The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-11-15
U. S. QUIZ OF
SEA TRAGEDY
IS LAUNCHED
Loss of ia Lives StirS
Officials Toward
Drastic Action.
so SUBPoENAES ISSUED
British Board of Trade Also
to Make Thorough
Investigation.
BIZ United Press

By United Press
NEW YORK, Nov. Is. - The
United States government set out
today to discover what sent the
British steamer Vestris to the bot
tom, with ne loss of probably ia
lives.
The tragedy has stirred officials to
make every effort to find out if the
VeStriS was unseaworthy, if the
1ifeboats were unfit for SERVICE as
charged by passengers, if the send
ing of an SOS call YVES delayed be-
yond the point Of safety, and If
there was blundering and needless
confusion in launching lifeboatS.
The principal investigation was
in the hands of Charles A. Tuttle,
United States attorney.
Fifty or more subpoenas already
have been issued, and federal OFF,
CialS informed the United Press
that anyone who may be presumed
to have any knowledge of the cause
of the disaster would be summoned.
One of the principal stories to be
checked is that a coal port in the
side of the Vestris, just above the
water line, was so defective it ad-
mitted water.
Members of the Stoker crew Of the
Vestris said that water poured
through the port, flooding the in
terror of the ship.
Evans Hampden, fireman, was
quoted as saying:
1.-The whole trouble was that the
coal port on the starboard side,
which was four feet above the
water line, was not entirely closed
when we lett port. 1t couldn't be
closed and locked and the water
poured through it in the first heavy
sea-"
The reported shifting of the cargo,
in which it was said that several
hundred automobiles and trucks
crashed through the water-tight
compartment, making it impossible
to clear the ship of water, also will
be investigated.
Other angles were:
1. The charge made by survivors
that Captain William j. Carey sent
out an SOS call on Sunday and
then rescinded it, delaying the send
ing of another call until the ship
was sinking.
2. The charge that the lifeboats
we're fragile, that some had holes
in them, and that the davits were
not in proper shape for launching
the boats.
3. Statements of passengers that
the lifeboatS we're launched i'm
properly, causing the first two, con-
tanning women and children, to be
smashed.
4. Statements of survivors that
some members of the crew thought
more of their own safety than that
of the passengers, and even refused
to pick up struggling people from
the water, in the fear that their
boats might be overcrowded and
their. own lives endangered.
The investigation will be extended
to officials of the Lamport and Holt
line, and to federal steamboat of
ficers who inspected the Vestris be-
fore she left New York Both the
owners of the Vestris and the United
States steamboat inspection service
are making Investigations of their
own.
The British board of trade in Lon
don will also investigate the disaster.
The Vestris is a British ship, and
the inquiry normally would center
in London, but officials here took
the view that if the Vestris had been
permitted to sail from an American
port in an unseaworthy condition
jurisdiction lies in this country as
well as in England.
Leo j. Mintzer, head Of the Grim
inal division of Tuttle's Office, said
he had received unofficial informa-
ton that the British board of trade
would abide by any decision reached
by American authorities if the in
veStigation made here were com
prehensive."
Mintzer said criminal prosecution
could be brought if it were found
that lives had been lost through
wilful negligence.
A formal hearing was scheduled
for this afternoon before Francis
ONeill, United States commissioner.