Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-28
Tried to Ground His Ship.

vessel was owned Dy the Empress trans
portation Company of Midland, Ltd.
Tried to Ground His Ship.
The Maloja left Tilbury only yester-
day for Bombay. with mails, 11s pas
sengers of all classes aboard and a
crew numbering about 200, most of
them Lascars. Other passengers were
to join the ship at Marseille.
The steamer had just passed Ad-
miralty pier at Dover and was opposite
Shakespeare cliff when an explosion
shook her from end to end. She listed
Immediately to port. High seas were
running and the captain, realizing that
great damage had been done to the
aft part of his vessel, tried to run her
aground. but the engine room was
sWamped and the ship became unman-
ageable.
The plight of the vessel was observed
and dozens of craft went at full speed
to her rescue. One of them, the Brit
ish tanker Empress of Fort William
Of 2,1S1 tons, struck another mine and
sank nearby.
Aboard the Maloja everything pos
and crew off. All the boats had al
ready been swung out before she
struck. as precauIIon against acc
dent and all those aboard had suffi-
cient time to put on lifebelts. instruc-
ton in the use of which had been given
the previous evening.
Bodies Are Washed Ashore.
Boat after boat and a number OF
RATS were sent away. but several per-
sons leaped into the water and were
picked up by the surrounding craft 1t
was at first thought that all had been
saved, but later bodies were washed
ashore. and their number was gradu-
ally added to during the day.
owing 20 the fact that Dover is un-
der strict military law it was possible
those rescued The captain said that
the boats passengers and crew be-
haved splendidly.
The passengers were for the most
part British officials in the Indian
service. the most prominent being
Rescue Ship Is Sunk Also.
The steamship Empress of Fort Will
liam of 2,1s1 tons gross, while attempt
ing to rescue the survivors of the Ma
lola, struck another mine and sank in
less than half an hour The crew of the
Empress was saved by other boats in
the vicinity.
The scene of the disaster was two
miles off the port of Dover, and the ex-
plosion was SO violent that houses
along the water front were shaken.
Relief boats quickly put out from the
harbor of Dover and succeeded in pick
ing up a number of the Malojas pas
sengers when the liner went down.
The Maloja carried in the f1rst-class
r., y-S.ty
women and seven children. Among the
passengers was Justice Oldfield of the
India high courts.
The Maloja was steaming down the
and most Of the passengers carrying
life belts in their hands. Suddenly a
the second saloon. and twenty minutes
later the Maloja sank.
Steamer Turns Turtle.
Just before she went to the bottom
the vessel turned turtle. and for a few
seconds the keel was visible above the
surface. According to eye-witnesses
there was a second explosion, and,
while under the water. the vessel
righted herself; the masts became vis-
ible and then she went down.
The captain and officers stuck by the
ship to the last. Though all were
saved, not one of them left the ship in
the boats; they were all picked out of
the water.
The captain from the bridge directed
the lowering of the boats. called on
everybody to keep calm, and everybody
kept calm wonderfully, for the scene
Immediately after the explosion was
one sufficiently terrifying to cause
panic. Several children were blown to
pieces and the deck was covered with
wreckage and wounded, but there was
no sign of a panic.
Only few boats could be lowered
and the heavy sea made the rescue
work difficult. The majority of those
saved were on RATS. of which the ship
women and children lost their lives
owing to the fact that one boat already
11oafIa,1z - ,H:....cI11S. =. -