Norwich bulletin., 1917-10-20

Washington. Oct 1s.-The American army transport Antilles. homewa1-d bound under convoy, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the war zone Wednesday. About sev- enty men are missing and probably lost
 All the army and navy officers aboard and the ships master were among the 167 survivors. The missing are mem bers of the crew, three civilian en- navy and 16 of 33 soldiers returning home for various reasons.
 Hit squareIy Amidships.
 Neither the submarine nor the tor ;pedo was seen and the transport, hit squarely amidships sank in five min utes-
 Thfs tragedy of the sea, the first in which an American ship engaged in war duty has been lost, is the first of its magnitude to bring home to the people Of the United States the rigors of the war in which they have engag- largest casualty list of the war of American lives, and marks the first success of German submarine attacks on American transports.
 That the loss of life was not greater is due to the safeguards with which the navy has surrounded the transport , service ard the quick rescue work of the convoying warships.
 
 disaster tonight in a statement based upon a brief despatch from Vice Ad- Iniral Sims which he gave few details and did not say whether 1t was day
 An accurate list of the missing can- not be issued until General Pershing reports the names of the army men on the vessel and the list of the merchant crew. Following is the announcement:
 Secretary Daniels Statement.
 
 despatch from Vice Admiral Sims, which states that the steamship An titles, an army transport. was torpe- doed on October IT while returning This vessel was under convoy of American patrol vessels at the time.
 "The torpedo which struck the An tiles was not seen, nor was the sub hit abreast of the engine room bulk head and the ship sank within five minutes. One hundred and sixty-seve persons out of about two hundred and were saved About seventy men are missing.
 All Officers Saved.
 "AI1 the naval officers and offlcets of the army who were on board the ship at the time were saved. as were the officers of the ship. with the exception of the following: Walker, third engi- neer officer; Boyle. junior engineer of Hcer, and ORourke. jun1or engineer
 Naval Men Lost.
 "The following enlisted naval per sonne1 were lost: E. L. Kinzey, sea- man, second class, next of kin, Thom- Nj. Kinzey, father. Water Valley, Mississippi.
 J. w. Hunt, seaman, second class, next of kin. Isaac Hunt, father, Noun tain Grove. Mo-; R. No. 2. Box A.
 c. L. Ausburn. radio electrician, first class, next of kin. R. Ausburn, broth CT. 2s0O Louisiana avenue, New Or H. F. watson, radio electrician, third class, next of kin. Mrs. w. L. Seger, mother, Rutland, Mass.
 There were about thirty-three of the army enlisted personnel on board, of when IT were saved. The names of the H.ir@:r- of the army enlisted of the shin mot be given until the muster roll in France of those on board has been consulted As soon as the department is in receipt of fur ther details, concerning the casualties, they will be made public immediately"
 Crack American Coast Liner. The Antilles, a freight and passen- ger steamship of 6,s7S tons gross, owned by the Southern Pacific Steam ship company (Morgan Ldne) was one { of the crack American coast liners. l She piled between New Orleans and | New York and had carried thousands of persons to the Mardi Gras celebra- | tion in the southern city. The ves- sel was taken over by the government l as a transport early in the war. Captain H. F. Boyde, master of the | Antilles, retained his command when 1 the vessel entered the government ser | vice, as did most of his officers. The | crew as recruited by the quartermas- ter's department, included many of l the men who had served on the steam ship when she was in the merchant | service.
 Built in 1907. The Antilles was built by the Cramps at Philadelphia in 1907. She was 421 feet long with a beam of 53 feet and a depth of 37 feet.
 No News Withheld. Upon receipt of the cablegram from Admiral Sims, the government kept its promise not to withhold bad news from the public. The inssuance of the statement was delayed only until the navy could telegraph to the families of the men known to have been lost T. Secretary Daniels u.yrisAEmpd of the