The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-09

ails aal no rescuers sought him they |
fCund that he had been plnneo un-
der the wreckage of the wireless houoe
a,,d washed overheard. A monument |
has already been erected at venice |
cal. 10 the memory of Prudhunt.
Donald Campbell Perkins.
It was in the wreck of the state
Of California that Donalo oalhppeii
i,erkins Derished The ship struck a
reef on the Alaskan coast ana sdnh
within three minutes.
Perkins was asleep when the crash
came He rushed into the NlfeleSs
room in his paJamas. With every one
else struggling for the bOatS MS MS
thought was to reach MS instruments
The inrllsh of water had put the man
wireless instrument out of commls-
sion. Perkins cody adjusted the
auxiliary wireless set and began Senu-
ing The call was answered by the
steamship jefferson. which chanced
| to be near by.
| Excellent use was made by the crew
| OF the few moments left them for get
ting the boats overheard and only
| tiirty-two Of those on board were
| lost. Perkins meanwhile continued
10 communicate with the Jefferson,
giving his ships exact position and
other information when he must nave
/. known that every minutes delay
/! lessened his chance Of escape.
As the ship began to &C down a
lifeboat near the wireless room was
washed against the door and jammed
it SO tightly that his escape was cut
off Perkins nevertheless continued
to operate the wireless instrument and
q moment later went down with his
ship.
Ferdinand J. kuehn.
One Of the most recent OF these sea
tragedies occurred with the sinking
OF the Monroe Oh January 80, 1914
The wireless operator. Ferdinand J.
Kuehn, was q New York boy, only
20 years of age, and a graduate Of
the Bronx High School.
The Monroe, which piled between
New York and Norfolk, sank withir
twelve minutes after Il collision of
the Virginia coast. It was obvious
:, that the ship had received a fata
blow ana could remain afloat but {
: few minutes, bu ttbe Marconi opera
The crew succeeded in gettins
three boats away. The order to say;
? the women and children first wa
r;gidly obeyed. kuehn's assistan
s brought a life preserver to the wire
G less room and helped Kuehn to ad
v just it, while the operation, withou
interruption, sent out the . S agai1
E deck only at the last moment, whe
d it was known that the ship was sink
= ang.
q AS he stood on the deck Kueh
o noticed that one Of the women pas
Ie sengers had no life preserver. He IN
% fastened his own and insisted on tn
le woman's accepting it. He had tim
le to assist her to adjust it and helpe
into a boat.
1T ! A few moments later the survivor
1e in the boats saw him slip on the til
as ing deck and fall into the water. 4
ut was not again seen. kuehn was or
T. Of the last to attempt to escape ar
ID even then sacrificed his life in giyir
as away his cork belt
de Walter E. Reker was the wirele
A man on the steamship Sampso
ne which sank after a collision with Il
he Princess Victoria off Seattle, Wass
nd April 25, 1914 The Sampson W
to feeling her way along the coast in
St dense fog when the crash occurred,
brow. To add to the horror Of &
re- situation the oil cargo she Carri
nd was ien;ted and the flames quick
lp- spread throughout the ship.
raj II is proof Of the bravery and {
he hclency of the crew that all but t,
The or the hfty-four passengers we
1t saved. Reker might readily ha
op- saved himself by taking to the boz
to with che passengers and the great
ere part OF the crew. He remained at
ak wireless key, however, giving dire
uons to the rescuing ship wbi
lille proved Invaluable
lad Later the Princess Victoria {
al planned by wireless that she yas ser
the Ing for assistance and there was
the need for the Simpsons wireless m
For TO operate his instrument tong
Ield Even then Reker did not lband
the ship. but devoted himself 10
in sisting the passengers to adjust th
had life belts and reach the boats.
ned ignored repeated appeals from
He boats TO save himself. When the I
ters boat had left safely Beker reported
fits. the Eridee and remained to sh,re
,on- tate CT the captain. It proven 10
hen too late for them to leave the :
we'd and eight of the men, including
ring wireless operation, went down v
the ship.