Vancouver and Victoria in 1914

WHERE EAST MEETS WEST.

by Rev. John Pollock

This is now the second time I have crossed the North American Continent. On the first occasion I did it in a little over five days; this time I have spent seven months on the journey. I shall never forget the impression of immensity that first journey made upon me. At Boston I boarded the train in the evening, and in due course climbed into my berth. Next morning I climbed down, and had breakfast. In the afternoon I had lunch. 3Later I had supper, and went to roost in the roof. Down next morning; through the same programme, and sought my perch at night. Day after day, night after night, this went on, the train all the while speeding on its seemingly interminable journey, Practically in a straight line. My favourite off-study is astronomy, which has led me to think somewhat disrespectfully of this "speck-of-dust" planet of ours. The best antidote for that contempt is a non-stop railway run from ocean to ocean, through less than one-eighth of the length of the equator. I for one have come to realise that "our little world" is of quite decent dimensions, and has no reason to be ashamed of itself.

A VISIT BY ACCIDENT.

My first visit to Vancouver, seven years ago, was by accident. The journey Eastward took out of me some of my British conceit. From Boston to Moose-Jaw the several trains I travelled by were all up to time; but no sooner did I get under my beloved Union Jack than things went to pieces. When we reached Mission Junction I found that I had lost my connection for Seattle — no self-respecting train could be expected to wait for five hours — and had to go on to Vancouver, where in fifty minutes I started afresh for my final destination. Vancouver has ever since been associated in my mind with one of the noblest actions of my life. I spent most of my short time in a stationer's shop, writing picture postcards home; so that my friends saw a good deal more of Vancouver than I did. It has been suggested that the explanation lies rather in the direction of stupidity, or a desire on my part to impress my friends with the idea that I had seen much; but all such insinuations treat with the room they deserve. In those days a few hours' lateness was nothing thought of. This time I arrived from Calgary on the minute, in a train which had done the entire tarns-Continental journey.

Vancouver I judged to be, for situation, the most beautiful Canadian city I had visited; though I afterwards felt that it must give the palm to Victoria. Vancouver is not old as its name seems to indicate, as it has simply appropriated, to the distrust of Victoria, the name of the contiguous great island on which the older city is situated. This city is new — most of it very new, for about twenty-five years ago it made a fresh start, after a fire that almost annihilated it. Since then, and especially within the last dozen years, it has grown enormously. I was the guest of former members of my first congregation, who left the old Fifeshire village for this new land twenty odd years ago, and three years ago came to this farthest West. Their house is in the suburb of North Vancouver, which when they arrived had no existence. It has actually made great progress since I left home! Tram cars now run along populous streets, where eighteen months ago there was nothing but forest. Charred tree-trunks, the relics of forest fires, stand like black spectres among dainty villas; while in stumps here and there you can see from the side-walk the cuts made by the lumber-men for the insertion of their "spring-boards," on which they stood to work their great two-handed saws.

Here, indeed, East meets West; or, perhaps more correctly, West meets East. The turban is common on the streets of Vancouver. Every fifth man you meet is an Oriental; well, at all events it looks like that. The proportion of the female to the male population is as fourteen to twenty-five, the disparity being partially explained by the fact that, with the exception of a few Japs, the Orientals do not bring their women-folk with them. Consequently they are credited with little intention of settling down. They are looked upon simply as cheap labourers, whose presence has already lowered the wage standard. Their admittance to the province is barred by law, except under such conditions as are practically prohibitory. When I was there the city was moved by a rumour that a ship-load of Hindus was on its way over in a Japanese tramp steamer. The rumour did not receive anything like universal credence, and as the days passed and nothing was heard of the mysterious craft it began to be smilingly referred to as the phantom ship. But the crowd of our dark-skinned fellow-citizens has since turned up all right, and the fat is in the fire. With the exception of a score or so who have already been in Canada, and are simply returning, none of the consignment has been allowed to land. It is believed that they will all be "declined with thanks," and bundled home again.

Passengers from the Komagata Maru. Vancouver Archives# CVA 7-127.
It is possible that this was the ship to which Rev. Pollock refers.

I had the good fortune to synchronise my visit with a banquet of the women's section of the local Canadian Club, and had the honour to receive a hurried invitation as an unexpected guest. The elite of Vancouver feminine society was there, and was addressed at considerable length by Principal MacKay, of Westminster College. The speech was an able one; but it was longer than it was broad. And I could see that the policy of exclusion was popular with this fair audience. The speaker did not definitely advocate any particular policy, and it seemed to me that he was feeling his way with his hearers. I felt, however, that as Boyle Roche might have put it, the cloven hoof of a short-sighted racial prejudice ran through it all. When I was requested, somewhat to my surprise, to address the company. I ventured to say that, while I was by no means as ready to express a dogmatic opinion on Vancouver's burning question as some native Canadians were to dictate to Belfast, I had what was probably a constitutional bias against all artificial and mechanical solutions of racio-political problems. Of course, if "God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth," we have it on the same high authority that He also "hath fixed the bounds of their habitation;" but that clause might well stick in the throat of the greatest colonising nation of all history. For my own part I shrank from any policy that might dull the fervour of a Christian anticipation of the good time ahead, "when man to man the world o'er shall brothers be."

And I felt it profoundly. But, at the same time, the complexity of the problem must be acknowledged by any man who comes into contact with it. It is not so simple as it looks to those who view it from a distance. Not much can be said against the contention that the rate of admission of races of lower moral ideal ought to be to some extent determined by the maximum rate of possible assimilation. Experience puts that at 5 per cent. But to my thinking one or two fallacies must go before the problem can be effectively dealt with. If assimilation is desiderated on the one side, adaptation is no less urgently needed on the other. And it is well for us Britishers to remember that the Asiatic menace is approaching us also. Perhaps the time is nearer than we dream when the Oriental will be as much in evidence on the streets of Belfast as he is on those of Vancouver to-day. We must adjust ourselves to the situation. All that that means space would fail me even baldly to indicate. But we must put a new meaning, a worthier meaning, into the phrase, "Our higher standard of living." Undoubtedly the Oriental has much to teach us about the beauty of the "simple life," which is modelled upon a higher standard than the life of luxury which many seem to regard as the chief glory of out Western civilisation. And if we object to the lower moral plane on which the Hindu lives, let us see to it that we are living on a higher, ceasing to
       "Compound for sins we are inclined to
        By damning those we have no mind to.”
Perhaps the soundest moral argument for the partial exclusion of the Asiatic bases itself not on the unctuous assertion that we are too good to have him among us, but on the more obvious fact that we are not good enough to run the risk.

Crowds outside the C.P.R. Station for the embarkation of the first overseas troops. Vancouver Archives# Mil P276.1.

Vancouver is the terminal of the Canadian Pacific Railway proper; but if you want to go further west the C.P.R. can accommodate you. The whole sea-front belongs to the C.P.R. It is told of a man who had travelled as I have done, across the continent by the C.P.R., staying in C.P.R. hotels, literally living and moving, week in and week out, in an all-pervading atmosphere of C.P.R., that when he came to this C.P.R. city of Vancouver, and asked a man on the street for the correct time, he was told that it was "2-47, C.P.R" "Man alive," he exclaimed, "don't tell me that the C.P.R. owns the time!" You need not abandon the C.P.R. when you reach the coast, for you can go by C.P.R. liners to Melbourne or Yokohama if you want to. And so I got on board the sumptuously appointed C.P.R. steamer for Victoria. It was a five hours' run, through scenery which, if it does not surpass in beauty the Firth of Clyde itself, runs it close. The lack of human life is its main defect. We passed only two small items of coasting craft. There was not a single town or village visible between Vancouver and Victoria and very few isolated houses.

The approach to Victoria, the Capital of British Columbia, is very fine; but the city itself is by no means impressive at first sight. Even when experienced passengers gather at the gangway rail, and the Steamer slows down, and the men stand ready to fling the ropes you see nothing but a wealth of foliage, surmounted by the majestic dome of the provincial capital, with a few attendant towers and spires. Then the helm goes down, the ship swings round a point where no point seemed to be, and you find yourself at a busy wharf. I spent only a few days in Victoria, but during that time the natural beauty of the city grew upon me. With exception of Edinburgh and Hamburg, it is the fairest city for situation I have ever seen. As western cities go, it is old; its first European settlers reaching it, of course, by way of Cape Horn, while as yet the great continental interior lay unexplored. It has an old-world atmosphere about it, and some of it looks as ancient as Quebec. Vancouver has its giant pre-historic pines; but Victoria has its magnificent English beeches, with here and there a gnarled oak of patriarchal air. The population is mainly English, there being but a thin sprinkling of Irish and Scotch.

Victoria has a brilliant future before it. At present it has no railway communication with the mainland; but very soon the system of Vancouver Island will be linked up by a bridge which must rank as one of the greatest in the world. The city will undoubtedly share largely in the phenomenal development which British Columbia confidently anticipates from the opening of the Panama Canal, which will reduce the sea distance from Liverpool by nearly 6,000 miles. "There would seem to be no reason, if facilities are provided, why millions of bushels of western grain should not find an outlet through Panama." The beautiful little metropolis, with a population under 60,000, will yet stand high among the cities of the world. Even in her present semi-isolated position she is going ahead by leaps and bounds, albeit she is feeling the present commercial depression more than perhaps any other city in Canada. I have no recent figures beside me; but her bank clearings for 1912, totalling £37,000,000, t showed an increase of 36 per cent, over the previous year, while there was 100 per cent. increase in value of new buildings erected. Victoria is the farthest out-post of our great Dominion, and at this far extremity the blood of the Empire pulses as strong as at the very heart itself. Nowhere is Canadian loyalty to the Motherland more pronounced than here at the gateway of the Orient. It was of Victoria that Kipling wrote, and wrote most truly —
     "From East to West the circling word has passed,
         Till West is East beside our land-locked blue;
      From East to West the tested chain holds fast.
         The well-forged link rings true!"



Reprinted from the The Witness, 10th July 1914, this article was part of a series called 'Cities of the West' by Rev. John Pollock of St. Enoch's Presbyterian Church, Belfast.

Edmonton and Calgary in 1914

by Rev. John Pollock


CITIES IN THE MAKING

Ten years ago there was no Edmonton to speak of, and rather less Calgary. Neither of them has much of a past, and, alas! the present is not exhilarating; but each of them believes it has a big future. Each of them button-holes the visitor, and assures him, in an inconsequential way, that it is shaping to be the greatest city on this Continent, sir. Of course, the forecast is not necessarily discredited by the fact that every tenth shack-town in Canada holds the same modest estimate of its own ultimate destiny.

Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, between 1903 and 1914
(Library and Archives Canada/PA-021244)

A VAST NEW PROVINCE

The province of Alberta, stretching west to the watershed of the Rockies, and from the frontier to the great North-West Territory, has an area of over 253,000 square miles, or nearly 5,000 more than double that of the United Kingdom. A large proportion of British soil is mountainous and otherwise barren; Alberta is fertile, besides being rich in coal, oil, and natural gas. But, while the population of the British Isles shows 470 to the square mile, Alberta has less than two. Thirty years ago she had 20,000 inhabitants, at the beginning of the century a little over 70,000, to-day 500,000. During the decade 1901-11 Alberta's population advanced 413 per cent., probably the largest provincial expansion on the planet. In a recent year 20,000 acres were taken up by settlers every day! Yet only three per cent, of farm land has been appropriated, leaving nearly 100,000 acres still available. The Albertan is naturally proud of his province. One could hardly be astonished if in Alberta measles were less common than megalocephalus; which, I am told, is the correct word to use when you don't want to say swelled-head.

THE METROPOLITAN CITY

Now, Edmonton is the capital of Alberta. It magnifies its office, and is doing its best to live up to its Metropolitan dignity. The Parliament House is a fine building; for beauty of architecture it is Canada's nearest approach to Belfast City Hall. The population of Edmonton is increasing so rapidly that were I to set down the correct figure, which nobody knows, the comp. would do well to add a thousand or two. Edmonton's own estimate is no more trustworthy than Calgary's estimate of Edmonton. Probably it is somewhere in the vicinity of 55,000. Already the city has about forty miles of paving, one hundred miles of water-mains, and twenty miles of boulevards. Its eye is ever on the future, and all its plans are cast in the interests of the million-peopled city of next generation. Its street numbers run up to figures that make you catch your breath. At present an effort is being made, so far with but moderate success, to introduce the modern American numerical system of street nomenclature. Street and avenues lie at right angles to each other, and are numbered in regular sequence. The system has undoubted advantages, the most important being simplicity. Between each street or avenue and the next there are one hundred numbers; or rather, after each street or avenue a new hundred begins. If you want 253 on 17th Avenue, you look for it after 25th Street, about half-way to 26th. Till quite recently the streets were named, and the numbers stood in no relation to the "blocks." The transition means temporary chaos. Here, for example, is 568; and you want 371. Yon walk back a block or two and find yourself among the ten thousands. Nobody can tell you whether 34th is the old Problem Street, or whether Puzzle Boulevard is now 49th Avenue. On one such perplexing hunt I stood and pinched myself. Was I in the throes of that ghastly nightmare, usually induced by a cheese supper, in which I make vain attempts to reach a constantly receding destination, arriving in time to see an angry congregation dispersing? I almost expected to find myself, in a cold sweat, staring at my bedroom wallpaper.

PHENOMENAL GROWTH

Really, the making of a city is no joke, especially when the raw material comes tumbling in upon you in such profusion; and some of the material is very raw. While in Edmonton I sojourned with an old St. Enoch's family, whose house cannot now be described as being on the outskirts; not three years ago, when they arrived, they could shoot game from their front windows. There was not even a board side-walk. Street lights there were none. Now, that house is within a stonecast of a well-patronised tramline, with frequent service, on a thoroughfare as busy as Antrim Road. Alongside of handsome stone buildings, with pillared facades, those still stand most primitive erections not yet old, run up when what is now a busy commercial area was nothing but a trackless bush. One of the leading physicians, whose parents I had met on a visit to Belfast some years ago, ran me all over and around in his auto, and gave me such a comprehensive view of Edmonton as I could not otherwise have had. We visited the old British fort, built of rough logs, which was the nucleus of the present city. He showed me the famous Death Trail, along the course of which so many dropped and died in that tragic rush to the Klondike. My friend drove me through the principal streets, avenues, and boulevards of the "twin cities" of Edmonton and Strathcona, which are now one. The impression made upon me was that this will one day be a most beautiful Metropolis. In the making of it space has not been spared; indeed, many of the streets are much too wide. On the Strathcona side there is in course of erection for the University of Alberta what will be one of the finest educational suites of buildings in the Dominion. Affiliated to the University is a Presbyterian college, with over forty students in residence, whom I had the pleasure of addressing.

AFTER SEVEN YEARS

From Edmonton I went South to Calgary. Seven years ago, on my way to the Christian Endeavour Convention at Seattle, I stepped out of the train, and, while most of my fellow-travellers were lunching, spent ten minutes in what was then a very small town. Turning the corner of the little wooden waiting-room, I found myself in a street of frame houses, with one or two unimpressive buildings of brick. There were, if my recollection is correct, nothing but plank side-walks. Of course, there were no tramways, for there was no place for street cars to go to. Ten minutes was quite sufficient for viewing the little town. I expected to see a great change on my second visit; but what I expected wasn't in it with what I saw. Leaving the large and well-appointed station, I stood in amazement in a handsome thoroughfare, adorned with massive electric candelabra of the very newest pattern. Beautiful Corporation tramcars whirred past at brief intervals, crowded with passengers. One of them was the most artistic thing in tramcars I ever saw, built a la charabanc, enamelled in bright colours, and sparkling with silver mounted fittings. It was the "observation car," in which I afterwards made a delightful tour of the city for twenty-five cents. Around me towered some of Canada's most aspiring skyscrapers. Led by a friend, I ascended one of them – by elevator, of course: the beautiful "department store" of the Hudson's Bay Company, perhaps the richest corporation in the Dominion, whose shares cannot now be bought at any price. From the roof I saw one of the sights of my life, the snow-capped Rocky Mountains on the far horizon. It did not look far; twenty miles or so. The atmosphere was so clear that the distance was deceptive, for the nearest peak is almost one hundred miles off. The Rockies were not again visible during my visit.

Calgary c1914 (Glenbow Archives nb-16-357)

TO BE A "CITY BEAUTIFUL"

According to "police estimate," Calgary has a population of 63,000. It baa seventy miles of tramlines. Measured by its bank-clearings, it is already the sixth in importance among the cities of the Dominion. For beauty of situation it is surpassed by few, if any. Just when I was there a scheme for the beautifying of the city was being submitted to the Corporation, and has now probably been adopted. It means the gradual expenditure of an enormous amount of money; but if carried out in its entirety, as doubtless it will ultimately be, it will make Calgary a rival of Washington, if not of Paris. The scheme is the work of an eminent architect, and includes a spacious and beautiful "civic centre," broad tree-lined boulevards, the utilising of severe gradients by the erection of terraces and parterres, with marble facings and stairways, embellished with statuary, leading down to the finest of public parks. Would that I might be there to see! But it was pointed out by the architect in his "exposition" that the Napoleonic scheme for the beautifying of Paris is only now nearing completion. As it is, Calgary has already done well, and made considerable progress towards the goal of its ambition, a foremost place among the beautiful cities of the world, and first place on the American Continent. And, as the proverb hath it, "Aim at a silk gown, and you're sure of the sleeve."

WHAT IT IS TO "STRIKE ILE"

Calgary is a more famous town to-day than it was when I was there a fortnight ago. Then it was "as flat as flat." No poor hunter for dollars ever felt more out of it than I did. You couldn't get salt on their tails. Since then the city has become the centre of a terrific oil boom. The boring has been going on for years, and hope deferred had made many hearts sick; but one day the piercer struck tile subterranean reservoir, and the precious fluid spurted the height of the Albert Memorial. It has now settled down to steady work, and is yielding over two hundred barrels a day. The touts were at me when I was there, beseeching me, in their oiliest manner, to have financial mercy on myself; but, with that consummate prudence for which I have always been distinguished, I declined to speculate. Wish I had known! One man had bought a thousand shares in that particular bore, at half a dollar. When the oil spurted he sold fifty for his money; so that now he has nine hundred and fifty which have cost him nothing. My! I might have come home a dollar millionaire, and cleared the debt not only of St. Enoch's, but of the Church House an well. I never felt so generous in my life.


Reprinted from the The Witness, 12th June 1914, this article was part of a series called 'Cities of the West' by the Rev. John Pollock of St. Enoch's Presbyterian Church, Belfast.

Ottawa in 1914

People gathered together outside of the original Centre Block building for the opening of a session of Parliament. (Library and Archives Canada, PA-023306)

 

by the Rev. John Pollock, St. Enoch's

THE EDINBURGH OF AMERICA

In bracketing Ottawa with Edinburgh I pay compliment to both cities. Both are beautiful, and each is fairer than the other – with a difference. If Ottawa has no Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh is without a river. Possibly the Western Metropolis may be even more east-windy, but she is less west-endy than the Eastern. Nevertheless, there is a certain Metropolitan tone about her, an atmosphere which indicates a corporate self-esteem.

MORE SCOTCH TOAST BELFAST

One cannot be half-an-hour in the city without being reminded of Edinburgh. Why, here is a Princes Street charabanc, guard's tin horn and all, just as if it were about to start for Rosslyn! Round the corner is heard the skirl of the pipes; and as the stalwart kilties swing into view you almost feel as if you were in the Lawnmarket. If their uniform is open to criticism – including as it does Rob Roy hose, Forty-second kilts, Royal Stewart plaids, and glengarries that sport the Borderers' check – the incongruous combination is not ineffective. As you walk along Sparks Street you hear about as much of the Scotch accent as you do at Portrush at Glasgow Fair time. On this last day of October there is an Edinburgh nip in the air. In Montreal, as I left it, the talk was of all Saints' Day, when many of the business houses close; but here the shop windows proclaim the popularity of Hallowe'en. I have made no statistical inquiry as yet; but I have a strong impression that there are more Scottish Born in Ottawa than there are in Belfast. And I am told that if I keep my eyes open – which, of course, I sternly refuse to do – I shall see more good-looking girls here than in any other city in the Empire outside of the Scottish capital. Edinburgh papers please copy.

CANADA'S FAIR METROPOLIS

Ottawa is a beautiful city: beautiful for situation, and beautiful in itself. Here again, indeed, it resembles Edinburgh, in that its beauty is largely self-contained. Beyond the suburbs there is little worth going out of the city to see. But the city itself is beautiful both from without and from within. Looking from Riddeau Street, over the fine new ornamental bridge which spans the railway, up towards Sparks Street on the higher level, it puts no great strain on one's imagination to fancy himself looking over the South Bridge, with his back to the Register House – the Post Office representing the "Scotsman" building, and the magnificent Chateau Laurier, though on the wrong side of the street, the North British Hotel while just over the parapet is the Waverley Station in miniature. Within a stonecast are some of the handsomest buildings, though by no means the largest, on the North American Continent. Of course, as Glasgow never misses an opportunity of reminding her proud sister, the chief buildings of the Metropolis belong equally to all the cities of the land, for they are national.

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

The seat of the Dominion Parliament is a magnificent pile, an extensive suite of imposing architecture, placed perhaps more picturesquely than any other legislative buildings in the world, crowning a wooded height that looks down upon the river. The approach from the city is very fine, an ideal setting for a State cavalcade. Unfortunately for me, the Houses were not in session. The chambers where the affairs of the young nation are discussed were deserted, and the furniture was in overalls. But I gave myself the thrill of sitting in the seats of the mighty, including the Speaker's chair. Armed with a note of introduction I penetrated into the Parliamentary Library, a stately-domed poligon, said to be the largest apartment without pillars on this side of the Atlantic, and strongly resembling the historic reading room of the British Museum. Here I had a most fascinatingly interesting conversation with Dr. Griffin, the Chief Librarian, who gave me no end of entertaining "inside" information about Canada and its Parliament. Mercenary motives led me into the presence of more than one of the Ministers of State, and I found them delightfully human. One of than, after handing me a cheque, thrust his arm in mine, and led me out to his club, where we had a toothsome "meridian" together, and talked on a variety of topics, including Home Rule. He also introduced me, as a brother Scot, to some men of wide fame; and I came away feeling that after this the privilege of shaking hands with me was one not to be granted without discrimination.

FROM THE CLOCK TOWER

Looked at from the clubhouse window on Parliamentary Boulevard, the main building, with its commanding position, its extended facade, its lofty tower, its spacious gravelled terrace, reminded me of my Alma Mater, Gilmorehill University. I must climb that tower, and have a look at the fair city from its elevation of something like two hundred feet. And it was a climb, that might have ended in disaster; for as I clung to the narrow and almost perpendicular ladder, with my ear a few inches from the biggest bell in Canada, "the clock struck one, and" – well, the famous mouse and I understand each other. But the view is worth it all. In the foreground lie the winding walks of Parliament Hill, embraced by an arm of the Ottawa river, with beautiful bridges upon it like bangles that glitter in the sun. Over the river, on Quebec territory, is the City of Hull, and on the distant horizon the famous Laurentian Hills. On the right, like the hanging gardens of Babylon, are the first eight of the forty-seven locks of the Riddeau Canal, by which it accomplishes the ascent of nearly five hundred feet to Lake Ontario. Beyond peeps Riddeau Hall, the official residence of the Governor-General, which in summer must be wholly invisible in its umbrageous environment. Walking, map in hand, around the tower gallery, several outstanding buildings attract attention – the National Gallery, the Dominion Observatory, Ottawa University, and a number of handsome churches, conspicuous among their spires being that of St. Andrew's, where the Presbyterian "quality" most do congregate. Ottawa is rich in public parks. There are Bingham's Park, Riddeau Park, Rockcliffe, Sandy Hill, and, most beautiful of all, the Government Driveway, which almost encircles the city, and a walk in which carries one in imagination to West Princes Street Gardens. It is, indeed, a fair prospect from the tower. What must it be "in the summer time, when the leaves are on the trees!"

THE OTTAWA THAT IS TO BE

When the late Professor Blackie was asked what was Edinburgh's principal industry, he replied, "Education." I am not sure that this is as true of Ottawa; but certainly the Canadian capital is not, in the ordinary sense, an industrial centre. The whole life, of the little city moves around the Parliament House. This rather unhealthy condition of affairs was historically inevitable, "Bytown" having been chosen as the seat of government not on account of its importance – for it had none – but simply because of its political and strategical advantages, and the magnificence of its site. Bytown did not make the selection; the selection made Ottawa. The village of 1827, with a population under one thousand, has become, with her twin sister across the river, a city of 150,000 inhabitants. The presence of the Legislature will cause her to be more and more, like Edinburgh, the home of eminent lawyers and litterateurs, and create an aristocracy of intellect around the Viceregal Court. Already there are, in proportion, more titled people in Ottawa than elsewhere in Canada, men and women who have, most of them, won the honours they wear. The business community is rapidly enlarging itself; so that soon Ottawa will not have all her eggs in one basket. She is evidently resolved to take her place among the busy centres that throb with commercial and industry life. It is a safe prediction that, say, twenty or thirty years hence, Ottawa will, by reason of his intrinsic excellence, be one of the foremost cities of the Dominion.


Reprinted from the The Witness, 23rd January 1914, this article was part of a series called 'Cities of the West' by Rev. John Pollock of St. Enoch's Presbyterian Church, Belfast.

Empress of Ireland: Survivors Experiences

THE CANADIAN DISASTER.

ARRIVAL OF SURVIVORS.

SCENES AT GLASGOW.

Desperate Fights for Life

Glasgow, Tuesday. -- The Allan liner Corsican berthed in the Princes Dock, Glasgow, at four o'clock this morning, bringing the surviving members of the crew of the ill-fated Empress of Ireland, and also a number of her passengers. Arrangements had been made for boarding the ship off Greenock at eleven o'clock last night, but an official intimation that she was likely to appear off the Tail of the Bank at least two hours earlier caused many persons, including a strong force of newspaper representatives, to hasten down to Greenock. They were grievously disappointed, as it was half an hour after midnight before the Corsican hove in sight, and there was a scramble to board her from a tug. Her captain feared to lose the tide, and so the steamer merely slowed down for an instant, and then passed on to her destination.

The passengers most sought after were in bed, and the sailors who had been saved from the Empress of Ireland were not to be approached until after berthing, but between midnight and 4 a.m. the representatives of the Board of Trade had appealed, and after the Corsican had cast off her tugs inquisitive persons were informed that an official inquiry was proceeding. A rumour had spread at Greenock that the survivors amongst the seamen were to be represented by one of their number, who would make a statement for publication, but it transpired on the authority of an official that no such arrangement had been contemplated. A pledge was also exacted that no attempt should be made to approach the passengers until a certain time had elapsed.

A PATHETIC INCIDENT. 

One pathetic incident marked the arrival of the Corsican. A Mr. Newton, of Southport, travelled to Greenock with a sister-in-law, who had a brother, Mr. J. W. Furness, first violinist on the wrecked vessel. This lady, Miss Furness, went alongside on the tug, but was not permitted to board the Corsican. In the list of saved there had appeared the name of Furness, but with different initials from those of her brother, and the relatives had journeyed down from Lancashire in the hope that the initials had been wrongly printed, and that the musician was aboard the Allan liner now nearing port. Miss Furness remained on the deck of the tug until it had piloted the Corsican into dock, and Mr. Newton signalled from the steamer that their hopes WW* but ill-founded. Miss Furness, realising the worst had happened, became prostrate with grief, and received many expressions of sympathy.

Mr. Furness was formerly a ship's bandmaster, but coming home from a trip and finding his aged mother at the point of death he elected not to sail on the outward voyage. His ship left the United Kingdom without him, and his agents then offered him the position of first violinist on the Empress of Ireland. This he accepted. His father, now old and infirm, was in an agony of suspense awaiting the news which his daughter and son-in-law had to take him from Glasgow as to the result of their quest.

There was a scene of greet activity on board the Corsican after she had docked, and much of this was due to the distribution by Allan line officials of a complete kit to the rescued seamen and passengers, the latter of whom were all third-class.

AN AUSTRIAN'S NARRATIVE.

Mr. A. Heller, a passenger of Austrian Extraction, but a naturalised American citizen, recently living in Toronto, in the course of a conversation aboard the Corsican, stated that he was in the habit of making monthly journeys to this country. "I was," he said, "in the steerage of the Empress of Ireland, and there were three others occupying the same cabin. I was sleeping at the moment of the collision with the Storstad, and was awaked by one of my three companions. We all immediately left the cabin to get up the companion-way to the deck, but so great was the list in the ship at that time, and so unsteady was her movement, that I slipped back three times. I was wearing a shirt and pants only. Eventually, and with some difficulty, I managed to get to the deck when the ship was heeling over, and it was next to impossible for me to keep my feet. I went towards the lifeboats, but there was scarcely time to swing them free of the davits owing to the rapidity with which the ship was settling down. The man who awoke me was, I regret to say, among the drowned. There were a good many people out of their berths, including women and children.

"I slid down pretty nearly to the water's edge and then dived. I am a good swimmer, and I was anxious to get away from the ship, as one of her funnels was apparently hanging over. At the instant of my throwing myself into the water women were screaming and clinging to all sorts of floating gear. Some passengers were rolling into the sea, as the decks were getting well-nigh perpendicular. I had just got clear when the Empress of Ireland disappeared. Everything then became quiet. It was after I had been keeping afloat for twenty-five minutes that I was picked up by a boat. There were twenty-six members of the crew in that boat, and there was room for eight or ten more occupants."

THE SURVIVORS.

The British survivors are --

Mr. S. C. Furness and Mr. G. Dransfield (Liverpool).
Mr. W. G. Bevan (Swansea).
Mr. C. Bristow and Mr. C. H. Bristow (Leeds).
Mr. Martin Gill (Belfast).
Mr. G. C. Kirtley (West Hartlepool).

With the exception of Mrs. Kirkley, all the Britishers declined to make statements. Mrs. Kirkley told a short but graphic story of how she escaped. The lady was in charge of a nurse on the Corsican, but she had sufficiently recovered from her terrible shock to be able to relate her thrilling experience. Mrs. Kirkley is a good swimmer, and to that she owes the fact of the almost miraculous circumstance of being alive to-day.

LADY'S FIGHT FOR LIFE.

She stated -- "As soon as I realised the danger I ran from my cabin to the deck. It was a matter of no little difficulty, too, as the ship almost immediately lurching upon its side, I could not get at a boat, and saw the only chance was to dive and trust to my swimming capacity and luck. When the rail of the ship was near the water's edge I dived, and went no considerable distance under. Striking upwards I got to the surface, when I saw several people around me floundering about and moaning and shrieking. Then a man who was in almost a state of collapse caught hold of me when I was approaching a boat. I was by this time fast becoming exhausted, especially as the man clung to me like grim death, and try as I would I could not get him to release his grip.

"With a supreme effort I managed to clutch the boat after having been in the water a few minutes; then I threw one of my legs over the side of the boat rail, but the man still clung to me. To save myself, for it was my only possible chance, I shook the man off. With a cry he sank, and that was the last I saw of him. I could do no other. My strength was fast going, and had I not acted as I did I should have dropped back into the sea and been lost." Mrs. Kirtley is a lady of about thirty-five and of fairly robust build.

The arrival of the Corsican was expected, and even at that early hour many people assembled outside the shed of the dock where she was berthed in the hope of getting a glimpse of the survivors. The sailors on the river cheered.

The stewardess of the Empress told how, when she heard the crash, she made for the upturned side of the ship, slipped down the deck, and dived just as the vessel was about to sink. "I can only remember," she added, "someone catching hold of me, and I woke up safe on board the Storstad.

Soon after reaching Glasgow the Continental survivors entrained for Grimsby en route to Hamburg, the Empress passengers for their respective destinations, and the majority of the crew for Liverpool.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

SURVIVORS AT LIVERPOOL

REJOICING AND SORROW!

The Allan liner Alsatian arrived at Liverpool yesterday with a large number of survivors from the Empress of Ireland. Among them were six first-class passengers, six second-class, and thirty-five steerage, the latter nearly all foreigners. There were also on board 106 stewards, fifteen deck hands, and five members of the engine-room staff of the ill-fated liner.

The Alsatian also brought home nine bodies of victims -- namely, Chief Officer Steede, Storekeeper Wildman, Miss Biddlel, stewardess, and six foreigners.

A large number of relatives and friends of the members of the crew proceeded down the Mersey on a tender to meet the liner. There were loud cheers as the survivors were recognised, and when they landed there were many affecting scenes.

DRAMATIC SCENES.

The survivors aboard the Alsatian presented a curious spectacle, and some of their relatives experienced difficulty in recognising them. They were attired in all kinds of suits, and many of then seemed to have had complete new rig-outs. When the survivors met their relatives in the waiting-room at the landing stage the joy of reunion in many cases was almost hysterical. The woman flung themselves sobbing into their husband's arms, and the children cried with delight as they held their fathers by the hand.

One pale-faced woman was almost smothered with kisses by her husband. She had given birth to a baby boy fourteen days before the disaster. At first her husband was reported drowned, and the woman had almost given up life and hope when she received a cablegram announcing that he was saved.

CLIMB THROUGH PORTHOLE.

Tipperary Man's Narrative

Mr J. D. Langley, of Tipperary, a second class passenger aboard the Empress of Ireland, told a graphic story on landing. He said that on reaching the doors to that deck he found they were closed. Some people who were trying to get out declared they were jammed. He volunteered to try and clamber through a port hole to open the door, but stuck when half-way through. He, however, managed to wriggle through, and tried to open the door. It would not budge, and he told the people inside he must leave them. He scrambled on the railings where there was a member of the crew with a life belt on.

When the ship sank they went down with her, but came up to the surface within a few feet of each other. They kept afloat about ten minutes witnessing embarrassing scenes, but eventually came alongside an upturned lifeboat. They were pulled on that by some of those already aboard, and sat shivering there for two hours before rescued by a pilot boat.

Between them they pulled fifteen or twenty people out of the water, and watched two men with lifebelts on drown, being unable to reach them. It was hideous hearing people who were drowning call for help. He saw no women in the water, and concluded that they had been unable to leave the ship.

"WHERE'S MUVVER."

Mr. J. J. Lennon, of Winnipeg, said he saw a little girl in night attire lying unconscious in the water. He managed to pull her into a collapsible boat. She soon came to her senses, and asked "Where's Muvver." He told the child her mother would be all right to comfort her, and they took bar to Rimouski.

OTHER STORIES OF ESCAPE

Percy Gee, a steward, said he just managed to scramble out of the boat which had rescued him when one of the lifeboats fell on it, killing and injuring several people, and smashing the boat to pieces. He was picked up by a collapsible boat after being in the water about half an hour.

Robert Crellin, of Cleator, who rescued Florrie Barber, a little girl, whose mother and sister were lost, said he fetched her from the cabin, and when the ship was sinking plunged into the water with her. He swam toward a lifeboat through bitterly cold water, which was crowded with dead and dying people. They were taken into a boat which contained over sixty people. The most terrible part of the disaster was the sight of hundreds of people struggling in the water while the boats near them were too full to take any more aboard. The water was black with heads bobbing up and down, and the cries were pitiful. He had left the child at Quebec, where there were several wealthy people desirous of adopting children who lost their parents in the disaster.

Mrs. Fanny Evinson, of Leeds, who lost her husband and baby, said in the companion way the people were fighting for their lives; bit the foreigners were the worst, as they tried to force their way on deck carrying luggage. They were all blown into the water by the explosion or rush of air, and on coming to the surface she could see nothing but the heads of people crying for mercy. She managed to keep herself afloat, although unable to swim, until she clutched the sides of the boat. Next day she learned that her husband and baby were drowned.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

BELFAST SURVIVOR'S EXPERIENCES.

A THRILLING STORY.

Mr. Martin Gill, a Belfast man, who is one of the survivors of the Empress of Ireland disaster, has arrived in Ireland from Glasgow, to where he travelled from Canada by the Allan liner Corsican. In the course of an interview he said that as the ill-fated liner dropped down the river he retired to his cabin, and in a short time was asleep. The next moment of consciousness came to him as the collision took place. "I awoke," he said, "at the sound of a mighty crash which was followed immediately by an indescribable sound of grinding and smashing. For m moment I was half-stunned with the noise and the concussion, but soon realised that some catastrophe had befallen the ship. I suppose the memory of the Titanic's fate suggested a collision with an iceberg, but that was the first thought that sprang to his mind. Two minutes later I was in the midst of some people scrambling for the deck. I didn't dress; in fact all the passengers I saw were in their night-clothes. The awful sound of water rushing into the ship was enough to upset the coolest of us, and I, for one, did not take time to lift anything. I had 1,500 dollars, and all my worldly possessions in the cabin, but when life depends on moving quickly, one does not think of such things. On deck I saw that another steamer had collided with the Empress. The bows of the Storstad had bitten 8ft. into the side of ship.

"I didn't wait much longer. Torrents of human beings were streaming out to the decks, and darkness added to the confusion. From the top deck of the ship I dived into the icy water, and, after what seemed an interminable period, I came again to the surface and struck out. I never considered myself a good swimmer, but I found I could swim well when I had to save my life. I swam directly away from the Empress towards the Storstad. There was a fog on the water at the time of the collision, but it suddenly lifted like a veil and I could see both vessels. I had got a hundred yards from the Empress when she foundered. I will never forget the sight as long as I live, and the moans, shrieks, and shouts are still ringing in my ears.

"I was in the water about half an hour, and had almost reached the Storstad," continued Mr. Gill, "when I was picked up by one of her lifeboats. I didn't know a single person on board, although most of the survivors have lost relatives who were traveling with them." Mr. Gill, who was supplied with clothes and passage money by the C.P.R., was asked if he were going back to Canada. "I had intended to go back," he said, "but I have not yet got over the shock of that awful night, and I may decide to remain in Ireland for the future."

This article originally appeared in The Witness 12 June 1914.

image top: Emigrants on the Empress of Ireland

Empress of Ireland - Official Inquiry and Storstad's Defence

CANADIAN CATASTROPHE.

TOLL OF THE DEAD.

WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY.

THE OFFICIAL INQUIRY.

It is expected that the Court of Inquiry appointed by the Canadian Government to investigate the loss of the Empress of Ireland will be composed of Sir Adolph Routhier, the Hon. Ezekiel M'Leod, and Lord Mersey, the latter being the nominee of the British Board of Trade. The third class survivors have been transferred to the Allan liner Corsican, which is due in Glasgow on Tuesday of next week.

Quebec, Wednesday. -- The Canadian Pacific Railway yesterday evening issued official figures raising the number of fatalities in the Empress of Ireland disaster to 1,024, or fifty-five over the previous figures. The vessel carried 1,476 persons, of whom 452 were saved -- namely, thirty-six first cabin, forty-seven second cabin, and 136 steerage passengers, and 233 officers and crew. Only a few more than 200 bodies have been recovered, of whom 103 have been identified.

IDENTIFICATION PRECAUTIONS

The European manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway in London has received an official cable to the effect that the entire Delamont family of five, belonging to Toronto, who were third class passengers, were saved. The only further identification of the bodies advised has been that of May M. White. In order to assist in the proper identification by relatives at a future period precaution is being taken to have the bodies photographed, each with an indication number, which will also be used for the grave.

THE STORSTAD'S DEFENCE

Amazing Statements.

Montreal, Monday. -- The following statement is made by Mr. J. W. Griffin, of New York, representing the owners of the Storstad --

Conversations with several officers and members of the crew of the Storstad all bear out the story that the Storstad was going full speed astern when the collision occurred. One of the most important statements made was by the third engineer of the Storstad, who refused to give his name. He said that he was on duty in the engine-room when the collision took place. He was asked, "How long before you struck was the signal given to go astern?" He replied, "It is impossible to say definitely, but it was something like a minute; I should say a little longer than a minute."

"There is no doubt about your having got the signal to go full speed astern?" "I am certain the engines were going full speed astern when the collision took place."

The third engineer's statement was borne out by the second engineer, who was not on duty at the time of the accident. He asserted that at no time for several hours before the collision had the Storstad gone at greater speed than ten miles an hour. Thick fog was encountered at intervals. The shock of the impact was not very noticeable. I did notice, however," he said, "that the engines had been reversed. We were going full speed astern about one minute before the shock."

When asked regarding the evidence given at the inquest that had the Storstad not backed away the Empress of Ireland might have been kept afloat long enough to allow most of the lifeboats to be lowered, the second engineer stated that he did not think that would have been the case. The blow struck was a glancing one, and even had the Storstad gone ahead instead of astern she would have glanced off, and both steamers would have been separated just as quickly as they were in fact.

A ZIG-ZAG COURSE.

Captain Holtung, of the Norwegian collier Alden, has told a highly-responsible official what his second officer and pilot saw when they passed the Empress of Ireland some thirty sea miles from where the collision occurred only a short time before the disaster. According to what the official told the "Montreal Star" this is what took place --

The Alden, chartered by the Dominion Coal Company, was on her way up the St. Lawrence, only thirty miles from Father Point, when the Empress of Ireland was sighted steaming towards them. Both the pilot and second officer were on duty on the bridge of the Alden, and are said to be willing to swear to the following --

The Empress of Ireland was steaming down the St. Lawrence when they met her. She was approaching the collier in such an erratic manner that both pilot and second officer became greatly concerned. So erratic, they are said to have declared, was the course that at times her green light could be seen, at other times her red lantern would show. The course of the Empress of Ireland is described as zig-zag.

Another officer of the Storstad said he was awakened in his bunk by the clanging of the bells in the engine-room. Hastily going on deck, he noticed the ship going astern. Almost immediately came the collision. Quickly he helped to lower a boat and started to pick up passengers. There was no trouble in getting a load full. Altogether sixty were saved in the first trip, So heavily was the boat loaded that 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. Most of those saved in the first trips belonged to the crew of the Empress of Ireland. He could not account for this beyond supposing that they were better able to endure the shock and exposure. Asked if he noticed the siren of the Empress of Ireland sounding, he replied that he heard nothing, but would not say that the Empress of Ireland did not sound her horn. -- "Times" Telegram.

MRS. ANDERSEN'S STORY.

Mrs. Andersen, wife of the captain of the Storstad, told her story on Monday, says Reuter's Montreal correspondent. She apologised for receiving the newspaper representative in a blue cotton dress, explaining that she had, given all her other clothes to survivors. She said the captain was called from his bed on Friday morning by the mate because it was foggy. Her husband asked her to follow him on deck. While she was dressing the collision took place. She ran to the bridge, where Captain Andersen was. Everything was dark and quiet, and there was no excitement among the crew. She kept cool, and stayed on the bridge. She asked Captain Anderson whether the Storstadt was going to sink. "I think do," he replied. She could not cry, although she felt like it.

Captain Andersen told her he was trying to keep the Storstadt in the hole she had made, and if the liner had not been speeding they would have stopped altogether, for a time at least. In a few minutes she asked again whether the Storstadt was sinking. "I can't tell yet," the Captain replied.

THE SHIVERING SURVIVORS.

"I think it was five minutes later," continued Mrs. Andersen. "that I heard screams and cries. I shouted to my husband, 'Oh! They are calling.' At first it seemed as if the cries ware coming from the shore. The captain gave orders to go in that direction, and proceeded, very slowly. Everywhere around I could hear screams. My husband gave orders to send out all the lifeboats. That could not have been ten minutes after the collision. The first woman to come aboard was a Salvation Army lass, clad only in her nightdress. When she was brought to the cabin she ran to me, putting her arms round my neck, and said, 'God bless you, my angel. If you had not been here, we should have gone to the bottom.'"

After the rescued had been taken on board Mrs. Anderson went among them with stimulants. All the cabins were packed with shivering survivors scantily clad. Many sought the engine-room for heat, and were so number by the icy water that they leaned against the cylinders of the engine till the flesh blistered.

SURVIVORS COMING HOME.

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company's London office is informed by cablegram from Montreal that sixty-one rescued third class passengers were transferred to the steamship Corsican, which sailed on Monday for Glasgow together with seventy-four members of the crew of the Empress of Ireland. An official of the company will meet the survivors on their arrival in Glasgow, and provide them with necessary clothing and sufficient funds to carry them to their destinations.

Among the sixty-one rescued passengers referred to are Mrs. E. Kirtley, of West Hartlepool; S. C. Furness, W. G. Bevan, and George Dransfield, of Liverpool; Martin Gill, of Belfast; and C. Bristow and C. H. Bristow, of Leeds. The names of the crew coming by the Corsican have not yet been received.

YOUNG IRISH VICTIM.

Mr. Murtagh, teacher, Trim School, received the following telegram on Monday -- "Matthew Murtagh, steward, saved. Deeply regret no report W. Murtagh, bellboy. -- Canadian Pacific." William Murtagh was a lad aged 17, who was with the company about two years. His uncle, Matthew, a saloon steward, took him with him a few years ago, with the view of giving him an opening in life, the lad's father, who was teacher in Meath, having died.

TRAGIC FATE OF YOUNG ORPHANS.

One od the most pathetic stories arising out of the Empress of Ireland disaster is that associated with the loss of the four young girls names Farr -- Kathleen, aged eight; Nancy, six; Dorothy, five; and Bessie, three. They belonged to a family of eight -- all girls. Their father was a farmer in the neighbourhood of Bostin, Lincolnshire, and he went out to Canada, where he was joined by his wife and children two years ago. He died soon after, and the mother succumbed to typhoid fever last November. The four girs were being brought to England by their uncle, Mr. Harold Farr, at Henley-on-Thames.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.

It has been decided, says a Central News message, that the bodies of the unidentified victims will be embalmed and placed in vaults at the Quebec cemeteries, with a view to possible future identification and removal for burial elsewhere. The funerals, of nine members of the crew, whose bodies have been identified, will take place to-day.

Acting on instructions from a relative in England, says Reuter, the C.P.R. Company will bury tho body of Sir Henry Seton-Karr in Quebec.

TRIBUTE TO THE DEAD.

The passengers and crew of the White Star liner Megantic, which arrived at Montreal yesterday morning, joined on Sunday evening in an impressive service held on the spot where Empress of Ireland sank. Captain David stopped his ship near the buoy which marks the site of the wreck, and mustered the crew and the passengers on the deck, where with bared heads they sang this hymn, "Abide with me," the ship's orchestra accompanying the singing. Many of those who took part in the touching tribute to the dead were visibly affected.

RELIEF FUNDS.

ROYAL DONATIONS.

The Lord Mayor of London has received the following Royal messages:--

Privy Purse Office,

Buckingham Palace, June 1st, 1914.

My Lord, -- I have it in command from the King to inform your lordship that his Majesty subscribes the sum of £500 to the fund your lordship is raising for the help of those stricken by the loss of the Empress of Ireland. For them in their overwhelming sorrow the King feels most deeply. -- I remain, &c.,

WM. CARINGTON.

Buckingham Palace, June 1st, 1914.

My Lord Mayor, -- I have received the Queen's commands to transmit to your lordship a cheque for £250 as a contribution from her Majesty to the Mansion House Fund which is being raised for the widows, orphans, and dependent relatives of the crew and passengers who lost their lives in the recent appalling disaster to the Empress of Ireland. The Queen deeply sympathises with the poor bereaved relates in their overwhelming sorrow.

E. W. WALLINGTON.

Marlborough House, June 1st, 1914.

Dear Lord Mayor, -- I am desired by Queen Alexandra to send you a cheque for £200 as a donation towards the fund which her Majesty is glad to see you have opened at the Mansion House for the relief of the poor sufferers from the most appalling disaster to the Empiress of Ireland. -- I remain, &c.,

D. M. PROBYN.

The Prince of Wales has sent a donation of £250.

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company have subscribed £5,000 to the Mansion House Empress of Ireland Fund, and Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, president of the company, £500. The company and Sir Thomas have sent similar sums to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool's Fund.

SYMPATHY OF BELFAST CORPORATION.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Belfast Corporation, the Lord Mayor (Councillor Crawford M'Cullagh, J.P.) said that before commencing the regular business of the Council he thought it right that the Corporation should pass a resolution of sympathy with all those who had been so tragically bereft of friends and loved ones by the loss of the Canadian Pacific Company's steamship Empress of Ireland, in the estuary of the St. Lawrence, on Friday, 29th May. They were not in a position to know the exact details, all of which would, no doubt, be forthcoming at the investigation which must be held, and if they were it was not for them as a Corporation to criticise. They only knew that, unfortunately, many valuable lives had been lost, and no matter what rank, those people belonged to, high or low, their friends and relatives had been suddenly and unexpectedly bereaved, and they deeply and sincerely sympathised with them one and all. That the tragic circumstances called forth many examples of all that was best in human nature was only what they expected when a catastrophe occurred to a British ship with British crew and passengers; nevertheless, it made them glow with pride to hear again hear how Britons die. He begged to move -- "That the deep and heartfelt sympathy of the Council be and is hereby tendered to all who have lost their loved ones by the disaster that befell the Empress of Ireland on the 29th May, 1914."

The resolution was passed in silence.

EMPRESS OF IRELAND'S SUBSTITUTE.

Mr. G. M'L. Brown, European manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway, states that the company has completed arrangements by which the Allan Line triple-screw turbine steamer Virginian will take the sailings which had been arranged for the Empress of Ireland during the summer season. The Virginian will make her first sailing from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal on Friday, June 12, and regularly thereafter.



This article originally appeared in The Witness 5 June 1914.

image: The Empress of Ireland

Empress of Ireland Disaster - Thrilling Experiences

Salvation Army Officer's Account.

Rimouski, Friday. -- Thrilling experiences have been related by Salvation survivors of the Empress of Ireland disaster. Captain Wilson of Toronto, shared a cabin with Adjutant Green and Bandsman Johnston, who were saved, and Captain Dodd, of Toronto, who perished. Captain Wilson was awakened by the collision, but thought so little of the matter that he did not get up at first. Finding the ship listing, however, he rose with the others and went out, but owing to the slant of the decks they had difficulty in climbing to the rail. At last after they had noticed the odour of gas there came the roar of a terrible explosion, and Captain Wilson found himself thrown half stunned against the rail, which he grasped. He climbed over and found himself sitting with hundreds of other passengers on the ship's side, which as the vessel settled became almost horizontal.

A few moments later he was in the swirling water. He seized a piece of wreckage as he felt himself being sucked down, and he was under water for a seemingly interminable period. On coming to the surface he twice lost and regained hold of wreckage. The water was intensely cold but Captain Wilson managed to hold on until he was picked up by the second lifeboat which passed, the first being already overcrowded. He was given an oar, but was too benumbed to hold it, and be fainted. The next thing he remembered was being hauled into the Storstadt by a rope.

"When I was trying to reach the rail," related Captain Wilson, "a woman handed her five-year-old girl. I tried to lift the child so that Ensign Pugmire, who was clinging to the rail above me, could grasp it, but he could not reach it. I saw it was hopeless, so just before the plunge I handed the child back to its mother. I did not see them again."

Major Attwell, of Toronto, saved his wife and himself in one of the steamer's useless lifeboats. He found a life belt, and fastened it to his wife. He himself secured an air cushion, and with these the couple kept afloat, although they were sucked under three times when the ship foundered.

Captain Townsend, the officer in charge of the Salvation Army work in Quebec- City, will arrive here to-night to take charge of the bodies of the army victims. His wife was to have sailed by the Empress of Ireland, but was too ill to leave Quebec.

SALVATION ARMY OFFICER RESCUED.

News was received at the Salvation Army headquarters, London, on Saturday, that Capt. Pugmire is among the rescued. This raises the total number of Salvationists rescued to 22, out of about 160 on board, Commissioner M'Kie left London this morning for Liverpool, where he will join the Aquitania. He is proceeding to Canada to take up temporary command there. "We shall all bow our heads in subdued sorrow, but the Salvation Army must march on," said Brigadier Perry to-day.




This article originally appeared in The Witness 2 June 1914.

image: British Newspaper Archive

Empress of Ireland Disaster - The Survivors

THE SURVIVORS.

OFFICIAL LISTS OF PASSENGERS AND CREW

Several lists of the rescued passengers have been issued. The names are as follow --

FIRST CLASS.

F. E. Abbott (Toronto).	Lionel Kent (Montreal).
J. R. Abercrombie (Vancouver).	Miss Grace Kohl (Montreal).
Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Adie (Birmingham).	Miss A. H. Lee.
A. J. Burrows (Nottingham).	C. B. Lyon (Vancouver).
R. A. Cunningham(Winnipeg).	C. Malloch.
D. A. Darling (London).	Mrs. A. E. Mullins (London).
W. Fenton (Manchester).	Mrs. H. R. O'Hara and daughter (Toronto).
Miss Doris Gaunt (Birmingham).	Mrs. W. E. Patton (Sherbrooke).
P. Godson (Kingston).	E. Seybold (Ottawa).
L, A. Gosselin (Montreal).	Miss T. Townsend (New Zealand).
G. W. S. Henderson (Montreal).	Rev. J. Wallett (London).
Miss J. T. Blyth.	C. R. Clark (Detroit).
C. Gallagher (Montreal).	Miss H. Taylor (Montreal).
L. A. Hyamson (London).	Mr. and Mrs. Harwood Cash (Nottingham).

SECOND AND THIRD CLASS.

K. Abanok.	K. Joyo.
P. H. Archer.	Y. Kamimicky.
J. Anderson.	James Johnston.
A. M. Arikkalam.	A. Klamont.
Major Atwell.	Adam Koklickach.
Mrs. Atwell.	A. Kalebutala.
Miss Ethel Bachi.	M. Kutchen.
Miss Edith Boch.	J. Krutin.
Bokey P. Bartosch.	M. Koczak.
M. Beoocries.	Mrs. Kirtley.
Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Black	--. Koschriss.
Miss D. F. Blythe.	A. Kranchisky.
Elliss Boris.	Miss F. Kruse.
T. Bonar Ryak	Alfred Keith.
A. Bradley.	Rowel Lea.
Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Brooks.	H. Lawler.
J. K. Lenaly.	Miss A. Lee.
A. Brown.	Miss Martha Luren Linquist.
F. Brooks.	Laurence L. Barbour.
J. Burns.	J. J. Lennon.
G. Buckass.	G. Maguire.
E. Byrne.	J. Maguire.
B. Brict.	Miss F. Maloch.
J. Braga.	D. McAmmond.
Eric Burainon.	W. H. Measures.
Alice Bales.	F. M. Melson.
B. Chamboi.	B. Minanch.
Charles Clark.	Major Morris
--- Conspanion.	S. Missila.
Miss E. Court.	T. Munteau.
Jaz. Connor (colour).	V. Moore.
J. R. Crombie.	H. Mose
R. W. Crellin.	--- Musychuk.
Mrs. G. C. Cook.	John Murphy.
J. Fergus-Duncan (London).	H. Murninnon.
Jack Rubenstein.	M. Moseszuk.
W. Davies.	Kenneth M'Intyre.
Gordon Davidson.	P. Noenickky.
Dennis P. Darling.	F. Calender.
D. Datonkist.	Julen Patrick.
J. Evanson.	Geo. Pott.
S. R. Delamount.	W. Paschkowdis(?).
J. R. Delamount.	E. Pugmire.
J. F. Elias.	A. Pykara.
E. L. Erickson.	G. Parkinson.
J. Erzinger.	H. Peterson.
A. B. Evans.	Mrs. Peterson.
Mr. and Mrs. H. Freman	Wm. Quinn.
Buma Fano.	Carl Randle.
F. Ferguson.	K. Rautain.
A. Ferugay.	A. Ranyon.
Tercy Flynn Flack.	S. Robekjchenko.
A. Ford. T. Romanechi.	--- Shodlak.
J. Fowler.	A. Rainyecna.
W. Foss.	John Salo.
Dr. James Grant.	P. Sanderson.
--- Graywhit.	M. Sanconia.
J. J. Gragowitz.	Albert Smith.
Mr. and Mrs. Green.	A. B. Spooner.
T. and Mrs. Greenway.	W. Schakalida.
Martin Gill.	A B. Smart.
Ernest H. Green.	A. Sobiye.
A. Gray.	M. S. Warnstone.
Herbert Greenaway.	B. Sosison.
Y. Kanimiski.	J. Scotni.
A. Hiller.	B. Sundor.
Mr. and Mrs. G. Hedgecock.	C. H. Smith.
Dr. Hunt.	Miss Schongutt.
U. Holkis.	Alan Taylor.
Grace Hannagan.	Miss Wilmott.
Grace Hannagan.	C. B. Wembauch.
D. Johnson (Fredricton, N.B.)	Capt. Wilson, S.A.

MEMBERS OF THE CREW.
The following are the crew saved, so far as can be ascertained up to 7-30 on Saturday evening --

SAILORS.
Bruin, T.	Hartford, N.
Brown, W.	Hudson, J.
Clarke, J.	Jones, D. H.
Downey, T.	Jeffries, J. F.
Donnelley, E.	Lang. B.
Dennis, T.	Moran, J.
Diseley, J.	M'Coy, J
Evans, A.	M'Ewab, J.
Evans, J.	M'Dougall, D.
Fitzpatrick, J.	M'Guire, J.
Fawcett, W.	Price, J. H.
Fitzgerald, H.	Sims, J.
Gratwick, T.
FIREMEN AND TRIMMERS.
Bailey, G.	M'Ginniss, R.
Brown, P.	Murphy, W.
Campbell, M.	Mitchell, J.
Clarke, J. J.	Neal, Henry.
Campbell, J.	Quinn, J.
Cottle, Sam.	Rowlands, T.
Duffy, J.	Rockford, M.
Davies, P.	Rochford, M.
Davis, J.	Rice, E.
Dolan, P.	Ryan, T.
Daves, J.	Sheridan, P.
Donaldson, J.	Smythe, J.
Foster, E.	Stephen, J.
Gray, J.	Smith, J.
Hayes, E.	Toole, J.
Jackson, E. E.	Toole, P.
Keegan, J.	Whitty, J.
King J.	Wilson, J.
M'Ready, T.	White, Henry.
M'Ewan, J.
LEADING FIREMEN.
Cassey, J.	Murphy, P.
Hood, T.	M'Case, J.
Hutchinson, A.	Neill, H. D.
Malone, P. or J.	Hitty, J.
M'Ginnis, J.
STEWARDS.
Absolon, V.	Grieves, G.
Brown, J.	Gibson, J.
Challis, M.	Green, F.
Cure, A.	Griffiths, O.
Clague, R.	Hughes, W. R.
Cooke, T.	Hughes, W. L.
Campa, W.	Hird, W.
Dixon.	Hebret, W.
Dumbell, T.	Harrison, F.
Donegan, J.	Haish, S.
Dixon, A. H.	Hayes, J. A.
Flimo, R.	Jones, C.
Fireday, A.	Jones, O.
Foyle, R. R.	M'William.
Grey, A.	Metcalf, H.
Gill, H.	Myers, J.
Gregory, F.	Metcalf, T.
M'Sherry, J.	Smith, J.
Owen, W. S.	Smith, A. E.
Price, T.	Shannon, F. J.
Prouse, J. W.	Smith, H. K.
Pritchard, O.	Williams, A. C.
Parry, D.	Williams, T.
Pritchard, J.	Williams, R.
Pitts, W. H.	Williams, Jos.
Rowan, W.	Gaade, A. W.
Roberts, W.	Hollies, H. (stewardess).
Robertson, J.
ENGINEERS.
Brennan, R. H.	M'Ewan, J.
Hampton, W.	O'Donovan, G.
Johnston. J. A. B.	Samson. W.
Liddell, R. R.	Smith, A. E.
Moonie, G.	Swan, J. H.
M'Donald, C. K.	White, J. B.
GREASERS.
Duggan, P.	O'Donnell, D.
Darcy, F.	Reardon, D.
Holding, S.	Summers, J.
Megson, J.	Stephens, J.
M'Adam. W.	Sheridan, R.
Mahar, T.	Williams, W.
Nelson, C.
COOKS AND BAKERS.
Bratithwaite, J.	Mathhewa, J. L.
Bishop, T.	Rohr, A. S.
Cunningham, J.	Sharkey, N.
(-?-)don, H.	Shaw, H.
(-?-)tt, A	Smith, T. J.
[-?-], P.	Turner, J.
[-?-],A.	Ventry, J.
Lee, S.	Williams, D.
Lewis, J.
SCULLERY AND PANTRY MEN.
Cope, J.	Prince, W.
Copplin, G.	Thomson, A.
M'Aleavy, P.	Wynn, T
Owen, R.
STOREKEEPER.
Burns, C.
QUARTERMASTERS.
Galway, J.	Murphy, J.
BOATSWAINS.
Sprague, T.	Bradley, A. C.
MARCONI.
Bamford, C. Fergerson, J.
PRINTER.
Duggan, J.
BUTCHERS.
Dawson, A.	M'Donnell, H. J.
Knight, R.	Paterson, I.
ELECTRICIANS.
Duckworth, W. B.	Grant, J.
BAR-KEEPER.
Davis, J.
SECOND OFFICER.
Fife, O.
SURGEON.
Grant, J. F.
BARBER.
Glassberg, R.
ASSISTANT PURSERS.
Hayes, E.	Wakeford, C.
BUGLER.
Hobson, S.
FIRST OFFICER.
Jones, E. J.
CAPTAIN
Kendall, H. G. (slightly injured).
BOOTS.
Marl, W.	Powell, L.
BELLBOY.
Spencer, C.
MASTER-AT-ARMS.
R. Saunders.

The following deserted at Quebec -- Cooney, J.; Caldwell, J.; Doolan, J.; Mountain, T.; Neil, C. -- total, 211.

The following engineers, ex-Asia, were signed on for passage home -- James Rankin-Scott, W. Albert Smith, Bryan H. Lockhart, J. Homes Scotand -- all reported lost.

The 1914 funeral service for those who drowned on The Empress of Ireland.

MESSAGE FROM MONTREAL.

BODIES IDENTIFIED.

Maginnis, A. G., director of Mappin & Webb, Ltd., London.
Holt, K. E. Toronto.
Goldthorpe, Chas., of Bradford.
Crathern, Miss, Montreal.
Gallagher, Mrs., Winnipeg.
Barlow, Mrs. A. E., Montreal.
Seybold, Mrs., Ottawa.
Bow, Adjutant and Mrs. De, Toronto.
Hannagan, E., Toronto.
Morris, Mrs., Toronto.
Green, Mrs., Toronto.
Findlay, Major, Toronto.
Lavis, Mrs., Toronto.
Potter, Brigadier,Toronto.
Bristow, Mrs., Westminster.
Paavetila and son.
Potter, Brigadier, Montreal.
Wilkes, Toronto.
Major Nettie Lymcoe, Manitoba.
Georgi Zonk and Bladisten Zonk.
Hannan, F. S., Manitoba.
Hunton, Mrs., Salvation Army, Manitoba.
Brooks, Dolly.
Potter, W., Manitoba.
Leonard Palmer, Mrs. W., Toronto.
Archer, Mrs. Hannuanen, E.
Kivolsky, Ivan.
Steele, R., chief officer
Wildman, J., storekeeper.
Braine, E., bedroom steward.
Thompson, G. J., plumber.
Peterson, V., carpenter.
Perry, H., assistant steward.
Pearson, Mrs. S. J., stewardess.
M'Grath, J., assistant steward.
Parkinson, second-class steward.
Rees, Mrs., Commissioner.
Maidment, Colonel.
Potter, Brigadier.
Findlay, Major.
Simcoe, Mrs., Major.
Harry Green, Adjt., and daughter.
Hannagan, Adjutant, and Mrs.
Guido Whatmore, Captain and Mrs.
Morris, Mrs. Staff Captain.

Montreal, Saturday Morning:-- The following is a list of the first class passengers saved -- F. E. Abbot, Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. Percy Adie, Birmingham, England; John Atkinson, A. J. Burrows, Nottingham; R. A. Cunningham, Winnipeg; W. Fenton, Manchester; -- Fallagher; Miss Doris Gaunt, Birmingham; L. A. Gosselin, Montreal; G. W. S. Henderson, Montreal; L. A. Hyamson, London; Lionel Kent, Montreal; Miss Grace Kohl, Montreal; C. B. Lyon, Vancouver; Mrs. O'Hara and daughter, Toronto; E. Seybold, Ottawa; Mrs. W. E. Patton, Sherbrooke; Mrs. A. A. Mullen, London.

The second and third class passengers saved were -- A. Benek, K. Archer, P. H. Anderson, J. Arikkalla,, A. M. Bachi, Miss Ethel Beck, Misa Edith Bartsih, K. Boskey, P. Baccerize, M. Black, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Blyth, Miss B. P. Boris, Eliss Bomaryak, T. Bardley, A. Brooks, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Brown, A. Burns, John Buckas, G. Byrne, E. Bract, V. Braga, W. Duraimen, Eric Botha Chamber, E. Clark, Chas. Conspanein Court, Miss E. Cannor, James Colore. D. Crombie, J. R. Davies, W. Davison, -- Gordon, -- Darling, -- Dennis, P. Datoukist, D. Lea,  -- Lowell, -- Lawler, H. Lee, Miss A. Lenaly, J. K. Lias, L. Linquist, Miss Martha Luren Maguire, E. Maguire, J. Maloch, Miss F. M'Cammond, D. Measure, W. H. Melson, F. M. Minanch, B. Missila, S. Munteau, T. Moore, V. Mose, H. Muzychuk, Murphy, John Murninaen, M. Moseszuk, M. Nernickky, P. Oslender, F. Patrick, Julien Pott, George Paschkowdis, W. Pugmire, E. Pykara, A. Quinn, Wm. Evanson, J. Jackson, E. L. Erzinger, J. Evans, A. B. Ferrigay, L. A. Fanobuma, Ferguson, F. Glack, Terey, Flynn, Ford, A. Fowler, J. Foss, W. Grant, Dr. James S. Graywhitz, J. Green, Mrs. Greenaway, T. Gill, Martin, Hanalaino, D. Hilweer, A. Hunt, Dr. Holkis, W. Joil, K. Kamnishi, Y. Klamont, A. Koklinkach, Adam Kaloyutala, Kutchem, M. Kritin, J. Keozak, M. Kairkhley, Mrs. Koschriss Krahchenky, A. Kruco, Miss F. Rubenstein, Jack Randle, Carl Kautala, K. Ramyena, A. Rebeljschenke, Silgor Romanechi, T. Salo, John Sanderson, P. Saneomnia, Monro Smith, Albert Spooner, P. Schakalida, W. Schedlok, Smart, A. B. Sobiye, A. Swarnstone, M. Sosison, B. Scotni, J. Sunder, B. Taylor. Allen Thalie, N. Totin, A. Tatti, Y. Tuchesk, M. Talebkka, A. Valinaki, T. Van Lanks, T. Vroilidvalky, Mrs. Hilda Ventre, A. Walker, A. Williams.

 Unloading the coffins of the children from Lady Gray

OFFICIAL LIST.

The following list, the fouHh to be received of second and third class passenger survivors was issued from the offices of the Canadian Pacific Railway to-day -- K. Abanok, F. H. Archer, J. Anderson, A. M. Arikkala, Major Atwell, Mrs. Atwell, Miss Ethel Machi, Miss Edith Boch, B. P. Bartsch, M. Decocriss, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Black, Miss B. F. Blyth, Eliss Boris, T. Bonarynk, A. Bradley, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Brooks, A. Brown, J. Burn, C. Buchas, E. Byrne, J. Braga, E. B. Burkinson, Florence L. Barbour, Alice Bales, E. Chamboi, Clark Conspanin, Miss E. Court, J. Connor (coloured), J. R. Crombie, R. W. Crollin, Mrs. G. E. Cook, W. Davies, G. Davidson, D. P. Darling, P. Datonkist, J. Evanson, E. L. Erickson, J. Erzinger, A. B. Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, Buma Pano, F. Ferguson, A. Ferrigay, Flack, Tercy Flynn, A. Ford, J. Fowler, W. Foss, Dr. John Grant, Graywhit, J. Grazowitz, Miss Green, T. Greenaway and Mrs. Greenaway, Martin Gill, Ernest H. Green, A. Gray, Herbert Greenaway, D. Kanalaino, A. Miller, Dr. Hunt, A. Holkis, Grace Hannagen, K. Joel, Y. Kamanishi, A. Klamont, Adam Kiklickach, A. Kalevutala, M. Kutchen, J. Krutin, M. Koczah, Mrs. Kirthley, Koschriss, A. Kranchisky, Miss F. Kruso, Alfred Keith, Rowell Lea, S. Lawler, Miss A. Lee, J. K. Leneley, L. Liss, Miss Martha Luren, Linquet, J. J. Lennon, G. Maguire, J. Maguire, Miss F. Maloch, D. Moannond, W. H. Measure, F. M. Melson, B. Minanch, S. Missila, T. Munteau, V. Moore, H. Mose, Muskchuk, John Murphy, M. Murninson, Moses Zuk, Kenneth M'Intyre, P. Noenickky, F. Calender, Julien Patrick, George Pott, W. Paschkowdis, E. Pugnire, A. Pykara, C. Parkinson, H. Peterson, Mrs. Peterson, Wm. Quinn, Jack Rubenstein, Carl Randle, K. Rautala, A. Renyona, Silgor Robeljchenko, T. Romanechi, John Salo, P. Sanderson, Moro Sancomia, Albert Smith, R. P. Spooner, W. Schakalida, Shodlok, A. B. Smart, A. Sobive, H. Swarnstone, B. Sosison, J. Scotni, B. Sundor, C. H. Smith, Miss Schongutt, Allan Taylor, N. Thalie, O. Totin, Y. Tatti. N. Tuchoskm, A. Talrobkka, T. Valinnke, T. Van Lanki, Varvited, Mrs. Hilda Valky, A. Ventro, A. Walker, J. Williams, Miss Wilmott, and C. B. Weinranch. The following is an additional list of first cabin passengers rescued -- G. Bogue, Smart, Mr. Cox Edwards, Mr. A. K. Wakeford, and his son, who was assistant purser of the ship; also the following second class passengers -- Mrs. Davies, Mr. T. Johnson, Mr. Herman Kruse, Mr. and Mrs. R. Simmonds, and Mr. W. Turpin.

THE CREW.

Frederick Glynn, steward; Archibald Thompson, steward; Patrick Brown, fireman; W. Williams, greaser; Towland Ferguson, chief Marconi operator; Patrick Hoian, cook; F. Faige, cook; H. Mellen, steward; C. Burns, storekeeper; T. Flood, fireman; A. E. Smith, steward; W. Herbert, steward; R. Williams, steward; B. Malone, fireman; J. Moran, seaman; John Cook, pantryman; Daniel J. Jones, seaman; John Ryan, fireman; Tom Ryan, fireman; Edwin, cook; Charles H. Spencer, bellboy; John Gunn, trimmer; David Williams, cook; Percy Gee, steward; B. Absolon, steward; Miss B. T. Blyth, maid; T. Price, steward; A. Mill, cook; J. Vemtry, cook; H. Clandon, cook; T. Douglas, baker; R. Knight, butcher; John Hudson, A.B.; E. Bamford, jun., Marconi operator; A. Hind, steward; Thomas Williams, chief second steward; W. Grey, steward; N. Wakesford, assistant purser; A. Grant, electrician; J. King, engineer; William Adam, engineer; R. M'Lay, engineer; W. Fawcett, A.B.; F. Norman, bandmaster; A. Hemberton, musician; H. Shaw, baker; George Bailey, fireman; John Connor, greaser; H. B. Childs, musician; J. Mitchell, trimmer; S. Clarke, trimmer; P. Holland, cook; J. Turner, cook; P. Murphy, fireman; P. Dollan, trimmer; G. Megson, greaser; Henry White, trimmer; B. Long, A.B.; B. Davidson, storekeeper; John Whitley, fireman; Robert Sander, master-at-arms; A. Whitley, fireman; James M'Coy, storekeeper; B. Bishop, assistant cook; W. H. Hughes, steward; W. H. Pick, steward; H. Burrill, steward; C. Jones, steward; C. Williams, steward; G. Metcalf, steward; E. H. Swan, tenth engineer; W. S. Owen, steward; choreboy Officer; Mrs. Hollis, stewardess (the only stewardess saved); K. J. M'Henry, butcher; A. Symon, cook; E. Matthews, chief cook; Thomas M'Dougal, fireman; P. J. Smith, baker; A. Elliott, baker; W. G. Aade, chief steward; D. B. Buskworth, electrician; W. Malone, firenan; T. Molson, greaser; F. Baker, steward; J. Hayes, steward; M. Challes, steward; Captain Kendall; -- Johnston, chief engineer; John Brown, steward; James M'Ewan, fourth engineer; D. M'Dougall, A.B.; O. Pinner, steward; P. Murrfur, fireman; T. Mumbell, steward; A. Dunner, trimmer; F. Gregory, steward; A. Stevens, fireman; R. R. Little, third ergineer: S. S. Hodgson, officers' steward; Charles Jackson, fireman; H. Claigue, steward; P. Metcalfe, steward; P. Mountain, fireman; H. J. Houghton, trimmer; W. Clark, fireman; G. Sheredein, greaser; G. A. Stevens, greaser; J. Jeffrey, greaser; J. Holden, greaser; J. M'Coman, fireman; J. Clark, seaman; H. Jacques, steward; J. Poul, fireman; B. Readem, greaser; J. M'Kay, fireman; B. M'Donnell, greaser; A. E. Smith, engineer; T. K. M'Donald, extra fourth, engineer; O. Jones, steward; W. Brown, seaman; J. Campbell, fireman; J. Smyth, trimmer; J. M. Campbell, trimmer; J. M'Innes, trimmer; J. Simmes, seaman; E. H. Jones, seaman; J. Price, seaman; J. Smith, steward; O. Pritchard, steward; C. Parkinson, steward; T. M'Inness, fireman; T. Duggan, greaser; -- Dunnigan, steward; G. Grives, steward; R. Owen, steward; C. Cook, steward; J. A. Dugan, assistant printer; C. Copplin, pantryman; A. Dawson, butcher; -- Braithwaite, second baker; John Wilson, fireman; -- M'Etan, seaman; J. Keegan, trimmer; J. Fitzpatrick, seaman; -- Bohr, confectioner; Meonie Hunior, third engineer; Robert Brennan, jun., second engineer; A. Johnston, eighth engineer; J. D. White, seventh engineer; L. M. M'Donald, steward; J. Pulchard, steward; W. Cowan, steward; J. Gibson, steward; J. Geseby, A.B.; M. Hartford, A.B.; T. O'Toole, trimmer; A. Lewis, cook; F. Cuttles, trimmer; P. M'Alevice, oook; J. Patterson, butcher; A. H. Dickson, steward; H. R. Molland, steward; W. Roberts, steward; E. Shannon, fireman; A. Cure, steward; Rockford, fireman; W. Quinn, trimmer; A. Matthews, trimmer; M. Summer, fireman; Slasburg, barber; A. Gray, steward; M'Donald, butcher; Maul, steward; Powell, steward; Perry, steward; Nugent, steward; Mudtoch (Murdoch?), steward; D'Arcy, greaser; Edward Wright, fireman; G. Bradwicks, seaman; T. Downey, seaman; John Davids, trimmer; James M'Gill, seaman; S. Harrison, steward; B. Rius, seaman; Pat. Maher, greaser.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE BODIES

Quebec, Monday. -- The identification of the bodies is proceeding slowly. Those already recognised include H. Debond, Liverpool; W. B. Graham, Hong Kong; Mrs. Brigadier Hunter, India; Mrs. W. Jones, Briarly Hill; Mrs. Ledgers, stewardess; Colonel Maidment, Sydney, and Mrs. Maidment; Jack Murphy, waiter, Liverpool; Gordon A. MacGinnis, of London; H. Newham, steward; Mrs. W. Leonard Palmer, London; Mrs. H. Wynne, New Zealand; Mrs. Peerson, Liverpool; Mr. Steele, chief officer; Mrs. Clara Vincent. Weymouth.




This article originally appeared in The Witness 2 June 1914.

image top: Emigrants on the Empress of Ireland
image middle: Funeral of victims in 1914
image bottom: Unloading the coffins of the children from Lady Gray