Evening star., 1935-01-26
35 Bodies Are Recovered.
Many Taken From Sea
Frozen-ReSCue Figure
Set at III.
C0NB0Y MAY OFFER
EVIDENCE TO JURY
Only Surviving Officer of Char
tered Ward Liner to Be Called
as Principal Witness-Skipper
of Freighter First to Be Cues
toned.

Copyright. 1895. by the Associated PressD
NEW YORK, January 26.-Federal
inspectors opened with unusual celebrity
today a deep-reaching investigation
into the Mohawk disaster Thursday
night, in which 46 persons lost their
lives.
AS relatives completed Identification
of the 35 known dead-11 persons still
were missing-oficials opened their
inquiry. Capt. Edmund Wang of the
Norwegian freighter Talisman was the
first witness called. He testified he
had held an unlimited masters Ger
tificate since 1907.
Investigators we're informed lit of
the Mohawk's passengers and crew
were rescued before she sank. Fifteen
passengers and 81 members of the
crew drowned or were frozen to death
in the frigid waters of the Jersey
coast.
Captain Missing.
Capt. Joseph E. Wood, who some
said went down with his ship, was
among the missing. The body of Sec
ond Officer Malcolm Rigoulot was
found in the sea.
Joseph Weaver, chief of the Federal
Bureau of Navigation, took personal
charge of the Government inquiry.
Assisting him were Capt. Karl c.
Nielsen and James Smith, New York
inspectors, who we're on the MORO
Castle Investigating Board.
United States District Attorney
Martin Conboy, after conferring with
Nielsen, said:
IF the evidence should justify
criminal proceedings I shall present
the matter to the grand jury"
He directed his assistants to attend
the hearings.
Agents Check Disaster.
Frank Fay, chief of the New York
Bureau of Investigation for the Jus
tice Department, also announced his
men were checking into" circun-
stances of the disaster.
Foremost in the subjects under in
uuiry were the condition of the Mo-
hawks life-Saving equipment, the dis
cipline of her men and reports that
her automatic steering apparatus had
gone "haywire."
Ward Line attorneys, inferentially
denying those reports and the allega-
ton of the TaliSman's captain that
blame rested on the Mohawk, said the
cause could not be determined before
the investigation.
Mackay Radio officials called Sin
credible" the reported explanation
that the Mohawk stopped outside New
York Harbor to calibrate her radio
compass.
when the ship left her dock the
radio equipment. including the radio
compass, met with all the Govern
ment requirements" said spokesman
for the radio company.
One Officer Survives.
Chief Oficer Cort NJ Petersen, only
surviving officer of the liner, was slated
to be the principal witness. Oficers
and seamen of the TaliSman, as well
as Mohawk crew members, also were
called.
The disaster puzzled mariners. The
investigators had this question upper
most in their minds:
Why did the two ships, both south
bound out of New York, collide al
most prov to prov?
From piecemeal stories Of survivors
it was learned the port side of the Mo-
hawk was badly ripped open by the
collision. This brought the posi-
bility many of those missing were
crushed to death in their quarters or
were unable to make their way to any
of the vessels 10 lifeboats.
Throughout yesterday into the
night Coast Guard craft piled around
the scene of the sinking seeking