New-York tribune., 1920-07-13
Liner Comus
sinks Freigghtel';;
Two Are Lost.
[.ke Franpton, Shipping
Beard Craft, Goes Down
II Ten Minutes When
Rammed OFF Jersey Coast
survivors, Brought Here
of Both Craft
Accuse Each Other of
Confusion Over Signals

n. United States Shipping Board
.,..mer Lake Frampton, operated by
!. west India Steamship Company,
=, sunk at s:15 o'clock yesterday
rornine Of Little Egg Harbor, about
A.~.ntv miles from Atlantic City. in a
,o,l;sion with the passenger steamer
romus. Of the Southern Pacific Line.
she sank in ten minutes.
Two members Of the crew, an oiler
and fireman, are reported missing.
.ra fye members of the crew had to be
.,.ated for minor injuries. The thirty
tso survivors, were picked up by the
lcomus, which lay alongside her berth
It Pier 50, North River, Yesterday af-
aruoor with her prov bent to port, but
Ao,berwise uninjured. It is estimated
mat the Comus carried sixty-eight pas
l .sncers from New Orleans. She had no
Passenger list.
)ficials Of the Southern Pacific Line
xouId give out no information regard
mo the accident. They would not per-
MT reporters to talk to the crew, and
| tss survivors of the Lake Fsrampton
virtually were held prisoners on board
,hs Comus for two hours after she
docked. S. NJ. Cooper. assistant man
sger of the line, said the men were
ifee to leave whenever they wished,
but Captain Powers asserted that the
va.chman at the gangplank stopped
linn and his men when they tried to
come ashore. He said that he was told
that attorneys wished to question him
I snd the crew.
Attorney Blames Frampton
While the crew of the Lake Framp-
/ ion was on board the Comus Captain
IP. N. Middoe and his men, of the CO.
mus, were called into the Offices of the
Southern Pacific Company and interro-
gated Soon afterward it was given
out as the opinion of the company's at
tomey that the Lake Frampton was to
blame for the collision. 1t was said she
/ bad not stuck to her course.
At 4 o'clock Captain Powers and his
men trooped past the protesting guard
I and came ashore to report to the Ad-
miralty Board The captain said the
Comus was plainly sighted ten minutes
before the crash, and that she must
have seen his lights. The signal had
! been given. he said, that the Lake
|Frampton would pass on the port side.
If the Comus had turned to star
hoard, as was expected of her, he said,
The two ships would have passed with
out harm. But as the Lake Frampton
pulled off to the right, he said, the Co.
mus continued to the left and struck his
|ship at slight angle on the port side
amidships.
it was dark when the crash came.
Many of the passengers on the Comus
we're thrown from their hunks. They
drew on some clothes and rushed on
deck
Mr.. and Mrs. A. T. Byers, Of Fort
Worth, Tex, said the stricken ship
hung on the bow of the Comus.
Woman Tells Story
Il could have stepped into her deck"
that the forward part of the Lake
|Frampton would swing around and
smash our ship. Then the Comus
backed off and in no time the other
ship sank.
"The cries of the men in the water
we're terrible. They had to shout so
they could be found. Two lifeboats
we're lowered and the men were picked
up Our ship stood by until daylight" !"
Tie older women on board the Comus
were very much shaken. Mrs Kalman
Oswald, Of Monterey, Calf, wife of an
artist here, who is on her way to Fin
land, cared for an insane woman who
was aboard. She said she had been
IN collision at sea before and was not
nervous.
Captain Powers asserted that it all
happened so suddenly that no one had
time to do much. The ship was nearly
cut IN two. An attempt was made to
lower lower the lifeboats. The captain and
hiteen men got in one and did not even
have time to lower it. They just loos-
sned the ropes and let the boat drop
hto the water. The other men jumped
overheard.
The survivors were a odd-looking
9s when they landed yesterday.
many OF them had no clothes when they
we're picked up and they came ashore
n n what could be gathered together for
saem' Several had no shoes, hats or
soalS' But none Of them seemed un-
aerVed by the experience. Four young
s.ers, hardly more than boys, were
,omplng around as if nothing had hap
Missing Men Unidentified
- inc men Of the Lake Frampton who
Sesa. Mere treated for injuriee are: Olen
cc0altgen, John Nelson, Amos Warren,
Ts TTssofge Williams and William Kane.
ias, iae ship had just come out of dry
sVTS Ts ana carried no cargo.
/, me Inc, identity Of the two missing men
s,s; ~ sun unknown. Ira Greenwood, chief
SSaslneer of the Lake Frampton, said
ne ~. went to the Seamen's Church Insti-
,:ss a.e at 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon and
kuasa iSss up two men, an Irishman, who
Tssa TSs IN IN Brooklyn, and an Englishman.
n M PsaP snlP sailed from Cranes dry dock
Ssn3 H. lyn, where she had been over
ssuled' Ss' at o'clock that night. Green
NAV rsuo said it was intended that the two
H. Esa Isl, should be signed up at Norfolk.
~' couid not remember their names.