Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1915-09-06
United States Consul Says
Steamer Carried a +
J Mounted Gun.
TWO PEOPLE ARE LOST
Passengers on Ship Allege That She
Was Torpedoed Without Warning
May Cause More Trouble.

London, Sept. 6-The Allen liner
Hesperian, attacked by German SUB
evening. sank at 6:47 a. m. today
while proceeding to Queenstown.
: A wireless dispatch to Queenstown
this noon said Captain Main and mem
hers of the crew who remained aboard
the Hesperian were taken OFT safely.
They were placed aboard steamers
towing the Hesperian after she sank. i
Press dispatches, report the deatn
of Miss Carberry, who Is sallt tc
have been hurled from one OF the
boats and to have died from the shock
and of another woman who Sas,xe%
ly injured and died in one OF the
rescue steamers while enroute to
Queenstown.
Washington, Sept. GA :abiegram
from American Consul Erost, at
Queenstown, to the State Department
announcing the torpedoin;s OF the
Allen Line steamer Hesper!an with a
loss OF probably eight or ten lives,
said the liner carried mounted and
visible on her stern 4.7-inch ritte.
The Counsul's message, cated +.
M. Yesterday follows:
"The Allan liner Hesperian, torpe-
doed by German submarine 70 miles
southwest of Fastnet at $50 o'clock
Saturday evening. Zone OF. two AM
orleans on board. none lost. Loss OF
I;fe about eight. Vessel has not sunk.
Admiralty boats landed passengers
and troops at $3.50 yesterday morning
Have returned to bring HeSperlan III
here Queenstown Due about "
o'clock this morning. There were
about As Canadian troops on board
unorpanizcd and mainly invallded'
Also one At gun mounted and visible
on stern. Vessel bound for Montreal
While officials here, following their
nsual practice, have adopted policy
Of reticence regarding the sinking OF
the Hesperian until all the facts are
officially known, the feeling is W.
oucstionably that while the incident
;s crave. it will not lead to a renewal
of tho crisis between the United Stat
o,d cormanv. Thanks to the
haste with which Count Won Bern
storff presented to the State Depart
mont an advance extract from the
Forthcoming note declaring that Ger
man submarines would not in the 1u-
ture attack liners without warning
nrompt disavowal from Germany
would be confidently expected II 1ne
attack on the Hesperian should prove
to have been delivered without warn
inp The German ambassador has al
ready put his government on recoru
in q way to make that almost certain =
Count Won Bernstorff in his note 70
Secretary Lansing on September
under instructions from Berlin, quoted
This sentence from the coming Ger
man note on the Lusitania case:
Liners will not be sunk by our sub
marines without warning and wlthou'
safety of the lives of noncomoa'an's
nrovidinp that the liners do not 'rS
to escape or offer resistance.
If it should be officially determined
that statements of passengers on Ch'
Hesperian were correct, that an uh
resisting liner, not attempting 10 eS
cane, was attacked without warning
it is believed that the most serious re
sn,ts Of the incident will be the heavy
embarrassment it will cause the Ser
lin government.
The suggestion is made that th'
attack on the Hesperian. like the at
tack on the Arabic over two week!
before. was the result Of Grand Ad
miral Won Tirpitz's desperate etfof
to procure continuance of the dras
tic submarine warfare by holding VI
the order of his government forbid
ding the worst features of the earle
campaign.
There have already been strong in
timations that the Grand Admiral
course had embarrassed his govern
ment in dealing with the Arabic. case
His trip with the imperial chance
lor DR.. Won Bethmann-Holweg,