Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-01
Heroic Deeds Of the Old Year


, torturing death, was found in the con-
ming tower.
| In his amazing document he describes
in detail the heroic and almost superhu-
man efforts that he and the doomed men
with him made to save the submarine
and their own lives.
ut is with the deepest regret that
write this message to describe the loss of
! this boat. with my fellow officers and
men. due to my own fault reads the
message In part. my comrades and men
worked earnestly and calmly until the
end. l ordered the ship to dive with the
engine running. and as 1 found she went
down too far j tried to shut the valves
which admit the sea water to the ballast
tank: but, unexpectedly, the chain work.
ing these valves broke and l was left
striking the bottom the water began
rushing in. the switchboard was I'M
mersed, all electric lights went out and
the boat was filled with poisonous gases,
SO that We could breathe only with great
difficulty. With no electric current avail
able. our last hope of rising to the sur
face lay in working the hand pumps to
empty the ballast tank.
Il write this in the dim light coming
from the coming tower-11:45 am
earnestly beseech his majesty to grant
me forgiveness and to succor the families
of my comrades and men who have lost
their lives in this perishing boat. This
Is my only Wish-12:D pm. 1t is with
am sure we must have blown out the
gasoline entirely from the tanks. 1
cannot continue any more-12:4O pm.-"
Because of his friendship for the girls
ROT
Del. gave large quantities of his blood
for infusion into the veins of a nineteen
year-old girl of Philadelphia. Pa. She
was suffering from pernicious anemia
and the physicians at the University CT
PENNSYLVANIA Hospital declared that her
life could be saved only by an infusion
of blood. Though the young hero had
never seen the girl. he offered himself
when her brother: who lived in Whining
ton. told him of her danger.
Under nearly similar medical circum-
stances. though the disease was pelagra,
the life OF al Atlanta, Ga, woman could
be saved only by the TRANSMISSION theory
Her two brothers. one a college professor
and the otha- Methodist minister. went
on the operating table and gave each q
pint of their blood for their suffering
sister
One day last March Walter L. Rock
we'll. seventeen years of age a deaf mute
OF Gallaudet College. and a Miss Eddine-
ton. also of the Capital city, were mem
bers of party of students picncking at
Great Falls. Afte- luncheon they went
to the rocks to watch the water dash
over and made their way to a position
on ledge over the rapids Suddenly
the girl became dizzy, lost her balance.
the ''Bettom!ess Pit She was carried
down the river rapidly
Jumping from rock to rock young
Rockwell followed along the bank for a
short distance and then plunged into the
WlirlinR WATERS EiOhfin0 he
current. he 1nally succeeded in bringing
the UNCONSCIOUS girl to the bank
Who has not heard of the Spartan lad
who. with wolf gnawing out his vitals
under his cloak. stood calmly erect and
gave noasign OF his terrible torture until
after he had delivered his message to the
Spartan warrior, and then fell to the
ground exhausted? One Is inclined to con-
slider 1t but = myth. despite it's narration
In histories of ancient Sparta
But last March. at Freeport. Pa, the
grim deed Of an American lad makes the
tale seem less mythical. George Nc
Cracker. ten-year-old boy. fell faintinp
into his seat when he tried to stand up
and recite in school. His leg broken
while coastirg during a recess. he had
hmped to his seat at the call of the
school bell and allowed no moan or com
plant to escape his lips until he coll
lapsed.
The story of Father Damien. who gave
up his life in the service of the lepers at
the famous leper station on Molokai
Island. has always been a tale that thrills
the heart. From Chicago. ILL.,, in March
came story that is an exact replica Of
Father Damien's self-sacrifice On March
% friends of Rev. Lambert Louis Con-
rardy received a message that he was
dying of lep-Osy among the lepers near
Canton. China Like Father Damien.
Father Conrardy had no fear Of leprosy-
OF death. H.. chose his task more than
twenty years ago and went to it calmly.
earnestly. brayely. knowing full we'll
what the end would be-. He wrote:
Il am not we'll. but hope that God will
give me few more years to work among
the lepers. I have begun well. 1t would
be easy now to go ahead if I can live
only five years more. All. if were only
forty years oid-then 1 feared no one and
nothing
No summary Of brave deeds asd heroic
rescues could be complete without includ-
ing the men OF the rails. There were
countless instances of heroism among
railroaders in 1910. but two of them will