THE STORSTAD REACHES PORT
BADLY DAMAGED, THE COLLIER DOCKS AT MONTREAL -- SEIZED ON WARRANT
-- OFFICERS IN CONFERENCE -- THEIR VERSION OF THE ACCIDENT --
HELPED RESCUE EMPRESS PASSENGERS -- STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN
ANDERSEN'S WIFE -- GAVE ALL THEY HAD TO RESCUED PASSENGERS --
STORSTAD'S OWNERS FILE COUNTER SUIT
WITH the Norwegian flag flying half-mast at her stern the collier
Storstad, in charge of the tug Lord Strathcona, came into port at
Montreal on Sunday.
The arrival of the Storstad at Montreal was awaited keenly from early
morning. After leaving Quebec she was reported almost mile by mile by
the Marconi and Government signal stations. By early morning it was
definitely known that she would arrive soon after noon, and the wharf
where it was announced that she would warp in was soon crowded.
Newspaper men from all over the American continent had gathered to
meet her. Obtaining information, however, was a difficult task. The
Norwegian Consul was one of the many on the pier, and he was appealed
to, but explained that he understood several lawyers were on hand
representing the owners of the vessel. The Black Diamond Line, a
Norwegian firm, had several lawyers on the pier to meet the collier.
The warping in was a slow process, but when it was safely accomplished
a gap of fifteen feet was left between the ship and the wharf edge.
She bore the marks of her encounter with the big liner. Her bow was
buckled and twisted. There was a hole in her side large enough for
three men to stand in. Her anchors had cut their way through the heavy
steel plates like a can opener through a sardine tin.
Rails had been torn away and huge plates of steel bent and twisted lay
piled on the deck just at the bow. All the gaps were high above the
water line. Nevertheless, the Storstad, undoubtedly, was practically
disabled and was able to reach port only with the assistance of the
Government steamer Lord Strathcona.
SEIZED ON WARRANT
In anticipation of the arrival of the Norwegian collier, W. Simpson
Walker, registrar of the admiralty court, was instructed by solicitors
for the Canadian Pacific Railroad to issue documents for their seizure
of the Storstad for damages by collision to the extent of $2,000,000.
The warrant was executed by Acting Deputy Sheriff Marson.
CARGO UNLOADED
No sooner was the vessel moored than the work of unloading her cargo
of some 7,500 tons of coal started, and except for the battered
condition of her bows it would have been difficult to imagine that the
collier had but a few hours previously taken part in the worst marine
disaster in the history of Canadian navigation.
The officers and men, however, bore traces of the harrowing
experiences through which they had just passed. When questioned on the
subject of the disaster they were averse to entering into
conversation.
OFFICERS IN CONFERENCE
Captain Andersen, immediately after the collier reached her pier, was
in conference with Captain Ove Lange, American chief of the maritime
steamship company of Norway, and John J. Griffin, attorney for the
company, both of whom had come on from New York to get the report of
the captain and sailors first hand, and to look into the situation.
THEIR VERSION OF THE ACCIDENT
Captain Andersen declined at first to discuss the disaster, declaring
that he would make a statement later in the evening. Subsequently a
statement based on Captain Andersen's report as well as the reports of
other officers to Messrs. Lange and Griffin was given out.
According to the captain and officers, contrary to what had been
stated by the captain of the Empress of Ireland, the Storstad did not
back away after the collision. On the contrary, she steamed ahead in
an effort to keep her bow in the hole she had dug into the side of the
Empress. The Empress, however, according to the Storstad officers,
headed away and bent the Storstad's bow over at an acute angle to
port.
After that the Empress was hidden from the view of the Storstad and
despite the fact that the Storstad kept her whistle blowing she could
not locate the Empress until the cries of some of the victims in the
water were heard. The captain absolutely denied that he had backed
away from the Empress after his vessel struck the passenger steamship.
The Storstad had not moved. It was the Empress which had changed
position, he declared.
ENGINEERS' STATEMENTS
One of the most important statements was that of the third engineer of
the Storstad, who was not averse to talking, but refused to give his
name. He was on duty in the engine room when the collision occurred.
"How long before you struck was the signal given to go astern?" he was
asked.
"It is impossible to say definitely, but it was about a minute; I
should say a little longer than a minute," he replied.
"Are you positive that you got the signal to go at full speed astern?"
"I am certain the engines were going full speed astern when the
collision occurred," he said.
The third engineer's statement was supported by that of the second
engineer, who, however, was not on duty at the time of the accident.
He said that at no time for several hours before the collision had the
Storstad proceeded at greater speed than ten miles an hour. Thick fog
had been encountered at intervals, he said.
"The shock of the impact was not very noticeable," he said. "I did
notice, however, that the engines had been reversed, and we were going
full speed astern. That was about one minute before the shock came."
HELPED RESCUE EMPRESS PASSENGERS
Another officer said he was awakened in his bunk by the clanging of
bells in the engine room, and, hastily going on deck, noticed the ship
was going astern. The collision followed almost immediately. He said
he helped to lower one of the boats and started to pick up the
passengers.
"It was no trouble to get a boat-load of them," he said. "Altogether
some sixty were saved on the first trip. So heavily was the boat
loaded she all but sank on her return to the Storstad."
As far as this officer could tell four other life-boats were lowered
from the Storstad, and most of those saved in the first trip belonged
to the crew of the Empress. He could not account for this beyond the
supposition that they were better able to endure shock and exposure
than were the passengers.
Asked if he noticed the siren of the Empress sounding, he replied that
he had heard nothing, but would not say that the Empress did not sound
her siren.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN ANDERSEN'S WIFE
Mrs. Andersen, wife of the captain of the Storstad, dressed in a blue
cotton dress because she had given all her other clothes to the
survivors, said that the captain was called from his bed Friday night
by the mate because it was foggy. Her husband called her to come on
deck, and while she was dressing the collision took place.
"I ran up to the bridge where Captain Andersen was," said Mrs.
Andersen. "Everything was dark and quiet. There was no excitement
among the crew and I was cool.
"'Are we going to sink?'
"'I think so,' he answered.
"I couldn't cry, although I felt like it. I said to myself, 'My place
is here and I will die with my husband.'
"Captain Andersen told me he was trying to keep the Storstad in the
hole and that if the other liner had not been speeding they would have
stopped together for a time at least. My husband ordered two of the
officers to go to the bow and see if there was any water pouring in.
"Again I asked him if we were going down and he answered, 'I can't
tell yet.' He said he thought the Empress was all right.
GAVE ALL THEY HAD TO RESCUED PASSENGERS
"I think it was five minutes later that I heard screams and cries, and
I shouted to my husband, 'Oh, they are calling.' At first it seemed as
if the cries were coming from shore. The captain gave orders to go in
that direction and proceeded very slowly. Everywhere around me now I
could hear screams. My husband gave orders to send out all the
life-boats, and that could not have been ten minutes after the vessels
had collided.
"I gave all I had to the passengers and have only what I am standing
up in. My husband gave two suits and other clothes away.
"The first woman to come on board was a Salvation Army member, clad
only in her night dress. When she was brought into the cabin she ran
to me and putting her arms around my neck said, 'God bless you, angel,
if you had not been here we would have gone to the bottom.'"
Mrs. Andersen went among the rescued passengers with stimulants. All
the cabins were packed with shivering survivors.
STORSTAD'S OWNERS FILE COUNTER SUIT
An unexpected development came in the Empress of Ireland disaster on
Wednesday, June 3d, when the Storstad's owners entered a counter claim
against the Canadian Pacific Railway for $50,000 damages due to the
collision, contending that the Empress was at fault and alleging
negligent navigation on her part. This complicated the case still
more, and counsel on both sides busied themselves searching for
precedents in Canadian courts. There is a case, heard in Prince Edward
Island in 1892, when the liability was limited to $38.92 for each ton
of gross tonnage. On this basis the total liability of the Empress of
Ireland would be $552,313 and of the Storstad $234,609.