New Britain herald., 1915-09-13
SAINT ANNA SAFE
 IS LATEST WORD
Boat Under Convoy to Port
 Carried 1,6OO Men
NO NEWS UNTIL LATE

Fact That No Message From Captain
 Has Been Received Leads to Theory
 That Ship May Not Be AbIazc-
 Was in Direct Line of Travel.
 New York, Sept. 13.-The Fabre Line steamship Sant' Anna, which was on fire in mid-ocean, is safe and proceeding under escort to the Azores, according to a wireless message re- ceIved at the lines offices today.
 New York, Sept 13.-The local offices of the Fabre line received no word during the morning hours today regarding their steamer Sant' Anna poEpd from New York for Italian ports with more than 1,6O0 Italian re- servlsts and large cargo of food stuffs which had been reported on lire about 960 miles southeast from Halifax, N. s., in a wireless message received at the latter point late last night.
 ID. H. E. Jones, senior partner of the, firm of James w. Elwell & Com pany, local agents of the Fabre line, said he was at a loss to understand why Capt. Francois Pavey, of the Saot Anna had not communicated Wllh the office here if his ship were actually on fire or in distress in any way '-'
 Tt is possible that the fire which occurred on the Joseph w. Fordney, one of the firms American ships, was responsible for the message regard ing the Sant' Anna said MT Jones' ~ The Fordney, which is a freighter sailed from Archangel, Russia, on August IS for New York. Last We'd nesday fire was discovered in one of her holds among 800 bales of flax. = '"rbe Fordney put into St. Johns, N. F., Wednesday, and the fire depart ment there got the flames under con- -trol, and the ship sailed yesterday for New York. The vessel was reported yesterday by the Cape Race radio station as being all right The message received at Halifax stated that the Sant' Anna was on fire in distress, an needed assistance. Her position was given latitude 40.23 north, longitude 47.30 west. This is approximately 96O miles southeast of Half ex, and as the Sant' Anna's radio eQuiprl ent was not powerful, it was thought the message had been relayed by a steamer much nearer Halifax than the position given for the Sant' Anna.
 Cargo of FOodstuffs.
 When the Sant' Anna sailed from New York on September 8, she car ried a cargo consisting largely of foodstuffs. According to her owners here there were no arms or ammuni- tion aboard. The Italians, gathered from every part of the United States and returning to join the army, were in the steerage. Comparatively few passengers were carried in the first and second cabin. The crew num- bered about 100.
 Several of our vessels have been set on fire recently" said Howard E. Jones, of the firm of James E. Elwell, agents for the Fabre line. We have had the vessels under the closest kind of watch while in port and no Ger mans or Austrians were permitted on the pier. We examined every piece of freight offered as cargo to guard against bombs and internal ma chines.'
 Suspicious of Bomb.
 It was said today that the sailing of the Sant' Anna from this port was delayed twenty -four hours to permit a thorough search, because the suspicious of her officers had been aroused by rumors that a bomb had been placed aboard.
 The message from the Cape Race | wireless station, as received here via 1 Halifax, was flashed abroad on the | Atlantic and without doubt was picked up bv vessels within easy sail of the | steamer in distress. It was under stood here today, however, that the 1 Canadian government was preparing l to send a relief ship from Halifax unless word was received today that | air had reached the Sant' Anna from | some other source.
 Was Afire Before.
 Fire was discovered in No. 2 hold | of the Sant' Anna while she was lying | at her pier in South Brooklyn Sep tember 21, 1914. All the goods in that hold were destroyed by fire and water and the loss was estimated at The steamer was not in- iured, it was said. Captain Pavey at tributed the fire to spontaneous com bustion. The commander of the ship asserted that the lower hold had been battered down since the vessel left Genoa.
 A tragic incident which occurred aboard the Sant' Anna early in May asst was the suicide of Frederick Van Dyne, United States consul at Lyons, who was returning to his post from lis home in Washington.