Evening star., 1928-11-15
BY WILLIAM CARLOS QUIRcs.

NEW YOHtA, november 1o-SoAAAhiOA
sense alone would have suf1ced tt
foretell that the Vestris was doomed
as early as Sunday evening, when .ths
shin began to list further and furthel
as each orcoming wave battered its hull
I had retired carly, not feeling par.
ticularly hungry. had some fruit ailt
consomme brought to my cabin. Eat
ing. however. was difficult. The VestriS
seemed to dance to the rhythm Of tht
waves and the tune of the throbbine
engines. / noticed that the curtains a
the portfolio hung over to the right
swinging further to the right at cack
succeeding Jolt. I wondered why. Their
I realized that the ship was listing
otherwise the curtains would have
swung back to their normal position.
When / finished my supper l un-
dressed and got into bed. But was
worried. ! had foreboding that some
thing was wrong.
I was suddenly awakened by a shock
An empty bed, which faced my own
had torn loose from its fastenings. MY
watch and other articles which were
on my night table had crashed to the
floor. 81 -
1 put on my shoes and trousers ano
went out on deck. It may have beer
10 or IL O'Clock, I don't recall the exact
hour. met an officer who, when
messed him for information concerning
what was happenings told me thai
everything was ok He advised me tc
go back to bed,>so did.
Sea Flooded Decks.
When IEgot up on Monday morning
I noticed that the speed of the steamer
had viSibly slowed. ] discovered that
the sea had already flooded the lower
decks. Members Of the crew were en-
deavoring to bail it cut with buckets.
Such futilityl I am, not man O.
the sea, but this struck me as ridiculous
You might as well try to empty river
with drinking glass.
then went to Capt. Carey and asked
him whether there was any danger.
No danger at all, he replied. I'VE
shall have this trouble over very soon
Then everything win be ali right"
I am sure that the captain at that
time already was aware that the Vestris
was doomed. Perhaps he was too proud
to ask for help until all appeared def
nitely lost. / am not trying to be-
Smirch the memo of man who went
down with his craft. but I am over
flowing with indignation that the trag-
edy happened-a tragedy which, in my
opinion, could have been easily averted
If an earlier o S call had been sent.
was not afraid, but / was cautious.
Disregarding the optimism of the cap
tain, got hold Of life preserver and
put 1t on underneath my overcoat
Several passengers laughed at me as ]
made tour of the deck.
There Is No Danger"
There is no dangerl" they shouted
You won't need O life preserver. The
captain told us so'
IF you are wise,' I shouted back
you viii go and get life preservers
right now. believe you will need them
soon, and then it might be too late"
About ii o'clock the situation became
critical. It was not possible any longer
to hoodwink the passengers. Anybody
Cd had eyes could see that the VeStTis
face of the ocean.
shall never forget the moment when
the captain finally gave orders for the
liteboats to be launched. White-faced,
without cap, he stood on the hurricane
deck. He seemed broken man.
"Wcmen and children to the. right!''
he shouted.
There wes rush, and all women and
children on board were soon liiaed up
and placed in two boats-boats which
never got away from the stricken liner
and sank with it, plurging their human
burden beneath the waves. s.-,
Could Not Handle Boats.
Utterly lacking in ability to handle
the boats, the crew were befuddled and
were unable to disentangle the ropes
which made the craft fast to the sides
Of the steamer.
With William W. Davies, general
representative of La Nacion of Buenos
Aires in New York, stood on deck to
the very last. I had heard that ships
sometimes remain afioat several days
/ thought that by staving aboard we
had a better chance to save our lives.
S. S. Hoppe, a friend of ours, had
already left the steamer and taken a
riace in boat No. 8. one of the two
boats which sank with the Vestris.
Suddenly we heard something which
sounded Hike pistol shot
THE cartain has shot himself"
ted Davies.
We turned cur ewes to the hurricane
deck and saw that the master of the
vessel was still there. standing to MS
pest. The shot had merely been an
e;r'cc:on of steam. pgobab' caused
by the pressure CT the water filling the
liner -. -. Sr
thine to go!"'r r cailed 10 Davies.
We shock hands a2d jumped over
Swan to Other Boat.
I swan for boat standing near by
but 1t was too full. A countrywo,nan OF
mine, a young lady with golden hair
extended her hand to me. Come on,
she said r realized there were toe
many on board already, and invited hel
to swim with me to another boat q
little farther away, which was occu-
pied by five negroes only. She shook
her head. I went on alone.
The negroes pulled me in. For q
while we drifted. Other passenger;
came to cur boat and were lifted in.
When night came the negroes began
to get uneasy. They rowed madly ir
81 directions and sent rockets up in the
sky. I thought It would have bee:
better to remain still. Rowing mad:
the beat cut the. waves too sharply. anc
We shipued a lot of water
There followed a procession of dreary
hours. Cold. hungry and wet, an Italiar
was shivering next to me. I went Il
sleep, but not for long. A kick on m,
shins brought me back to life. A gian
negro sitting near me, was the donol
of the kick. Whv he did it do no
know. I know however. that I go
angry and let slips a number CT words
The negro began To tremble Nov
man." he said. Don't swear just now
Please man. don't Swea~."
AS time went by and not ship ap
peared / began IN Rave serious fear
for our safety. We had more than
foot Of water in the boat and l doubte'
that we could keen afioa. very mucl
longer Inst as I wcS nlIttinp my SoI-
in the care of my Maker two steamer
approached
Picked Up by Berlin.
One of them seemed only a cargt
boat, while the other looked like a reg
ular liner. The first was the nearest
so the negroes put the prev Of our boa
-. III