New-York tribune., 1918-02-08

60 lle NaUOn s nerOlC dead.
depots in Ireland, immediately placed
all its resources at the disposal of the
Americans and instructed its repre-
sentatlves to do everything possible
TO help.
The American Ambassador, Walt,r
ii. Page, received from the Lord Mayor
of Belfast a telegram expressing his
condolences.
Inc hrst survivors We're landed at
4:3O o'clock Wednesday morning.
From then until seven q. m. many pa
troll boats arrived, each bringing q full
complement Of survivors. the number
of whom by that time had reached $50.
including forty members of the crew.
the northeastern coast of Ireland.
where some of the survivors were
landed, were requisitioned.
Women volunteer nurses at Larne
attended to slightly injured men.
Wards were improvised in hotels
Thirty seriously injured men were dis
patched to local hospitals, where thew
are receiving careful treatment. The
resources of Larne were taxed to the
utmost to provide food and clothing
for the survivors.
One Of the men, who swan about
Tor two hours before he was rescued,
jokingly said he had had enough swim
ming to satisfy him for the rest of his
life.
There was sufficient time for the re-
moval OF all those on board the Tus-
canla, as she remained af1oat for about
two hours after being torpedoed.
The Tuscania was one Of a convoy
or troop and provision ships which,
alter a long passage across the At
lantlc, was entering what until recently
were considered comparatively safe
waters. The ships were within sight
of land, which was just distinguishable
in the dusk Of evening, when torpedo
nit the Tuscana amidships. This was
at about o'clock.
The rescue work appears to have
been carried out with great promptness
and efficiency. Destroyers were first
on the scene, picking up boats and
signals, smaller craft were summoned
from harbors along the whole coast,
and they searched the waters regard
less of the danger from submarines.
All possible care was given the sur
vlvors when brought ashore at three
Irish ports. Hotels and hospitals were
at their disposal, with doctors and
nurses, and food and clothing were
ready for them.
The chief personal interest in Glas-
gov and the Irish ports attaches to
the fate Of the ships officers and crew.
While the names of the saved and lost
are still unknown, large contingent
Of the ships company crossed to Eng
land on the first boat, ready as usual
to ship again for any service they
might be enrolled
English People Stirred
Few events Of the war in the las.
few months have stirred the English
people more deeply than the disaster
to American troops approaching Brit.
ish harbor on a British transport Such
an eventuality had been feared.
The first news, before the landing
of the survivors at different ports De
came known, caused the belief that
there was heavy toll in lives, rur-
ming into hundreds and perhaps more
than a thousand. All the known cir.
cumstances impressed the public with
the feeling that the greatest sea tragedy
in Atlantic waters since the sinking of
the Lusitania. and possibly greater in
loss of life, had occurred. The latest
bulletins tonight, however, indicatin3
that the casualties may be 100 or even
less, have caused a distinct relief from
the tension.
OF those lost a large proportion are
members of the crew. 1t is not yet
known how many of the ships officers
survived.
There is no surprise over this Incl
dent. The only cause for wonder is
that of the hundreds of troop laden
transports which have crossed the At
lantic in the last three years and more
the same fate has not befallen others.
The record as a whole is cons dered by
seamen most creditablc to the British
mercantile and naval services.
If the attack had occurred in day
light the whole ships company might
have escaped. But in the darkness of a
moonless night, with the ship rapidly
listing, so that some of the boats could
not be launched, while some were
smashed by the explosion, and with
many men aboard who had never been
on the ocean before, there were all the
possibilities of general panic and
wholesale drownings. AS it was, many
were rescued from the sea after hours
on wave-washed RATS, some even SWIM
ming, supported by timbers, and their
suffcrings were intense. A number sue
cumhed after being taken aboard the
rescue boats, others after they had been
brought ashore.