Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1917-11-01

cared for by the American consulate.
Some of the men have been lodged
in local hotels and few have left for
Paris.
Tho torpedo struck the ship at GAS
o'clock Wednesday morning. Many OF
those on board were killed in their
berths and others while dressing The
explosion killed the engineers, oilers
and mechanics and those of the crew
who were in the hunks below.
All the survivors praise the captain
of the Antilles and the members OF the
gun crew, who stuck to their posts
while the officers searched with field
glasses for the submarine until the
waves closed over the ship
Rescue Work Was Difficult
When the Antilles sunk, forty or
fifty men were at the stern Most OF
them Ieaped fifty feet or more into the
sea as the stern rose to perpendicu-
lar position, and some were drawn
down by the suction of the sinking
vessel.
The submarine was not sighted eth
er before or after the explosion. The
sea was running high at the time, max
ing it difficult to save the crew AMI
passengers. Some survivors. chnglng
to debris, were in the water an hour
before they were sighted by the life
boats.
Was on Return Trip.
Washington, Oct. 2O.-The Ameri-
can army transport Antilles. home
ward bound under convoy, was tor
pedoed and sunk by German subma-
rine in the war zone wednesday
About seventy men are missing and
probably lost.
All the army and navy officers aboard
and the ships master were among the
1877 survivors. The missing are mem
bers of the crew, three civilian en-
gineers, some enlisted men of the
navy, and seventeen of thirty-three
soldiers returning home for various
reasons. Neither the submarine mol
the torpedo were seen and the trans
port. hit squarely amidships, sank in
five minutes.
This tragedy of the sea, the first
in which an American ship engaged
| in war duty has been lost, is the frs
of its magnitude to bring home to the
people of the United States the rigors
of the war in which they have en-
gagged against Germany. 1t carries tn,
largest casualty list of the war o.
American lives, and marks the frs
success of German submarine attacks
on American transports.
Few Details Received.
Secretary Daniels announced the d1s
aster tonight in a statement baset
upon a brief dispatch from Vice-Ad
miral Sims, which gave few details
and did not say whether it was a da.
or night attack. An accurate list o
the missing cannot be issued unit
General Pershing reports the name
of the army men on the vessel ant
the list of the merchant crew.
4 Sorrow at White House.
Upon receipt of the cablegram from
Admiral Sims, the government kept 1t
promise not to withhold bad new
from the public. The issuance of tn
statement was delayed only until tn
navy could telegraph to the familie
of the men known to have been lost
Secretary Daniels carried word O
the loss of the Antilles to the Whit
House when he went there late in tn
day with Admiral Mayo, who made hi
report to President Wilson on his v1s1
to England at the direction of tn
President. The news added to tn
gravity or the hour that the secretar
< and Admiral Mayo spent in conferenc
with the President.
Quick upon the wave of sorrow
the news of the loss of the transpor
came feeling of distinct relief D.
cause she had met her fate homewar
bound and not on the way over wit
troops. The only soldiers on boar
: were returning to the hospital or Q
: special assignment. Had the full con
plement of the transport been aboaT
v the loss undoubtedly would have bee
written in hundreds, as she was struc
in the most vulnerable spot and wei
under so swiftly that few could hay
escaped.