The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1914-06-05

struck by the cold water. A geyser of
water shot upward from the midship
section, mingled with fragments Of
wreckage, that showered down upon
the passengers still clinging to the
rails forward and upon those strug-
Cling In the water.
The explosion destroyed the last
hope Of the ships floating until succor
could arrive, for the shock had
smashed the forward steel bulkhead
walls that had up 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
Il was asleep like most of the pas
sengers when the collision came.
There was sickening crunching of
wood and steel and then a grinding,
ripping sound as the Storstad smashed
her way along the port side of our
ship.
Il knew that we had been struck
and l 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
TALLY 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 l 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.
II leaped overheard in despair just
before the ship went down and man.
aged to find bit of wreckage to
which chung"
The gray dawn revealed the govern
ment steamers Lady Evelyn and Eu-
reka near the scene of the disaster and
fastening 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 board, but died of
exhaustion soon afterwards.
The work Of rescue still was going
on when the sun arose in cloudless
sky.
Men and women were clinging to
spars and bits of broken planks. Many
of the survivors were injured. Some
had broken legs, others fractured arms
and still others had been injured inter
nalfy in that last mad rush to get away
from the sinking liner.
Women clinging with one hand to
little ones, while with the other they
tried to keep clutch to pieces Of wreck
age, were picked up by the lifeboats
and carried On board the rescuing ves-
sels
Captain Kendall, dazed and unable
to give any coherent account of the
loss of his ship, was found clinging to
a broken spar.
j. W. Langley, rancber, of Canford,
B. c.. went down with the ship, but
held his breath, and. coming to the
surface, found a piece of wreckage
and chung to it until picked up.
One Of the survivors, in explaining
the quickness with which the Empress
of Ireland went down, said: