Canadian Pacific Railway indicate that
total of 969 persons perished. The
saved number AIS. The tabulation
| follows:
First cabin. passengers carried ST.
4
| 55; second and third class (of whom
| 1853 were second class), passengers
! carried S6S, passengers saved $50, pas
| sengers lost 5SS; crew, carried 432
saved zoo. lost 226.
| Prompt investigation is promised on
all sides and a royal commission has
been named to make searching in
| q,iiry. This commission is composed
of one member of the British Board
of Trade, named by the British gov
| ernment. and two judges of the Ca
madam Admiralty Court, appointed by
the Canadian government.
Meanwhile a preliminary investi-
CATION is in progress, conducted by
| Captain Lindsay. wreck commissioner
viving passengers and all of the Off
GERS and members of the crew in
volved will be examined.
| Denies Responsibility
Both Captain Kendall, of the lost
| steamer and Captain Andersen, of
the Storstad, are now in Montreal and
they will be among the first to be
| heard. A statement was issued last
night in behalf of Captain Andersen,
the first he has made since the COL
| lision, in which he denies that he was
responsible for the disaster. Captain
Andersen claims he had the right of
way; that when he lost sight of the
| empress or ireland In the fog the
! latter's course had ben set so that the
vessels would pass each other safely.
The Storstad's course remained un-
| altered the statement alleges but
when the Empress was next seen she
was close at hand and making con-
siderable headway.
1t is declared the Storstads engines
were reversed and that her momen-
tum was nearly checked when the
vessels came together.
AS for the charge that the Storstad
backed out of the hole she had torn
in the Empress, the statement, declares
| that 1t is not true. Her engines were
ordered ahead to hold her against the
liners side, it is stated, but the head
way the Empress was under twisted
| the Golfers bow out of the cash.
Captain Andersen claims that he re-
manned near the scene of the collision
and he points to the fact that his ship
saved $50 persons as proof of this as
| sertion.
| Sir Thomas Shaughnessy head of
the Canadian Pacific Railway Com
pany, issued statement to-day thank
ing the people at Rimouski and it's
vicinity for the care and attention they
gave to the living and dead that came
to them from the company's ill-fated
| steamer Empress of Ireland.