The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1915-05-13
SUBMARINE seen
ONE HOUR BEFORE
TO BE FRIENDLY
WITH LUSITANIA-DID NOT
ALARM HER.

Cork, Ireland, May 1O.-"Land had
been in sight three hours and was dis
tinctly visible IL miles away when we
noticed, about l p. m., that the steam
er was steering zig-zag course to-
ward the Shore" said DR.. Daniel
Moore of Yankton, S. d., in telling of
his experiences on the Lusitania.
Looking through glasses I could
see on the port side, between us and
land, what appeared to be black OBJ
long object, with four dome-like pro-
jections. 1t seemed about two miles
away. This oblong coursed along
swiftly at times, slowing down, dis
appearing and reappearing.
"The Lusitania was zigzagging
along about speed Of 19 knots. She
had done % knots during some Pc
riods of the journey. Later she kept
a more even course and we agreed it
was friendly submarine we had seen
No other vessels except one or two
fishing boats were visible.
Vessel is Struck.
AT lao p. m. we sat down to
luncheon in the saloon. Of course we
talked about the curious object we
had seen, but nobody seemed alarmed.
About 20 minutes later there was a
muffled, drum-like noise in the for
ward part of the boat. The ship
shivered, trembled and almost immed-
lately began to list to starboard. She
had been struck on the starboard side.
"Unless the first submarine was
speedy enough to run rings around
the Lusitania, the torpedo must have
come from second submarine which
had been lying hidden to starboard.
We heard no second explosion.
"There was great excitement among
the passengers, of course, but the wo-
men were soon quieted by assurances
that there was no danger and that the
steamer had struck small mine. The
passengers left the saloon in an order
ly manner. As I reached deck I had
difficulty in walking owing to the list
of the vessel.
Puts on Life Belt.
"With most of the passengers I ran
onto the promenade deck, which was
crowded. I looked over the side but
could see no evidence of damage.
started to return to my cabin but the
list of the boat was so graf I aban-
doned the idea and remained on deck
Looking over the starboard rail I saw
that water now was only about IL feet
| from the rail at one point.
"While searching for a life belt,
came upon a stewardess struggling
with pile of them in a rack and
helped her put one on, afterward OBJ
tanning one myself.
"The Lusitania was now on her side
and sinking by the bow. I saw wo-
man clinging to rail near where a
boat was being lowered. I pushed her
over the rail into the boat, afterward
jumping down myself. It was IL
foot drop. The boat fell bodily into
the sea, but kept af1oat, although 50
heavily loaded that the water was lap
ping in. We bailed with our hats but
could not keep pace with the water
and I realized we must soon sink. See
ing a keg I threw it overheard and
sprang after it. A young steward
named Freeman also used the keg as a
support. Looking back I saw the boat
I had left swamped. We clung to the
keg about an hour and a half and
were picked up by a raft. A number
of those picked up by the raft were in
jured, including a little boy whose
left thigh was broken. I improvised
splints and set his leg. He was a
plucky little fellow, for he soon was
asking is there a funny paper on
| hoa rd p"