Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-08-13
When Sk,bbers Take the Bridge

7 THVN
knew better than to obtrude themselves
upon the blum shippers attention. Evl.
| dently he had other things to think OF
The passengers did not quite under.
stand. II was true there was fog, but
the liner was In the bay; what pos ibls
harm could come? While they would
nate 10 think II OF the captain there
was little doubt that this was pose
suddenly. NJ they stood there. the
telephone on the bridge rang. capt
| Niei1ch answered, and then in an In
slant had dropped tho receiver and
| sprung to the after-section " the
| bridge There came crash astern.
and the sharp cutwater of the Crown
| OF CASTLE. biundering through the fog.
| bit into the German liners stern rs
| this time the captain had pulled w o.
| long brass rod This rod. when RULED
as nigh as IT would 60, began 70 dc
| Sccnd, while great gongs rang through
| out the immense hull In seven seconds
! the rod had sunk into It's original posi-
! ton and the gongs-warning every enc
| out NJ the way OF the bulkhoad doors
| had ccaseds capt. Nie"ich turnc1 To- %
| lever and gave IL a mighty pull In
! stantly the shiD rcVcrbprated with In
noise Of 20 steel doors dying shut. with
force that would have cut logs IN
! two. The hun practically was hermctic-
ally sealed Even had the bow N tho
| wandering tramp penetrated below the
waterline. the Kronprinz would have
remained afiost. As II was the hole was
| punched above the water and no COM
partment MED.
Proximity to port had not found
CAPT Nlerich mapping He maintained
as rigid attention To- all details lookin
toward the safety ~ the ship I'm New
York bay as he would have IN mid yea
And when the test camc-the first RAJ
test by the way. OF the automatic
bulthcad closing sYstem-he was ready
for II. By actual time. the Kr1nprin2
was watertight within 90 seconds after
the collision.
DOUBLE ROW OF MEDALS.
Some captains are frequently called
upon to show gallantry or resouiccful-
ness in situations bordering upon the
habardous others pursue a peaceful
and uneVentful course over smiling
seas. 50 to speak. year In and year out.
Capt. Charles PoaCk of the Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse. for example. could
wear double row of medals for BRAY
cry across his ample chest. once, IN
the fan Of 1907, when his vessel was
speeding for Bremen. with cabins well
filled. the steamship was shaken by
some shock. and then Slowed of at a
tangent. derelict had carried away
the ruddcr The steamship was then
100 miles from Halifax. Some OF the
passengers, whose nerves had not
wthstOod the accident. wanted the
captain 10 make for that port But
there were malls aboard and several
hundred passengers were on this vcs-
sci, because she was swift they had
taken passage on her because they
wanted to reach Europe In the shortest
possible time. So Poack decided to
anish the trip, rudder or no rudder by
steering with his propcleTs. lie did
this in four ana a half days, bringing
tho vessel 20 port only a TOW hours
late. In all this time Capt Polack
never left the bridge. Hour after hour
he was at the signal telegraph, calling
for little extra power on the star
board propeller or on the port screw,
as the case might be, backing with
one, going astern with the other. Thus
the course was maintained and the
Journey completed without accident
When the captain finally went from
the bridge TO his cabin. his feet we're
so swollen that they were obliged TO
cut his shoes OF.
But not all the achievements Of cap
tains are of a sort that stand out IL
Is not always policy To disseminate
news OF narrow escape from accident
more or less serious. sleeping passcn-
gers may not see the things that
the captain sees, and more often than
not they awake TO greet their skipper
at the breakfast table. not knowing
that perhaps their presence there with
spirits so light is due to the man whose
face and words reveal nothing but jol-
lity and absence of care.
DoDGING THE sCILLYs.
Two or three years ago the Kaiser
Wilhelm II ran into "A heavy fog on
approaching the English channel. The
dreaded Scillys were somewhere at
hand, but they were not n be seen.
But they were passed and Capt Cuep-
pers strained his ear for the Lizard fog
signal. Finally Choppers sent out a
wireless inquiry TO the Lizard, asking
the operator If he had heard the Kais-
crs fog whistle Answer came back
that IL had been heard about three
mites to the southwark The captain |
signaled back that in order to be GER
tain he would blow his fog whistle |
and then the whistle blasts were
sounded.
THE sounds come directly abeam OF |
this station answered the operator. |
Capt choppers felt that he knew his |
position now to a certainty, and CROPPED |
his way toward the Eddystone. Event |
ullly the vessel, which had passengers |
to land at Plymouth, was anchored on |
that port The passengers boarded tho |
tender, and the Kaiser proceeded to |
Bremen. The commander never got |
the faintest glimpse of Plymouth. |
There is nothing heroic in this. but
eminent skill as "A navigator Is plainly |
read in this incident.
Fog, in truth. Is the one element |
which modern shipbuilding and skiR |
I'm navigation has not conquered. When
the waters are obscured the captain |
mover leaves the bridge, and there arc
times when things occur which would
bring passengers to sharp realization
NJ the danger Of ocean travel when fog |
Is abroad on the waters n the captain
saw fit to speak Of them-which he does