VICTIMS OF THE GERMAN PIRATES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3149, 30 July 1917, Page 6

VICTIMS OF THE GERMAN PIRATES

HOW THE-SAILORS' SOCIETY HELP STRANDED SEAMEN. The following authentic story has been received from' the chief Irish superintendent of the British and Foreign Sailors'. Society regarding German brutality to helpless merchant seamen:— Tho men of the German submarine took ono of the two ship's lifeboats to get aboard the s.s. Refugio on June 12, and when they had done with it kicked a hole in its bottom—which' the steward afterwards plugged with his shirt—and divided the crew of 30 (five Spaniards,' two Arabs, five blacks, and 24 British) into the two boats. The weather was very rough and wet, and the exposure and want of water soon told upon them. ' The two- boats had to be. kept. together by towing, but the rope broke owing to the heavy sea. The captain's boat was heaving straight to sea and sailing fast when the steward (W. R. Wilson! in tho second boat swam to the captain's boat in the darkness of tho night and found them all exhausted and in a stupor, and woke them up, got the boat turned in the opposite direction (S.E.), and rowed towards land. It was a fearful effort, and one died from exhaustion. They soon sighted land, and one boat got ashore.

Tho other boat was drifting near the rocks when a crew organised by the Her. Munro, nssisted by Dr. O'Doherty and tho coastguards under Mr. F. J. King, coastguards' officer, and a member of tlio Sailors' Society Local Committee, brought in the poor fellows to land. The men ■were helpless and could do nothing, many ■were unconscious, but willing hands soon gathered and. assisted tho men from the boats and brought them'ashore, wherenourishment in abundance was provided (though, some had to be "spoon-fed). Eleven died as the result of their exposure. The twenty-five survivors wcro taken under the caro of the local branch of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society. Tho society, as usual, supplied food and beds and fresh outfits to the poor, worn-out men, 6ome of whom were still in a dazed condition and glad to li« down. All except-two wore ablo to travel next day for Liverpool. Tho two Tiad to remain behind for a few days, as one (a black man from Jamaica) was too ill to leave, and tho other, by doctor's orders, elected to stay with him.

Tho Ttefugio, owned by Messrs. John Cory and Sons, Cardiff, 'fought the submarine for 21 hours, and if the men could have kept it up just a little longer they might have been victorious. The captain went mad as the result of the experience, and tho steward was compelled to take command.

Altogether tho crews of about 350 torpedoed ships have l>een received into the society's care. Tho demand for clothing of all kinds is exceptionally heavy, especially along certain sections of the Irish and English coasts. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, has issued a special appeal for clothing for torpedoed seamen. Supplies may be sent to tho British and Foreign Sailors' Society headquarters, tho Sailors' Palace, (J7B-CBO Commercial Road, London, E,, or to any of its. breaches,