Arizona republican., 1916-10-09
picking up passengers and crews of ships destroyed

NEWPORT, R. l., Oct. S.-The Brit l ish steamer Stephano, carrying nearly
 one hundred first and second class cab
 in passengers, including many Ameri can tourists, was sunk off Nantucket 1 light ship at 4: 30 D. m. today, presum- ably by the German submarine U-53. The United States torpedo boat de- stroyer Balch reported the loss of the 1 liner by radio to the naval station here, stating that the ship had been tor pedoed The message from the de-
 stroyer said that the crew and passen- | gers were safe aboard the Balch.
 Confirmation of the rescue was con-
 tained in a later message sent by the destroyer to the naval station here. It
 was said that she had picked up the passengers and later had transferred
 the Americans to the destroyer Jenkins. Rear Admiral Knight, commandant
 of the Narragansett Naval district
 said that the passengers who so desired
 would be allowed to remain on the
 warship until morning. At the same
 time he said, if they wanted to be set on shore, their wishes would be com Iplied with as promptly as possible.
 | Members of the so-called Newport
 society set were prompt to extend prof. fers of help to the shipWrecked passen- gers through Admiral Knight. Mrs
 Robert L. Beeckman, wife of Governor | Beeckman and Mrs. French Vanderbilt
 volunteered to take care of as many refugees as possible Many of the pas
 sengers on the Stephano are residents ] of New York
 The cargo loss of the Stephano, i
 was expected, would not be very heavy as on her west bound voyage she us
 ually carried little freight. This i
 made up largely, as rule, of fish oi ? and other fish products.
 The vessel was in the regular ser vice of the Red Cross line and wa
 bound from St. Johns, N. F., to Ney D York. She was due in New York to
 morrow morning Her agents Wer F Bowrng and Company. limited, of Bat , terv Place. New York.
 > The sale of the Stephano to the Rus sian government which had planned { | use her as an ice breaker. was recent u announced. Her sister ship, the Flor . iZel of the same line, also has bee
 sold to Russia for ice work It wa
 expected in marine circles that tn II was intended as one of the last of tn II regular sailings of the Stephano priC u to her sailing for the White Sea. I'll u liner was under command of Captai e Smith who had been in the company Ie employ for a number of years. T He is 4S years old and is known as u skillful navigator. Shipping men hel I- conjectured that Captain Smith ha H. taken the outside course in roundir d Nantucket lightship and thereby ha fallen like a ripe plum into the grip 'I the undersea raider.
 III Ordinarily. the Stephano takes Il T. inside course if the weather is favo It able. This takes her in water too sha
 low for a submarine and brings tl io ship within easy reach of the neutr lS three mile limit At this time of Il lu year. however. nights are foggy and is order to avoid navigating in thit al weather near shore in a well travel' CT shipping lane. the Stephano it VI Y thought, took the outside course.
 The Stephano was a steel sore gu steamer of 2,143 tons built in Glasgo CT in 1911. Her sister shin, the Floriz as left New York Friday for Halifax, A &. and St. Johns, N. r.
 ne At S:20 o'clock. Rear Admiral Knig eu received word that several destroye
 were on their way in with the passe E. gers and crew of the Stephano, { eu West Point and the Strathdena. or The Stephano carried A first cal as and 39 second cabin passengers. a crt D. of 75. and 5000 tons of general cargo. m was announced by the agents of { ne line here tonight.