The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1909-02-04

SearChl1ghtS on the Gresham and SEN
eca tryingsto pick me up, but they
went around and around and missed
me. l managed to load my revolver
again and it went OF, although it had
had a ducking. Soon after that a
boat manned by four of the Repub-
lies crew and Jour sailors from the
Gresham commanded by Gunner's
Mate Johnson slid up near me. ]
waved a towel 1 had picked up out Of
the water. They saw me and came
and picked me up. I was weak and
cold-quite finished. Williams was
in the boat when it picked me up, /
was glad to see. He was quite done
up, too. We were quite back on our
feet again after the men on the Ores
ham had ministered to us. 7 cannot
speak tooshighly of the work OF the
revenue cutters that were trying to
tow us; it was magnificent"
Captain Sealby had a word to say
about his officers and crew
81 have nothing but praise for the
actions of the officers and crew of the
Republic both at the time Of the col
lision and subsequently during the
very trying task of getting the pas
sengers transferred to the Florida.
The success Of this maneuvre 1 at
tribute to the remarkable discipline
and cohesion between officers and
crew. The passengers themselves
aided greatly by their conduct. There
was absolutely no panic among them
and the women behaved splendidly."
The Republics commander also
Maid a generous cOmulimant to BinnS.
the wireless operator, who had stuck
to his key although part of the wire
less cabin on the boat deck had been
carried away by the Florida's prov.
Second Officer Williams told Of his
experiences after he had become sep
arated from his superior on the slant
ing deck of the Republic. He said:
when 1 fell down on the saloon
deck on the port side I hung onto the
rail with my elbow. In three minutes
it was all over. 1 felt her lift straight
up in the air and saw the prov right
over my head; then she just slid
down. 1 felt the stern strike bot
tom, for there was a jar and then /
felt something give. I believe she
broke in the middle where she had
been rammed by the Florida.
II was pitched of the deck before
the last of her dropped out of sight.
l just caught a glimpse Of the keel
dropping past me as 1 hit the water.
I tread water for a second to get my
balance, then l struck out for about a
dozen strokes before the boil of the
water got me.
"A grating hatch hit me and 1 held
on. I couldn't climb onto it because
the seas rolled me off every time ]
scrambled up. l was getting tired Of
trying when another grating came
along. 1 grabbed it with one hand
and held on between them. I guess l
was in the water almost half an hour
when the boat from the Gresham
came along and pulled me out. 1 di-
rected the men where to look for b
captain and WI found him in another
five minutes"
Williams saved a brier pipe and a
pocketpiece out of the wreck and that
was all.
Jack Binns, the wireless operator
who flashed the news of the Repub-
lies ramming to S~iasconset wireless
station and VINO subsequently kept at
his place communicating with the
ships fastening in relief, seemed to
believe that the loss of 500 cigarettes
he had with him when the Republic
left New York on Friday was one of
the most serious features of the
wreck.
part of the wireless cabin was
torn away in the crash" said Binns,
but the instruments were not hurt.
AS soon as the captain heard what
the damage was he sent me orders to
send out the distress signal. found
that the instrument was dead. The
electric motors had gone bad with
the flooding of the engine room. /
knew where the accumulators-stor-
age batteries you call them-that
are carried for emergencies just such
as that one were kept, and I CROPPED
for them in the dark. When l got
them coupled up I tried the key and
found that the spark was right"