30 May 1914
Page 1
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Newspaper
Medicine Hat News
Location
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Date
May 30, 1914
Page
1
Reports describe Captain Kendall remaining near Rimouski as salvage crews assess wreckage at low tide. Boats and provisions are being readied to care for potential dead, while immigrant sheds at Rimouski and Quebec complicate operations.
Reports from Quebec and Rimouski say over 1,000 aboard the Empress of Ireland went down in the St Lawrence collision with the Storstad. By today more than 300 bodies had been recovered with many identified in Rimouski and Montreal as crews and survivors recount the rapid sinking and rescue efforts.
A fragmentary list cites several locals feared missing after the Em press of Ireland disaster. Names include Elizabeth Ditley and Enmia Hammer of Lethbridge, Hat and Swauison of Maple Creek. The two to-be-married pair had planned to return to their former home in England, with no word on their safety as of press time.
Telegram and cable services are offered free of charge at local offices nationwide for any messages connected with the wreck of the CPR liner the Empress of Ireland. The CPR company announces it will assist those affected by the disaster to help in every way.
Fragmentary notes describe shipboard cargo and rough handling aboard a vessel at Rimouski. The text hints at funerary or burial practices tied to dead aboard, with unmanaged baggage and unclear procedures.
Canadian Pacific latest estimates list 964 dead with 758 passengers and 211 crew. Of 403 saved, 201 were passengers and 208 crew.
The Storstad bears the marks of a collision with the Empress. Its bow is buckled and three feet of the nose twisted to port. Rails torn away and steel plates bent lie at the bow. The Storstad is partially disabled and moves slowly with the Lord Strathcona's assist toward Montreal and likely dry dock after unloading at Hochelaga.
Montreal May 30 bandsman James Fowler recounts a collision that sent the ship tilting and forced him to reach above the porthole to escape. He helped a woman and two children with life belts before losing track of them and fearing for their fate as the vessel listed.
Information from the Southern Alberta Land Company shows about 600 men are employed across fifteen camps, averaging 40 per camp. Including contractors, total labor likely reaches several hundred more. April payroll was 35000 dollars, with 2000 for head office and 33000 for workers.
This afternoon the Salvation Army corps office received a cavlogram from Captain Oake stating Arrived all safe.
Quebec May 30 F E B Abbot Toronto recalls how actor Laurence Irving died while aiding his wife Mrs Irving. Abbot met Irving in the passage and described him urging his wife to escape as the vessel lurched. Irving forced a life belt on her and guided her upstairs before the ship sank with them in each other’s arms.
Exhausted survivors of the Empress of Ireland disaster reach Montreal. The Salvation Army band members martyred, while Captain Ken Gallagher stayed at his post directing escapes via a megaphone and urging women and children to safety.
The Hat Brick Co. reports its large Canadian plant now in full operation with four to five million bricks on order. On Monday the entire works will be open for inspection and the public is invited to tour the facility.
A Calgary assembled group forms the Cypress Oils Corporation Ltd to bore for oil west of Cypress Hills. They secured leases for 28 680 acres with 6105 paid to the Dominion government. Charter work proceeds and prospectus and stock expected by mid next week. Notable members include J L Jennison William O Bray OW Huckvale A Pe Day W A Burton Col F D Sissons Wee Crawford Stoner Lockwood and Wheeler Dr R Agnew and H Cull.
Rimouski May 30 Captain Kendall of the Empress of Ireland describes exchanging signals with the Storstad before the collision. The Empress, carrying about 300 dead from the disaster, heads to Quebec where an improvised morgue awaits identifications. Captain Kendall, injured but not pneumonia, recalls ordering slow astern as the Storstad plowed into the liner amidships, possibly while attempting to cross her bow.
K A McIntyre recounts being in the second cabin as the Empress of Ireland sank in May near Quebec. He says most Salvation Army officers perished, only a few from his group of about 160 were rescued, and lower decks flooded before warnings were heeded. He describes the sudden impact and rising water.
Survivors describe a swift disaster at Quebec harbor as water flooded engine rooms and stoke holes. Engineers, calm amid shock, faced crowded gangways and quick abandonment after the ship appeared to run aground before slipping to the bottom.
May 30 Montreal reports the Salvation Army Empress voyage tragedy. Of 116 members who sailed, only 22 survived. Seventeen of the survivors arrived by CGP RL at 6.30 this morning, returning with other survivors to reach Montreal for the first time since the disaster.
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