The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-11-16
NEGRO WORKERS
TRAPPED IN HOLD.
AS VvESTRIS SUNK
Seamen, Bitter, Plan
Mass Meet Sunday
Continued from pnne one

COttbtHWou IfOm UU" OHS
Trajectory reports circulated imme-
diately after the news of the sink
ing was broadcast throughout the
world, many new aspects of the dis
aster hitherto concealed and dis
torted were revealed. -
The big fact of the disaster,
namely that the Lamport and Holt
Company and the United States
and British shipping authorities are
mainly responsible for the tremen-
dous loss of life and conscious Grim
inal negligence in the management
of the ship, received further verifi-
cation.
Sailors who survived the Inflated
trip were unanimous and bitter in
their denunciation of Captain Carey
and the condition Of the Vestris be-
fore it set sail last Saturday That
the vessel was totally unfit for the
strenuous voyage into the stormy
waters of the Atlantic, there can
be no doubt. The testimony of sea-
men has established the fact that
underneath the comparatively new
cover of paint that the Vestris had
received recently, rust had eaten
into the hull of the vessel. Deliber-
ately and with full knowledge of
the possible results, the company
had disregarded the report of their
own inspector who had reported
that the ship was in bad condition,
that only complete overhauling
would restore it to reasonably
safe condition and had ordered that
the corroded spots be covered with
a new coat of paint. This was done,
the Vestris workers charge, with
full knowledge that the slightest
squall or stormy weather would
send the vessel to its doom.
from the skunks," they said.
The worker who did more per-
haps than any other to bring aid to
those on board, OLoughlin, the ra-
dio man who stuck to his post
throughout the confusion and terror
on board, is definitely known to be
among the ia dead.
Incompetence of Captain.
Immediately after the Vestris had
left port, all on board had noticed
the pronounced list of the vessel to
the starboard side. AS the voyage
continued, the list became more pro-
nounced. Captain Carey had been
asked to send out calls for aid, but
had flatly refused.
Seamen yesterday charged that
Captain Carey had been drunk from
the moment the ship left port, and
that he had ridden the vessel broad
side as an attempt, by letting the
waves strike the side, to right the
cargo which had been incompetent
ly and badly slowed in the hold.
Riding ship broadside to the waves
brings the full force of the waves
on one side, and is universally con-
demned among seamen as the most
dangerous way of handling ship.
In the face of the gale and the rot
ten condition of the hull, the ship
soon sprung leak, in spot where
the corrosion had eaten it's way
most deeply into the hull. After
this, not equipped with pumps
strong enough to keep pace with the
continual flow of water into the
hold, the sinking of the ship was
only matter of hours.
Money Versus Lives!
That Captain Carey refused to
send out S. o. s. calls Immediately
after he knew that the ship was
sinking, was told by many of the
survivors yesterday. Many of the
workers who sailed aboard the Ves-
iris believe that Carey delayed
sending out messages for aid, be-
cause he wanted to save the COM
pany the cost Of salvaging a dis
abled vessel and thereby gain re-
ward for himself as skipper. Eff
forts are under way at present to
ascertain whether Carey, who was
commodore of the entire Lamport
and Holt fleet, had any extensive H.
nancial interest in the concern, in
order to discover other possible rea-
sons for his criminal negligence in
the face of the impending disaster.
Workers Get Dole"
A new revelation yesterday dis
closed the fact that the Lamport and
Holt Company, in it's miserable
munificence, had given each Of the
surviving workers who had sailed
with the Vestris on its fatal voyage,
the measly sum of $40 each. Not
even those who were crippled for
life received more than this. Ten
dollars to pay for the loss of a
limb Sailors were indignant yes
terday at this example of the greed
of the ship owners. "Well, we didn't
expect to get any more than that
from the skunks," they said.
Many aspects of the sinking,
hitherto unknown, were revealed in
an interview with George Mink,
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