The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1914-11-20

Correspondent Tells How Auda-
cious Went Down.
WAS PROBABLY T0RPEDoED
Witness TO Sinking Of British Warsh'p
Saws Vessel Had Hole in Stern
and Later Her Magazine
Exploded.

New York. Nov. 16.-The following
letter from an international News
Service correspondent on board the
Olympic gives details of the disaster
to the British super-dreadnought AL
dacious:
Tuesday morning soon after break
fast. as we were off the coast OF Ire
land but not in sight of 1t. we saw four
or five miles away a British dread-
naught, cruiser and torpedo boat
We made toward it and found IL. M >.
AuCacious flying signals TO us to stand
by--that she was sinking.
Waves were breaking over her
after decks. In the rough sea she
seemed to be going down by the stern
with heavy list to port. as II she hau
been torpedoed on the port side.
Wave Overturns Boat.
After every heavy sea water broke
over her side-a miniature waterfall.
The whole crew of $50 men were on
deck, all standing as erect as nine
pins, those at the stern with waves
breaking over their feet.
All our boats were lowered and
manned and sent off to take the crew
from the Audacious.
THE battleship launched one or
her own boats full Of men, but huge
wave dashed 1t against her side, cap
sizing the boat All the men were
picked up in no time by small boats
from the cruiser and the destroyers-
Meanwhile the Audacious was making
effort to get heavy cable to the
Olympic.
THE whole afternoon was spent IN
trying to fasten a cable TO the
Audacious. We had found the sinking
battleship lust after breakfast and IT
was now getting dark. More than
three-quarters of the crew of the Au-
dacious had in the meantime been
taken off to the cruiser and gun
boat, which was also lowering near.
About two hundred men remained
upon the Audacious-all on deck wait
Ing calmly with little knot of officers
under the signal flag futt.ring from
her only mast. and the great battle
ship seemingly getting lower and low
er in the water. while everybody was
waiting helplessly.
This was the sight until the last
vestige of light was gone. Perfect
discipline seemed to prevail on all the
ships
After dark the rest of the crew
were taken off the Audacious and pu
aboard the cruisers and destroyers t.
await morning and salvage crew
summoned from Liverpool by wireless
We all wondered IL the stricken bat
tlaship would survive the night.
Magazine ExpIodes on Warship.
The Olympic got under way ant
was going at less than half specs
when the greatest noise | ever hear
in my life made us all nearly juml
out of our skins.
"a huge red semi-circle of luri'
light at least 1000 feet in diamete
famed from the skies astern OF us an
In about thirty seconds all was blaC
again. The Olympic crept slowly o
without stopping.
1T seemed obvious to every one o
board that the magazine of the spler
did Audacious, one of the creates
battleships in His Maiesty's navy, ha
blown up and s12 100000 had gone
the bottom. But | do not believe
sisgle life was lost. The officers {
the Olympic we're stricken dumb o
the subject of the Audacious.
THE disaster is attributed to
mine: at least that was the wor
given the Olympic when she was sun
moned 10 the dreadnaughts help. bl
the underground gossip attributes I'll
feat to a submarine.