South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-05-10
BRITISH COURT
PROBES SINKING
Of GREAT LINER
Survivors Say Officers Hid the
Danger from Passengers and
Criticize the Lack of Proper
Convoy Through War Zone.
FAMILY OFFERS $4,000
FOR VANDERBILT'S BODY

| LONDON, May 10.-With 764 sur
vivors 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 /. 900 in number, was car
ried on vigorously today by a fleet Of
warships, tugs and trawlers off the
south coast of Ireland.
While survivors, now recovered from
the daze into which the first shock
and horror of the disaster had plung-
ed them, on board the Lusitania. the
British was setting III motion the of
ficial machinery for a drastic and far
| reaching investigation. This inquiry
will be conducted under the auspices
of the board of trade and will prob
ably be directed by Lord Mersey Of
the admiralty court, who probed the
sinking of the Titanic
Confusion at Queenstown which
prevailed in energy and efficiency Of
officialdOm, still prevented early today
the compilation of an exact and defin-
ite list of dead. but the figure was
Igenerally believed to be in the neigh
borhOod OF 1,15O.
Sights Many COrpses.
The liner st. Paul. which passed the
scene of the disaster yesterday, re-
ported by wireless that she had sight
ed many corpses about 20 miles west
| of KInsale. 1t is believed that the
St. Paul did not pick up any of the
bodiS- leaving them To the rescue fleet
that was cruising in the vicinity
OF the 144 bodies recovered at the
time this dispatch was written, 81 had
bten identified. OF the identified 65
were passengers and p were seamen.
So far as known now 1O7 American
lives were lost.
Among the identified dead at
Queenstown is p. l.. Jones, a member
Of the London staff of the Interna-
ltional News Service. He was an Eng
lish citizen.
OGer $4,000 for Body.
Search for the body of Alfred G..
Vanderbilt, the American millionaire,
was stimulated by the offer of a re-
ward of $1,000. issued by the Wander
bilt family in New York. The bodies
of Gilbert Hubbard. Charles Klein.
J | Lindon Bates jr.. and Justus Miles
| Forman were also missing a the writ
J ing of this dispatch.
Survivors. both Americans and Brit
ish who have arrived in London, Sc
verely criticised the manner i'm which
the Lusitania was handled both by the
admiralty and officials of the Cunard
line. These complaints summed up
briefly as follows:
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 admir-
atty despite the known presence of
German submarines in Irish waters
and the threats that had been made
to destroy the liner.
THAT officers of the Lusitania
failed to drill the passengers in the
routine To be followed in case OF
disaster and that officers on the ship
hid the seriousness of the ship s
damage from passengers up to the
last minute, assuring them there
was no danger.
say Captain Was Justified.
\ representative of the admiralty.
| in answering the first accusation de-
I clared that the Lusitania's captain. w.
T Turner. was justified in reducing
his speed while travelling through the
steamer lane south of Ireland. be-
cause OF the presence of mines
The first modes of inquiry 10 be
pursued in the government investiga-
tion are:
1-Did Capt Turner exercise the
proper safeguard for his ship, know
, ing the presence of German subma-
rines?
/ 2-What amount Of responsibility
lrests upon the admiralty for not fur
= nishing a convoy of warships for the
/. liner2
\ Queenstown telegram this morn
: ins added more names 10 the list OF
y survivors They were =. !. Linlott
q second class. and Mr.. and Mrs. Albert
I f NealS third class.
CNote-These persons were count
; ed among the ia su4rvivOrs.)
some of the injured who are still II
hospitals in Queenstown are IN Sc
rious condition and may succumb.