Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-05-13

died our smokestack and broke the
steam pipe leading to the whistle. with
a shrapnel shell. With the steam pipe
smashed and the 200 pounds pressure
of steam escaping the noise was deaf
ening. l had gone to the main deck
cabin and was standing by the open
door just before she fired. The con-
cussion started our starboard engine,
turned me completely around, and sent
the horsemen who were watching her
scurrying for cover and every one for
life preservers. Then the German nag
went up on the raider
A gunner started for our single gun
in the stern, but stopped snort SIX
feet from it. A second shot from the
German dismantled it and sent scream
ing pieces of shrapnel over the deck.
The Dutchmen were firing shrapnel en-
tirely.
A second shot came whstlins over
and ral<ed a number of lifeboats on
our starboard side. The bursting
shrapnel spit and spattered around and
riddied them like sieve. A third shell
burst among the horses, swept a row
of them down, a kicking. bleeding,
terrified mass, and then came a fourth.
fifth, sixth and finally seventh shrap-
mel she'll And then bedlam broke loose
among the 700 horses and hundred men.
The afterpart of No. deck was
shambles The fifth she'll swept it, and
the seventh, and last, spraying Shrap-
mel around. got three men, Chief Stew
ard Gilbert, Baker, a sailor, and Nor
wegian, another sailor.
Gilbert went Immediately, without
ever knowing what happened. He was
lying in his bunk when the tipping
pieces of shell tore through the cabin.
His right arm was blown off and part
of his body torn away The Norwegian
also died Immediately He was hor-
1t was sickening. No. deck was a
crimson smear; men were hoarsely
yelling, few We're screaming and the
broken steam pipe leading to the
whistle was making kissing roar as
it gave off steam. I a French
Canadian horseman sitting on a dead
horse. his foot torn off. His face was
a dead white and he was grinning at
his foot in a crazy sort of way
The horses were a pitiful mass Some,
wild-eyed and terrified, were kicking
and thrashing around. Some stood
quietly and seemed to be patiently
waiting for something. There was no
screaming among the horses. Horses
can't scream: but the sight of them
was pitiful and awful. The little mare
/ was working on when the raider first
showed her smoke was down on her
launches against the side of a STALL
Her rump had been partly shot off and
she couldn't get to her feet There
was another horse. big chestnut, that
] know l can never forget. Part of
his nose had been shot of-and he
stood there munching hay. Among the
horses, mangled and bleeding, the place
was running scarlet with blood
The seventh shot had ended the firing
from the German. but we knew her
torpedo tubes were ready at any mo-
ment and We didn't expect any chance.
I looked for hatch cover. to have
ready in case we got the torpedo, and
came across Baker. sitting on the deck.
He was a sailor and the seventh and
last shell had gotten him with a stray
piece of shrapnel. Part of the side Of
his face was torn away his eye was
dangling down over his cheek, and his
nose was partly gone, and l didn't
recognize him at first when / went up
to him. He begged me to give him
morphine. first Then he got to his
knees and pleaded to be shot For
Gods sake. Zabriskie." he kept repeat
ng. shoot me- / helped lift him in
our life boat when we were taken off.
and he kept begging me to kill him ali
the way over to the raider.
The German finally gave US the IN.
NJ. the signal to abandon ship i'm
and We scooted for the
boats without having time to get any
personal effects together or additional
clothing. Capt. Sargent and Chief
officer Phew were the only members of