13

The Storstad Reaches Port

BADLY DAMAGED, THE COLLIER DOCKS AT MONTREAL—SEIZED ON WARRANT—CARGO UNLOADED—OFFICERS IN CONFERENCE—THEIR VERSION OF THE ACCIDENT—ENGINEERS’ STATEMENT—HELPED RESCUE EMPRESS PASSENGERS—STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN ANDERSEN’S WIFE—GAVE ALL THEY HAD TO RESCUED PASSENGERS—STORSTAD’S OWNERS FILE COUNTERSUIT

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.

Newspapermen 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 waterline. 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 million. 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 firsthand, 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 boatload 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 lifeboats 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 lifeboats, 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 nightdress. 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 Countersuit

An unexpected development came in the Empress of Ireland disaster on Wednesday, June 3, when the Storstad’s owners entered a counterclaim 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.