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Show WIRELESS STORY OF JISASTER PaABengcrs and Crew of Rescue Res-cue Ship Witness Some Thrilling Scenes. LIFEBOATS ARE LOST Twelve Liners Answer Call of Distress Second Officer of Volturno a Hero. On Foard The North German Lloyd Steamship Grosser Kurfuerst At Sea, Iby wireless to Cape Race, Oct. 13 With 105 survivors on board from the steamship, Volturno, burned to Ithe waters edge during a galo in mid-Atlantic and abandoned on Friday Fri-day last, the Grosser Kurfuerst is approaching New York. The passengers and crew of the Grosser Kurfuerst witnessed some thrilling scenes when their vessel, called by distress signals from the Vollurno, arrived in her vicinity. Thrilling Scenes, We found the Volturno burning fiercely and her crew and passengers helpless In the heavy seas It was learned by wireless messages from the flaming vessel that the fire had been started by an explosion In the forward hold at 7 o'clock on Thursday Thurs-day morning, ship's time. 6n the arrival of the Grosser Kurfuerst Kur-fuerst the flames from the hold of the Volturno wore leaping go feet into in-to the air through the hatchways It ' v as learned that fifty or more of the Volturno's crew and steeragp passengers pas-sengers had been killed by the explosion ex-plosion and the fire. Six boats were lowered Immediately Immediate-ly afterward from the Volturno s davits. da-vits. Three of them, still empty, were smashed to pieces against the vessel's side. One boat with fort passengers on board capsized while being launched and all were lost. The two others, with from sixty to eighty passengers on board, got away, but I apparently were lost in the mountainous moun-tainous seas. Two Liners Answer Wireless Altogether. twelve liners were brought by the wireless distress signals sig-nals within hall of the Volturno The i Cunard Liner Caraaania was the first of these. She reached the scene at about 12 o'clock noon. Then followed fol-lowed theSeydljtz, the Grosser Kurfuerst, Kur-fuerst, the Kroonland. the New York the Devonian, the Ia Touralne, the Narrangsett, the Minneapolis the Asian, the Rappaheno and the Czar The sea was running too high to allow the taking off of the Volturno e passengers when the rescuing vessels ves-sels came on the scene. During the day time the flames in the hold were kept more or less under un-der control, but about 9 o'clock on Thursday night the fire reached the ccal bunkers, and It was found necessary nec-essary to close the bulk heads The pumjs., thereupon, were unable to work at full pressure and the flames broke out through the entire forward part of the vessel, a twenty minutes to 1" on Thursday Thurs-day night, another explosion occurred I on the Volturno and caused a panic I ?mong her despairing passengers and crew. Lifeboat Out Six Hours. The Grosser Kurfuerst launched 0 three boats and rescued 23 persons who had been washed into the sea. One of the rescuing life boats was A out for six hours and was nearly lost. All those remaining on board the i p. olturno crowded together at the after end of the vessel and were taken tak-en off safely after daybreak on Fri-I Fri-I day. Second Officer E Lloyd of th olturno, was one of the heroes of j the disaster. He fell from a height I of 2t feet while repairing the wire-toll wire-toll apparatus on board his vessel, but continued to fight the fire all day I and at 7 o'clock In the evening made a perilous trip to the Grosser Kur-Jk Kur-Jk fuerst in a small boat with three others from the Volturno. The little craft was sinking when she was packed up by one of the life boats from the Grosser Kurfuerst. The to-ta' to-ta' number of those saved is believed to be 623. |