1915-05-10pp

“Latest returns show that at least 27, and possibly 32, Hamilton people sailed aboard the Lusitania when she made her final voyage. Of these eight and known to have been saved; little hope is held out for any of the others”

Hamilton Herald.   May 10, 1915.

By the time that the afternoon edition of the Hamilton Herald was ready to hit the streets on Monday, May 10, 1915, the following list of Hamiltonians aboard the Lusitania, as definitively as possible to that time, was published:

“Hamilton Survivors

          Mrs. (Dr.) A. B. Osbourne, 42 East Charlton Avenue.

          Robinson Pirie, 24 South Hess street.

          Mrs. S. Critchison, 244 Mountain Park avenue.

          R. W. Crooks, now of Toronto.

          Mrs. Fanny Marshall, 433 North Ferguson avenue.

          Herbert Light, Summers Stock company.

          E. Mason Myers, formerly of Stratford.

 

“Hamiltonians Lost.

          J. M. Young, 301 South James street.

          Mrs. J. M. Young

          Miss Dorothy Braithwaite, daughter of A. D. Braithwaite

          Julius Strauss, 203 North Hughson street.

          George Rolfe, formerly of Grimsby.

          K. Critchison, 244 Mountain Park avenue.

          Mr. Critison’s son.

          Mrs. W. Smith, 437 ½ North Hughson street.

          F. Skelton, 70 Steven street.

          Reuben Burley, 126 Frederick avenue.

          Mrs. R. Burley.

          Master Reginald Burley.

          Miss Doris Burley.

          Mrs. J. H. Bull, 122 Frederick avenue.

          Color-Sergt. John E. Oliver, 85 Flatt avenue.

          Allan Swallow, 147 Munro avenue.

          George Sidwell, 92 South West avenue.

A.  Tucker, 44 Melbourne street.

J. Bishop, 233 Beach road.

Mrs. J. Bishop, 233 Beach road.

 

“Probably Hamiltonians Lost.

          J. Fisher, Hamilton.

          Mrs. J. Fisher, wife.

          Miss M. L. Boyd, Hamilton.

          Mrs. S. W. Smith, Hamilton.

          Alex. Stuart, Hamilton.”

² “Twenty Hamiltonians Lost With Lusitania”

Hamilton Herald.   May 10, 1915.

          A reporter with the Herald learned of a sad anecdote regarding a Hamiltonian, Julius Strauss, whose body had yet to be found, yet whose death was almost certainly presumed:

“Practically no doubt exists as to whether Julius Strauss met death. A prominent commercial man, whose sister is seriously ill at present, Mr. Strauss would unquestionably have cabled before this, had he been safe.

“And in connection with the death of Julian Strauss, a rather pathetic story is told. Previously to leaving Hamilton to embark on the ship, Mr. Strauss stated that he had no fear of anything happening to the Lusitania. This he told to the fellow employees of Coppley, Noyes and Randall, but he quite seriously bid them all farewell, stating that while he had no fears, such a thing might come to pass.”¹

As regards the fate of Mr. and Mrs. J. V. Young, the Hamilton Spectator ran an article on Tuesday May 11, 1915 ran an article under the headline, “All Hope Gone : No Trace Has Been Secured of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Young”:

“No further word has been received by the family which would lead then to the belief that they had escaped death in the sinking of the Lusitania, and in fact no hope is now entertained that they by any chance escaped a watery grave.

“This fact is a source of great regret to all who knew them, and their friends were legion. That both were held in the very highest esteem was demonstrated by the tributes which were paid to them by their friends. Both Mr. and Mrs. Young were natives of the city, and spent their lives here, and their deaths will be a distinct loss to the community in which they resided for so long a time.”¹

¹“All Hope Gone : No Trace Has Been Secured of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Young”

Hamilton Spectator.  May 12, 1915.

The next day, Thursday March 13, 1915, the Spectator carried an article about a family member of a Lusitania victim :

“ ‘I want to enlist.’

“There was an ominous note of determination and the hint of a sob in the voice of the speaker, and the recruiting officer glanced up sharply at the stocky figure towering beside his desk.

“ ‘You want to enlist?’ Something in the glance that met his own made further speech impossible for the recruiting officer. This man beside him was not of the ordinary run of volunteers. Here was a man with a grievance – a hater of ll things German.

“ ‘What branch of the service do you want to join? Asked the recruiting officer, after a moment’s pause.

“ ‘The one which will take me to the battle line first – the one that’ll take me into the thick of the fighting. The dirty hounds – they murdered my wife and unborn babe and – I’ve got a score to even.’ The vindictiveness of the man’s reply staggered the officer. His first conjecture had been well grounded.

“The recruit was Constable William Smith, 476 Hughson street north. His wife was a passenger on the Lusitania, when it went on its fatal voyage. Smith, heartbroken, had haunted the newspaper offices, hoping and praying that his wife was among the saved. But as each succeeding list of the rescued clicked in over the wire, and no mention was made of his wife, his sorrow turned to bitter hatred. Last evening he decided to enlist. It was one way of settling the score.

‘ ‘They might get me and I guess they will, but, by God, I’ll get some of them first,’ said Smith, tendering his resignation to Deputy Police Chief Whatley.”¹

¹ “Chucked Job to Wipe Out Bitter Score : Constable William Smith is Now a Soldier”

Hamilton Spectator.   May 13, 1915