The Washington herald., 1909-01-26
Capt. Sealby Asleep and viii
Not Be Disturbed.
SENECA TELLS OF THE SINKING
Men on Derelict Destroyer Repeat
Story as Given by Commander of
the Sunken Liner-Operator Binns
Worked in the Darlx-sfnkfnE Of
Big Vessel Graphically Told.

o clock tonight with the commander Of
the Republic. Capt SeaIby. the larger
part Of his officers. the actual seamen OF
the crew. one steward. and the gallant
Marconi operator. Jack Binns.
Capt SeaIby and all the rest Of the res
cued had turned IN, and left word that
they were not 20 be disturbed. as they
were half exhausted. II was not diff
cult. however. TO get the story Of the Re
publics skipper, as he had been quite
communicative With the officers Of the
Seneca He said he did not wish 20 make
any comment as TO the responsibility OF
the Italian captain for the collision.
When he was struck the fog was not
dense. and he was blowing his fog whistle
at the prescribed intervals The Italian
emerged with such suddenness from the
mist that II was impossible 20 steer clear
OF him He thought at first that the
bow of the Florida had gene almost
through the Republic
Believed Vessel Doomed.
All the officers on the bridge believed
the vessel doomed That Is the reason
why Capt SeaIby sent his first wild cry
for help. saying that he was sinking.
The captain said there was no symp-
tom OF cowardice or unwllingness on the
part Of any member Of the crew.
Marconi Operator Binns revealed 20
his felIow-craftsman operator. Matthew
Terney. of the Seneca, that he had
worked in complete darkness in his
wretched little cabin. with his instru-
ments unable 10 carry FAR and running
very weakly. for many hours without
anything 20 eat Finally he climbed down
into a submerged cabin and got some
almonds and biscuits that were floating
there. Operator Tierney says Jhst when
Binns came aboard the Seneca there
were great black rings under his eyes,
and he looked as il he had had no sleep
Tor a week.
Capt Reynolds. of the Seneca. IN describ-
ing the sinking Of the Republic said Il
was the wlerdest and most spectacular
that ever was seen OF the stage. The
three searchlizhts of the Seneca. the rev
enue cutter Gresham. and the ocean tug
Scully illuminated tie ship from stem 10
stern. revealing her masts and rigging
with cameo-Lke distinctness-
Like StereOPticOn View.
L was more ike a stereopcicon view
than a real shipwreck L had been ar
ranged that Capt Seaiby was 70 set a
blue light on. two Of which he had OF
the bridge. 70 show that the ship was
and he would leave her with
Second Omcer Williams The blue light
was 10 go Of automatically when the
water reached il.
When the captain and Second Oficer
Williams decided to take charge OF the
crewIess ship. they took their position on
the bridge. the Ionesomest pair OF nsvi-
gators ever seen on a liner Gradually
the sea worked its way along the prom
enade deck and Up TO the bridge.
Then the second officer, perhaps al the
OF the commander. jumped
over the side and swan from the wreck.
At this instant the captain set of his
blue light and climbed into the rigging
toward the foretopmasJ. and Il was not
until the sea had reached the feet Of
the skipper. that ne stepped or as one
plunging into the surf Both officers
were picked up By a boat from the Gres-
ham
Glad TO Be on Dry Land.
Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Miller and Miss
Miller. Of PittsbUrg. among those who
were rescued from the Republic. are now
al the Waldorf-AsJoria IN New York. Mr..
Miller said tonight that he and his fam
ily are quite content 10 be back on dry
land and are making no plans for the fu-
ture- The family party is 10 remain a.
the Waldorf for a week OF ten days
J. 3. Mellon. another OF the Republics
also from Pittsburg. is also at
the Waldorf-Astoria, accompanied By Mrs
Mellon. Miss Sarah Mellon, and a maid
AIr. Mellon in an interview. said tonight.
we are glad 10 be here, you may be
sure. We brought nothing away from
the wrecked boat except the clothes on
Our backs, and even these were & varied
assortment Of odds and ends. but never
theless we are happy and thankful, par
~CUlariy Tor our treatment on the Florida
for the transfer from the Republic. I
saw stories In the evening papers that are
unjust, TO say the least, 10 the officers.
crew and, above al, the Italian i'm
migrants. who made Up the larger portion
OF the ships passenger list
Conditions on board the boat were
bad. probably because Il was engaged
In carrying stee-age passengers mainly
It was not clean and we were somewhat
crowded after all Of the Republics pas
sengers had been transferred. but the at
ttude OF the Florida's passengers and
crew was splendid so
Italians Eager TO HeIp.
The poor Italians were eager 70 do
everything possible 70 make Us comfort
able. They ran about doing many kinds
Of little service. One incident that i'm
pressed me strongly occurred when 9 Mr..
Murphy. whose wife was injured. re-
quested an italian 10 make a bunk for
him on the floor with canvas. The Ttal-
ian was only too eager, and Mr.. Murphy,
weak and worn out. would have been
willing TO pay almost any sum for
the service. He offered the Italian a So
bill. which was refused. with the simple
statement:
The Americans helped Us at Messina:
we help you now There was no affecta-
ton. no sense Of the theatrical displayed
by the immigrant, but under the circum-
stances I think il was the most dramatic
event I ever saw.
There were many other things. OF
course. but the newspapers have covered
them more or less fully. The working OF
the wireless was magnificent The mes
sages were not communicated TO Us YER
oatin, but the fact that we knew that
we were not alone-that other great ships
knew OK our distress and were hurryins
to aid us-was q source OF tremendous
confidence.
I'VE left the Baltic in the lower bay
and came Up TO New York on a tug. We
came to the Waldorf Immediately and
have spent the day securing 8 supply OF
clothes"
Mr. Mellon and his family have given
ap the idea OF voyaging through the Med
terranean. They viii remain in New
York for several days, and viii then
start for Florida, where they will spend