Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-03-01
$4,000 TON LINER
TACOMA IS SUNK
Big Cunarder Torpedoed by
German Submarine, Has
26 American on Board.
ONLY ONE CASUALTY.
Sig of the Americans Were Passengers
Weasel Carried Bar silver. wheat,
Cotton. Fresh Fruit and War

New York. Feb. 3--Twenty-six Amer.
leans, six Of whom were cabin passengers
and 20 paid members Of tho crew, vera
on oonfvi the Cunard liner Laconia from
New York. February Is for Liverpool
wte 70 passengers and a crew OF 2iR
wncn tho vessel was sunk by q German
submarine Sunday night. One casualty,
as yet unidentified was o1icia.!y reported
10y the Liverpool of1ce of the lire to onl-
Gals here.
The names Of tho American passengers
and their addressed as given by tho limo
hs-e and confirmed in part by relatives
in tie United States. are as follows:
Floyd p. Gibbons OF the Chicago Tri-
bune: Mrs. F. E Harris wife Of Lieut-Col
frank f. Harris. L. 8. coast artillery
corps. stationed ri Fort pu Pont. nea..
Philadelphia; Arthur T. Kirby Balm
bridge, N. Y; Mrs. Mary e. Hoy Chi
cago: Rev. James Wareing. registered
from New York. but said 10 be from Nor.
lolk. Va; Miss Elizabeth Hoy, Chicago.
Thc Americans among the crew were
signed here to take the place Of others
whose terms Of service lad expired or
who had failed to appear when tho ship
was ready to sail. Tho men were re.
cru'trd mostly from shipping OFFICES
and gave New York and Brooklyn as
their places of residence. They were
stoke-s. coal trimmers. wipers and
seamen.
VALUABLE CARGO
While details Of the cargo of the La
coma are withheld under a recent rul.
ing of the customs officials. It was
learned at the office Of the company
that the following items were among
the principal commodities carried:
1000 bars Of silver. 10000 bushels
of wheat. 2.sos bales of cotton. l.4os
boxes Of fresh fruit, 5000 tons Of shell
| castings and other war supplies. and
5000 tons of provisions.
/ 1t was positively stated by officials
of the line that there were no explo.
/ sivcs on board.
MUCH NAIL WAS LOST.
In addition to cargo and passengers.
the Laconia carried 5000 bags Of United
States and Canadian mail. 1900 sacks of
which had been transferred from the
| American liner Ryndam returned to port
| sailing on tho same date the Holland
American liner Ryndam returned to port
after being turned back from her voyage
Ito Rotterdam by the submarine menace.
had on board nine Of the Ryndam pas.
sengers.
SUNK WITHOUT WARMING.
The Laconia when she left here was
| armed with one defense gun. mounted
aft. The report that the ship was tor.
pedoed at night and without warning
indicates that no opportunity was given
to make use Of the defense gun, according
! to officials of the line.
! The Laconia Is the second ship to be
sunk of the former Boston-Liverpool
service Of the Cunard line. A sister ship.
the Franconia, was sunk last October In
the Mediterranean while in the British
government service. Both vessels were
taken over by the British admiralty soon
after the war began. and the Laconia
was for time used in the service of the
government as a transport. She was only
recently restored to her owners for com.
mercial purposes.
The registered gross tonnage Of the
Laconia was 1880. her length was 81
feet and she had a beam Of q feet De.
signed for high-class passenger trade. hel
fittings were models Of marine architec-
ture.
No steerage passengers were on board
the ship. and those not Americans were
mostly English or Canadians. many oil
the latter being on their way to England
to engage in the government service. oil
returning to duty after leaves Of absence
at home.