Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-12-24
Stanley Gibbons Tells of Heroic
Efforts to Save Starv-
ing Grew.

In letter received from his
brother. Stanley Gibbons. member
= 'hc crew OF the collier Vulcan,
N'h!ca went to the $. o. ). call of the
a."E,"s steamer the Knight of the
.i!.5'!o, IN the Atlantic coast. j. Burr
Tirhrns received graphic descrip-
ton OF one Of the most thrilling res
cues Wt.CA has occurred of "a ships
crew ,D t1c Atlantic since America
criafc. III. War. In his own words
Stanley G..ouu8 tells his story of the
fight against waves, weather and hun
ger ana the final rescue of the crew.
~. :. ). Vulcan, Boston, Mass.
Doe. Is, 1917. Dear Burr-Your let
ter received Saturday upon our return
20 port after strenuous twelve days
at sea the worst | ever experienced |
VIII give you a brief outline of it.
Sunday, December 2, we were here,
tied up alongside dock. A number
of the men We're ashore. At p. III.
We got orders to get under way and
proceed to location about seven
hundred miles away, somewhere or
the coast of New Brunswick, CanaOa
to aid a British ship in distress. Our
orders were to tow her to Halifax.
\. s.
We had no more than gotten out
side the harbor than we hit bad
weather. 1t was fierce. \ regular
North Atlantic blizzard, with wind
blowing about 40 miles an hour.
Flouncins around In this weather
from Sunday until Friday we went
north and east looking for our ship,
which we found carly Friday morning
The storm had increased in fury and
the wind was now blowing a gale of
75 miles an hour.
We managed. however, to float a
line to the ship and 1t lasted Just
about ten minutes when il was
snapped like thread. II was IA four
inch hawser, too. When the cable
broke we got lost from each other
and the two boats did not get together
until Sunday. December 3, when We
again got a line to her.
After holding about an hour the
line parted again. This was about ~
a. m. At 1880 p. IN. the captain of the
ship decided to abandon his vessel.
The storm was terrible at this time,
the wind blowing ninety miles an
hour and seas running so high that
We could not launch a lifeboat.
We have a big life raft on the boat
that is built deep into the water in
the center, so that occupants stand
waist deep in water and the raft is
very hard to capsize.
We moved up past the ship and with
line we floated this to the ship, but
they could not get hold of the raft
and ii drifted by. After an hour or so
we managed to land the raft along
side this ship and the first ten men
manned it. With a line from each
ship made fast to the raft we started
to pull same to our ship. 1t was a very
slow job on account of the high seas.
When the raft was within one hun
dred feet of us the other ship qul,
paying out on their line and had the
men in the raft not cut the line, all
would have been dumped into the sea.
With the raft finally along side we
threw small lines to the men who put
them around them and jumped into
the sea. Then we pulled them into
our boat slowly so the swells would
not pound them to pieces against our
ship. We rescued them half crowned
and stiff with cold
Darkness came before the second
raft load got back to our ship and it
was some thrilling sight watching the
raft in the rays Of the searchight.
About $50 p. IN. we got the second
bunch, all men, aboard. and knocked
off for the night. everybody all In.
We had not had a not meal for four
days, as it was so rough nothing
could be cooked and no one couIu
sleep.
Believe me, all hands not on watch
worked throwing lines to the raft. The
crew lined up at the side of the ship,
each throwing in turn. If the shot
was good and you got Il man bunch
would lend hand to haul him up.