Newspapers / The Asheville Times (Asheville, … / Oct. 11, 1913, edition 1 / Page 1
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... 4 ) A : - ' X TBn OAZBTTE-NBWa BAB THS MOST WZPENBIVB ASSOCIATED PiEBS SER VICE IS TBS CAROLINA!. " Weather Forecast! ' ii ii CLOUDY "WEATHER, VOL. XVIII, NO. 208. -:. si ASHEVILLE, N. C, SATURDAY. AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 11, 1913. 'PRICE 5 CENTS I ST i t a - ii a. mm m-m 1 STORM BLOCKS OFF TE& RESC UE SHIPS LifehoatsWith Human Freight Crushed Against Ships 521 RESCUED WHEN THE WIND ABATES Frenzied . Effort to Aid After Wireless Called , Failed For Hours . ; By. Associated Press. , - Fishguard, Octll.Fire in - a "raging storm in mid-Atlan- tic on Thursday. destroyed the steamer Volturno on her voy ' sge.from Jitotterdam to New Sbrk with a loss of life -' of '-.. - . . ;. lS 0rb. ,r ne5- Pjl .sengere ana crew, len. otner . Hners, called by wireless to the rescue, were standing by . impotent to avert the tragedy owing to the mountainous seas. " - ; " Again the wireless played a leading part' in the latest Jragedy of the sea. By its Jneans and through the heroism f those who responded to the call, the lives of 521 of those on" board the . Volturno . were laved. ' The Volturno was Dwned by the Canadian North- trn Steamships company but bad been chartered to the Uranium line. " ' . : . Officials of the latter com- Sany declared this niorriing lat those on board included B4 cabin and 540 steerage pas engers with a crew, of, 93, v Snaking a total of 657., ' The wireless despatch re beived from the Carmania said that 521 had been saved and 236 had -lost their lives, .This makes a total of 757, or just one hundred more than the number" on hoard as given by! the company.' ; , : '',' :"'.L '.' j K Checking from all available sources would indicate that an error in .the wireless transmis sion of the figures has been made and that the lower total, 136, is correct.- ... Ten Steamers Respond. Ten steamers responded to the wire less calls for help and fought for hours during a raging gale to. save the pas sengers and crew of the burning ' steamer, which eventually was aban doned. Occupant of six life boats were smashed against the steamer's side. They were probably drowned. One report by way of Liverpool is that 236 of the passengers and crew of the Volturno are missing. ' ' The wireless from the Carmania said that the Volturo caught fire In mid-Atlantic and that the flames raged o furiously In the gale ..that the abandonment of the steamer followed ' on Thursday morning. The Volturno sailed from Rotterdam on October 3 for New York by way of Halifax, where it was due to stop next , Monday. ' ' It is believed that the steamer car ' fled 14 cabin passengers, 640 steerago nd a crew of 93 men. , The wireless imports 621 persons were saved, mak ing 286 persons unaccounted for thus j tor. . J ' Gets DUtrmt Call. . Captain Barr, of the Carmania. re .. celvtd the dlstrawcall of the Volturno ba-1 nllM dim ant. lt latitude 48,5 north, longitude 34.33 west. The Carmania crowded on full steam and with extra stokers made over 20 knots an hour in the teeth of the gale. When the Carmania reached the vicinity of the Volturno at noon she found the forward - end of the dis tressed vessel burning fiercely." The naming ship was at the same time rolling heavily, while her propellers ero.oul;aithot fmtleR8e ia lowering he six life boats It was learned by the captain of the Carmania that i two only out of six life boats had succeeded in getting safely away from the Volturno. The other four, crowded from stem to stern with passengers and members of the crew had been smashed against the aide of the vessel and all their occupants, thrown into the sea, drowned. -. In spite of the terrific gale, raging when Bhe arrived near the Volturno the captain of the Carmania had one of his lifeboats lowered to proceed to the Volturno to help In the rescue. The boat was launched with much ; dlffl culty, for even on the lee side of the Carmania the sea waa terribly rough, ana u was oniy Dy extraordinary ei forts that the small craft waa prevent ed from being smashed ot capsized as she left the side of the ship. Lifeboat Falls to Make Ship, The Carmanla's lifeboat, in charge of First Officer Gardiner, made a gal lant but futile attempt to get along aide the doomed Volturno. After two' hours' battle With the waves, -during wnicn trie nrenoat lost au Dut tnree of her oars, the rest being broken or torn from the hands of the . crew, First Officer Gardiner returned to the Carmania, which he succeeded in mak ing without loss of life or broken limbs among the members of v hls boat's crew. Captain Barr of the Carmania then maneuvered his big vessel very close to the .Volturno and finally got the Carmanla's bow within 100 feet of the Volturno's stern. It was found - im possible, however, to cast a line -on board th Volturno or to get anybody off her. . " ' It was a terrifying sight for the pas sengers and crew of the Carmania to see so close to them the hundreds of passengers, including women and children, In horror-stricken fear on the deck of the Volturno and yet be unable to help them. Most of the passengers got Into the Volturno's lifeboats but a hundred of them had gathered at the after-end of the burning vessel, whoso crew at the some time continued in vain to fight the Ore at her forward end, Baptaln Barr of the Carmania In the meanwhile kept his wireless ap paratus at work communicating with all the vessels , Within the radius of his- instruments. - ' , , ' Other Ships Arrive. At 4 o'clock In the afternoon the Grosser Kurfuerst and the ' Seydlltz came in sight and these two were joined later In the afternoon by the Kroonland, the Devonian and Rappa hannock, the Minneapolis, LaLouralne and the Asian. - The gale moderated silently toward night and each of the succoring ships, as soon as it was possible for her to do so, put out boats from her davits and lowered them to the sea. The waves, however, were so high that al though the small craft made some progress In the dlrertlon of the Vol turno It was Impossible for them to get alongside and they returned to their ships, In most canes doing this with the greatest difficulty, owing to the overwhelming seas and the dark ness of th night. The Carmania kept her searchlights going throughout the night, throwing their rays across the (narrTlng seas )n i Philadelphia and Prlnoeton and Buck the queat for posslblo strnellTi iim.ncl at Princeton. . . : mers or lifeboats from the Volturno.- ' i .i . - At about 9 o'clock In the evening when the d,arkness was at its blackest, flames burst through amidships of the Volturno from her engine room and coal bunkers. As the fire lighted up the sky this waa followed by an ex plosion which sent Into the air burn ing wreckage like a flight of rockets. The spectacle of the great vessel be ing consumed by fire with over BOO souls on board of her and surrounded by a fleet of huge, lighted hulls crowd ed with thousands of spectators, all auxlous but unable to help owing to the mountainous seas, . .waa - heart breaking. All that could be done by the would- be helpers was to throw : overboard from their vessels dozens of lighted life-buoys and stand by in the hope of picking up some of those who had been cast into the sea. At 20 minutes past nine at night the wireless operator on board the Vol turno had to turn over the connection of his instrument to the reserve bat teries, as the fire had reashed the boilers and the engine room (and had put the pumps and dynamo's , out of action. -. A few, minutes later cries for help were heard rising from' the water near the Carmania and then a man, who proved to be a steerage passenger of the Volturno, wearing a life belt, was located by means of the search light, a short distance away, tossed about by tha sea. ' He was rescued, but only after one ,of the sailors of the Carmania had been lowered into the water with a lifeline that, he placed around the waist of the ex hausted floating man. ' Other cries were, ..heard . but these gradually died away and no further Ijbdles.or swimming people were seen. About midnight a ray of hope dame, for. it was seen that the, flames were not friaking much .headway aft of th? eng'fne"room" or the-after bulkhead of the Volturno.- - By daybreak the Volturno was still floating with her great human cargo huddled in masses on her poop. The sea had moderated considerably and a flotilla of boats gathered round the stern of the Volturno, 1 SENATE PASSES HOUSE the E Also Votes to. Take Control of Matter out of : Hands of Corporation Commis sion. By Associated Pres?. Raleigh, N. C, Opt-11. Just before last midnight the senate of North Car olina passed the house measure which makes a big reduction 'in intrastate freight rates, variously estimated at from 18 to 40 per cent, and by an amendment took the control of this matter our of the hands ofthe state corporation commission by providing a special commission of three mem bers. The railroads have vigorously fought this measure and H Is said will continue the fight against the amend ment by the house. The extra session of the general assembly is to adjourn Monday night STAGED IN EAST TODAY Six Games ' ' Scheduled Have Important, Bearing on Struggle for Supremacy. New 1 York, Oct.- 11. With the world's baseball - championship not yet derided, tho devotees' of football sougth to: push : their way to the front today with a schedule which called for shout 30 Intercollegiate games lu the east. Many of the lar ger colleges were past the experlmcn tal stre of their work and ready to open a hard campaign. : , -, The Six games of the' day regarded as having" a most Important bearing on tho season's battle for supremacy were Harvard and Williams at Cam bridge; Yale and Lafayette ' at Nt.w llnven, Cornell and Carlisle at Ithaca, Rutgers and the Army at West Point. Pennsylvania and Swarthinore at Giants pn Home Ground De termined to Lessen Two ' Game Lead of Oppon-' ' ' J . enta. GREATLY ENCOURAGED BY SPIRITED RALLY Mackmen Confident of Ending Series Giants Fight with Boston Red Sox Is -, Recalled. . By Associated Press. Polo Grounds, New York, Oct. H. The New York Giants stood in .their last line of entrerfchments today and with their "big gun" Christy Mathew son wheeled Into' the breech faced the storming attack of the Philadelphia Athletics, who'need but one more vic torious charge to make them world's champions ; of 1918. With all his pitching artillery shattered - by the Athlotics' cannonading, Manager Mc Graw was forced -to -send his lone pitching star, Mathewson,. to -the fir ing line with only two days rest, irie National league champions have w:oh only one game in the series.. -: Thirty-five thousand or more per sons, undismayed -by the "Herculean task 6f the-ilMs ,in b.rd.mg 4n ,heck' thfe Philadelphia A.merleuis, xme -out to the Polo grounds to view the battle. The gloomy weather kept the Phila delphia crowd down to a small num ber, but those enthusiastic few sat be hind the Athletics' bench and never missed an opportunity to chear their team. With heavy clouds drifting in from seaward there was a constant fear that rain Would end the struggle. Can vas mats "protected the Inner playing field from the night's downpour, and the ground keepers had the diamond in shape for smart fielding play. New York, Oct. 11. It was un der ' far more ' difficulties -, than those piat prevailed on the oc casion of their previous meeting here that the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Nationals prepared today to play the fifth and possibly the last game of the 1913 world's series. Then the count in games won and lost was even and it was a toss-up as to which would prove the ultimate victor. To- dav the Mackmen needed but this single game to assure them of the world's laurels they have been fight ing for. while to those for the Ginr.ts it was one more defeat wnicn wouia spell their finish and compel them for the third successive year to be satis fled with th losers' share- of the world's serietf purse. ; It was With confidence Jhat the Philadelphia this morning set about preparations for the fray ,qf the day, but not, their adherents declared, with an over-confidence that would make them, play carelessly. The)- spirited rally of the New Yorks in yesterday's game', at Philadelphia,-when, appar ently "overwhelmingly beaten, they landed on "Chief" Bender and ham mered out enough Tuns to make the Issue doubtful up to the last moment, had taught the Athletics thorough respect'-' for their opponents; , gameness and powers of recuperation. Fandom prepared to make the most of its chance possibly the last chance this year to see the champions .of the two big leagues in action, should the weather permit a game. ' Had the Giants been, utterly swamped in that game of yesterday, as it seemed for a time they were to be, possibly the feeling that It was no use that the American league champions were bound to win a game and the series would have prevailed. Encouraged by tho brilliant stantl of the National league standard bearers toward 'the close of the struggle in Philadelphia, however, the hope existed among the supporters of McGraw's men that his tory would repeat ' itself possibly, from their standpoint, better Itself. , It was recalled that last year after tho Boston Red Sox had tucked away three games of the series to the Giants' one,' the lattA had rallied and taken the next two, forcing tho series to go '.to the limit and only losing the de ciding contest by reason of the fatal muff, by an outfielder that permitted the winning Boston run to be tallied In the. tenth Inning, ; . Wilson Slightly III, By Associated Press. -Washington, Oct. 11. President Wilson remained In the White House the most of today, as h was buffer ing from a ellg'tt. aftick of Indigestion. He was attended by Dr. Cry T.. Grays ison of the navy. , . . v , ' 1 CHILDREN ON THE Eighty-Two Aboard, Includ ing Several Infants Few Cabin Passengers. By Associated Press. -New York,, Oct 11. The Uranium line was without direct information concerning the loss of the steamer Volturno up to 9 o'clock this morn ing. They, stated' that according to their information she had on board 24 cabin passengers, 278 steerage pas sengers for New York and 262 for Halifax, and a crew 'of 93 men. They had received from Rotterdam a list of 16 of the cabin passengers. The Volturno was commanded by Captain Inch, who has been Ave years in the service of the Uranium line. The Volturno was built by Fairfield & Co. at Glasgow in 1906. She was 340 feet Iqng with a 43 foot beam. Her gross ton.iage was 2581; net 2208. On this voyage she carried a cargo of. 891 tons, consisting of non-com-bustible chemicals, manufactured cot ton goods, mineral waters and liquors. , When EuVwaxd O. Thomas, general manager of the line's office here, and Carl F. Forman, general passenger agent, reached their desks shortly alter 9 o'clock this morning thoy found the offices were besieged by reporters, but were without any ad vices whatsoever. They sent a cable gram to their general agent at Hali fax asking if he had received any word of the disaster, and at 9:30 were waiting for a reply., Of the steerage passengers bound for Halifax, 210 were adults, 41 child Yen and. 10. Infants." Only one cabin passenger was hooked for Halifax. Of the steerage' passengers" bound . for New York, 212 were adults' 33 child; ran-JMidUhase tofantar-.'tThe total num.-J ber of young children andi babies aboard was 82. OVER SULZER VERDICT Nervousness and ; Suspense Marked about the Capitol , at Albany. ' 1 By Associated Press. Albany. N. Y., Oct 11. Pending the final decision of the high court of im peachment on the question of the guilt on innocence of Governor Sulzer, uncertainty prevailed at the capltol today.. The uncertainty and feeling of nervousness and suspense was not by any means confined to the governor and his immediate family, friends and advisers. It was noticeable among all heads of departments and department employes. . The state's business has been prac tically1 at a stand.itllV since the inaugu ration of the impeachment proceed ings. '..JVhen the knowledge that the governor's fate will be announced early next week, department heads and employes not protected 'by civil service were worrying about the per manency of their tenure of office." THE WORD "LIE" CAUSED EXCITEMENT IN HOUSE Mr. Barlett of 'Georgia Took Exception to Statement of Mr. MondeU. ' ' . By Associated Press. ; Washington, Oct. 11. The hpuse had a moment of excitement today when the unparliamentary wordl'Mie" figured In the dejmte... Representative Mondell, of Wyoming, said that the position taken by Representative Bart lett of Georgia as to commerce court legislation "gave the lie to his protes tations." ' Mr, Martlctt jumped to his feet with a demand that Mr. Mendell withdraw the word "lie." ' . 1 "Oh, I am not excited," shouted Mr. Bartlett to" hla colleagues who gathered about him. "I don't Intend to break any rules of the house?" Mr. MondeU admitted that his choice had been unfortunate, but in sisted that Mr. Bartleit's attitude did not accord with his statement in re sard to certali legislation, Mr. at't left acceptej this form of crluclsm and the Incident was closed. , VOLTURNO HUERTA dMsTIC POSTDFFICE IDE Receipts for Quarter Closed Largest in History of the I Office. According to reports just compil ed, the Asheville postoffice has the best record for the quarter just closed of any in the history of the office. The receipts for the entire quarter including July, August and September, amounted to t28,097.53, against $23,294.72 "for the same quar ter of 1912, an Increase, In round numbers, of $5000. The percentage of increase, which la almost 2o per cent., Is tho largest 'ever recorded in the office. . : , Reports have already ben reyiewfed of the big increases during July and August. During' September the re celpts amounted to $8,775.20.. For September, 1912, the receipts were $7,682.92, an Increase, of " $1,192.28, an increase of about 16 per cent. Another point of interest . concern-; ing the last quarter, which is the first of the fiscal year, is that during the three months the local postoffice turned Into the United States treasu ry $10,677.85, after paying all expens es of the office, this amount being totally free of any Jneumberancea jbo , cf th Ideal office for as the; conduct la concerned." The record of this office for this quarter simply indicates directly the increase in business in the city of Asheville. The office can bo consid ered a good barometer of business con ditions, and the reading is propitious. i WILSON TO ASK BEPEAL OF TOLLS EXEMPTION London Hears the President Will Seek to Relieve Dis mminLtion. By Associated Press. Washington, Oct 11. Reports pub lished in London that President Wil son soon would ask Congress' to re peal the exemption of American ship ping from tolls in the Panama canal. brought from the White House today the brief statement that any an nouncement of the administration's policy on that subject at this time was. unauthorized. Officials declined to amplify that statement. In other administration quarters, however, the belief was expressed that later such a repeal would be recommended- to congress, but those who spoke disclaimed any official knowl edge of President Wilson's intentions. Those closest to the president predict ed that any announcement of policy would not be made until the legislative situation in congress was opportune. Last negotiations over Great Bri tain's diplomatic protest against the alleged discrimination were conducted by former Ambassador Bryce last Feb ruary. He relinquished his post here after announcing he would not do so until the question waa on the way to settlement. The new ambassador has taken no steps in the question and diplomatists have construed his Inac tion as an Indication that satisfactory assurances have been given by Wash ington to London, of a settlement of the dispute. ' NEGRO WHO FIRED ON COURT CROWD ESCAPES , - By Associated Press. Lavonla, Ga., Oct. 11. Police to- day renewed thci- search for Hack Curry, a negro w.io yesterday fired Into a crowd of white men, wounding four. The mayor of the town, J..' K. Dortch was seriously wounded. The others' Injuries were slight Curry's brother Just had been en- ANOTHER tenced In police. court by tha mayorican policy. , for stabbing a white man. When . Huerta's Control Weakening, sentence was pronounced the negro It is believed, however, that Huerta'f bolted for the street Every man in action toward the congress will be ra the room gave chase, urry, standing garded ns an evidence of hi inability outside the building, emptied a shot- i td control-the situation and that there gun Into the crowd as it poured from was little likelihood of tho United the room, and fled after his brother. States recognising the choice of the Neither has been arrested, , J TAKES ACTION Mexican President Suspends Both Branches of . Con- 4 gress and Arrests 110 J, of the Deputies. fgS .' "Trs WASHINGTON UNEASY '? OVER THE SITUATION- Some-Believe Election Aban doned, ' Others that Huer- 3 ta Is Weakening at the Capital. ; By Associated Press. ' Mexico City, Oct. 11. Provisional President Huerta's coup last night, . whereby he rid himself in a spectacu lar manner of the legislative bodies of the government and constituted him- , self dictator of tho Mexican republic, has left the city today in a state of, tense expectancy. The dissolution of the national con- , gress was not wholly unexpected In political circles, but the manner of its accomplishment served to demonstrate the lengths to which the executive was prepared to go to maintain his grasp upon, the administrative, affairs of the nation. . The capital was alive wif h rumors . this morning, one of them being to the effect that three deputies arrested last night who were most active in precipitating the clanh with General Huerta had disappeared. Thip report Was not gl veil much credence. Presl- ; dent Huerta, .before the arrests were1 made;1 had given his word that none of the deputies would be harmed.' ' -'- ' Mexico City, Oct. 11. Both branches of the Mexican national congress were formally declared sus pended at a late hour last night by Provisional President Huerta, , - The declaration was made after 110 members of the chamber of deputies had been arrested and lodged in the penitentiary for signing resolutions of ' warning to General Vlctoriano Huer ta because of the disappearance of the senator for Chiapas, Dr. Bellsaro Dominguez. , . A proclamation was issued just bo fore midnight calling for new elec tions of senators and deputies ; on October 26, which date is coincident with the presidential election. Washington Anxious. - Washington. Oct. 11. Provisional President Huerta's arrest of 110 de puties of the Mexican congress, fol lowed by the prorogation of both, houses of that body, has put adminis tration officials here in a state, ot anxiety. No attempts are made -to disguise the viovv that the develop ments of the last 2 4 hourg in Mexi co City have precipitated what probably is the moat serious situation since Huerta took, office. ' T It whs pointed out that conditions wore similar to those Immediately preceding the abdication of Porfirto Diaz. Tho greater part of. tho large body of troops that have been main- tained in the capital have been sent north against the rebellion and thus Mexico City is left with a compara tively small garrison. , To Ueciare Martial Law. The situation is regarded here aa warranting the United States in main taining a considerable naval force at Vera Cruz and Tampieo, where Rear Admiral Fletcher has sailors and ma rines ready for eventualities in rase a situation should develop beyond the capacity of the Mexican authorities. Huerta's action in suspending the sessions of Congress is regarded nverely as preliminary to a declara tion of martial law which will make almost Unlimited his power over the capital. The weakening of Huerta's control over his original safe majority has been observed here, and It ia under stood that aside from serving warn- , ing upon his enemies that he will brook no opposition in the develop ment of his plans. General Huerta has dissolved the present congress with the purpose of 'seeking, through a new election conducted simultaneously with that for the. presidency, a strong and capable parliament party to support Gamboa, Huerta's candidate at the elections October 28. t Many officials regarded the develop ments as bearing out prediction that no election would be held October 28. . At the White House It was stated that . President Wilson was studying the sit uation carefully but was not ready to announce the next atop In the Amerl- (Continued en f 9
The Asheville Times (Asheville, N.C.)
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Oct. 11, 1913, edition 1
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