PLACING THE BLAME
INQUIRY CONDUCTED BY CORONER PINAUT -- NO REPLY TO "STAND FAST"
CRY -- TESTIMONY OF JAMES RANKIN -- CHIEF ENGINEER EXPLAINS --
WIRELESS OPERATOR'S STORY -- GOVERNMENT INQUIRY -- CAPTAIN
LINDSAY'S WORK -- CAPTAINS' STATEMENTS CONTRADICTORY -- STORSTAD
DEFENDED -- PILOT NAULT TELLS STORY -- AN OFFICER'S STORY -- THIRD
OFFICER'S STORY -- "WAIT FOR THE VERDICT"
WHILE final tabulations of the casualties in the sinking of the
ill-fated steamship Empress of Ireland were being made on Saturday,
May 30th, Captain Kendall, of the liner, was telling his story of the
disaster at an inquiry conducted by Coroner Pinaut at Rimouski.
Captain Kendall in substance declared that he had taken all possible
precautions against a collision. His ship had been stopped, and he had
given the requisite signals when the collier which dealt the blow that
sent the Empress to the bottom, was still two miles away; but the
collier had kept on through the fog, which settled down after the two
vessels sighted each other, and had rammed the Empress of Ireland
while the latter was virtually motionless. Then, despite his plea to
the master of the collier that he run his engines full speed ahead to
keep the hole in the liner's side plugged with the Storstad's bow,
said Captain Kendall, the Norwegian vessel backed away, the water
rushed in and the Empress sank.
NO REPLY TO "STAND FAST" CRY
"What was the cause of the collision?" asked the coroner.
"The Storstad running into the Empress, which was stopped," answered
Kendall.
Captain Kendall, in answer to a question by a juror, said that when he
shouted to the Storstad's captain to stand fast he received no answer.
It was impossible for him not to have been heard, he added.
"I shouted five times. I also shouted, 'Keep ahead!'" said Captain
Kendall, "and if he did not hear that, he should have done it anyway,
as a seaman should have known that."
"There was wind?"
"It was quite still."
"When he backed away I shouted to him to stand by. I did not hear any
explosion, but when a ship goes down like that there is bound to be a
great deal of air, and the air pressure causes that."
"How many boats were there on the Empress?"
"Between thirty and forty. There were boats enough for everybody. She
had boats for more than 2,000 people, and there was not that number
aboard."
TESTIMONY OF JAMES RANKIN
James Rankin, a passenger from Vancouver, B. C., and a marine
engineer, said:
"I was aroused by the noise and ran out. There was a big pitch to the
deck. I really cannot tell you how the accident occurred. I heard the
whistle blow when I reached the deck. There was a heavy fog and you
could hardly see fifty yards. Five minutes after the collision the fog
lifted. The boats on the lower side were in the water and four or five
of them got away and saved many people.
"I think that if the collier had kept her bow in the hole she had made
in the Ireland's side, she would have been able to make the shore and
probably have saved every one.
"The behavior of the officers on the Empress was beyond all praise.
They did everything they could. The engineers remained below until
they could get no more steam and the lights went out."
CHIEF ENGINEER EXPLAINS
Chief Engineer Sampson, who remained in the engine-room until the
fires were drowned and the lights extinguished, was too ill to appear,
and his testimony was taken at his bedside.
"I was in the engine-room until the lights went out and there was no
more steam," he said. "I had great difficulty in reaching the decks
owing to the great list of the ship. No sooner had I got on deck, when
the boats of the port side, which had broken loose, swept down on top
of us and carried us under water. When I came to the surface I found
myself under a life-boat and entangled in wreckage.
"I was finally pulled into one of the boats and could see the collier
about a mile and a half away. Immediately before the collision we went
full speed astern and then stopped. Then I got the order full speed
ahead, but had only started the engines when the crash came.
"We then kept her full speed ahead to try to reach the shore as long
as we had steam. Owing to the steam failing us and then the lights
also, we could keep the engines going for only a few moments.
"There was no explosion of any kind. I saw no reason why the collier
did not keep much closer than she did, as, if she had, there would
have been many lives saved. I am also of the opinion that had she
stuck to us we should have reached the shore."
WIRELESS OPERATOR'S STORY
William James, wireless operator at Father Point, told of being
awakened by his assistant at 1.55 A. M. by the news that the Empress
had been in collision with another ship. He then took charge and
forwarded the word to the Lady Evelyn and Eureka. The Empress gave no
reply further than to say that she was twenty miles from Rimouski.
Captain Boulanger, of the Eureka, told of the trip he had made to the
scene of the wreck. He was not sure on his first trip of the exact
position where she had sunk. On the second, however, he could tell
from the boiling up from beneath of the muddy water where the wrecked
vessel lay. He told of gathering what bodies he could find.
After a moment's deliberation by the jury it was decided to adjourn
the inquest for the present.
GOVERNMENT INQUIRY
The British and Canadian Governments immediately co-operated to make
the most thorough possible investigation into the sinking of the
steamship Empress of Ireland. On June 5th it was finally decided that
the investigation should take place on June 16th. To the original
commission of three first advocated (one to be appointed by the
Imperial Government and two by the Government of Canada), four other
names were added, making the total list as follows:
Lord Mersey, chairman; Sir Adolphe Routhier, Chief Justice McLeod,
Commander Caborne, of the Royal Naval Reserve; Professor John Welsh,
of Newcastle, England; Captain Demers, Dominion Wreck Commissioner,
and Engineer-Commander Howe, of the Canadian Naval Service.
Commander Caborne and Professor Welsh were nominated by the British
Board of Trade, the former being a nautical expert of wide experience
and the latter a noted naval architect.
CAPTAIN LINDSAY'S WORK
Meantime a preliminary inquiry was opened in Montreal on June 1st by
Captain Lindsay, Dominion Wreck Commissioner. He prepared for the
investigation by examining witnesses privately and taking
stenographic records of their testimony. This was done under the
direction of J. D. Hazen, Minister of Marine. The evidence was
submitted to the Minister, who then decided what witnesses should be
called at the inquiry. The procedure was an unusual one, and called
forth some adverse comment. Captain Lindsay, however, defended it on
the ground that it was likely to facilitate the investigation, save
time, and bring out the salient facts.
CAPTAINS' STATEMENTS CONTRADICTORY
Excitement over the cause of the disaster ran high, stimulated by the
more or less conflicting stories. Captain Kendall and Captain
Andersen, in their public statements, agreed that fog signals were
exchanged when their vessels were a considerable distance apart, but
there were irreconcilable statements as to the speed and as to the
Storstad's conduct immediately after the collision.
Extracts from the captains' statements follow:
Captain Kendall: "I saw my ship was stopped. I blew two long blasts,
meaning 'My ship is stopped and has no way upon her.'"
Captain Andersen: "The Empress was going a good speed ahead. She was
going fast. She was making considerable headway."
Captain Kendall: "I shouted to the Storstad to keep his ship full
speed ahead to fill the hole made. He backed away. The Empress then
began to fill and listed over rapidly."
Captain Andersen: "The Storstad's engines were ordered ahead for the
purpose of holding her bow against the side of the Empress, and thus
preventing the entrance of water into the vessel. The headway of the
Empress swung the Storstad around in such a way as to twist the
Storstad out of the hole."
STORSTAD DEFENDED
Divers opinions, which put the blame on the captain of the Storstad
for not keeping the bow of his vessel hard against the Empress of
Ireland, that her passengers might clamber abroad, aroused Captain
A. J. Elliott, head of the marine department of the Canadian Pacific,
to a statement in defense of Captain Andersen.
"It has been said that the Storstad backed out of the hole in the
Empress' side and did not give her passengers an opportunity to crawl
over her sides," said Captain Elliott. "That is not true. The Storstad
kept her engines ahead after the collision and attempted to keep her
nose in the breach of the other's side. It did for a few moments, or
may be minutes, but the momentum of the Empress of Ireland still
carried the greater ship ahead and drew the smaller vessel around with
her. Consequently the lighter vessel was pushed out of the hole and
could be of no assistance. As to a difference between signals, those
for port and those for starboard are always the same, of course, and
would not be misinterpreted if heard. But as to signals for fog and
for clear weather, there is a difference. The fog signals are blasts
prescribed by law of a duration of not less than three seconds, but
they still are different from the port and starboard signals."
Statements made by various passengers seem to agree that there was
clear weather some time before the accident, but that one of the fogs
for which the Gulf and St. Lawrence River are noted, lowered suddenly
upon the two ships soon after they had exchanged warning blasts. The
pilot of the Empress of Ireland had been put out in his boat and to
all appearances the coast was clear. Then came obscurity and a
confusion of signals. One passenger described the situation thus:
"The Empress had been whistling and signaling to a ship ahead. From
the signals I thought there must be a vessel approaching us. Then I
suddenly realized from my long experience at sea that something was
wrong. I looked out and listened to the signals, and it seemed to me
that the other vessel was taking a chance of crossing our bow. A
moment later I realized that they had lost this chance, and the
collier instead of crossing our bow had struck us square amidships."
MESSAGE FROM THE STORSTAD'S CAPTAIN
When Captain Andersen passed Quebec with the Storstad he sent this
message ashore:
"The inquiry will depend on facts. In justice remember that the
Storstad and her crew of thirty-eight men saved three hundred and
forty-eight lives."
It was believed that the disaster would be further explained when the
Storstad reached port; but except for the reserved and official
statement little was made known.
While none of the men on board the Storstad, however, would give
extended narratives of the disaster, because they have been warned not
to do so, it was gathered that a moment before the impact the
engine-room of the Storstad was ordered to go astern. Sailors stated
that four boats were lowered immediately after the collision, which
made their way to the scene of the wreck and picked up as many living
as could be held by the little craft. They were all loaded down to
their utmost capacity, and only very careful handling prevented them
from overturning. All speed possible was made on the trips to and from
the Storstad, the living always being picked up first.
PILOT NAULT TELLS STORY
It was not until he had landed from the Storstad that Pilot Nault, the
man who navigated the vessel up the St. Lawrence from Quebec, would
make any statement. Captain Andersen, his wife, who was aboard at the
time of the collision, and the members of the crew were feeling
extremely sorry about the accident, the pilot explained.
"When the survivors of the Empress were brought aboard the Storstad
after being picked up in the few boats the collier had aboard,
everything possible was done for them. Captain Andersen and his wife
surrendered every bit of clothing they possessed to protect the
survivors from the cold. They even had to improvise garments.
"The Storstad steered surprisingly well all the way up the river,"
Pilot Nault went on. "With the assistance of the Lord Strathcona we
had little difficulty in making eleven or twelve miles an hour.
"As far as we could ascertain from an examination on board, the ship
had some twenty plates sprung forward, but aft of that she is not
damaged. After we left Quebec we flooded her aft compartments in order
to keep her head up. There is no water in her hold, and she stayed on
an even keel throughout the trip.
CAPTAIN ANDERSEN MUCH DISTRESSED
"Captain Andersen has taken the tragedy much to heart. Several times
on our way up here I have found him crying. He was very much worked up
over it, and was very, very sorry."
"Did Captain Andersen tell you anything about how the collision
happened?" Nault was asked.
"No; he would say nothing about it. He said he was under orders not to
talk. He told me that he had managed to pick up three hundred and
forty of the people from the Empress, and had done everything in his
power to make them comfortable until they were transferred to the
relief steamers."
Pilot Nault said a remark dropped by Captain Andersen at one time was
to the effect that at the time of the collision he (Captain Andersen),
his officer, and Pilot Lachance, the pilot who brought the Storstad
from Father Point to Quebec, were on the bridge of the collier.
"Did any newspaper men come aboard at Quebec and tell Andersen what
Captain Kendall said?" Nault was asked in conclusion.
"Yes; the captain answered them."
"What did he say about Kendall's statement?"
"He said they were lies," finished Nault.
AN OFFICER'S STORY
One of the officers on the Storstad gave out the following statement
when interviewed after the arrival of the vessel:
"At the time of the disaster I was lying in my bunk. Being awakened by
a terrible shock, I jumped up immediately and ran out on deck, where I
heard the engines going full speed astern. I am a strong man, and have
had many experiences during nearly thirty years at sea, but what I saw
and heard there made me weep. I still see all those men and women
shrieking and struggling in the water. The statement that nothing was
done to pick up the survivors is absolutely false; we lowered the
boats and rescued over three hundred of those on board the Empress.
There was not an officer or a man aboard the Storstad who did not do
his utmost to save life and comfort the rescued; every man on the ship
gave away everything he had. We split up the table-cloths, blankets,
etc., to cover the rescued, many of whom were absolutely naked when
picked up. Those who had been in the freezing water for an hour or so
were at once taken to the engine-room, the warmest place on board, and
so numb were they that several sat on the cylinders of the engines,
their flesh searing on the hot steel. I am absolutely confident that
public opinion will be entirely reversed when the true facts of the
case are published."
THIRD OFFICER'S STORY
The third officer, Jack Saxe, who was on the bridge when the collision
occurred, was most emphatic on two points: The Empress of Ireland was
not stationary when the collision took place; the ship had
considerable headway on her and her separation from the collier was as
much due to this as to the withdrawing of the collier; and, further,
there were no words heard from the captain of the Empress.
"I have read what the captain said in his evidence at the inquest,"
said the officer, "but it is not true--there are many things he has
said there which are not true. We thought we were sinking ourselves
after the collision, and did not think the other boat was badly
damaged, so we got our boats ready to swing out, and then we heard the
cries for help, and we launched our boats and rowed to the rescue.
"Four times the boat I was in charge of went to and from the scene of
the disaster and picked up passengers--some dead, but many alive. We
have a pile of clothing on the boat deck here which was the night
attire of the passengers we saved, and which was replaced by clothes
which were lent them from this ship.
"We gave them every piece of clothing we had, and even gave them the
bedclothes. The wife of the captain gave the women a lot of clothes,
and she was working bravely through it all, ministering to the needs
of the half-frozen people that were rescued.
"The first boat from the collier got away in two or three minutes, and
I headed her for the liner, which was gradually going over to one
side. The first trip made I picked up thirty-two people who were
struggling in the icy cold water. I brought them back and they were
taken to the Storstad. Then I went back again and picked up sixteen
more people alive and eight bodies of people who had died from the
shock.
"My crew rowed like demons possessed, and after we had put them on
board our ship we rowed back again and got some more people and
bodies. These we took to the pilot ship, which was nearer to us than
the Storstad, the collier being about eight hundred yards away.
"The third time we went back the liner was just going under, and we
pulled away from her some distance so as not to be drawn into the
suction, and when she had disappeared we rowed over the spot and got
some of those who were floating about. Their cries for help were
awful, but they lasted only a few minutes and then all was silent as
the grave.
MANY DIED AFTER RESCUE
"It was terrible while we were making our first journey back to the
Storstad, with our boat filled to overflowing, to hear the cries of
those we could not rescue, and all the time there were two of the
Empress' life-boats lying alongside our ship and some of the Empress'
officers on board.
[Illustration: IN THE DRIFTING LIFE-BOATS
Here the intense physical suffering from cold and exposure, added
to the mental agony preceding and accompanying it, overwhelmed
many of the boats' occupants. In consequence, the Carpathia, which
rescued the survivors, was literally a floating hospital during
her sad journey back to New York.]
[Illustration: COMMISSIONER DAVID M. REES
Of Toronto, who was in command of the Toronto detachment of the
Salvation Army on the "Empress of Ireland", and was among those
lost in the disaster.]
"One woman who was rather old, I think belonging to the Salvation
Army, and one little girl, as well as seven men, died on board the
collier after we had brought them aboard. They were almost frozen, and
died of exposure and shock. Our forepeak is full of water, but there
is no water in any of the holds.
COULD NOT SEE LIGHTS
"They were moving at a good speed when we hit them. We had seen the
boat previously five miles off, and as we got nearer a fog came up and
we could not see her at all. We could not see any lights, and although
we heard the sirens going, we could not exactly tell where the boat
was, and we certainly heard no shouting through a megaphone to keep
ahead."
SIGNAL TO GO ASTERN
A striking statement was that of the third engineer of the Storstad,
given in a previous chapter. He was on duty in the engine-room when
the collision occurred.
He explained that the engines were going full speed astern at the time
of the collision, and that the signal to go astern had been given more
than a minute before the Storstad struck the Empress of Ireland.
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.
WAIT FOR THE VERDICT
All considerations of the lamentable catastrophe on the St. Lawrence
River call for the exercise of the greatest patience on the part of
the general public. The exact facts in regard to the circumstances
which led to the collision will not be known till they are brought out
by the official investigation. The nature of the case makes this
inevitable.
Later, when all have become calm and the complete story is elicited by
the questioning of experts, it is probable that the incidents will
arrange themselves in a convincing order. At the present time all
statements point toward the incredible. A low fog which permitted high
lights to be seen over it and a ship which apparently drove straight
through it at a dangerous speed, rigidly holding her course simply
because she had the "right of way" and without regard for the fact
that another ship was lying motionless and plainly announcing it by
the use of recognized whistle signals, bring before the mind a
combination of circumstances impossible to believe.
BLAME NOT TO BE PLACED BY AMATEURS
The captain of the collier which rammed the Empress of Ireland should
certainly have a fair opportunity to tell his side of the story before
he is condemned, and also to answer certain essential questions. The
one declaration that may properly be made at this time is that this
case cannot be tried and settled by amateurs. The handling of vessels,
particularly in cases of sudden danger, is a complete and insoluble
mystery to the layman, despite his cheerful custom of thinking he
knows all about it.