The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-12-10
CROSSED SIGNALS
CAUSED DISASTER
CAPTAIN I.amedOc Of Mont
Blanc Firm in Belief Col
lisiOn Responsible.

Halifax, y. s., Dec. 9.-Exciting mo-
ments aboard theI Mont Blanc before
the ship became n terrible engine of dc
struction were described by several OF
her officers today. Captain Lame
doc persistently has refused to make
a detailed statement.
The inquiry Of the admiralty court
will be opened tomorrow.
All those ON board the Mont Blanc
ESCAPED from the ship. but three men
were subsequently wounded by projec-
tiles. one a gunner. died today.
wireless operator struck by bit Of
steel may die. The injuries OF the
third man We're not serious.
The men seemed still daZed by their
| experience. but one thought held fast
in their minds. That was that they
had realized that the explosion of ESQ
tons of trinltrotoluol Cr n. T) would
| spell disaster and in the moments that
| preceded it they had mental pictures
OF frightful slaughter.
Safety Was Impossible.
II have been in the war. ! have
been in front Of German guns, but
| never btlOlt WIS 'IitIt an 'APi'F''''
like this" said one of the crew. 1t
was worse than 100 shells. A shell
will blow up n house. but this blew up
a city. ono WAS safe nowhere. We
were a mile away when the ship blew
up and it got three of u.s.
Captain I.amedoc, though adhcring
to his purpose not to talk Of the affair
in detail. admitted that in his mind
there was no question of the cause.
Caused by Collision.
"'rhe collision caused the explo-
sion" he added. There was no sign
of fire previous to the moment the ship
was hit"
The munition ship had lain outside
the harbor Wednesday night and the
next day was ordered to proceed to
| anchorage in I.edford basin. As sh.
was passing through the narrows. the
relief ship limo was moving out. Cap
tain Iamedoc said that In the narrow
! channel there was a mistake In th'
exchange of signals between the 1--WE
vessels In maritime circles the opin.
ion seemed to be tonight that thf
I F'renchman was at fault
The Mont Blanc was struck on th'
: starboard side and veered TOWARD
shore. Captain Lamedoc said that al
instant after the smash gnsh q
| smoke was seen issuing from the yes
= sci He gave orders for all hands Il
take to the boats.
a Taking up the story at this point, n
I officer said:
Position Was Desperate.
There were tanks of benzol and pic
| ric acid aboard and we knew that TN
lar of the collision. causing a spark
had ignited these chemicals amoni
which the flames could burn only
few moments before they spread to tn
IY n r. our small boats were nearl,
swampcd in our efforts TO escape. w
feared that the explosion would com
I before we could make the short boa
= trip TO the shore and we pulled lik
g desperate men.
Il con the beach We found multitud
70 watching the smoke arising from tn
J. abandoned ship. A few took warnn
n and followed us We made for tn
le woods and were mile inland whe
y the explosion let go. our gunner wa
NJ struck DN Il fragment oi sleci anu IL
Is mortally wounded.
THE wireless operator. who wit
re- the gunner, had out t-distanced the re-
he of us was next hit by piece of Stet
TX Another man was struck by bits
er metal, but his injuries were supe
is ficial."
ly The cargo included n large quaint
4 of shells and ammunition.
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