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Show OWNERS OF THE VOLTURNO ACCUSE INFURIATED RIVALS Believe That Explosives were Placed in Coal Bunkers as Result of a Bitter Fight. Liverpool. That the Volturno disaster disas-ter was the result of a deliberate plot to destroy the vessel is the belief of the owners of the Uranium line. It is broadly hinted that the plot was the outgrowth of the bitter fight wfoich. bas been raging between the Uranium and rival lines. Captain Tinsley, manager of the-Uranium the-Uranium line, declares that he has noticed of late an increasing bitterness bitter-ness among the sailors and dock laborers la-borers toward the company, which, has been involved in numerous dis-utes dis-utes with its employees. It is the belief of Captain Tinsley that the disputes were instigated by business rivals, taking advantage of the fact that the ships of the line-were line-were officered by Englishmen and manned by Dutch and Belgian sailors. sail-ors. Many threatening letters have been received by the management. One of these received Just before the sailing of the Volturno read: "If you don't listen to our demands one of your boats will be burned." There was trouble among bhe crew shortly before the vessel sailed, but no attention was paid to the letter. It is now believed that a bomb placed in the hold, possibly in the coal bunkers bunk-ers caused the explosion and fire which destroyed the ship and more tv..-,-. inn The Uranium ships sail from Dutch ports and have been strong bid- -ders for the Dutch and German emigrant emi-grant trade. So bitter has been the rivalry between the competing lines that the German officials have been induced to forbid German emigrants to engage passage on the Uranium ships. The stories told by the passengers of the steamship Carmania and other liners which went to the rescue of the burning Volturno describe the heroic efforts in the face of almost insuperable insuper-able difficulties to save the passengers passen-gers and crew of the doomed ship. |