1915-05-07gg

“News received this afternoon of the big Cunard liner Lusitania being torpedoed came as a terrible shock. There are many Hamilton people aboard.”  

Hamilton Spectator.    May 07, 1915.

The sinking of the Titanic was still very fresh in the minds of Hamiltonians when it was learned that another huge luxury passenger steamship had possibly sunk.

While the Titanic only had a few passengers from the Hamilton area, the Lusitania passenger list continued many names of Hamilton people. Also, while the Titanic sinking was a tragic accident, the Lusitania had been reportedly been hit by torpedoes launched from German submarine as an act of war.

The news of the Lusitania distress was very sketchy in Hamilton at first:

“The first intimation came in a flash which reported that the company had received a rumor that been attacked by a German submarine. This was bulletined in a very cautious way by the papers and the news was spread with lightning rapidity.

“The telephones rang incessantly as anxious people inquired as to the truth of the report. It was not until after 2 o’clock that that the Lusitania had been torpedoed and had signaled for help.”¹

¹ “Many Hamilton People Aboard the Big Lusitania Which Has been torpedoed.”

Hamilton Spectator.   May 7, 1915.

All the Hamilton newspapers rushed to print the shocking news in their late afternoon extra editions. Despite limited information as to the ultimate fate of the Lusitania, each paper did their best to publish what was known. The identities of those Hamiltonians on board the ship were relatively quickly learned, but not their fates.

The first edition of the Hamilton Times had much more information than could have been provided the previous afternoon or evening:

“Foreshadowing a tragedy with rumors as stirring as those surrounding the two great maritime disasters during recent years – the loss of the Titanic in 1912 with about 1,500 lives, and the sinking of the Empress of Ireland a year ago, when over a thousand were plunged to death in the waters of the St. Lawrence – the dire message that flew over the wires from New York to this city early yesterday afternoon agitated Hamiltonians to an unprecedented depth.

“With over a score from here on board the Lusitania, the news carried double significance and anxiety to the thousands who picked up the newspaper extras, an anxiety mitigated for a time when an early rumor had the boat’s submersion twelve hours after being ripped by German torpedoes and a later dispatch that the passengers and crew had all been saved.

“Authentic reports towards midnight dispelled these, however, and when the morning’s dispatches came to light even the hope that the death roll would be small was abandoned.”²

² “Messages of Rescued to Hamilton Friends.”

Hamilton Times.  May 8, 1915.

It had been an exhausting night for the employees of all three Hamilton daily newspapers. Their telephones were constantly ringing as citizens called to receive the latest news. For those who could not get through by telephone, the newspaper offices of all three newspaper were besieged by those who wished to be able to read the latest bulletins posted on the outside of each building as they were received.

So dense were the crowds at the locations of each newspaper, police were dispatched to help control the crowds and keep adjacent streets open for traffic.

Of the over 30 Hamiltonians known to be booked passage on the Lusitania, only 4 were known to have been saved as the morning newspapers hit the streets.

(To be continued)