A young Mortlach salvationist was aboard the Empress when it sank. Charles Wilkes
was a member of the Salvationist Band. He was accompanying Archie Brown and Leonard
Delamonts, also members of the band. Leonard had organized the band and was the
bandmaster. The band had become one of the finest musical groups of its kind in
Western Canada.
The Empress of Ireland set sail from Quebec at approximately 4:30 pm on May 28th.
As she left the dock at Quebec, the Salvation Army Band began to play "God Be With
You Till We Meet Again".
Arthur Delamont and his family survived the Empress sinking. He had wrote to a
sister a few days after the sinking " You know that Mother, Father, Lizzie and myself
were saved, and Archie Brown. But Charles Wilkes - he is gone. Father and I
identified him yesterday... We have not given up hope for Leonard yet, although he must be
gone.
The funeral service for Charles Wilkes was held in the old, red brick Salvation Army
Citadel still standing on High East; thousands of people lined the route of his
cortege to Moose Jaw Cemetery.
