Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-27
Skipper Declares Sealby
Would Not Save Republic

PHILADELPHIA, January Eff
Capt. Sealby Of the liner Republic had
accepted the aid / offered him mmedi-
ately after the collision with the Florida
the ship would be safe in port now, and
the cargo and the effects of the passen-
gers would have been saved beyond the
shadow OF d doubt
This statement was made by Capt
Thomas Fenton of the Standard Oil Com.
pany's whalehack steamship City of Ever
ett which docked at Point Breeze yester-
day afternoon
The City of Everett arrived at the scene
of the collision "a few minutes after the
Baltic. According to the statement OF
Ter master she was the first ship to speak k
the disabled Republic.
The ship under my command said
capt. Fenlon. contains some of the
most powerful apparatus for Wreckine
purposes ahoat. our pumps have a ca
pacity OF io,oJD barrels an hour the barge
we We're towing would have held all the
baggage OF the passen gers of the Republic
and d large portion Of the liners cargo
besides.
The City of Everett was built for ocean
towing and Is equipped with tremendous
~ powerful machinery. and towing cables
seven inches in diameter.
Assistance Curtly Declined.
With such magnificent facilities right
our assistance. saying that a couple of
government boats were coming TO his re-
lief. These little government boats could
have tOwed a rowboat as well as ,hev
could have towed that big liner.
We offered our assistance: mind Won
at $50 that evening. We could have
worked all night
''All it would have cost the White 81 !
line would have been about s2o.cU. Al
1t was. property of all kinds of the value
OF nearly s2.Hf1pn1 WAS lost bevond the
power of recall
The first intmation we had of any
thlnS wrong was releSs message from
the Nantucket iiShtship. We have an in
strument on the City of Everett auI
there was another on the barge we had in
low. "
We put about al once and cruised
toward the scene Of The wreck The on
orator on my ship. Irving FinkIesteiu re-
ceived the different messages as they were
flashed abroad. and ,uided US Ia where
the Republic lay dis bied
Tt" nearer We got To the wreck tie
louder hiS instrument sounded Messages
Of Sill afl"at kept coming in Finally
NE received word that the passengers hal
been transferred to tie Florida
Al so We ran alp22-,1je the Republic
offered the use Of my outfit to Cant
SealbN. He answered that he needed no
assistance whatever but asked us to go
to the Florida. ali his passengers were
"n board that boat. AT $50 we ran
alongside the Florida
Told to Blackjack Passengers.
Men and women cried 10 us from
The liner. and offered us large sums
of money ii We would ally take them off
When my frst officer, Mr. Tucker. wen,
OF board the Florida an officer handed
him blackjack and told him To use II
on the passengers ii necessary to keep
them from trying 70 jump from the deck
%. the Florida II the City of Everett
Although we had understood the Flori-
da TO have asked for Il TOW, they declined
assistance. and seemed TO be in fairly
good shape. all things considered.
.'As IL was necessary TO keep moving
owing to the barge we had in tow we
hogan to circle around the two liners
All night long the most powerful pump
ing. wrecking and towing machinery i'm
~ iIa,lad OIL S.claI,d .