The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-10-26
HISTORY OF 400 YEARS AGO
RECALLED IN AIR VOYAGE!

ley Angel, an ordinary seaman OF IS
years, and George Sangster, an able
seaman, had the early morning
watch. Angel saw ahead Of HIM,
high up in the northeast, a faint
light. AT first" said the 10y in
~narraiiag his experience, y thought
it was tlm morning star. Then I sa"
Two faint red lights beside the white
one aud next made out a dark blur
against the sky. The WHITE light
kept a-wiahing and then l knew that
it was a signal and reported it 10
G. j. Fitzgerald, the fourth officer,
n charge of the watch" !.
Fitzgerald notified w. H. Lanison,
the chief officer. BY this time the
outline of the airship had been made
out against the sky and SLantson
called Captain Down out of his
berth.
when I came on deck" said
Captain Down, the airship was
plainly visible. In the light of the
full noon she looked enormous.
hanging low in the northeast and
c!:sc al hand. In reply to our SIG
uais she told us her name iii | Fiat
She was in distress and as ici us to
s!a! d BY"
Tim the wireless was cdlI'd into
u.s. ant between Louis M. Gillsa .rg,
t~peraipr On the Jrrnt, and ia: IL X.
Twill, The opera!u. in the I!cLcat
suspended below tn. gas chamber Of
the AmIlca, passed a series Of mes
sages .ti:at will staL:d in history az
the first wireless communication
between a ship at sea and a ship in
the air. ..... (
AT this time," said Captain Down
of the. Trent, I'VE were in speaking
distance of the America. She was
only 10 feet above our forestays and
moving about IL knots an hour. We
kept beneath her with great diff
Guilty, for she swung to and fro in
the air currents and sometimes we
were forced to 60 full speed astern
so as not to lose her.
Then" continued Captain Down,
the crew of the airship began trail-
ing wire ropes. Lanison, our chief
officer, grabbed one and held oniun-
til the skin was rubbed off his
hands and he was lifted from his
feet and nearly dragged overheard.
After half an hour of this we de-
cided that this method of rescue was
hopeless and much too risky. So
Wellman asked us to keep ,lose.
while he and his crew let down
their lifeboat, saying he trusted to.
us to pick them up. We got two
boats ready and stationed men along
the sides with lifebuoys. 1 signalled
all ready" and Wellman lowered
his airship until the lifeboat sus-
pended underneath was within 6
feet Of the water. The traiier,
composed of tanks of gasoline and
weighing thirty hundredweight, was
the great danger and>after the boat
was launched this struck her and
stove a hole in the side about 6
inches in diameter but above the
water line.
when Wellman dropped his life
boat it struck the sea broadside but
quickly righted itself. I went full
speed ahead and had considerable
difficulty in picking up the boat,
Mr.. Wellman injured his hand in
trying to catch one Of our ropes.
1.-The last I saw of the airship she
was Us or 20 miles away with one
end in the water. Her Valves had
been opened and she undoubtedly
sank soon, dragged down by her
heavy machinery.
"Wellman and his crew came
aboard and after. baths, dry clothes
and a good breakfast appeared none
the worse for their experience"
The Trent carried 11t first cabin
passengers, most of whom had been ,
making a pleasure trip to Burmuda.
A majority of them, clad in night
clothes over which overcoats and
kimonas had been hastily thrown
watched the rescue.
Jack Irwin, the wireless operator,
figures that the Amer can sailed $40
miles-from Atlantic City to a point
off Nantucket 275 miles, from Nam
tucket northeast 40 miles until the
storm caught her and carried her
southeast to the point of rescue, a
distance of ass miles.
"All through the trip" said Irwin,
we were happily as little gods. No
body felt any fear at any time. When
we quit it was because we were run
ming out of gasoline"