The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1915-11-17
WARNED BEFORE
BEING ATTACKED
Austrian Government on Sinking
OF the AnCoaa.
ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY

OFFICIAL Report Says Austrian subma-
rine Gave the italian Commander
Forty-fiVe Minutes to Abandon the
Liner and Blames the Crew For
Loss of Life-Adds That Vessel At
tempted to Escape.
Washington, Nov. 15.-The case of
the Italian liner Ancona, which has
been puzzle to the state department
ever since she was torpedoed in the
Mediterranean last Tuesday, was pre-
sented in still a new light with the
issuance of a statement by the Aus
tro-Hungarian embassy giving the off,
cial account of the destruction of the
Inner. In. this statement the Austro-
Hungarian government assumes full
responsibility for the sinking o. the
Ahcona. This means that the re-
! ported statement by the Italian gov
ernment that a German submarine
sank the Ancona will have to be sup
ported by proof before it will be ac-
cepted as a basis for action by this
government
While the Austro-Hungarian state
ment, If accepted as correct, disposes
of the question as to whether the An
coma was warned before being attack
ed, it raises still another issue in
which the United States government
may prove to be vitally concerned. In
case it is shown that any Americans
were killed by the actual torpedoing
OF the Ancona-that is, that they lost
their lives on the vessel wnen she
went down rather than by being hit
by shells, or after leaving the ship in
| lifeboats-it is believed the United
States will protest on the ground that
the vessel was torpedoed before all
her passengers and crew mad left her.
/ Whether Americans were actually
lost in this manner has not been
shown. In this aspect the case is
similar to that of the Falaba, the
first case in which an American was
killed by German submarine opera.
tions.
The OffieiaI Statement.
Tne Austrian statement says that
| after ffty minutes the submarine sub
merged and torpedoed the Ancona be
cause another steamer was coming
Up. Reports of survivors have indt
| Gated that this took place before all
bad left the ship. Precisely the same
thing happened in the Falaba case
and resulted in one American losing
| nis life.
The statement of the Austro-Hun
garian embassy, which consisted oi
the text of a dispatch from the Aus
trian admiralty, was as follows:
"The submarine fired one shell be
fore the steamers bow upon which
the steamer fed under full speed. Ac
eording to orders of the Italian au
thorities steamers must fee or at
tempt to sink submarines. The sub
marine pursued the steamer and con
tinued firing at the steamer which
stopped only when hit several times
The submarine allowed forty-five min
utes to abandon the steamer. Panic
reigned, but only small boats were
lowered, and they were occupied prin
cipally by the crew. A great number
of boats, probably sufficient to save
| passengers, remained unoccupied
! After fifty minutes, the submarine, In
presence of approaching steamer
submerged and torpedoed Ancona
which sank after forty-flve minutes
II passengers lost their lives it was
through the crews fault because the
steamer tried to escape after receiv
ing order to stop. Then the crew only
| attempted to save themselves and moi
| the passengers. Foreign press re
| ports that the submarine fired on the
lifeboats are pernicious inventions.