The New York herald., 1922-08-14

for that matter and acted splendidiy In
the face Of what might have been Il ter
rible marine disaster"
Only about a score of persons went
to the deck when the explosion occurred
and many on the port side of the ship
were not disturbed by the blast. The
first men among the passengers to get
to the deck Were Gov. Glynn and Al
Herman. the placlSface comedian. Ii was
Herman who picked up the battered
body of Donnelly and later of Howley
and carried them to the ships sick bay
And 1t was Mrs. Ethel Friml, wife OF the
composer, who made the remark, Capt.
David will bring us through all right"
which did 50 much to quiet any passen-
ger inclined to become nervous and
hysterical.
Eighteen Answers to 3 o 8.
Eighteen replies were received from
vessels answering the S. o. S. sent out by
Capt. David. and although no assistance
was found necessary. the Lafayette of
the French Line followed the Adriatic
10 the rear tie rest of the way across.
ready to come to the relief at once if
necessary. The light OF the explosion
and the ensuing flames could be seen
by other ships within radius of fifteen
miles or more, according to reports from
other ships travelling in the lanes.
According to the charts. the explosion
and fire occurred within one degree OF
the spot where the Titanic struck the
iceberg in 1912. and several of the pas
sengers who had made many trips re-
called this fact. Another slight scare
was experienced by the passengers on
Saturday night. when the ship was
slowed down and stopped because of a
heavy surface fog which hung on the
water and made speed dangerous be-
cause of the large number of ocean
liners which were in the zone.
List OF Dead and Injured.
The total list of dead and injured
was reported as follows yesterday: The
dead-Leslie Albeit, electrician. died
of burns John A. Northan. trimmer,
died of burns; J.. Redmond. fireman,
skull crushed. killed instantly A. J..
Dilley, fireman. chest crushed. killed in
stantly. Missing and believed blown
overboard-stcphen McGuiness. 40. fire
man. The injured Edward Donnelly
Simon Howley, 27. and Robert McCar-
thy, 23. All of the dead and injured
men lived in Liverpool. Albeit and Nor
than were buried at sea on Friday at
sunset and Redmond and Dilley were
buried at sunrise Saturday. The injured
men were removed to st. Vincents Hos
ptal, where they are In serious con-
dition.
One story of the cause of the explo-
sion had 1t that Albeit, who was sent
into the coal hold to string an electric
light wire over a door. had caused a
spark which ignited the gases in the
hold. Another report was that he re-
peatedly said. 1T was my fault" be-
fore he died in the ships hospital, but
officers of the ship and man who
worked with Albeit state that the ma
ture of the flame and the explosion left
little doubt that il was a case of
spontaneous combustion. The coal in
the hold came from Welsh mine
where the coal is noted for its oily
quality, and was loaded aboard the ship
while the rain poured down. making
the coal soggy and causing heavy gases
to generate. : An investigation will be
begun within a day or so.
Had Fear for Boilers.
Hatch and hold No. 3 was the one
directly next to the engine room and
fear was had for the boilers until the
fire was extingushed. The hold is also
directly below the bridge and IL was
fortunate that the officers there we're not
burned by the blast of the explosion.
Every man stood at his post throughout
the entire fire and by morning the
scene OF the fire had been all cleaned
up and until yesterday some of the
second and third class passengers knew
nothing OF the details OF the fire. Sew
eral Catholic priests aboard the ship
cared for the injured and dying sea-
men. administering the last rites Of the
church.
Among those who arrived on board
the ship were Mrs. II. G. Dawes. sister
in-law of Brig. Gen. c. q. Dawes. with
her two daughters: Martin Ii. Glynn
and Mrs. Glynn, Wildly Eberhardt of
II. r. Eberharnt 4 Co., Winslow a.
Pierce, Clifford Il. Edgar. NJ. r.. and
director OF Bank OF British West Africa
Joseph y Babcock, banker: Edward J.
O'Gorman. lawyer; Emory w. Clark OF
Detroit, Sir Robert NJ. Liddell. Albert
Strauss. banker: William w. Thaycr,
Cyrus +. Tibbals and a number OF
theatrical people coming here with an
English company for "A seasons tour.
The ship carried 200 first cabin. 45l
second and 274 third class. a total of
a25. This included a number OF pas
scngers who were transferred aboard
from the Olympic, which was delayed
abroad by repairs.