Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1918-07-03
COOK PROVED HERO
His Deed Of Bravery Deserves to
Be Recorded.
Joseph marcIo's Saving Of comrsds
Washed Overheard Proof That
Courage In Navy 10 Not Con-
fined TO tho Fighters.

Many brave things have been dont
by the men OF these hard'drlyen Amer
lean ships, and one OF them stands oui
superbly writes Rnlph ID. Paine In IN,
Saturday Evening Post II wns the
rescue of man overheard Ia the
midst OF storm. This vessel wns
caught out In Il while ON convoy duty
and her survival was little short Of d
mlyicle. The French marines called
Il the worst blow the Bay Of BIscn,
had seen In eight years. Its violence
was that OF hurricane. with wind
velocity approaching hundred miles
nn hour. such storm as would have
sorcly pounded aud damaged grent
Atlantic linor
The ship was more or less knocked
into klndlIng wood. both mnsts broken
OF and rolled out OF her. nil taree boats
smashed aud carried AWAY, decks gut.
ted. life rnils spllntered, compartments
flooded. The ship was rolling 90 de.
grecs, or almost fiat on her side. and
when she plunged, more than half the
length of her keel was In the mir. In
the midst Of II the steering gear jam.
mtd and the ship was likely 10 broach
to pnd founder unless II could be clear.
ed. The chief quartcfinaster, Il. ii.
Robertson, volunteered for the Job
and was presently washed oyerbonrdT
carried OH TO leeward ON the back OF
a ronrlng sea.
There was not one chance In n NIL.
lion ~ saving him. lie wns as good as
dead. and vanished. The ship was run.
ming before the storm and a quarter
of an hour passed before she could be
brought to. n very dangerous maheu.
yer. which again swept her clean. The
qunrtcrmaster had not gone down. but
with the courage Of man who re-
fuses Ia surrender TO the inevitable.
Lines were thrown to him, but he was
unable 20 reach them. Even II the
boats had not been smashed II would
have been impossible to launch one.
a life raft was showed over. and Il
fionted townrd Robertson so that he
could clutch II and hang on.
ThN was merely TO prolong his ng.
ony, however. for he could do nothing
more TO help himself. lie had been In
the wuter z minutes. buifeted. strang.
led, freezing The month was Deceiu.
Der. the temperature Of the sea 20 dc.
grecs. Among those who looked on
and plilcd The exhausted man who had
made such plucky fight Of Il was the
shlp's conl. Joseph MarcIo. His realm
Of pots and pans being wrecked and
awnsh, hc tulgcd his attention to this
affair OF the drowning quartermaster.
Knottlng n line about his middle and
making no fuss about II he jumped In
10 the sen and swan to Robertson. a
veritable porpoisc of sea cook with
soul ns big MS NIL outdoors.
The ship had some way on her and
could not be wholly stopped. II hap
pened, therefore. that when the cook
grabbed the quartermaster they were
slowly towed' through the seas. The
strain wns terrific and the rope nearly
cut the cook In two, but he clungt to his
man until they were fetched alongside
and hauled aboard together.
The quartermaster was unconscious.
and the cook also collapsed on deck,
but was thnwed out with no serious
damage. This Joseph Marcio was
promoted to the rating Of chief COM
mlssary steward In recognition Of the
deed and was recommended for the
gold llfe-saving medal Of the navy de-
partment.