The Penn's Grove record., 1909-01-29
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
Give, there was built up a great drama
Of sea, full of shifting scenes, with
self-sacrifce side by side with pol.
.roonery.
On the black side of the picture
we're two of The most prominent men
On the Republic, who tried to force
their way to lifeboats ahead of wom-
IN and children and had to be beaten
back. On the other hand, there rose
4 dozen figures that typif1ed human
courage and endurance In their finest
aspects; such figures, for instance, as
those of Binns, the doomed ship's
wireless telegraph operator, and Tat.
~tersall, the operator on the Baltic,
who, for f1fty-two hours of nerve.
facking 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
ieroism 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
had 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-
:eived 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 Fler-
Ida was at the wheel, while the cap.
tain was OF 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-
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-
nool in which the half hvsferical nas-
sengers were swinging round hng-
cling and kissing friends and rela-
tiyes.
Out of the stirring recital there
stood the figure mentioned before
that of the wireless telegram onera-
tor on the RepubIic. He is I r
Binns. TWENTY-FIVE wears old. an Eng
Ijahman who has heen in the emnlov
of the Marconicompany for Ave years
He was on the Blucher at Kingston
when the earthquake that DESTROYED
part of Jamaica occurred and he was
in Genoa at the time of the upheayal
in Italy. In both of these earth
quakes he flashed messages of assist
ance.
While the Republic drifted help
iessly off Nantucket. Binns remained
in the little telegraph room 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 shin in