CHAPTER XVI

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.

"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.