The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-13
43PASSENGERS OWE
LIVES TO COMPAN
Wireless Expert on Storm
Beaten Steamer
WORKED FOR 36 HOURS
Equipment of the Texas Was Dis
abled, Then Suddenly There
Flashed Across Waters the
S. o. s., Bringing Help
FOR 36 HOURS
From the New York World.

| From the New York World.
It was modest. yellow haired. blue
| eyed young man in his early thirties
who made possible the thrilling rescue
in mid-ocean of the 4S passengers. In
cluding 10 women and nine children, of
the disabled Swedish steamship Texas by
the Scandinavian American liner G. +.
Tietgen, which arrived at her pier in
Weehawken yesterday morning But for
him the AZ would probably be now in
Davy Jones locker.
The young man to whom the survivors
owe their lives is Axel II. Geermann,
an electrical engineer and passenger
aboard the Texas on his way TO Vera
| Cruz. Geermann is the man who has
set up most of the wireless apparatus
on the Mexican coast, and what he
worth knowing. but this was the first
time that he was ever called upon to
use his knowledge to save lives.
| The Texas, a steel single-scre vessel
sailed from Gothenburg, Sweden, for
Newport News and Gulf ports on March
| ], Just in time to encounter the worst
| blows of North Atlantic weather in the
vernal equinoctial period. From the very
| start of her voyage the Texas encoun-
| tered bad weather-in the Baltic, in the
| North sea, and, worst of ALL on her trip
across the ocean. AS she proceeded the
force of the winds increased whipping
| the waves Into huge, whitecapped comb
| ers, any one of which threatened to
| swamp the ship, eliminating on Wednes-
day, March 10, in what is known among
! seafarers as a whole gale.
All night long the Texas rose and
| fell from mountainous wavetop to the
green valley below. until. about
o'clock Thursday morning. the largest
wave of all crashed against the ship
with jolt that shook her from stem
| to stem. The Texas shivered in her
every timber as her engines raced Wild
| ly, all the blades of her propeller hav-
| ing been torn away by the tremendous
| impact.
She sank into the trough of the sea
and another great wave slammed over
her bows, carrying away the masts and
antennae of the wireless outfit, leaving
the Texas as helpless in the ocean lanes
as blind man in the heart of Broad
way traffic
| When the news spread through the
| ship that the wireless had been de-
stroyed, in edition to the propeller be-
ing rendered useless. captain crew and
| passengers were alike conscious of the
desperateness of the situation.
Someone Remembered Germann
Then some one remembered Geer-
mann, and also that he was wire
less expert. For the next 36 hours
| German labored with the demolished
apparatus before he got it tuned up for
an rs. o. s" call across the waste of
waters that would bring a succoring
ship
All +biS ti,,o Tho Taxo. no. ,ya11o,v
ing in the trough of the sea, tossed
and pitched about like a cork by the
huge waves. The 43 passengers had
lost hope and We're praying in their
staterooms when suddenly sparks be-
gan to crackle from the wrecked wire
less house on the upper deck to be
answered by other sparks that meant
that the c. F. Tietgen had heard the
call for help at 5:29 Friday morning
and was steaming 165 miles out of her
course to the assistance of the Texas.
Scarcely had German po~nded out the
latitude and longitude of the disabled
vessel when another gigantic wave de-
stroyed the heartrendlng labor of over
a day and a half and the wireless was
again out of commission.
once again Geermann Strengthened
it out and thereafter was able to hold
the connection. on Saturday morning
about o'clock, Just as day was begin
sliding over the pillows close at hand.
A Life Basket
Then came another problem-how to
transfer passengers from the Texas to
the Tietgen. The waves were so high
that the usual method of letting down
a ladder over the side of the ship was
out of the question: because the rolling
J motion of the Tietgen would have car
ried each climbing passenger under.
and in the terror attendant upon a
rescue at sea would have meant more
passengers lost than saved.
{ Just then Capt. A. G. Thomson of the
Tietgen had an idea He sent to the
: galley for a potato basket, strongly
| made of wicker work, which was rugged
up in place of one of the Tietgens
| life boats. The Texas sent her passen-
III gers over in her lifeboats. and one by
: one. except for the children, who Went
In pairs, they clambered into the bas-
i <et and We're hoisted aboard by the
lTietgen crew
l. Mrs. Henrietta Andersen. who, with
! her two children, Paul aged l. and
i Berg. aged D. was on her way to meet
: lher husband in Salt Lake City. was
ferried across to the Tietgen and placed
E in the basket with Paul in her arms
, A sailor in the lifeboat held Berg
: for the next trip OF the basket. but
J the panic stricken mother. fearful of
! leaving one child behind, grabbed the
! boy away She was unable to hold
both the childen and as the basket went
iup Berg went down into the surging
waters below Texas saileI dved
from the lifeboat and caught the child
and one of his companions fished him
, out with a boathook.
Mrs. Andersen was helped from the
basket to the deck of the Tietgen, half
crazed in fear that her older son was
drowned, but the next baslletload brought
the little one with 1t 10 he clasped in
her arms.
"NOthing Less Than Miracle
Four hours the Tietgen stood bv until
all the passengers had been transferred
from the Texas. Captain Thomson said
yesterday that it was nothing less than
miracle that the rescue had been ef-
fected without the loss of single life
In accordance with the rule of the sea
the women and children were taken off
first. On the rescue ship they were
looked after by the stewardesses and
three New York young women. who sup-
piled dry clothing from their own ward
robes. The young women. who were
returning from a trip to relatives In
Sweden, We're the Misses Otta and Ebba
Madsen and Mrs Anna Alhstrom.
The captain and ycrew of the Texas re-
! fused to desert their ship Other wire
less calls We're sent out and a shin
responded with offer to tow her to
the Azores
1 Xn1a Stadium Cor,rlo4 ,ots