Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-03-02
Steamer Maloja Strikes Mine
The Empress of Fort William
Going to Her Rescue Meets
with Similar Fate.
DAY Of MARINE DISASTERS
Several of the Allies Steamships
Are Reported Blown Up by
Drifting Mines and Others
Have Been Sunk by German
Submarines.

Dover, Feb. 1.-THE steamship Maloja,
| 12,431-ton vessel belonging to the PENN
sular and Oriental line struck mine and
| sank within half an hour two miles off
Dover to-day. More than 40 persons were
drowned or killed as result OF the acct
dent. The Times estimates the dead at
| AZ
The Maoja left Tilbury only yesterday
for Bombay with malls, l19 passengers of
all classes aboard and a crew numbering
about so. most Of them lascars. Other
passengers were to join the ship at Mar
settles.
The steamer had just passed Admiralty
| Pier at Dover. and was opposite Shake
speare 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 after part of his vessel
| tried to run her ashore. but the engine
room was swampcd and the ship became
| unmanageable.
The plight OF the vessel was OBJ
served and dozens of craft went at fun
speed to her rescue. one of them, the
British tanker Empress of Fort Will
lam. of o,1S1 tons, struck another mine
and sank nearby.
| Aboard the Maloja everything posi-
BILE was done to get the passengers
and crew off. All the boats had al
ready been swung out before she
struck, as IL precautiou against acct
dent, and all those aboard had suf-
ficient time to put on life belts.
| Boat after boat and "a number of RATS
were sent away. but several persons
| leapeu into the water and were pick
ed up by the surrounding craft. 1t
was at first thought that all had been
saved, but later bodies We're washed
| ashore, and their number was gradual
ly added to during the day.
| Owing to the fact that Dover is under
strict military law 1t was possible to obtain
only meagre details from those rescued
The captain said that both passengers
| and crew behaved splendidly.
| The passengers We're for the most part
British officials in the Indian service the
most prominent being Judge Oldfeld of
the Indian high court.
Only one of the crew OF the Empress
OF Fort william was drowned
Up 10 midnight the bodies landed from
| the Maloja included eighteen men, eleven
| women and four children, in addition to
| eleven lascars. Among the dead Is Mrs.
Mcleod, wife of General Mcleod.
The Peninsular and Oriental Line
steamship Maloja was an Australian
mail boat and a sister ship of the Per-
STA. which was torpedoed and sunk off
the Island of Crete. December 80 last,
| with the loss of 1876 lives.
The Naloja was last reported as hav-
ing arrived at Marseilles January 81,
bound for London from Sydney, New
South Wales.
The steamship was $50 feet long and
was built at Belfast in 1911.
The Empress of Fort william was
formerly the Mount stephen and was
built at Newcastle in 1908, She was
$50 feet long and was owned by the
Empress Transportation company of
Midland, Ltd,
London, Feb. c,.-Thc British steam
ship Suevier. from New York Tcbru
airy IL for Havre, has been abandoned
afre At sea, according to Il despatch to
Lloyds from Inishtrahull, Ireland. All
the members of the crew are reported
to have been taken off by another
steamer.
London. Feb 81, las p. m.----Thc
steamship Bright has been sunk. Sew
enteen survivors have been landed.
There are three small steamers of
the name of Birgit according to ship
lping records. two Swedish and one
Norwegian. The largest of tho three
is of LIZ gross tonnage and flies the
Swedish flag.
Flushing, via London, Feb. .7.-The
passengers, crew and mails of the
wrecked steamer Mecklenburg were
taken off by the Holland America liner
Westerdijk.
The iceland service has been proyis-
Iionally suspended.
The MecklenburG was ",sS5 tons
gross and was built at Glasgow in
1909. The vessel was $40 feet long.
Paris, Feb. 26. via London. Feb. 27.--
An official announcement made by the
French ministry of marine to-day re-
garding the sinking of the British
steamship Fastnet of 2.227 tons says
the vessel was sent to the bottom by
n submarine in the western Mediter-
ranean. The crew of the steamship
was rescued by French cruiser.
The captain of the Fastnet reports
that he saw the same submarine sink
the Swedish steamer Tornborg. the
boats OF which the undersca vessel
towed away.
| Irf3N PEG A RDI .ESS III, COST