The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1916-03-02

Bower, Feb. 29.-The bodies landed
from the Maloja include 10 men, II
women and a children. There were
eleven Lascars. Among the dead is
Mrs. Macleod, wife of General Nc
Leod. Market hall was converted into a
morgue, where the police laid out the
bodies Of the dead on improvised biers
for Identification. Only W or three
bodies have as yet been Identified.
Dover, Feb. 29.-The steamship Ma
LOLA, 12,431-ton vessel belonging to the
Peninsular and Oriental. line struck a
mine and sank within a half hour, two
miles off Dover. More than 40 per-
sons were drowned or Killed as a re-
suit of the accident.
The Maloja, a sister ship Of the Per
STA torpedoed and sunk OFF Crete, De-
cember 80, with a loss of 1886 lives,
left Tilbury Saturday for Bombay.
with mails, 119 passengers of all class
es aboard, and a crew numbering
about 200, most of them Lascars. 9th
er passengers were to join the ship
at Marsailles.
High sea were running, and the
captain, realizing hat great damage
had been done to the after part of his
vessel, tried to run her aground, but
the engine room was swamped and the
ship became un~manageable.
The plight of the vessel vas OBJ
full speed to her rescue.
Rescue Ship Sunk.
One of them, the British tanker En-
press of Fort William, 2,1S0 tons,
struck another mine and sank nearby.
Aboard the Maloja everything pos
sible was done to get the passengers
and crew off. All the boats had al
ready been swung out before she
struck, as a ~precaution against acct
dent and those aboard had sufficient
time TO put on left belts, instructions
in the use of which had been given
the previous night. 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 gradual.
ly added to during the day.
Only Meagre Details.
Owing to the fact that Dover is un-
der strict military law, it was impcS
sible TO obtain only meagre details
from the rescued. CAPTAIN c. Irving
said that both passengers and crew
behaved ~splendidly. The passenger
for the most part were British Off
Gals in the Indian service, the most
prominent being Judge Oldfeld of the
Indian high court.
Only one of the crew of the En-
press of Fort William was drowned.
1t was about 1920 a. m. that the
disaster occurred. Children were
playing on the deck and most of the
passengers were carrying life belts.
Suddenly a terrific explosion blew in
the side Of the second saloon and 20
minutes later the Maloja sank.
Children Blown to Pieces.
Several children were blown to
pieces and the deck was covered with
w~reckage and wounded, but there was
no sign of a panic. The heavy sea
made the rescue work difficult.
The majority of those saved were
on RATS, of which the ship carried q
large number. Most Of the women and
children lost their lives owing T. the
fact that one boat already in the wa
ter drifted under another which was
being lowered, and capsized.
The captain was thrown into the
water by the last lurch of the ship.
Thousands Of the inhabitants of
Dover witnessed the rescue work from
shore. A considerable number ac-
tually saw the blowing of the ship,
while almost the entire population
reached the water front before the ves-
sci went down.