The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-09-10

ceiyed torpedo in her vttals with
out warning three hundred miles
from land at o'clock on an April
evening. A lovely sunset was fading
in the west, and crescent moon
and evening star looked down upon
the horrible scene that followed. The
graceful ship yawned and veered in
her extremity like a stricken ami
NAL, so that her life-boats were
smashed or overturned in seeking
the water, spilling human beings like
grains of sand. And az the darkness
of night closed over the sea three
hundred men, women, and little chill
dren struggled in those lonely wa
tiers, hundred Of whom persisted.
This was an instance, moreover, in
which the submarine cold -bloodedly
waited until nightfall to compass its
destruction of lives!
Recalls Lusitania Horror.
And now let me recall to you
something of the Lusitania horror.
You remember that the Lusitania
was worth $12,000.000 and carried
1000 souls. If the New Willard
(Statler, Blackstone, etc.) hotel were
to be engulfed today by a sudden
earthquake the losses of property. in
number of lives and in brain power
and heart power, all would be less
severe. than the losses when the
Ltlsitania was destroyed.
The seventh of May, 1915, found
the wonderful South Irish literal
smiling in the sunshine, with the sea
like a mirror. A goodly company OF
Americas great men and finest wo-
men were looking with pleasure from
the deck of the devoted vessel at the
enchanting emerald green Of Old
Kinsale. When, suddenly, at eight
minutes past 2 o'clock, a swift tor
pedo came leaping through the sur
face from landward, and with its
exploding defamation that splendid
scene was converted into the most
appalling catastrophe the human
race has ever experienced. -
Confident in her floating capacity,
the ships officers forbade the man
ming of the life boats; and when the
huge vessel foundered, Is minutes
later, 1000 persons were thrust
headlong into eternity. Eight hun
dren persisted by this abysmal
crime; and 33 Of the children were
infants in arms. Out of 100 Ameri-
cans only IS lived to tread Gods
earth again; the death-roll included
Ebert Hubbard, Charles Frohman,
Charles Kline. Herbert Stone. Lin
don Bates, Captain James B. Miller,
and (perhaps greatest of alb DR.. ].
S. Person, the creator of modern
Spain, as fine a type Of the con-
structive idealism as our American
business world has ever produced.
No Trace of Panic. .., |
To the credit of our race be 1t said,
there was never trace of panic in
that awful event. But there was
confusion of the most heart-rending
kind-husbands beholding their
wives crushed and flung hurting
like debris, white haired ladies dy-
ing in pathetic, silent, self control,
and childre9 drowning in speechless
terror while looking into the eyes Of
their powerless mothers. A survivor
told me Of standing high on the YES
sells stern, as the bow was disap-
pearing, and gazing down so feet
or more upon the impotent human
creatures swirling madly like flies
beneath the surface and upon it.
And at the instant when the ocean
closed at last upon the ship curl
Gus, minor-keyed sound Of terror
sprang along the waters, as If the
sea itself, they said, were moaning
in agony! &C.,. s--
Death OF Etberr Hupparus
Ebert Hubbard chung to a cylin- |
drical steel drum broken out from
q life-raft and as often as he was
able to climb on to it, it rolled and
toppled him, off on the far side, until
our genial veteran philosopher pres
entity gave way to shock and ex-
posture. The many fingers of that
sea, indeed, were able to search with
paralyzing sureness into the hearts
chambers of even the strongest men.
One life-boat, rowing about, obserV-
ed a mysterious flash on distant
wave, and found life buoy clasped
by a drowned woman's hand, and on
the hand superb diamond.
/ saw the CHASTITY procession Of
rescue vessels as they landed the
living and the dead that night under
the flaring gas torches along the
Queenstown water front. Boat after
boat came up out of the darkness,
discharging bruised and shuddering
women, manned and half naked, men,
and few wide-eyed little children
whose innocent minds were wrestling
blankly with this strange new mani
festation Of life. Frenzied women
begged me. for their husbads; and
men. with pitiabIe choking efforts at
matter of factness went ceaselessly
from group to group looking for
their little daughters, their brothers,
and in some cases for their Anneri-
can brides! Piles of corpses, like
cordwood, grew higher and higher
among the coils of rope and ships
stores on the dark old quays. Every
voice in that great mixed throng
spoke in instructive undertones,
varied only here and there by a
TgaR aVI IA nF a SIN
burst Of sobbing.
The incidents next morning in the
three improvised morgues were even
more poignant, as the ponce and the
searching relatives moved carefully
among the mute corpses. / saw a
woman recognize a dead sister, with
two drowned babies clasped to the
cold bosom that had so recently been
their warm nesting place. looked
into the dead face of Charles Froh-
man. after he had gone away into
that last great adventure" of his.
The supernal tranquility of all those
quiet faces will never fade from my
inner eve. Peacefulness was the eX-
preston: and yet tempered with a
good -naturedly puzzled and aggriev-
ed look, as though some friend had
played a rude joke that they did not |
vet understand.
Survivors Literally insane.
During the next fortnight Queens
town lived in nightmare. Grown
men and women staggered in and |
out of my Office, literally insane |
with grief; and every hour brought |
to light some fresh phase of tragedy |
and woe, until mind and heart re-
fused longer to register the re- |
dundant awfulness. visited the ad-
ditional groups OF corpses as they |
came in from day to day. The rigor
mortis soon relaxed into inebriatel
fiabbiness, and the livid features |
grew preposterousIy repulsive Later
on the lips and noses were eaten off |