Imperial Valley press., 1928-11-13
Loss OF Life On
Vestris Unknown
Continued From Page ~

might hold survivors. IOOkOutS II
crows nests peered through misty
rain as dawn came, continuing The
search.
Sirens shrieked word that safety
was near. Fog horns moaned
! Through the ether a flood of radio
messages went, apprising each shiI
/ of the others intentions rs the
rescue fleet cruised on its mission
I of mercy.
/ 1t must have been a terrible eX-
, pcriencc for the women-estimated
at about 60-and the l5 children
who had taken their places in life
boats shortly after noon yesterday
under the rule of the sea" Women
and children first.
All night, huddled in the open
boats under n driving rain and with
seas whitecappcd by lusty winds,
they had searched for sight of res
cue steamers. The men may have
pulled at the oars. but their progress
must have seemed slow.
Even worse off were those who
had no lifeboats, but bobbed about
on small rafts, clung to wrcckage
or were buffeted this way and that
with no support except the lifcbclts
holding them up.
Toward noon, after most of the
lifeboats had been rescued, the s.
s. Berlin flashed ashore these brief
messages telling the most graphic
story Of all:
Rescued man-bclievcd dead
in drifting lifeboat. -
"Rescucd one man drifting in life
belt. Tells that woman with child
is drifting within radius of two
miles.
Still searching for two lifchoats
and makeshift raft reported to have
women
After the Berlin messagcd that
the first of these three messages was
wrong and that the second one
should be substituted for it. APP
parentlv this meant that the man in
the ifebelt, al first believed dead,
had been rcsuscitated sufficiently
to tell his story Of the woman and
her child.
Earlier the battleship Wyoming
had told Of rcscuing q survivor from
wrcekage and five from the open
sea.
Later the Wyoming sent the names
IF eight survivors it had aboard, two
more than it originally appeared to
have saved. This would bring the
otal rescued to 20j, leaving only 134
Inaccountcd for.
The battleship Wyoming appeared
on the scene and at 9:37 a. m. re-
ported to the Radio Marine Corpora
ion:
"Passing through wrcckagc. Pick
up five people from the water.
The rescue work continued. At
east one vessel. the American Ship
per said it would search until dark,
then proceed to New York with the
it had saved. The Berlin
also planned to land its survivors
here.
From the Myriam early today Cap
tain Carey sent the surnames of
DerS0ns rescued with him aboard the /!
Nyriam Fifty six names were sent, ,
put there were several Implications. I
rhe list did not include the name |
If Michael J. O'Laughlin, the Yes /
ris' RMC operator. It was believed !
hat O'Laughlin, if he managed to !
cave the stricken craft before she !
sank, would have been in the same +;
ifcboat with the captain, usually !
he last to abandon ship.
Narrowing Night
If it was n narrowing night for
those relatives it must have been
l terrible one for those in the rafts
and lifcboats awaiting n rescue that
seemingly would never come.
Several of the rescue fleet, includ-
ng the s. s. Santa Barbara, San
Juan and Chic Maru, arrived soon
after nightfall at the spot where
he Vestris had flashed its last sos
yesterday. But they found no trace
IF the liner or the lifeboats that
had put out toward the Virginia
capes before . p. IN.
The night was black and murky.
Visibility was poor. Not until 30
a. m. was the first flare from
lifeboat sighted. 1t was seen by the
American shipper, which raced to
the rescue and took the boats dis
traught passengers aboard.
The American Shipper flashed its
position to the Radio Corporation of
which in turn radiOed +
other units of the searching fleet.
The Myriam fastened to the posi-
tion in pitch blackness. 1t soon
picked up Captain Carey and others
in "Lifeboat No. ;.
At 400 a. m. the Myriam radioed
the s. s. Sunccow. "Come on. More
boats to pick up.
Other rescue ships arrived. They
cruiscd in circles, flashing their
scarchlights on the waters, keeping
each other informed.
The Philadelphia Navy Yard pick
ed up a message from the ). >. Ber-
lin to the Myriam, SAYING it hoped
to take aboard the survivors already
on the Myriam and bring them to
New York. This transfer may have
been made later, and if so would ac-
count for the message here that the
Berlin had on it the passengers from
two life boats.
BY noon conflicting messages rae
ed through the air as to the number
saved and their disposition. The
Radio Corporation of America said
ls5 had been saved, and that of