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Show ITALIAN PASSENGER SIEIMT0Q1 No Details Given; Vessel Carried Guns for Protection. LONDON, Aug. 19, 12:13 p. m. The Italian steamer Stampalia, which plies between New York and Italian ports, has been sunk, says a dispatch to Lloyds. The Stampalia was a passenger liner ' of 9000 tons gross. In common with other Italian liners she mounted guns for protection from submarines. The last report of her movements was her arrival on July 30 at Genoa from New York, so that she apparently was sunk on the return voyage to the United States. She was commanded by Captain Lavarello. The Stampalia had accommodations for about 1700 passengers. On her recent re-cent vovages from Italy to New York iiqarnaf Coffin ha A Keon 11 rrhf Qnrl the agents in New York of the line said today she probably carried a comparatively compara-tively small number of passengers. Her crew numbered about 170. No woid had been received in New York by the agents of the line of the reported sinking of the Stampalia at the time of the arrival of the London press dispatch. The Stampalia first appeared in New York as an armed steamer in February last, arriving from Genoa with two three-inch rapid fire guns mounted on her after deck house. Washington was notified, and on being informed that the guns were to be used for defensive purposes only, instructed the collector of the port of New York to grant clearance clear-ance papers. On arriving at New York on March 24 the Stampalia reported a wireless warning had been received soon after leaving Genoa that a submarine was lying in wait for her off Sardinia. Instead In-stead of going north of Sardinia and along the north shore of the Mediterranean, Mediter-ranean, which before that time had proved the safest route, she went south of Sardinia and through the straits of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica. Several armed Italian steamships have reported sighting submarines m the Mediterranean, and in some instances in-stances being pursued by them and firing fir-ing on them. Italian naval gunDers were detailed to service on armed passenger pas-senger vessels to operate the grins. When the Italian steamship He d 'Italia arrived in New York August 6 from Genoa her captain reported she had fired on three submarines in the Mediterranean. The steamship was pursued for seven hours and passengers said they believed one of the submarines subma-rines had been sunk. There has been some Increase recently recent-ly in submarine activity. The naval expert of the Paris Temps wrote on Thursday that the German submarine campaign against merchant ships was again in full swing, in accordance with the German note to the United States in February in which it was said merchant mer-chant ships carrying guns could not be considered as peaceful vessels. The Stampalia was 476 feet long arjd fifty-five feet beam. She was built at Spezia in 1909 and was owned at Genoa. The New York agents of the Stampalia Stampa-lia said todav that two weeks ago they had received a cable message advising them that all sailings of the steamship had been cancelled. Thev express the opinion, on this account, tnat the Stampalia Stam-palia had been requisitioned and was in the service of the Italian government. In this case she would have no passengers passen-gers on board. |