Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-09-12

correspondent In New York Of e
DiarAo Hustrado of Santiago, Chilli, re
lates for the New York Herald thu
following story Of the sinking Of thu
Submarine H-3 of the Gillian navy
and its remarkable rescue without
loss of life:
In the beginning of June a mari
time accident occurred in the military
port of Tulcnhuano, Chill, which will
figure with honor In the history Of
submarine navigation. The fact has
special interest for the experts Of the
United Stntes because the submarine
H-3 of the Gillian war squadron was
constructed here by the Electric Boat
company. This submarine is n OF
six which the British government had
ordered built during the war, but
which she turned over to Chill along
with so airplanes and hydroplanes of
combat. England made this grant to
Chill after having taken over for her
own feet two superdreadnaughts OF
$4,000 tons, as well as some destroyers
OF 1000 tons and other smaller vessels
which Chilli was having constructed,
and which were used by England in
the war against Germany.
The submarine feet left New Lon
don last year, conveyed by the cruiser
Chacabuco, under the command Of
Admiral Luis Gomez Carreno. At
Charleston q furious tempest came up,
which lasted 70 hours, during which
time the submarines. defying all dan
ger, demonstrated their excellent con-
struction and the dexterity of their
Gillian crews. The transport Anga-
mos, auxiliary of the fleet, was almost
lost In the storm. Having thus proved
the worth of the submarines, which at
all times remained in a compact group,
those In command understood that
they could continue the tAp to the
coast of Chill with entire confidence.
The feet touched at Havana, Kings
ton. Colon, Balboa. a port In Ecuador
AFRICA, Chilli, Valparaiso and Talea-
huano, their final destination.
This formidable voyage Of many
thousand miles is in truth a record
that adds another proud page to the
traditional competence and fearless
ness Of the Gillian sailors, who re-
eeived their first naval instruction
from the famous English admiral,
Lord Cochrane, chief of the Gillian
feet during the war of independence.
This exploit rebounded In all the
scientific centers of submarine navi-
cation, and has been recorded as one
Of the most interesting successful at
tempts made in the world. The great
est span Of continued travel was be-
tween Ecuador and Chill, which is
about 1900 miles.
Ventllatlng Pipe Broken.
At a quarter to ten o'clock in the
morning of June / the submarines
started their customary exercises OF
submersion inside the military port OF
T%alcahuano. Suddenly the command
er. Capt. Del Solar, noticed that his
boat had become very heavy and did
not easily respond to the maneuvers.
He then saw that the ventilating pipe
In the battery of the stern had broken
and that, besides water, strong fumes
of chlorine were entering the compart-
ment. With due presence of mind the
commander ordered that the compart-
ment be vacated, taking all the neces-
sary precautions so that the water
and gases might not enter the other
sections of the submarine,
AS the danger was becoming immi-
nent, the telephone buoy was sent up
10 call for help. but there was no an
swer. Later it was found that the
buoy had became entangled and had
never reached the surface of the wa
ter No answer to their calls for help
proved to the crew that the situation
was desperate. Nevertheless, eve
for a moment did the discipline Of
these men weaken.
While efforts were being made to
get into communication with someone
above, the men were trying to hermet-
ically calk the partitions, 1t having
been noted that the fumes of the
chlorine from the main section had
already begun to filter through the
cracks. However, this compartment
wns soon filed with the poisonous gas
and the men had to leave 1t to avoid
hsphyxiation. Orders were then given
TO retire to the only chamber left, that
ut the bow, where new and frightful
fortunes awaited them.
Just as soon as the officers and sail
mrs had shut themselves IN In the bow
the electric current was cut off, leay-
ing the submarine still submerged and
In complete darkness. This to the
various persons who had v board
ed q submarine before in their lives,
meant certain death. The commander
exhorted his men to continue in the
dark their work of calking up the
compartment to stop the thrush Of
water and gas, which continued to
spread throughout the boat. The huh
was laying at a depth of II meters, in
D bed Of mud.
At Work In Darkness.
Each man worked at random In the
dark; several of them were almost
overcome and their strength had be-
gun TO leave them, but their discipline
vas not lessened for one moment. The
only pump available drove the water
put slowly. which helped to prolong
the hope of rescue which these In
trepid sailors had in their hearts.