The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-18
LUSITANIA'S BOATS
NOT WE'LL HANDLED
Two Sank for Need Of Plugs,
Others Never Unlashed,
Inquiry Shows.
SECOND TORPEDO SEEN

,osnoS. June 17.-To-day's inquiry
.,,o the sinking Of the Lusitania brought
forth testimony that at least two life
hos,,. nlled with passengers. had sunk
,mmed,ately on touching the water be-
sau.e they were not properly plugged.
=, also was testified that several OF
~. c~oI,ansible boats we're tightly dashed
"a the ships deck. even after the Lusi-
,s,,a had entered the danger zone, and
mat for his reason they were OF no use
.nsn the steamer went down.
aor. Of to-day's evidence. moreover,
.soved that Stan Captain Anderson
oountermanded the orders Of Capt. Tur-
~, and directed women and children to
,.ave The boats they already a entered.
.sv,ne that there WAS no danger and
,hs, the steamer would not sink.
the inquiry was concluded late this
afternoon. There VIII De, however,
some additional testimony. taken In
Of the steamer.
saw Another Torpedo.
N Sns developed. on the testi-
~omv Of Seaman O'Neili. who has been
m The British navy. that . torpedo ap-
nroached the Lusitania from tho port
s,Sa missing her and passing by at her
stern. This would indicate that a second
submarine was lying by on the other
side Of the steamer.
oNeilrs testimony was c~orroborated
~ a fellow seaman. who said that he
,soomi,ed the wash Of a torpedo from
tbs port side. Sir Edward Carson. the
Atforney-Generai, expressed his convic-
lion, based on this testimony. that a
sAoopd submarine was lying in wait for
fhA Lusitania in ase the first sub
marine should not finish the job. but
baron Mersey. the presiding Judge. said
that he believed O'Neill u have been
mistaken.
Capt. W. T. Turner was recalled and
ssked why the collapsible boats were
not freed from their checks. He replied
ths, he feared the boats would slide
about when the ship listed and force
passengers overheard. The captain fur
ther admitted tina some boats were
strapped on top OF others.
Chief Carpenter Robertson was asked
By the attorney for a relative OF one
Of the victims II. in view of testimony
that one OF the boats had leaked sc
badly that two OF the occupants had
drowned. the boats had been In good
condition. He replied that he believed
them 10 he In such condition.
Several persons testified that no life.
belts were available on deck, Bertran
Jenkins OF New York saying that hs
remarked this fact several times to fel'
low passengers.
That YOU did not see them. | will
believe" commented Baron Mersey, blu
that they were not there ] cannot be
lieve."
one witness said that he had aided
in lowering a boat full of women anc
children which leaked so badly on en-
,ering the water that II sank He wa!
asked II the boa had been damaged
while passing over the ships side, ant
replied that he was not aware of suci
an occurrence.
B. \. Thomas. the Welsh coal oper
ator. who was OF the Lusitania. wal
Of the opinion tina; some of the crew
did not obey the captains orders to at
tend first to the rescue OF women ant
children. but attempted to save them
selves.
~ Per Cent. Of crew saved.
After Mr.. Thomas's testimony Baro
Mercy asked for the percentages q
those saved. TIL figures were produce
and showed hat of the crew ~ per cen
Of the men and 80 per cent of the wome
were saved. OF the passengers IS.
per cent. of the men and 3S.6 of tn
women were saved. Only Ell per Ger
Of the children escaped.
Baron Mersey remarked. after thes
figures had been read, that they SCENE
70 bear out the evidence gwen by NJ
Thomas that the crew had been NOR
concerned over their own safety tina
over hat Of the passengers.
Sir Edward Carson read a list G
twenty -ou, questions submitted to tn
court They asked whether there wer
any troops on board. whether the car
tain had received and executed any in
structious from the Admiralty in refer
erce 10 navigation and whether an
blame for the loss OF the ship could b
attached to the captain and the owner