The San Francisco call., 1910-12-13
PASSENGERS LEAVE
ICE CAKED ship
100 Persons Are Rescued From
Olympia High on Dreary
Sh0al
Wireless Operator Is Hero and
Grew Is Praised for
Bravery

/ VALDEZ, Alaska Dec. 12.-Complete-
~ sheathed in ice, with a great hole
! torn in its hull amidships and with
from 25 to % feet of water In all its
compartments, the Alaska steamship
| company's liner Olympia lies like a
stranded iceberg on the reef of dreary
Bligh island. Prince William sound and
is expected to become total loss with
Its cargo partf of which had been
salved from the company's Northwest
ern when 1t was sunk at False bay,
Puget sound. recently. OF the 126 per
sons on board the Olympia when 1t
] struck all were saved and taken to
Valdez and Ellemar, with the exception
/ OF three members of the crew, who are
standing by the ship.
Then the Olympia left Cordova Satur-
day night after emptying its after hold
| of commercial coal it's stern was high
out of the water. Soon furious gale
/ hit the steamship and its propeller re-
| VOWED in the air with every wave and
its rudder was useless. The captain
| saw what was destined to follow, but
could only wait for it.
OPERATOR is A HERO
| When the stanch Glasgow built boat
! injured and the untiring waves ham
mered the Olympia. against the rocks
for nearly three hours before the steel
was sawed in and the hold flooded.
Had the boat been of lighter con-
structfon it would have been broken
up and all its people drowned.
The wireless operator. George L.
| Hayes of Seattle, aged "a, native of
Minneapolis. sent distress messages un-
| w tor of "a f
terry. After that he lay down, connect
| ing his receivers over his ears. AT IL
a. m. Sunday he heard a message from
! Cordova, which said
Two boats leaving Valdez. Arrive
about g." This news revived the spir-
its of the people on the ship. who had
| noted the subsistence of the storm, but
who were not sure that relief had
| started to them.
Done of the women passengers, who
was on the Northwestern when it was
stranded recently, almost collapsed
| collapsed when she learned of her new
misfortune, but soon regained her spir-
its and became as cheerful as any of
| her companions.
| All the records of the United States
court, which had just concluded its sit
ting at Cordova, were on the Olympia,
but were saved.
There is no wireless station at Valdez,
and the messages from the Olympia
which the Cordova station received,
could not be transmitted to Valdez un-
til the opening of the government cable
late Sunday morning. The wreck was
only 55 miles from Valdez. which was
! the natural relief point.
LAUNCH GETS PASSENGERS
The launch Corsair, which put out
! from Katalia to go to the assistance
| of the Olympia. was compelled to turn
back on account of the Wury of the
storm. The governmen launch, Lieu
tenant Donaldson, made two trips to
Ellamar with the passengers. and the
| steamer June took off the crew and the
United States mail and the baggage.
Passengers praise the crew for the
work done to make things, comfortable
about the storm swept ship. The en-
gineers and fremen stayed below until
the rising water put out the fires. This
shut off the steam heat and left the
cooks galley the only warm place on
board. Some sailors soon remedied this
defect They punched holes in VEN
tilator to make a draught and then
improvised a stove out of an iron
wheelbarrow and galvanized iron tub.
They soon had a roaring fire going in
the cabin and everyone was made COM
! Portable again.
IL FEET OF WATER IN HOLD
One of the most anxious hours was
when the nine foot tide rose at o'clock
in the morning. 1t was feared that the
boat would be lifted and would slide
off into deep water. Soundings taken
at low water showed IS feet at the
stern. 16 feet amdships and 80 feet un-
der the bow. At this time the water
was II feet deep in the foremost hold
The fears of the passengers over the
rising of the tide proved groundless.
When the tide was at flood and the
danger was greatest the hold filed
quickly and the boat settled quitely
This stopped the pounding and tossing
for a time and proved to be an ad-
vantage.