The Washington times., 1928-11-16
CONGRESSIONAL PROBE LIKELY
TO AIR TRAGEDY OF vESTR|S

board was strong enough to un
screw the can containing the flares
| 1t was rusted fast. Luckily one oi
the crew had a hatchet on his belt
and he knocked the top of the can
off.
when nightfall came, we went
to light the lanterns which were on
the boat. We found two new ones,
which were empty, and one old one,
which was about half full of OIL
Unfortunately, when We went to
| light the old one, the bottom fell
out, and we lost the oil. No member
of the crew who was in the boat
knew where the extra oil should
have been stored, and. as we later
discovered in our search, there was
none.
Our flares were dry, but they
seemed fragile, and about half of
them broke when we tried to light
them. That is, the lighting caps
came off. Luckily, member of the
crew was able to set them, off by
lighting them himself down in the
bottom of the boat, so we were able
to use them.
Portfolios Insecure
Herman Ruckert said he was a
sales manager for the Krause Works
and that his home was in Liepsic.
"The trouble began Sunday he
said. I'm the dining room the port.
holes were not properly closed.
That afternoon the boat started to
slant. On the veranda tsmoking
room), it was difficult to keep our
seats. Once slipped and fell upon
a German family. the F'rankes,
which | suppose were lost with the
ship.
THAT night / found my stateroom
had been changed, because the win
dows in the one | had would not
close properly. / found my trunks
floating in the water. Then they
had to change me again, to the top
deck.
There were only a few pas
sengers at dinner that night. as
most of them were seasick. A man
fell under the table. and all the
dishes on top of him, at one mo-
ton of the boat.
Decided to Swim
II had confidence in the officers
and the captain, SO / slept all night,
but in the morning it was difficult
to dress, the boat was so far on the
side. At IL o'clock l asked a stew
ard ii / should put on my life belt,
and he said yes.
mo. boat, filled with women and
children. was being lowered when /
went on deck. 1t took a long time.
All the white people were quiet. but
some black people were trying to
save their children
Il got in No. boat, and there
were 40 or so people in it when it
was launched. 1t was under water
and the people were swimming, and
we tried to bail / and Sorenson
and a lady decided to swim for an
other boat. But the other boats
seemed to go away from US, so we
had to swim very hard. asked
Sorenson what to do but he said not
to go back to the boat we had left.
He told of watching the launch
ing of the iifeboats, and said that
25 inches below the rail, about six
inches in diameter. He said he
saw the hole before the women and
children were put into the boat. 1t
had been caused, he said. by the
bar as they were swinging it out
over the side of the ship on the
davits.
"He said he was lowered in with
about so others, including one Off.
Ger. When the boat reached the
water, no one had anything with
which to cut the ropes and free the
boat. Some one called up for a knife
and the answer came back that
there should be one in the bow of
the boat. But there was none.
No Lights Nor Water
when the ship sank, he said, it
pulled the boat over on her beam,
sank her and threw the passengers
into the water He himself, he
said, was later picked up by Boat
15. In this boat was neither water
nor lights, he said, and only four
oars. 1t drifted about until picked
up by the American Shipper"
Mr.. Quiros appeared indignant.
He reserved his praise for one man,
Duncan, steward, who, he said,
was distributing fig cakes up to the
last minute before the ship sank.
II was picked up by No. boat.
Water was coming into the boat
between the planks faster than we
could bail 1t out. 1t was crowded
and very, very low and the waves
came over the side. No officer was
in command on the lifeboat and
there were no water and no bis
cults. we were picked up the next
morning"
Splitter. who testified through an
interpreter, said the sea was rough
from the start of the voyage and
on Sunday morning the ship listed
and seemed to travel slowly. The
seas grew higher, and later in the
day he said he went into the
| smoking room, where he found
second-class passengers and mem
bers of the crew lying about
wrapped in blankets.
Monday morning, he said, he was
| unable to find his steward, and a
strange steward told him the
kitchen was full nf water, and they
| could not get any breakfast. He
dressed, went aft and watched the
crew jettisoning the cargo. NJ
one seemed to be in command OF
the members of the crew working
at the job, he said.
Poor Captain. He Says
Splitter said he noticed that the
engines stopped at 4 o'clock that
morning, but when he asked about
| 1t he was told that the ship woulc
stay afloat for a day or a day and
| a half
1T was a shame the way they
commanded that ship" he said
Saturday evening there was 2
f., little slant on the right side The
! sea was rough, but at no moment
I GfArnnN EI1ndaHt knanrn,in,rr ..,n