Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-07-03
Y, N. {. A. MAN Tells
Of TORPEDOED Liner
INTERESTING FACTS RELATED BY
ONE OF MEN ON ILL.FATED
VESSEL.
REV. JOHN TAYLOR ON BOARD
All sYo Men We're Rescued and Are
Now Doing Work Among the
5 Allied Soldiers.
{Continued from last week.

CONTINUED from last week..
Let me say here that, though the
cream OF English seamen have been
\ called into Government service, the
men on the merchant vessels, though
4 gathered from the seven seas and un-
trained and undisciplined, are brave
men, or they would not constantly
face the dangers of the German sub
marine In order to carry supplies to
England and her allies.
Let me tell here how they stepped
aside that night to give woman the
right OF way. Harry N Holmes, a
British Y. M. G. A. man returning to
France to become supervisor of the
Association work along the entire
British front, was accompanied by his
bride Of three months who had been
Miss Knect formerly of Dayton,
Ohio The doorway of the stairway
leading to their lifeboat was jammed,
SO they went to the steep ladder up
which the crew was thronging.
Here's a lady, lads, let her BY"
shouted one of the men, and every
last man stood aside to let her have
free access to the ladder. They did
not even crowd after her.
One Of the first men I met on the
deck OF the destroyer was Victor H.
Quincy of Boston, who had acted as
my secretary on the Oronsa. He is of
IA calm, placid nature and 1t is al
most impossible to ruffle him. On
Saturday afternoon l had laughlingly
told him that If the boat were torpe-
doed, he would escape fully dressed,
though he undressed every night, and
that he would carry his typewriter
with him. / asked. him On the de-
stroyer's deck:
Victor, did you save your type
writer?" ss
# NO" he said, "but nearly did. I
got of with my suit case and would
have saved my typewriter II I had had
another minute
GIVE me the roll asked you to
make for me yesterday" said.
Would you believe it. He opened
the suit case on the deck, ran through
some papers by, the light of the moon
and handed me a roll of the members
OF the party. checked on it and
when get home will have it framed
as a treasured possession.
AS I started to check our men, one
man said to me: "You were right
about Downer.'' Now Sam Downer
comes from New Jersey where they
have named town after him because
he supplies the peculiar kind of sand
needed for making steel for Uncle
Sans warships. He is a camera
hend. The man continued: You said
that If the ship went down, we would
find Downer sitting on life-buoy
taking her picture. Well, he came off
without his shoes or coat but saved
his camera and I'll be hanged If he
didn't sit on the side of the life boat
sighting his camera and exclaiming:
If they'll only send up another torch.
I'll get her picture
II these men will hold so hard to
the little things in time of danger,
think what they will do when the big
things for the good Of others, at the
time of stress and strain at the front
in France.
Gale Seaman, my roommate, had
probably the narrowest escape Of the
party. His foot became entangled in
the rope as the boat was lowered and
he was dragged the length Of the boat
and then overheard, head down. AS
he was being pulled above reach, R.
w. Peckham Of Springfield, Mass,
reached out with knife and cut
him down / left my hunting knife
in my cabin. My first purchase with
the FIRST money / had in London was
good strong knife for five dollars.
Mr.. E. c. Pullen of Rhinebeck, N. Y,
was also caught in similar way in
another boat, but extricated himself
The delay in freeing Seaman nearly
cost the lives Of the men in No. 2. The
suction held it to the side of the ship.
In order to free it from the grasp of
the sinking vessel, it had to be SHOW
ed along the side clear to the rear,
where the swirl of the water was not
SO strong. Men in the party declare
that it was only the calm confidence,
broad shoulders and strength Of the
Rev. Mr.. Cook and the seamanship,
common sense and quick thinking Of
Bennett Van Epps of Chicago, that
finally showed it free.
G. D. Whitehead of Bloomfield, N.
j., was on deck leaning over the star
board rail when the torpedo struck
on the starboard side, just forward
OF the second cabin smoking room
He did not see it, but declares he
was going down the steps to alarm
us when the explosion followed, show
ing that at least two or three seconds
elapsed between the blow and the con-
tact explosion.
Another man was in the Mushroom
cleaning his store teeth when the
torpedo exploded. He went to his cab
in, got his grip, went on deck, got in
to his lifeboat, manned an oar, and al
ter he had been rowing few moments
found his hand was hurting, opened
it, and as they slipped from his
grasp realized that through all the
excitement and all he had done, he
had carried those store-teeth in his
hand and then lost them in the life
boat
One Of our men greeted me with:
you saved my life. slept through
the explosion and knew nothing until |
I heard Won call"