Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-05-18
By HERBERT TEMPLE


International News Service Correspondent
London, May 11.-With 764 survi-
vors of the destroyed Cunard liner
Lusitania safe on land and 144 bodies
of victims recovered, the work of
searching the seas for the missing,
more than one thousand in number,
was carried on vigorously by a feet
of warships, tugs and trawlers OF the
south coast of Ireland.
While survivors, now recovered
from the daze into which the first
shock ard horror of the disaster had
plunged them, spoke bitterly of the
way the Lusitania had been handled
Immediately before and at the time OF
the calamity, the British government
was setting in motion the official ma
chinery for a drastic and far-reaching
investigation. This inquiry will be con-
Quoted under the auspices of the board
of trade and will probably be directed
by Lord Mersey OF the admiralty
court, who probed the sinking of the
Titanic.
Many Corpses Seen.
Confusion at Queenstown, which
prevailed in spite of the energy and
efficiency of officialdom, still prevented
early the compilation of an exact and
definite list of dead, but the figure was
generally believed to be in the neigh
borhood of 1850
The liner ST. Paul, which passed the
Sca1e of tho disaster SUNDAY ranortad
by wireless that she had sighted many
corpses about twenty miles west OF
Hinsele. 1t is believed that the st.
Paul did not pick up any of the bodies,
leaving them to the rescue fleet that
was cruising in the vicinity
OF the IA bodies recovered at the
time this dispatch was written 81 had
been identified. OF the identified, Sc
were passengers and twenty-one were
seamen. So far as known now lot
American lives were lost.
Search for the body of Alfred G.
Vanderbilt, the American millionaire,
was stimulated by the offer of a re-
ward of $4,000, issued by the Wander
bilt family in New York. The bodies
of Ebert Hubbard, Charles Klein, Lin
don Bates, Jr, and Justus Miles For
man were also missing at the writing
of this dispatch.
Handling of Ship Criticized.
Survivors, both Americans and
British, who have arrived in London,
severely criticized the manner in
which the Lusitania was handled, both
by the admiralty and officials of the
Cunar4 line. These complaints
su4mea up briefly, follow:
l. That the Lusitania, instead of
being kept at top speed as she neared
the Irish coast, slowed down, thus
making her easy prey for the German
submarines lying in wait for her.
2. That no convoy was placed over
the Lusitania by the admiralty despite
the known presence of German sub
marines in Irish waters and the
threats that had been made to destroy
the liner
8. That officers Of the Lusitania
failed to drill the passengers in the
routine TO be followed in case of dis
aster and that officers on the ship hid
the seriousness of the ships damage
from passengers up to the last minute,
assuring them there was no danger.
Captain Turner Upheld.
A representative of the admiralty,
in answering the first accusation de-
clared that the LusitaIis's captain, w.
T. Turner, was justified in reducing
his speed while travelling through the
steamer lane south of Ireland because
of the presence of mines.
The chief lines of inquiry to be pur-
sued In the government investigation
are these:
1. Did Captain Turner exercise the
proper safeguards for his ship, know
ing the presence Of German subma-
rines?
2. What amount Of responsibility
rests upon the admiralty for not fur
nishing a convoy of warships for the
liner?
Some of the injured who are still in
hospitals in Queenstown are in serious
condition and may succumb.