Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-06-07
GAVE BA|RD'S CREW
BARE QUART ER-HOUR
TO QUIT THEIR SHIP
But Craft, Whose Home Port IS
Wilmington, May Still be
Af1oat on Seas.
LUMBER KEEPS HER UP

How d YOU like 10 be eating your break
fast at S a. m, let us say, down IN the
cabin of the ship YOU command and at
SIS be afioat in an open boat. waiting 10
see and hear the bombs explode designed
by raiding boat S skipper to send your
vessel 10 the bottom Doesn't seem like
comfortable quarter-of-an-hour, eh"
II you'll ask Captain r, r Coubourne,
of the Seaford-owned schooner Edward
Il. Baird, the home port OF which is TINS
city. to whom this has happened, he II
tell YOU that II was one OF the meaneSt
0uarter-hours he ever spent, and what
with some wears of seafaring. blow high.
blow low, he's spent some pretty bad ones
But although the Germans did their
hest 10 send the Baird TO Davy Jones
locker. Captain Coulbourne doesn't think
she's reached there OF course, YOU can
leave il TO a skipper TO be proud of his
craft and sure Of her and make allowances
for this confidence CoulhOurne feels IN the
vessel But his confidence is hacked up by
facts that 60 long way toward proving
his theory that the Baird is still some
where atioat off Hog Island, Va, kept on
TOP of the water by her cargo of lumber.
despite the heavy bombs exploded against
her sides, which tore big holes IN her
Vessels have been known 70 get worse
wounds than the Baird got and still live,
water-logged derelicts, simply because
their cargo of lumber wouldn't let them
sink.
A THRILLING sEA-TALE.
Here is Captain CoulhOurne story
told Yesterday on his arrival at an
Atlantic port, on the United States
destroyer which picked UP him and his
crew.
We were proceedi ne about 100 miles
off Hog Island in a smooth sea Tues
day morning. when the man at the wheel
sighted an object off our starb0ard quar-
ter which he took TO he a submarine
chaser | was al breakfast, but came on
deck. The helmsman reported that the
object was acting in q queer manner.
AS soon as | saw the object ! knew
il was submarine Almost Immediately
II sent a shot crashing through our lore
sail and signaled for us 10 heavp TO.
brought the schooner UP and the, sub
marine. moving closer to US, broke out the
German flag and two officers and four
members of the crew. the officers only
beng armed. boarded us.
zone OF the officers. man about As
years old. speaking perfect English, de
handed the ships manifest and papers
and announced that ave would have
1iteen minutes to take to the schooner :
one boat One Of the officers accom-
parted me to the cabin, where | turned
yer the ships papers 70 him The
boar ding party had little 70 say The
officer with me did not know how long
he had been IN American waters, or how
many submarines Germany nov had on
this side He told me to get all OF the
crew in the boat and place therein what
provisions We had.
"As soon as we cleared the schooner
the Germans placed bombs at the ends
OF the ropes and swung them over the
sides of the vessel. to which time fuses
were attached. The Germans then LETT
the ship. and as we pulled away terrific
explosion took place and / noticed two
gaping holes In the side OF my ship.
Being loaded with lumber however. the
schooner cid not sink, and Is probably
drifting about.
The submarine was about rs feet
long. and carried two guns, one fore and
one ait. and disappeared almost lmmedl-
atelv after gniting the fuses to the bombs.
We saved all OF our personal belong
Ings and two pet dogs we had aboard.
" had been drifting about for an hour
when an American destroyer picked US up.
After taking Us on board the destroyer
sighted the submarine but II submerged
before she had chance 10 fire on 1t. -