Thousands of somber faced friends, neighbors and relatives await the arrival of the dead and the survivors of the Newfoundland disaster in 1914. The S.S. Newfoundland of 568 tons was one of the older wooden walls, under the command of Captain Kean. Kean had been unable to reach the seals and on March 31 his ship was jammed in heavy ice while, several miles away other ships including the S.S. Stephano commanded by his famous father, Abram Kean, were being successful. The Newfoundland was one of the few ships without wireless but through a pre-arranged signal from his father, Wes knew there were seals in the vicinity of the Stephano. Despite signs of threatening weather he sent his men toward the seals under the command of the second hand (first mate). Captain Kean apparently instructed the second hand that the men were to stay the night on board the Stephano and the S.S. Florizel, if necessary, but it is possible that the second hand did not hear him. In any case the Stephano picked up the men, brought them to the vicinity of a small patch of seals, and ordered them overboard with further orders to "pan" those seals and then return to the Newfoundland. The Stephano then steamed away while the Newfoundland's men killed a few seals and then started for their ship. Wes Kean, thinking that his men were on the Stephano, refused a request to blow the ship's whistle, and the men hunted futilely in the developing storm. The storm raged for two nights and on the morning of the third day the survivors were found on the ice. Out of 132 men 77 died and many were seriously frost bitten. An enquiry was held in St. John's and while no blame was placed on anyone, it was generally agreed that Captain Abram Kean of the Stephano had acted irresponsibly by leaving the crew on the ice to make their way back to the Newfoundland. This incident, the most serious of this nature, illustrates the callousness and brutality that had become part of the seal fishery by the turn of the century. With the shrinking seal industy, there were more men available than were needed and the declining seal stocks increased competition between 114 captains and ships. Consequently captains were apt to take greater risks and men were less likely to disobey than had been the case when the industry was in its prime.
