Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1918-06-28
USED CAMERAS AS
WELL AS TORPEDOES.

President Lincoln tOok pnoto
graphs Of the boat load of sur
vivors and also ordered the men
to stop singing the "Star Spang
led Banner" according to the
story told today by Julian Rife,
of Houstonville, Ky, member
of the Medical Corps on board
the vessel. Mr.. Rife said the
discipline of the ships company
was excellent, and that one gun
ner saved his machine gun, but
was not encouraged to use 1t.
He told his story at the Office of
the Detroit Electric Car Company
by which he was employed be-
fore he entered the service.
eve were some 500 miles off
the coast of France" said MIR.
Rife, with a crew Of 600 men
and rs passengers, including a
number of wounded men who
were being invalided home. At
Sis O'Clock on the morning of
May .,3Ist we were startled by
the shouts of several sailors, who
saw a torpedo approaching.
"On every ship there is an
elaborate system o. alarm bells
to arouse the passengers and the
crew in case of attack. These
bells had just started to ring
when we felt the shock of tor
pedo that struck the ship full in
the bow.
A tremendous explosion fol
lowed and / rushed on deck aud
was nearly washed overload by
the rush of water thrown over
the forward deck by the force
of the explosion.
Among the us men on board
there was only one man who lest
his head. He was a Negro who
had declared all along that moth
ing could induce him to abandon
the ship and get drowned in a
small boat. He rushed on deck
waving a pistol saying he would
not be drowned. When an at
tempt was made to put him in a
life-boat he put the pistol in his
mouth and blew his brains out.
The rest of the men filed in per-
feet discipline to the RATS and
life-boats, and of our Fl casualties
nearly all were men impris
Oned below by the inrushing
water and others who attempted
to go to their assistance.
"We were hit by two torpedoes.
After the shot in the bow, anoth-
er hit us in the stern as we were
getting into life boats, end the
ship listed rapidly. The boat
was about thirty minutes going
down, and sank stere foremost
The bow remained high in the
air for some time. and then sank
with sudden plunge that nearly
swamped US.
For nearly two hours we
rowed without seeing ATTY siSn of
a submarine. Suddenly, We saw
what we took to be a destroyer
on the horizon und began to ex-
press our eleation by lusty sing
ing of the Star Spangled Ban
ner.' The destroyer came on
nearer and nearer, and suddenly
it trained two fore and aft guns
on US, and we saw that it was q
submarine.
The Germans swarmed outoi
the hatchway, and in plain En-
glish and with the vilest epithets
ordered US to stop singing. The
strains of the Star -Spanglec
Banner died away very suddenl,
and we felt sure we were goins
to be blown out of the water
One old salt, who had a lite-boa
full of negroes near US, suddenly
yelled out: All right you niggers
get out your razors, here are tht
Germans Even the German,
had to laugh, but they contentec
themselves with giving US scare
and then snap-shooting us at theil
leisure with their cameras OF al
sizes before they Owed again and
disappeared. Two hours latel
they came up near us, and de