The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-02-27
BY ED l.. KEEN.


women died when German U-boat
sank without warning the liner La
COMA. on which they were travelling,
forced them with nearly three hun
bred others to the boats. and then left
them to the rigors of a cold winter
night, adrift on the open seas.
The two women-Mrs. Alfred Harris
How and her daughter, Miss Elizabeth
Hoy-with six other persisted from
exposure. They were buried at sea.
The survivors of the Cunard leVla-
than were adrift off the Irish coast
under overcast skies and tossed on a
heavy ocean swell from about II
O'Clock Sunday night to or o'clock
Monday morning.
Thirteen persons in all, persisted in
the unwarned attack by the German
submarine.
Left Survivors to Their Fate.
American Ambassador. Page was
kept fully informed in dispatches frOr1
Queenstown from American Consul
Frost. He transmissed this immedi-
ately to Washington. The American
official information was that Mrs.
Hoy and her daughter We're the only
two American passengers who per-
ished. but comparisonof the list of
survivors with the list of the LacOnia's
crew as made public by the Cunard
company in New York indicates that
six Americans of the crew are among
the missing, believed to be lost.
The German submarine which sank
the LacOnia fired a second torpedo at
its side twenty minutes after a vital
wound had been inflicted by the first
explosion. The U-boat subsequently,
came alongside one boat inquired
concerning the commander and the
cargo and then steamed off leaving
the survivors to shift for themselves,
after assuring them British admir-
atty rescue boat would be along
"soon "
Eight Boats Launched.
Eight boats We're launched. There
was conf trable difficulty 4 casting
them free of the Laconia, owing to
considerable list and one boat was
swamped. 1t was believed that Mrs.
Hoy and her daughter were in this
l.feboat
Explosions of the tor9edoes
however. caused most of the casual
ties, it was believed
The conduct of both passengers and
crew was generally calm. altho there
was some confusion owing to the fact
that the lights went out Immediately
after the first explosion.
. Drowned; Die of Exposure.
Mrs. Hoy and Miss Hoy died from
exposure in an open boat. They were
buried at sea They were among
eight who survived the two tOrnedoaS
launched at the Cunarder and later
succumbed to their suffering while
waiting eight hours in an open boat
for rescue They too We're buried at
sea. Five were drowned
Six others were reported by Amer
lean Consul Frost to be in hospitals
recovering from injuries or the .ex-
posture which they suffered
At Queenstown 267 survivors were
landed. Bantry, Ireland, reported ID
arriving there.
Thus the total death list is IA t1vo
Americans and women
Survivors at Queenstown reported
an admirable discipline among the
officers and crew of the liner and
very tile of anything like a panic
The lights went out Immediately
after the first torpedo struck and this
caused some slight confusion.
A Second Lusitania.
Two torpedoes found their mark
in the vessel, the first exploding at
the stern and the other further for
ward. The weather was compare
lively calm. but there was heavy swell
running on the sea
Comment of the London news
papers today was almost unanimous
in the belief that the Laconia was "a
second Lusitania." London editors
progressed their belief that President
wilson overt act had been accom-
plished in this torpedoing.
IF it is ignored or condoned do
clared the Chronicle. what will IN
effect be admitted by the American
government is the claim that Ger
many has a right to prohibit Aneri-
can citizens under the pain of death
from travelling to England on English
liners
Praises Crews Conduct.
Queenstown, Feb. 27.-Amonp the
four Laconia passengers sent To
hospitals here is DIR. Hawke. a
resident of San Francisco who sail
he was playing bridge in the shin
surgeon room when he heard an aw-
full crash and guessed the vessel had
been attacked by a submarine He
said that the first torpedo struck the
liner aft on the starboard side ana
everyone made for the life preservers
Continued on Page Two1