Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-06-26
Y. N. 6. A. MAN Tells
Of TORPEDOED liner
INTERESTING FACTS RELATED BY
: ONE OF MEN ON HL.FATED
VESSEL.
REV. JOHN TAYLOR ON BOARD
All "Y" Men Were Rescued and Are
Now Doing Work Among the
Allied Soldiers.

IlrOuBQ Lnc KINDNESS Oi MIS-. Laura
Dunham Taylor the Democrat is per-
mitted to give to its readers an inter-
esting account of the sinking of the
Oronsa, the ocean liner on which her
husband, with Sc Y. NJ. C. A. secre-
taries, was travelling on his way to
England for service among the sol
diers. The account of the sinking of
the vessel was written by A. 3. Hung
erford, one OF the men on the boat, and
sent to the head office of the Y. NJ. c..
A. in New York city. Our readers will
find the letter intensely interesting.
Following is the letter:
Doomed from the start on account
Of the thirteen combination" said
members OF the crew Of the torpedoed
steamship 0ronsa, as they landed at
the tiny port after thrilling escape.
Indeed the thirteen combination and
dark omens were unusual.
The first-class passenger list was
made up almost entirely Of Sly. NJ. G.
A. secretaries on their way to active
service in England, France and Italy.
They boarded the ship on a.Friday.
1t sailed the next day on the 18th.
There were 1S ships in the convoy.
The second day out it was discover
ed that there were 13 ministers on
board and 13 Methodists.
The commander Of the fleet, who
,,o, ohoor1 fho Nropca cfofod fhof ~
was his thirteenth round trip and the
the thirteenth convoy of an escorting
cruiser.
Mr. r. C. Bennett, of New York, was
assigned to Berth No. 13, and though
he moved the second day out, he was
the only man seasick the entire trip.
Mr.. Thomas B. Dawson of Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, the man who took
his place, in Berth NJ. 49, had one of
the narrowest escapes when the ves-
| sci sank.
The torpedo struck at 1903 a. M,
which if said "one-three," makes an
other thirteen By stretching the II
minutes in which the boat sank, lit
| tie at each end, one gets another thir-
/ teen. Lifeboat No. Is was the only
one destroyed by the explosion. A
conference was called, upon leanding,
in room 13 and one Of the men receiv-
ed hat check No. 49, In addition, a
black cat presented the boat with three
black kittens on the thirteenth day
out.
If that is not enough to doom any
boat or party, the superstitious have
another guess coming and yet there
was lots OF good luck-every Y. M. 9.
A. secretary got off and only three
men, members of the crew, lost their
lives. There were no heroes because
there were no towards to call forth
heroism.
As to the sinking of the Oronsa, it
may be divided into two parts of the
story: What / saw myself, and the
things that developed around others.
First let me pay tribute to my COM.
rades. BY a fortunate circumstance,
l saw practically all the Y. NJ. C. A.
men as they went on deck. Not one
was f1ustered or excited. Every man
hurried, but with confidence 1t was
an inspiring example of the Church
Militant under its Baptism Of Fire"
Not man faltered. Though I am
certain many silent prayers were Of
fered, did not see single man do
any unseemly praying or stop to drop
on his knees when he should be get
ting into his lifeboat. 1t was deep
er religion than words. 1t was a liv-
ing, practical faith. I wondered at
their calm faith.
Four periods of horror stand out in
my mind in connection with the sink
ing of the Oronsa. Word pictures of
these periods tell this part of the story
best.
Owing to the wonderful beauty of
the night, with the moon nearly full
and the fash Of the first lighthouse
appearing every few seconds, most of
the party remained on deck till mid
night. l crawled into my berth at
1890 o'clock, and as said final
goodnight to my "bunkie." Gale Sea-
man, an international Y. NJ. c: A. sec
retary from Los Angeles, California,
glanced at my watch 1t was 12:40 a.
m.
Hardly had closed my eyes when |
there came dull thud followed in |
two or three seconds by an explosion |
1T seemed muffled and dull. look
ed at my watch. 1t was one-three a.
m.
well, Arthur, they've got u.s."
Seaman remarked quietly. Flashing
on the light, put on my glasses and
started to dress. Showing how men
differ on minor things, / tell the fol-
lowing: Seaman, who was fully t
dressed, asked Shall l take my roll
up?s said: "No, hurry on deck"
He declares I said:
eyes. hurry on deck" He took his
roll.
Everything then was according to
form. The thud as the torpedo
struck; the explosion, followed by
cries of alarm; brief silence;
launching the lifeboats; tackle foul
ed; successful launching; rescue by
destroyer; the long ride to shore on
the deck of the destroyer; the landing
and roll-call; the long train ride;