Evening star., 1928-11-15
BY PAUL A. DANA.


Vestris began to hit rough weather. As
the night progressed, the storm got
worse, until, before the night was over.
We were in the worst storm I ever saw
on the sea. ....
It was late that night-perhaps a
little after midnight--that thing hap
pened which 1 believe started the trouble
that ended in the tragic sinking of the
Vestris. EaF a. 49,
Plate Thought Wrenched.
Two big waves. hit her, almost Simul-
taneouSly, bow and stern. The ship
Quivered from end to end. You, could
almost feel her wrenching. The next
day she developed leak. and believe
that started the list One of her plates
must have been wrenched loose.
1t was rough Saturday highland
Sunday was rougher Only four of the
passengers besides myself were down for
breakfast.
'"The minute 1 stepped out of my
cabin that morning 1 began to feel
uneasy. The Vestris was listing. had
been on steamers before that listed,
but I had never seen quite such list
before. 1t looked bad.
"In the dining salon that morning
met Capt. Frederick SorenSon, and
.
not like that list either. Inasmuch as
he was a sailor, decided he must know
what he was talking about-that he
was good man to stay with. We spent
most of the day together ~
Whether the other passengers were
uneasy, I don't know. Most of them
were violently seasick and spent the
whole day in their hunks. AS said,
there were only five down for break
fast. No more showed up for lunch or
dinner.
Furniture Crashes In Storm.
"By the middle of the afternoon
while the storm still continued with no
apparent let-up-the list had, become
so pronounced that al the furniture
that wasn't fastened down in the
dining salon and in the smoking room
had slid over to the Starboard side,
where it was crashing around as the
ship rolled. ~
''After dinner, Sorenson andSI went
into the smoking room and started for
the bar. We managed to find two chairs
wedged in on the starboard side of the
smoking room, from which he could
reach around into the bar. I had
couple of .whiskies and sodas, felt
little better, and went to bed about 10
O'clock. After wedging my bed into. a
corner of the cabin SO it couldn't slide
around, got to- sleep a. ~
MY cabin was on the top deck, STAR
board side When I woke up at 8
o'clock Monday morning there was the
water-right- on level with my
windows. There was water sloshine
around on the floor Of my cabin, too.
Water Level With Deck.
"My steward came in, groaning, with
q badly wrenched shoulder. There was
apparently a leak, he said, the hold
was filling with water, and he had
been bailing-with bucket-all night.
The cargo had shifted, too, and the
ship had tipped clear over until the
water was on level with my windows
on the top deck.
Il dressed as quickly as I could, ate
the banana which was all my steward
could get for my breakfast, and went
up on the bow port deck.
The crew was throwing the cargo
oysrboard--all the stuff they could
handle. It looked like bales Of cloth and
SUCH stuff. Their derricks weren't,
working, so theyNcouldnt' get rid of the
heavier things, ike automobiles. - -
A little crowd of men stood up there,
leaning over the railing and watching
the crew throw the stuff overheard;
some of them had come out with their
life preServerS on. They looked badly
scared. Although had dressed myself
that morning with the idea that I'd
PROBABLY have to leave the ship, before
the day was over, I tried not to take
such a dark view of the thing. Some
of us did what we could to cheer the
more timid ones--told them. this was
Just precaution and SO on.
The sky had cleared during the night,
and now the sun was shining brightly.
The wind was still blowing hard-how-
eyer-arld those waves, great. towering
black waves, looked 40 feet high.
'Tsice Day for Wreck"
''Well, anyway, we've got nice day td
be wrecked on" one Of the men re-
marked with a grin.
Officers were going about, CHEEKY but
nori-committal They never told us any
thing I never knew until after the Ves-
iris had gone down that they had even
sent out an S o S. although, when /
went into the smoking room for little
while that morning and tried to read
and divert my mind, thought heard
the radio sort of sputtering.
Once went back to my cabin to try
to rescue my money that had left in
trunk. The trunk was under water and
Wedged in under my bunk. I got my
passport, stuck pack of cigarettes In
my pocket. and left-for good.
The ship kept on tipping. 1t looked
to me as though she had a list Of As
degrees. You could hardly walk on
the deck.
SAT 1890 the women and children
were brought up and were told to put
rNa1N
definite information from the officers
or crew.
Women Are Praised.
.''The women were wonderful. Some
of them were crying quietly. but there
was no hysteria. One of them held in
her arms a baby not more than 8
months old. ALI the children had been
bundled up. They knew now that they
would probably have to leave the ship.
isn't this fun?" said to one little
fellow with bright blue eyes, trying TO
cheer him up. He looked at his mother,
who was crying, and nodded-solemnlv.
k"At 1870 they started to launch the
lffehoats, over the port side-the side
that was up as She listed. Then the
trouble began 1t took them two hours
to launch those boats an operation that
usually takes about 10 minutes.
THE difficulty was that the lifeboatS
kept catching on the sides of the ship.
The outside of the lifeboats were COW
cred with clapboards. like a frame
house, and these would catch on the
overlapping steel plates of the ships
hull They tried to hold the lifeboats
out-away from the ship-by pushing
with oars. 1t was slow and painful
process.
Boat No 8-the lifeboat to which
was assigned-had hole torn in her
side as they were letting her down
They patched it up with a piece Of tin