COLLISION IN A FOG.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 37, 9 March 1909, Page 4

COLLISION IN A FOG.

FLORIDA ANI) REI'UJiUU. PASSENUIiKfci' TMUU.INU EXPKRIENUIiS. JIAUiVIFiCJi.NX RESCUE WORK. THE " ARRIVAL " OF BJLNSS, The disaster to the White Star liner Republic, 100 miles oil the American coast, on the morning of Saturday, 23rd Jauuary, supplies a wonderful story of the sea (writes the Uondon correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph.) Tile Republic, with 231 passengers in the lirst cabin, 11 hi the steerage, and about 300 ollicers and crew, -was christened "the millionaires' ship" before .she cleared New York, because of the number of conspicuous and enormously 1 wealthy Americans who were on board, in quest of pleasure in the Mediter-! ranean. 110W THE DISASTER OI'CUIiRED, At 4 o'clock in the morning, when feeling her way through a dense fog, she was rammed hard amidships by the ' I talian immigrant ship l'lorida. The : vessels did not sight each other until I only a few yards apart. The crash was | terrilic. The Florida instantly reboun- ' ded, and was goue into the darkness as suddenly as she 'had come. So quick was it, that the officers on the Republic* were unaware of the identity of the vossd which had dealt the great liner her death blow. | Within a few seconds of the shock hundreds of men, women, and children, in various stages of undress, were rushing from below to the decks of the Republic. Every light was extinguished Torrents of water roared through the great cavity in the vessel's snle, extinguished the lires, and stopped the engines. A panic appeared inevitable. But it did not occur. The Republic lias, in her commander, Captain Scalby, an ofliccr of strong personality and prompt action, aud he rose superior to the occasion. As the saloon passengers scrambled together on deck, he gathered l/iem about him, and in brief, forceful speech, assured them that the vessel was in no i danger of aiuking, aud advised them to return quickly to their cabins, ana dress themselves in their wannest clothes. By nearly all the advice was at once accepted. .Meanwhile, the crew were called to quarters, the bulkheads closed, and the lifeboats made ready for launching. Despite Captain Sealby's assurance, the immediate abandonment of the steamer appeared imperative. A TRIUMPH FOR 'MARCONI.

iu the midst of all this tumult, another mind was working as coolly and effectively as the captain's. Jack Binns, I ihe young Marconi opei-alui' on board, went direct from his berth to the instrument. lie found tlie room a mass of wreckage, but the wireless apparatus was intact, and, perched among the ruins, he clicked out the magic letters, " the ilareoni signal for a vessel in distress. Again ana again we:n the message, broadcast through the atmosphere, to be picked up by any receiving instrument on land or sea within a radius of between 200 and 300 miles. For something like two hours Binn appealed vainly. Then out of the fog and darkness came the response, " which, in the international code, represents " 1 am coming." And, immediately afterwards Binns had the satisfaction ol knowing that he was in touch with half-a-dozen instruments. His appeal had been heard on the sister White Star ship Baltic, and French mail liner La Loiaine, by tlie operator of the wireless station in Massachusetts, and other stations along the coast, liinns now began to talk to some purpose, lie Hashed the mum- of the vessel, her exact latitude and longitude, the 'nature of tlie nnsiiap, ami the urgent necessity for assistance. Clicking away, hour alter hour, he sent out thousands of words, which were picked up with ease and accuracy, and which gave to the press on both sides of the Atlantic detailed reports of the disaster, long before the survivors got within sight of land. TKAXSFEHKIXG THE PASSEXGERS,

Although the Florida got badly damaged with the impact, her immediate conditio-,! did not appear dangerous, and tier captain proceeded to try and pick up the vessel that had been rammed. This he was able to do after some time, and getting as close as possible, lu offered to take oil' the passengers and crew from the lie-public. As the condition of the White Star liner was consid erably precarious, transhipment was at once commenced. The fog was still very dense, hut the sea was, fortunately, (■aim. I;i the words of one report, "Hie laconic wireless sentence spoke of the woes of the millionaires from the luxirions cabins of the Republic, after the collision, to the sticky, garlic-smelling lower deck of the eminent vessel, where, pel-force, they mixed with the least fascinating representatives of Italy—some from the stricken districts of the South, where the earth-quake took place. The -removal of even personal baggage was not. permitted. Some left valuables behind, and few had more clothing than the garments lliey had douned on the iirst alarm."

RELIEF STEAMKKS TO THE UESIXE. All this time, the heroic wireless operator was busy, leading a number of relief steamers to the rescue. " This hunt in the fog was a sort of 'blind mail's bull'.'" One of the strangest and weirdest

scenes recorded in the aunals of modi T.i seafaring. Bound for the same spot, unable to get their bearings, almost feeling their way, unseen and unheard, yet constantly, to one another, as though side by side, were live huge greyhounds of the "Atlantic ami four revenue cutters. Collision threatened them, and the fate that had overtaken the Republic lurked for them ill the fog, but still they kept I'll. " Have you found lier ? Are you talking with her ?" The Star liner Baltic has the honour ui lirst sighting the disabled steamer, and the density of tile fog is conveyed by (he fact that although she was near by at 2 o'clock ill the afternoon, not until 0 could she definitely locate her sister ship. A few hours lat'T the wind and sea rose, anil as the Florida was talcing more water, it was resolved shortly before midnight to again tranship the llepublic's passengers to the Baltic—a difficult undertaking, which occupied sonic six hours. The. Florida's immigrant, '•passengers, convinced tnat the decision 'to leave the vessel meant that she was sinkta". were controlled with great difl'ieultv.° Thev made a number of rushes fur tile lifeboats, but were ltept oil V the free use of lists and handspikes, and the officers' revolvers; but. despite this panic and the darkness and rising sea, all hands were taken oil without a siu',tie mishap. From beginning to end the"whole disaster was attended by general presence of mind and individual acts 01 heroism, which will make it ever famoin. The Baltic then =teamod for New York, where -he hail a demonstrative welcome. But. naturally, tile Americans' great welcome and tlie plaudits mi both sides of the Atlantic were ehielly for Captain Sealhy and -lack ISiuns. Seally and his crew refused to leave the -Ilip with the passengers, in the vain that she might be towed into port. She went down at nine on .Monday night, stiil

some distance from the shore. 'I he crewhail left some time before, but the commander and the mate. Williams, remained on board until the huge vessel sank limler them. Their chances of being saved were slender. THE CAPTAIN'S STORY. The dramatic story is vividly told by Captain Sealbv : •• It was dark. The vessel commenced to crumble and crack, and her stem commenced to go down very rapidly. I directed Williams to burn blue lights, and T fired live charges front my revolver to warn the cutters to cast oil', as we were sinking. We ran from the bridge ■to t lie forecastle. The decks were all awash, and we were sinking quickly. Williams caught, hold of the port rail and I got up the rigging as far as the forward running light, and 500 ft up the mast. 1 rested there, and lircd my last shot from niv revolver. Then the wa'ter caught tip with me. The sweep of the waves spread out my heavy coat, anil made the air inside of it a sort of lifepreserver. "it was dark all round me. and I was swept by a rolling mass of water. [ was caught in !bi< in a sort of whirlpool, and churned round. When 1 came to the surface I tried to pull uiy coat oil,

but it stuck . A considerable amount of debris, pieces of broken plank, lengths of steps, and odd articles from the ship littered the sea around me, and 1 moaged to get hold of some spars, and finally captured a hatch. After that, in spite of the heavy sea that was running, 1 managed to pull myself on to this hatch and make a llie-ratt of it, lying across it in spread-eagle fashion, in this way 1 floated about for some time. Searchlights were playing all over the water, but it seemed to me that they , could never find me. The searchlights j from two revenue cuttings aud a tug 1 were concentrated on the spot where the Republic had gone down, but somehow they missed me. 1 managed to load the chambers of my revclver again, and i fired several times in the attempt to attract attention. Then 1 got hold of a towel lloating among the wreckage, and waived that when the light llashed on me. Then out of the darkness sprang a boat, and I was hauled aboard her. 1 was weak and exhausted, and was glad to find myself safe in her, with my mate Williams, who had stuck to me to the last. He was pretty well linished like myself, and both of us suffered acutely from the cold." Till-: HERO OF THE WIRELESS.

JJinns, whose name will always be associated with the history of wireless, is a young Englishman, only 22 years of nge. lie come* from L'eterborouga. Northamptonshire, and hay. crowded a lot into his short life. When thirteen he became a telegraph messenger at the Great Eastern station Were, ami yearly had his career cut short by being run over by a train, both legs being injured. Afterwards he learned every instrument, and then went to learn the Marconi system at Liverpool, mastered it in three weeks, and was carried shoulder high to the station on leaving, lie was in the Mediterranean at the time of the earthtpiake at Medina, and tried for three days to raise the wireless station in the south of lalv.

Tin' triumph of Marconi is complete. Hail the Florida hera equipped with a wireless instrument, the vessels would not have collided, six lives would have been saved, anil the Republic, whose value is placed at .C30U.0011, would not at this moment lie at the bottom of the Atlantic.