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ATHENIA SINKING STATEMENT.
MR. CHURCHILL REVEALS THAT SUBMARINE CIRCLED ROUND THE SINKING SHIP
KING'S MESSAGE TO PREMIER
London, To-day.
The King has sent a mes- sage to Mr. Neville Chamber- lain saying: "In spite of all our hopes and endeavours we have been compelled to re- sort to war.
"In this grave hour of our coun- try's fortunes I wish to acknowledge the unremitting efforts of my Civil Service both at home and overseas in the past troubled years, both in promoting the cause of peace and in preparing the country for the emer- gency which is now upon us.
"I am sure that you will con- tinue your work in the same spirit until peace is restored." Mr. Chamberlain, in his reply, thanked His Majesty and assured him of the continued loyalty and devotion of the Civil Service.-Reuter.
MERCHANT NAVY'S LOYALTY
London, To-day.
the
the A message has been sent to King by Captain W. H. Coombes, re- Navigators and presentating the Engineers Union and
Officers Union assuring His Majesty that the British Merchant Navy will uphold His Majesty's honour and will defend merchant ships in observance of the decencies of international law.
A reply from Buckingham Palace that says: His Majesty, knows well the members of your Unions will not fail to sustain the honour of the Merchant Navy.--Reuter.
30 20 25
London, To-day.
MAILA
MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL, First Lord of the Admiralty, made a further statement in the House of Commons yesterday on the sinking of the Athenia.
Mr. Churchill said it was now clear that the disaster was due to an attack without warning by a hos- tile submarine.
The Athenia was struck by a torpedo near the en-
gine-room on the port side.
After firing the torpedo, the submarine came to the surface and fired a shell, which exploded in "C" deck. She then cruised round the sinking liner.
This was clear from statements on in the tragedy and with those who oath made by the Chief Officer of the] were now racked by uncertainty and Athenia and by American and Eng-suspenge. lish survivors.
There
the
were 1,418 on board liner, of whom 1,103 were passengers. Approximately eight hundred of the latter were Europeans and 300 Amer-
icans.
+
The disaster, Mr. Churchill said, had proved to be much greater than ear- lier reports had indicated.
An accurate list of those miss- ing was not yet available, nor could any accurate figures be given of those. killed by the first explosion and those drowned.
unaccounted Altogether 125 were for, but some might be on the Swedish yacht in the vicinity.
•
NO DEFENCES
Efforts were being made by the Admiralty and by the Anchor-Donald- son Line, by wireless and other means, to obtain the names of those saved.
Mr. Churchill emphasised that the Athénia was not defensively armed. She carried no guns, and her decks had not even been strengthened for this purpose. Mr. Churchill said he was sure the House would express with him pro- found sympathy with those. bereaved
Hana Brick has a way with the Inmates of the Chessington Zoo, Surrey. Hare he la with "Habibi”, a ten year old Han who is soen tak. ing it easy whilst being groomed. (Copyright, Fox).
HOW DIFFERENT
Mr. Churchill pointed out how dif- ferent the sinking of the Athenia was to the sinking of German vessels by British warships, in the latter case provision being made for the safety of crew and passengers.
First
A questioner asked the Lord if the submarine had left Germany after the declaration of war, or before the declaration in British anticipation of sinking vessels.
Who wouldn't play ball with Helen Parrish; screen starlet our-
Deanna rently with
Durbin in Universal's "First Love," when she is so charmingly, dressed for the game? Helen's play suit is of Roman-striped cotton used hori- zontally in the bodice and the op- posite way in the shorts.
SHARP
INCREASE IN FOOD PRICES
The sharp increase in food prices in Hong Kong, affect- Mr. Churchill said the necessary ing tinned goods principally, calculations would be made, but it but marked also by profiteer- was clear that the submarine was ing in other necessities, ap-
waiting on the route.
pear to be the work of an or- ganisation, as the increases have been practically uni- form.
WHAT WE SHALL NOT DO
In the House of Lords, Lord Stan- hope, asked what we intended to do about the Athenia sinking, said one thing we would certainly not do would be to attack German merchant- men without warning.
Other steps to be taken would, he have in fact reduced one or two. trusted, prove adequate.-Reuter.
Foreign firms are doing their best to check the movement..
Mr.
· NO ESTIMATE YET The House will realise, said Churchill, that owing to the nature of the the disaster, accurate details number of victims cannot yet be as- certained.
No estimate can be made as to how many were killed at the first explo- sion, nor as to the numbers drowned by the reported capsizing of several boats after the passengers had taken
to them...
The Dairy Farm and Lane," Craw- ford's have not increased their prices;*
Wholesalers are also bringing pres-- sure to bear.
Nostics, for instance, are refus-. ing to-day to meet orders except for hospital or clinical require- ments, as they have done for the past two days, and it is under- stood that Jardine's are taking olmilar steps to prevent retailers from exploiting the present situa- tion for profiteering.
According to those in the trade,. there is no justification for price in- creases by 33 per cent. which seems to be the general average
in com- Survivors were picked up by two
pradore shops, though freight costs British destroyers, and by the Knute and the drop in American exchange: Nelson, the City of Flint and, it is hoped, by a Swedish yacht. At pre-might justify smaller increases when
new supplies come to hand. ' sent, some 125 passengers and are unaccounted for. It still possible that a number of these may be aboard the Swedish yacht-British Wireless.
*
SURPRISE VISIT BY THE KING
crew
London, To-day. The King yesterday paid a surprise visit to the secret headquarters s of the R.A.F. Fighter Command.
The King, who was in R.A.F. uni- him, form, had his gas mask with and was met by the Chief Air Mar- shal.
His Majesty Inspected the con- trol rooms and the heavy defences outside the headquarters."
COMPENSATION FOR CREW OF THE ATHENIA
LONDON, TO-DAY. OFFICERS AND CREW OF THE ATHENIA WILL COME UNDER THE RECENTLY PASSED LEGISLATION. IN CONNEXION WITH COMPENSA. TION FOR · PERSONAL INJURIES
IN
WARTIME.
This was announced in the House
of Commons yesterday afternoon.
Some of the crew have already been paid compensation.-Reuter.
SNATCHING CASE
Sentence of two months' hard labour- was imposed by Mr. Q. A, A, Maç- fadyen at Kowloon this morning on was con- He also visited the anti-aircraft Lu Kwok-choi, 17, who command headquarters, after which victed yesterday for attempting to he returned to Buckingham Palace-, snatch a handbag from Miss d'Ere- Reuter.
meef on Tuesday night,