The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-09-17
JACK BINNS
 WIRELESS HERO
 HERE TONIGHT
Aan Who Saved Hundreds of Lives is
 ss. Prominent in "Yia Wireless"

Jack Binns,, the hero of the disas- ; trous collision between the Republic and Florida on January B of this year. will be at Jackson's theater this evening as the operator of the wire } less set, used in T. Frederick Thomp- sons great production, 4sVia Wire less.. Jack Binns is under contract with the Marconi Company and they iii turn have appointed. him to look after their instrument used in the show. .s@ E;i
 It was at s4:3O in the morning of Jan. 23 that rBinns, then asleep in hls I bunk in the wireless cabin of the Re pubiic.1 was awakened by the shock ] of the collision and called to 36 , hours of steady duty. The impact broke the dynamos in the engine room shifting off light from the whole ship. I3iTfs aware immediately of what had 1 jiraprened,i connected up the storage and ssknOwing the great importance or his position immediately tested ms apparatus, in the dark only to ma II out of order. It was then that ne hao to connect up the storage batteries and fix several breaks in the wires caused by the collision.
 It was while repairing these wires irr1 the dark that an accident happen ] ed a which is as yet untold. In the irlsy darkness Binns fell against his sending key and for the next 36 hours of continuous work which followed, he had to use both hands to send mes sages instead of one hand, as would bfs@-1tiae case with the ordinary key The fixing of the instruments took an hour and then the operator began sending out the famous ''C. Q. D." (Con1e quick, danger) message. dt was picked up and he sent out the posi- : ton of his ship. A dense fog was over the water and the whereabouts of the vessel was only known by dead reck- oning,. that is by having observed the speed and direction of the ship since the last observations had been taken.
 From 4;30 for six long hours Blnns sxar,t sending Then the Florida put in Appearance and took off the passen- gers Binns stuck to the ship, kept . his apparatus in repair as pest ne eol,ld and at noon time picked up the liner Baltic. It was then put elgnt
 Binns and the operator on the Bal tic kept talking to each other giving location of the ship. "Now you are ap- preaching us,'' ''Now. you are going away." s.send up a bomb,'' and the ike were the messages Binns kept sending out with his broken key. As an expert operator he was able to tell by the workings of his receiving 1n- strument whether the Baltic was com- ing or going.
 dl1rine. which the batteries were grow ing weaker and weaker, the Baltic hove i'll sight. The passengers were removed from the disabled Florida and sent to New York.
 But Binns still had to stick to the Republic that the liner might be sav- ed The Seneca, a U. $. revenue cut ter was picked up and subsequently brought alongside. It took the Repub- lie in tow and then after being stead fly at work for 36 hours. Binns rest ed. It was due to him alone that the Republic and the 1,70O passengers she carried were saved. In recognition of this Congress suspended business and sent a cornmendatory resolution to Binns.
 immediately after the accident Bfnns was given a months rest by the Marconi Company after which he was transferred to New Y York to look after the Marconi Company's instru- n1ents in .yfa Wireless" Binns him. self is exceedingly. anxious to be back on the ocean Asked if the accident had not cured him of the desire for me sea. fls said: "Oh no, don't see