On this day in 1914...

Perhaps there is a reason that a year prior to May 29, 1914, the haunting music of Stravinsky's Le Sarce du printemps made it's world premiere,. Yes, perhaps it was a premonition of the tragedy that would mark it's year anniversary - If you listen closely it is almost as if you can hear a foggy darkness coming to life after what first sounds like the whispers of hope - a desperation chimes in of those knowing the end is near, and how they scramble in the cold looking for a way to run - run towards a direction that would give them safety - a security that is not found.

 Le Sarce du printemps - The Rite of Spring - a time for rebirth and growth - however, as we know, growth often comes after a time of loss -a time of pain. Listen to the music in video as you read on....

Just one year to the day after the world famous premiere 1,073 lives were lost to the darkness of water of the St. Lawrence River in Canada - their final breathes taken in the cold dark morning hours when two ships, The Empress of Ireland and the Storstad, lost their sight in a thick fog and collided when the Storstad failed to follow proper procedures fog conditions. That failure meant it would crash into the Empress of Ireland where it stood still on the St. Lawrence River.

The Empress of Ireland had just left Quebec City for Liverpool, England. Boarded on the magnificent ship was 1477 passengers and crew, and of which only 465 would live to see dry land ever again.

 The Storstad, a Norwegian coal freighter, survived the collision with the Empress of Ireland, however it was forever scarred and was torpedoed during WWI in 1917. The Storstad hit the doomed Empress midship, but the worse was yet to come and did so when the freighter's Captain, Thomas Anderson, failed to reverse the Storstad and ended up crushing many of the passengers on the Empress to only then cause the ship turn over on it's side - dumping into the cold waters those left who were unable to find refuge in a life-raft.

The Empress of Ireland sank in just 14 minutes -   In 14 minutes in 1914 over 1400 lives were changed forever.

The Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR), owner of the Empress of Ireland, went on to sue the owners of the Storstad. As part of the settlement, the CPR acquired ownership of the freighter.

*information gathered for this post came from the History.com website.