The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-08
ALI PASSENGERS RESCUED FROM
 STRANDED LINER Feat Is Unparalleled in the History of Marine
 Disasters LINER STILL FAST
 AND IS IN DANGER Captain of Vessel Can Not Under- stand Accident-The Passengers Cheer Rescue Tugs as They
 S~.e Near Big Liner


 N = .ork, April Bulletin. )-The e Pr 0 . Friederich Wilhelm. bearing tF oyo 3cued passengers of her trans I.SS tic companion, the Princess Irene, > 2 fast on the sands off Fire Island
 Q her captain and crew on board : tered upper New York bay shortly
 fter 1 o clock this morning. There was cheering and merrymaking aboard as the Prinz Friederich cast anchor near the Statue of Liberty to spend the rest morning.
 Lone Hill, l.. l. Life Saving Station, April 7.-In five hours and ten minutes this afternoon the 1725 passengers on the stranded North German Lloyd liner Prin- zess Irene were transferred to her sister ship, the Prinz Frederich Wilhelm, and one hour after nightfall they were landed on their way to New York. The feat Is unparalleled in the history of marine disasters.
 Not a life was lost, not a case of panic was reported. The first passenger off was a woman and the second a baby. The cabin passengers generously gave precedence to the more timorous steer age.
 The liner is still hard and fast in the grip of the sands and Captain Goddard of the Lone Hill Life Saving station esti- mates that she will be prisoner at least week In the 36 hours since she struck she has been favored with comparative ly light weather, but a stiff blow from the southwest might open her plates, crush In her bullSheads and wrench apart her stout steel frame.
 Ten small boats, two tugs and the re- lief ship took part in the rescue today, while a revenue cutter and a derelict destroyer stood by. All the 1425 steerage passengers clambored down rope lad der into small boats. From these they wetsrt rtransferred to tugs. which lay safe in th.a lee of the big liner
 With the steerage out of the way and the wind and sea down, the tugs took the cabin passengers directly aboard.
 Cannot Explain Accident
 Captain Petersen tonight repeated that he cannot understand how he happened to be 10 miles off his course when he struck. Life saving officers who inspect ed his log say the entries show his en- zines were turning 15 knots an hour in spite of the dense fog. He was taking soundings regularly. but an indication of his speed is the fact that the latest cast of his lead gave him IS fathoms depths level not to be found within d half mile.
 He has been a brave, capable officer decorated for bravery at sea and he feels his position keenly.
 In a swashing, choppy sea, the trans shipping of 1720 passengers on the strand ed Prinzess Irene to the relief ship Prlnz Feiderreich Wilhelm was undertaken this afternoon in surf boats. The anchor chains were still rattling through the hawser holes of the Prinz Freiderich, which anchored about mile off shore, W hen Captain Petersen of the Irene sig nailed for the life savers to come along side and begin the work of transfer.
 The wind had veered into the northwest and this gave a bit of smooth sea to of the Irene. The surf boats came bobbing alongside and approached the accommodation ladder on the for ward part of the san-gripped liner.
 Passengers Cheer Rescuers
 Passengers lined the steamships rails and gave a modest cheer as the officers and deckmen assisted the first boat load of women to their places In the surf boat. As the life boat swung away a wave slammed the side of the craft, sending shower of spray over it's passengers, put beyond that no damage was done. The captains of the life savings crews from One Hill. Blew Point and Point O'Woods stations said that the transfer should be effected without accident.
 The sea was found to be running too high for the life boat with the passengers in transit to make the trip to the Prinz Wilhelm safely, so they rang alongside the tug Timmons, on the lee side of the Irene. and put their passengers on board the tug.
 The Timmons made the run of about mile separating the Irene from the Prinz Freiderich Wilhelm in 10 minutes and at 2 :29 D. m made fast to the Wilhelm and prepared to unload her passengers.
 The stranded Irene rolls slightly in the swelling sea and is deeper in the sand than when she struck the shoal In the fog yesterday morning.
 A brooches buoy connects the steam ship with the shore, while three life saving crews stand by the life saving boats on shore. Near the Irene, wash ing about in the seaway are the reve- nue cutters Seneca and Mohawk with a little fleet of tugs awaiting to aid in the trans-shipping of the passen- gers.
 There was a smart northwestern blow ing this morning which stirred up a lumpy sea and life saving crews thought that unless the wind and water <1 rod transfer the passengers.