Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-09-06
STEAMER LEXINGTON wRECKED
Grounded ut Mouth of Edisto, Cap
., tain and Grow Remaining.
(Charleston Post, Aug. 80.

| (CharleStOn POST, Aug. 30.)
The United States revenue cutter
| Yamacraw arrived in port this morn
ing bringing Chief Steward Joseph
| Berliner, of the steamship LeXing-
ton, of the Miners and Merchants
line, with eleven white aud one col
ored passengers, and three negro
helpers who were rescued from the
| vessel after she went ashore near the
mouth Of the Edisto river during the
! storm on Monday afternoon.
The passengers tell narrowing
| story Of their expe, snces at sea.
They were seemingly certain of loss
until some time after they had left
| the steamer and were we'll on their
way to Charleston, which they reach
ed about l o'clock this morning, put
ting up at the St. John Hotel When
they left the Lexington, ashore on
| the Hunting Island beach, 1t seemed
| only question Of short time
when the ship would go to pieces and
| the officers and crew who remained
sea that was then running nothing
| but the most improved sort of surf
boat, such as the passengers were
| removed from the Lexington in,
could float. Later telegraphic re-
ports, however, state that the vessel
| is lying in an easy position and no
fears are now felt for her safety.
Before the passengers were taken
| off the vessel First officer Chamber
| lain had suffered a broken shoulder
and two of the crew at work in the
| fire room were scalded to death. dy
| ing in firightful agony and being
! buried at sea.
Soon Run Into Hurricane.
Chief Stewart Berliner was the
only officer to leave the vessel. the
remainder, with Capt. Connolly, re-
naming on board. The steward was
sent with the twelve passengers,
taking also three negro helpers to
further provide for the safety and
comfort of the passengers.
The Lexington left Savannah on
| Sunday afternoon at 6 o'clock The
ship had not been out of port an
hour en- route to Philadelphia before
| she ran into the gale which gradu-
ally. increased in force until it devel
oped into the proportionsiof hurri-
cane. The ship pluckily held to her
course, working under increasing
! iiTnuN'ce until about ;ni1niGht,
, when her steering EeaT VG2a t de.
teCtiy2. the .Gtp began iD' 4naie va
! ,ar with ,Ae .nou .WSh waves
! which we're brGalyUE O er 'G,s ve&sal
The men were working waist deep
In the engine room, and the ship was
rocking and twisting and straining.
She semed to be in vortex Of a
whirlwind in the ocean for a time,
said some Of the passengers, and
then she would attempt to make a
little progress, only to be suddenly
driven perhaps in a contrary direc-
ton.
Capt. Connolly tried to make three
courses and he was balked at every
| turn. Then it was decided to an
chor and the hurricane was blowing
at such a terrific rate that the an
chors were like SO many feathers, as
one of the passengers described it.
This was abandoned and Capt Con-
nelly was about at the end Of his
wits, h"' he pluckily maintained his
| courage, and with the other officers
and men gamely worked at the yes
sci to keep her afioat and save the
lives Of the passengers.
Wireless Operator is Hero.
Just about the worst part of the
| gale the vessel ran short of steam.
1t is said that for more than twenty
hours the vessel had only about 25
pounds of steam. To add to the
complication, the wireless operator,
a young fellow Of sixteen years,
named Scheetz, reported the wireless
to be ont of order. He was fearfully
seasick, but proved himself a hero
In the way that he stuck to the job
With the waves lashing and sweep
ing the deck Of the vessel, the boy
as sick as he was, was bodily held
by stout arms high in the air and he
bravely worked at the wireless plant
Success crowned the efforts of the
young hero. In the fury Of the
storm he finally got message out
for help and the answer came back
from the revenue cutter Yamacraw
/ that inst then she could not got OH