Norwich bulletin., 1916-03-01
Details of Sinking
 Steamer MaIoja
TOLD BY RALPH FOSTER OF
 KANSAS, A SURVIVOR
AFLOAT IN ICY WATER
Ship Sank so Quickly That Little Could be Accomplished to Save Those Aboard-Impressed by Brave ry of Women and White Members of Crew.

London, Feb. 29, $50 D. m.-That German submarines have been sow ing mines off Dover Was the belief ex- pressed today by Ralph Foster of Kansas and other survivors of the Maloja disaster, including some of the officers of the ship. The fact that a number of disasters have occurred in the neighborhood of Dover during the past two Sundays is considered in some quarters in London as possible evidence that German submarines, knowing that a number of boats clear for foreign ports Saturdays, have taken advantage of that fact to creep in as near the coast as possible in tho night time and discharge CargOes of explosives.
 Lifeboats Very Useless
 In the opinion of MT. Foster life boats are very useless where vessels strike mines, as the ships almost in variably sink quickly and because the crews are insumcieptly drilled tor quick action and the boats cannot be lowered when ship heels over on her side as the Maloja did. Mir. Eos ter had a thrilling experience. He was afloat in the icy water and on upturned boats an hour before he was rescued by trawler. .
 Concussion Was Slight.
 T was promenading the deck well forward about 1920 o'clock Sunday morning." said MT. Foster today to the Associated Press. when l heard a slight report l thought it was a gun firing a blank shot until l saw debris falling. Even then the concus- sion had been so slight that l con cluded an accident must have hap pened to some other ship nearby.
 Ship Began to List Immediately.
 'I rushed back immediately toward the stern of the AIaloja, but before ] had taken a dozen steps the ship be- gan to list and l started toward the life boat that had been allotted to my cabin. It was so full of people, most of them Lascars, that I saw it Was likely to be swamped, so l went below for a life belt. I put on my overcoat and the lifebelt and also took my passport.
 Could Not Get Boat Clear.
 By this time-hardly three min utes after the eXplosion-the passage ways below were awash- l returned to the life boat and tried to helr shove it clear. Two of the white crew of the steamer were standing by tC lower the boat, but only a steward and myself were making any efforts to push it off from the ships side. We could not get the boat clear of the railing on account of the heavy list of the Maloja.
 Many Slid Into Water.
 "Everybod then piled out of the lifeboat. Most of them slid across the deck and into the water on the other side. The deck was inclined to such degree that we could not stand. grabbed at an oar and slid down the deck into the water. The waves were swim in them and was washed back against the side of the ship.
 crawled on to Capsized Boat.
 Finally I managed to reach a cap sized boat a few feet away and crawled onto it. From there I could see in the water near me several bod ies of people who were bleeding about the head. One Lascar was being ground between a lifeboat and the ships side. A big swell washed me off my insecure perch. I knew what would happen to me If I stayed on the side of the ship I was on, so I man. aged to get to the other side and chung to the railing until only the daVits were projecting out of the wa ter.
 Taken Off by Boat from Destroyer.
 T then pushed away from the steamer and swam a few feet to a boat which had five or six Lascars in it. When I looked around the last of the davits of the Maloja had disap- peared. We had no oars and the waves kept breaking over the boat When 1t began to sink we swam to another capsized boat and chung there until a boat from a destroyer took us off
 When we came alongside the do stroyer I noticed that the swells seem ed to boost up and down ten or 12 feet. I looked at the clock on board the destroyer and saw it was 11.3l o'clock.
 Little Terror Shown.
 "The only terror or excitement shown aboard the Maloja while they were trying to lower the boats was on the part of Lascars and some chil- dren who had become separated from their mothers.
 "One child who was on deck near the point of the explosion was blown to pieces, an officer told me.
 One thing which made an impress sion on my mind while I was clinging to capsized boat was a Teddy bear which was floating about. The cox swain of the boat which picked us up rescued the toy, saying I must have that for my kid
 Deeply Impressed by Bravery of
 Women.
 MT. Foster said he also was deeply impressed by the bravery of the women and the white crew of the Maloja but not by her Lascar crew. 300 GUESTS MADE ILL
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