Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-02-12
THE TUSCANIA DISASTER
Corrected Description Of Sinking Of
Transport.
AMERICANS ACTED As AMERICANS
Bio Liner Went Down In Short Time
After Being Struck: but there Was
Little Confusion on Board and The
Loss of Life was Comparatively

| Small.
Larne, ireland, Feb. (via Lon
don, In the face Of death-not the
kind Of death that comes in fair
land manly fashion on the battleheld
but death that spat ut you from depth
and darkness by the viper OF the sea
when you're not looking because you
can't-two thousand one hundred and
fifty six American soldier boys stood
| at attention on the deck OF the sink
ling transport Tuscania. In their eyes
sparkled the fire Of defiance and in
vincible courage-on their lips was
grim smile and from the throats Of
many thundered Il mighty chorus:
| MY Country, 'Tis Of Thee"
Then. many OF them still singing.
others joking and some cursing. they
began to scamper for their lives. Not
vince or Il whine anywhere-it was
the most orderly, most good-humor-
ed retreat from the sea serpent re-
corded in the history Of C-boat war
fare. 1t was a tall hustle. More than
nine -tenths of them saw II through.
They told il. most of them, az II
| il were the most amusing event ol
their lives. True, when they hrst
got here, there was much anxiety and
sadness in their hearts. for they
didn't know how many OF their COM
radcs had pulled through. But
suon word came from Buncrana, loo
miles from here and later from Fort
Ellen. lslay, Scotland. Of the land
ing of many hundreds, and II became
plain thpt but Il small fraction Of the
total had gone down.
In Scrappy Humor.
say" burst out a husky young
Michigan man. beginning with the
taiIend Of the story. What's that the
pacilists always ask: What are we
fighting for?' Listen. When l get
into that front trench in France I'll
answer that question. And l bet
everyone Of these fellows, every one
Of us that went through this thing
will answer 1t the same way.
He was still shivcring from hours
of exposure, though now wrapped in
huge blanket donated by kindly Irish
woman. But his cheeks glowed with
red hot battle fever rs he spoke. His
words epitomized the innermost feel
ings Of all Tuscania survivors.
To these men the U-boat attack has
been baptism of fire. They're all
through with the preliminaries, and
what they're aching is action OF the
kind here they can hit back.
ffierer-9-Sunn,--thirfs.- s.--saitdd-
sturdy ex-guardsman from Detroit
| (namrs are withheld at the Sam
mics own requesD-"Id been ner-
vous all through the trip. My whole
system seemed strung up. II WASH
fear, by Gawd, no-yes, II was FEAR.
ut that: the fear that some sneak u
Doat would get us before we'd have
n chance TO do something TO Fritz
IN the front. I'm always crying 20
be honest with myself, but | was sure
| all along il was this fear. not the
other, physical sort. And the proof
came to me when the ship was struck.
In that moment, though / was sent
reeling back against something iron
behind me, | felt the intensest relief
I've ever felt in my life. The un-
certainty was over. the hit had come,
and from that moment on my only
| thought was to be able to hit back.
IOf course. there was no chance for
that then, but that's why I'm glad.
see: because I'm still alive to return
the compliment"
| Emphatic mods and shouts. that's
the way feel" from the little crowd
of survivors around the speaker and
interviewer showed he had spoken
the hearts OF his comrades.
Detailed Story.
| Picced together from various eye
witness accounts, this IL the story Of
what happened Tuesday night:
The l4,OOO-ton liner Tuscania, last
survivor Of the Anchor lines luxuri-
GUS ships. was on the last lap Of her
journey.
| The troops aboard knew that the
northeast coast of Ireland was at
hand and the natural nervous strain
that had marked their mood during
the greater part of the voyage was
given way to joyous expectancy.
| The weather was clear and the sea
comparatively calm. The Tuscania
was steaming amidst a number OF
other vessels. American and British.
Duck was fast yielding to complete
darkness. The Tuscania's lights. FOR
reasons best known to her comman-
der, were out. Uncle Sans emissa-
ries to Armageddon were passing the
time in manifold ways. reading. sing
ing, playing checkers, writing letters
or peering over the railing into the
sea.
| Suddenly a squall went up from
one of the companion ships. 1t was
addressed to the Tuscania and IT'S
substance was: Torpedo on way: lay
on"
From the bridge the wind carried
fragments OF a sharp command. En-
gine signals were heard. The Dig
liner let out muffied groan. as II
baking under her masters iron hand
hich was jerking her out Of her
course. Then. just as the ship was
turning. came the crash. The next
minute she bowed surrender with a
heavy starboard list She kept 1t up
to the end. and that killed and
wounded more men than any other
single factor in the disaster.
| Lights on" came the signal from
the bridge. and in a second the ves-
sci was illuminated by a myriad OF
glaring globes. With that irrepres-
sible curiosity that takes hold Of a
man in the moments Of greatest dan
cor hundreds of Americans rushed