The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-02-18
In a Leaky Vessfl Ten
Miles From Shore.
HARTFORD MAN IN IAE CROWD
Death Seemed kear-Strug'
gled For Lives In Gulf
Of Mexico.
BUSY AT DEEP SEA FISHING

st. Petersburg, Fla, Feb. 16.-
Desperately battling with buckets OF
with anything that would hold wa
ter. with half those on board so sea-
sick they could not do any work, a
party of twenty men. some OF
them well known and wealthy visi
tors from the North. fought for
more than an hour i'm the Gulf tC
keep their boat from sinking under
them in water forty feet deep. In
the party were Harry Sommers, edi-
tor of the Elizabethtown (Ky.)
News; John T. Moore, cashier of the
bank of Hartford. Ky: F. G. and c,
c. Norcross. wealthy lumber men OF
Tennessee; Prof. Whitaker, former
State Librarian of Colorado; J. p.
Fofger, of Chattanooga, one of the
wealthiest men i'm the South, and
others who are prominent in their
homes.
For nearly an hour the party was
in imminent danger, and most of
them never expected to get back to
shore alive. All had on life preserv-
ers, as they expected the boat to sink
under them. A heavy sea was run
ming SO that even with the life pre-
servers they would have stood little
chance of being saved, no boat being
at all likely to pick them up. The
tide was going out and the boat
was being carried into the Gulf.
The party set out in a launch
called the Safe and Sane. The boat
is oNned in Tampa. but has been
tied up at Pass-a-Grille, engaged in
taking parties to the grouper banks.
She is forty feet long and wide of
beam. with two engines. They were
about ten miles in the Gulf, trying
to locate the coral bottom, where
the grouper are found, when some
body noticed water in the cabin. The
men had been busy cutting up bait
1 and the crew were all on deck hand
ling the boat, so that the water had
gained considerable Roadway be-
fore anybody noticed that there was
leak.
The boat was half full of water
when it was discovered. The party
at once turned to and began to bail
The engine was dead, as it was part
ly covered by water. and the boat
was bounced around i'm the heavy
seas to such an extent that half the
men We're soon seasick. Mr.. Som
mers and others who were not af-
fected by the motion of the boat be-
gan to bail. They worked hard,
tearing up the flooring so that ev-
erybody could get a chance to work.
but the water kept gaining in spite
of everything the men could do.
With the water gaining steadily and
the boat ten miles from shore. and
the engine dead, 1t looked like they
had no chance to get back home.
After half an hours hard work the
water was held steady, the gain be-
ing stopped. but it was forty-flve
minutes before the bailers began to
gain on the water. After more than |
an hour of work the level of the wa
ter, was reduced SO that the cause OF |
the tro9ble could be located.
II Us found that the crankshaft,
IrI1 N been fastened with set
Npulled out, leaving hole
propeller shaft belonged.
rn fhis hole. more than an
| inch In diameter. the water poured
Into the boat. When II was found
THAT the leak was through this hole
1.-THE flow of water soon was stopped.
|The boat. having two engines. was
able to get back to Pass-a-Grille. al
Though the second engine, which
Had been wet and splashed with wa
tier had TO be dried and cleaned be-
fore il would run. The Safe and
Sane limped into the pier at Pass-a-
;rille. and everybody was thankful
" ben they stepped onto the pier.
DIR. Sommers was In st. Peters
burg to-day and told of the exciting
(rip and said he was through with