BODIES BRUISED AND MUTILATED
Many similar tragic incidents were enacted in the course of the day, and by nightfall there were twelve other bodies of which identifications were made but of which the relatives were not sure because of the bruised and mutilated condition of the bodies.
A glance at the corpses taken in a walk along the line revealed the story of the collision and the incidents following. Almost all bore marks of violence inflicted by contact with parts of the wrecked ship or in struggles in the water. There were bodies of women whose heads were split open or gashed. It is possible that women running from their staterooms in the darkness following the collision ran against stanchions or were hurled against the walls of the sides of the corridors. The wounds also indicated that some of the women had been crushed when the collier buried her steel nose in the side of the Empress.
Officials in Rimouski have said also that the bodies of the women showed that several of them had been stabbed, that bodies of men had been found with knives in their hands. At any rate, it was apparent by a glance at the shrouds that had been placed on the bodies of both men and women that there were other wounds not disclosed on the faces.
In addition to the bodies received in Quebec, a number had been identified at Rimouski and shipped to the homes of relatives. If the Empress is raised many other bodies trapped in their staterooms will probably be obtained.
The bodies which were not identified in Quebec on Sunday were embalmed and kept for a few days longer. Then they were photographed by representatives of the Canadian Pacific and buried in graves marked “unknown.”
CHAPTER IX
Solemn Services for the Dead
MEMORIAL SERVICES THROUGHOUT CANADA—TRUST IN GOD—AT ST. JAMES’ CATHEDRAL—RABBI JACOBS’ TRIBUTE—WHOLE CITY HONORED THE ARMY DEAD—SERVICES IN THIRTY-FOUR LANGUAGES
IN every church in Canada, Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish alike, reference was made on Sunday, May 31st, to the disaster that had at one blow bereaved hundreds of Canadian homes. Many congregations had suffered to the extent of losing one or more of their members, and these held memorial services of an impressive character. The first news of the sinking of the Empress came with such suddenness that few people were at once able to appreciate the appalling nature of the tragedy. But by Sunday, when the full significance had impressed itself upon them, the effect was apparent. An air of sadness filled the churches, and the faces of those in the congregations were grave and drawn. Outside, scores of flags floating at half-mast bore mute testimony to the catastrophe.