The Washington times., 1928-11-15
CONTINUED from First Page.)

j
duck sailor trousers, a mans shirt,
| miles too large, nondeScript
sweater and over her shoulders an
Army blanket.
Mrs. Slaughter was quickly
gathered up by her husband, who
| was rescued from the Vestris and
came in yesterday aboard the Amer
lean Shipper. and carried to a walt
| ing automobile.
Then Harry Fay. Pittsburgh
boxer, came off and William M.
Fields, of New York; o. C. Patter-
son, OF Edmonton, Alberta; Walter
Cadogan, of New York, and S. Cox,
of Montreal.
Two Wireless Operators
Two of the three wireless oper-
ators of the Vestris were among the
40 members Of the crew. They
were Charles Verchere and James
Mcdonald. Michael O'Louglllin, the
chief operator, was still at his key
trying to make the weakening sig
nails heard when the Vestris heeled
over and went down. DIR. william
Sears. the ships surgeon, and Les
lie Watson, second officer, were
also among those rescued by the
Myriam.
The members of the crew were
bundled into waiting buses char
tered by officials of Lamport and
Holt, owners of the Vestris. They
were not allowed to talk to news
paper men. Too much had been
said yesterday, it was indicated.
The tales of the survivors brought
In yesterday by the American Ship
per, which carried 125 and the Ber-
lin, which had % of the rescued,
have started at least two investiga.
tons. The passengers told of in
cidents unbelievably at variance
with the traditions of the sea-of
cowardice among the seamen. They
charged negligence, inexperience,
improper training and stupidity on
the part OF William J. Carey, the
master, and his officers.
Three Probes Loom
u. s. District Attorney futile
promises an investigation here.
One is to be conducted in London
by the British Board Of Trade and
a third by the u. s. Senate is
talked Of. Outraged relatives and
friends Of the dead who have heard
survivors explain those deaths de-
mand that blame be fixed.
Everywhere among the rescued
passengers 1t was the same story.
How the radio SOS had been de-
layed: how the passengers forced
the captain to call for help; how an
SOS when the fate Of the ship was
apparent 10 hours before she sank
would have saved all aboard; how
slow-fingered sailors stupidity nailed
a piece of tin over a gaping hole in
slifeboat; how boom negligently
insecure crashed down onto life.
boat filled with 20 babies and chill
dren; how half-filIed lifeboats rowed
quickly away from struggling,
pleading passengers, leaving them
to drown.
One OF the passengers told a
story which placed blame for some
of the confusion in another quarter.
1t was Cadogan, New York negro,
who told of being in one OF the
first three lifeboats to be launched.
When the boat was filled with 80
persons, mostly women, Cadogar
said they called to Captain Carey to
lower them
Cut Line With Razor
When the captain ignored them,
Cadogan said he whipped out a
held the Iifeboat at the bow, think
ing to get it into the water. Like
peas from pod the passengers
were dumped into the sea. Many of
them were never seen again.
In this lifeboat was Mrs. Slaughter
with her husband. They were
separated and neither knew until
yesterday that the other had been
saved
at was numb when / struck the
water" Mrs. Slaughter said. Il
can't recall much of it in detail.
1t seemed as though / was under
water for five minutes, though. of
course, it couldn't have been that
long
Slaughter is an official of the
International Harvester Company.
Mrs. Slaughter is very attractive.
She celebrated her twenty-first
birthday on Tuesday. For part OF
the day she was in lifeboat with
81 negroes and one white officer,
Watson.
1t was Watson who saved her
life, Mrs. Slaughter says. When
she was thrown into the debris
filled water from the smashed life
boat, Watson dove after her and
picked up by the negroes.
Broke Ribs In Dive
Diving into the wreckage. Wat
son fractured several ribs. An am
buIance waiting at the dock took
him to Long Island College Hospi- |
tai. He was the only casualty
aboard the Myriam. DIR. Sears gave
him first.aid with supplies pro-
yided by the Myriam's medicine |
chest.
Strangely silent in contrast to |
the volubility of previously arriving |
survivors, none of the rescued pas
sengers from the Myriam would COM
ment on the management of the Yes |
iris just before and during the |
abandonment. Lamport and Holt Of
ficials went down the bay on the tug /
to meet the passengers brought by |
the Myriam at quarantine.
The officials added three to the |
number of survivors previously |
radioed by the master of the
Myriam. They gave no names, |
simply saying the Myriam brought |
eight passengers and 40 survivors
of the crew The Myriam had sent !
the names of "a.
The Lamport and Holt line re.
fused to make any answer to the |
charges of negligence on the part |
of the crew.
After comforting with officers of
the Vestris, David Cook, vice presi. |
dent OF Sanderson and Sons. Inc,
operators OF the line, issued long
statement which recited the voyage |
Of the VeStriS. the storm which |