The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-02-10
SAVED FROM THE SEA
AMID GREAT PERIL
Survivors of Steamship Republic
Welcomed in New York.
MANY STORIES Of HERoISM

Collision Due to Error of Sleepy Off.
Ger Of the Florida, Who Steered
to Starboard When Ordered
lizard to Port"
New York City. - Mingled with
tales of heroism, in which the high
courage of women shone, stories Of
cowardice of men were told when the
White Star steamship Baltic brought
into this port and put safely ashore
the 1850 survivors of the sea collis-
ion of the steamships Republic and
Florida off Nantucket, R. I. Putting
together the thousand bits of nara
tive, there was built up a great drama
of sea, full of shifting scenes, with
self-sacrifce side by side with pol.
troonery.
On the black side of the picture
were two of the most prominent men
on the Republic, who tried to force
their way to lifeboats ahead of wom-
en- and children and had to be beaten
back. On the other hand, there rose
a dozen figures that typiied human
courage and endurance in their finest
aspects; such figures, for instance, as
those of Binns, the doomed ships
wireless telegraph operator, and Tat
t~ersall, the operator on the Baltic,
who, for fifty-two hours Of nerve
racking anxiety, stuck to his post and
kept sending words Of hope in air
through miles of fog to cheer the i'm
periled hundreds.
High up in the list of those whose
heroism stands out clear in the disas-
ter also is Captain Sealby, who stuck
to the injured Republic until she
sank under him. He seemed deter
mined to go down with her, for he
chung to the masthead on which he
bad climbed until the water touched
his feet. Then he released his hold
and he was picked up by a lifeboat OF
the revenue cutter Gresham.
Captain Voltolin, who brought the
crippled Florida into port, also re-
ceived the praise of the survivors.
"The man at the wheel of the Flor
ida was half asleep!" was the start
ling explanation that came from
many seamen Of the Republic and the
Florida. They repeated the accusa-
ton after the Baltic locked. They
asserted a quartermaster Of the Flor
ida was at the wheel, while the cap
tain was on the bridge navigating the
vessel. The captain saw the outline
of the Republic and ordered the quar-
termaster to put his wheel to star
board. Instead, he put the wheel
to port and the Florida crashed into
the Republic.
The quartermaster, it was said, was
doing at the time. The angry cap
tain picked up an iron spike and
struck him on the head just as the
two vessels came together. The quar-
termaster fell to the floor uncon-
scious. 1t is certain his head was
swathed in bandages as he walked
down the gangplank of the Baltic,
but he insisted he was asleep in his
bunk at the time of the accident.
When the Baltic reached her pier
at West Eleventh street cheers came
from the threats Of 5000 men and
women who were waiting for the ar
rival of the vessel. Within fifteen
minutes after the gangplank was let
down the pier was a human whirl-
pool, in which the half hysterical pas
sengers were swinging around. hug
ging and kissing friends and rela-
tives.
Out of the stirring recital there
stood the figure mentioned before,
that of the wireless telegraph opera
tor on the Republic. He is j. R.
Binns, twenty-five years old, an Eng
lishman who has been in the employ
of the Marconicompany for five years.
He was on the Butcher at Kingston
when the earthquake that destroyed
part OF Jamaica occurred and he was
in Genoa at the time of the upheaval
in Italy, In both Of these earth
quakes he flashed messages of assist
ance.
While the Republic drifted help
lessly off Nantucket, Binns remained
in the little telegraph DON clicking
the &C @ D" that informed all vessels
and wireless stations within several
hundred miles Of the danger Of the
boat. When the passengers and most
of the crew of the Republic were be-
ing transferred to the Florida, Binns
stuck to his post. He left the ship in
the last lifeboat headed for the Flor
ida.
When Binns was transferred to the
Baltic he walked into the telegraph
operators DON and said calmly to
the man at the instrument: Hello,
Tattersall. I'm Dinns."
"Glad to see you" replied Tat
tersall. We've had a lot to say to
each other. but we haven't met until
now"
How coolly the men and women on
the sinking Republic remained in the
face of danger was illustrated by
their treatment Of a man who made
his way into the first lifeboat that
started for the Florida. When this
man was forced out of the boat and
compelled to climb up the ladder to
the deck of the vessel almost every
one on board jeered him.
Alice Morse Earle, Of Brooklyn, a
writer, fell into the sea as she was
being transferred from the Florida to
a small boat. She lost the bag OF
Jewels she had clutched, but her life
was saved. Her icy bath made her
so i'll the Baltic surgeon had to at
tend her.