The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-09-18

The air was well nigh irrespirable;
their pulses beat with fury. But, In
spite of all, each man was perform
ing III the dark the task assigned to
him, although with the certainty Of
terrible death at hand.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, six
hours after the sinking, the crew
heard the clatter Of a chain that was
being cut. They knew then that ef-
forts for their rescue were under way
and at the same time that these ef-
forts were being frustrated. The SUBJ
marine, after the chain, was cut, had
remained in position with her stern
somewhat raised.
Meanwhile, in the world above, the
disappearance Of the H-8 had become
known and all elements Of rescue
were set to work and succeeded In To-
eating the petition Of the submarine
from the Indications Of tugboat
which had accompanied the submarine
up to the moment Of the accident.
Various other submarines and tugs
placed themselves about this point
and two heavy cranes with chains
were set up In working order. -
|, 4 diver who went to the bottom r.
turned saying that the H-8 was lodged
ID the mud in a dangerous position
and that the telephone, buoy was en-
tangled. After little continued e.
fort, the, telephone apparatus was
Strengthened out and communication
with the crew of the submarine re-
established. = When questioned the
commander replied with stoical valor
that 1t would be necessary to raise the
boat as soon as possible to save the
4 lives Of the crew. These words, said
without anxiety, without fear in the
presence of such a catastrophe, are
worthy Of the tradition that Prat set
down for our navy, when seeing that
his old wooden ship was about to be
attacked by a powerful enemy Of
Chill, he said: "The flag Of Chill has
never been lowered and hope this
will not be the occasion for doing SO"
Pratt, killed when he boarded the ship
of the enemy, is an example which no
Gillian sailor has ever forgotten.
Chains Slip and Craft Drops Back.
The hoists did not work right, the
chains slipped and the HIS returned to
Its old position. After some time tho
rescuers succeeded in passing a new
chain under the submarine, which
slowly raised by the stern SO that the
bow would, be tipped as little as pos
sible., While this maneuver was being
made a tug cut the telephone connec-
ton and communication with the sunk
en- vessel was again cut off and was
not re.established. >s-.-.s.
Z. The hours passed in extreme an
guish, the victims believing that the
attempts to save them were useless,
and those making the attempts think.
ing it was already too late to rescue
their brave companions alive. But
the work was continued with energy,
and at length the stern came to the
surface.
That was the most solemn moment
of the whole operation. Few believed
that any of the crew would still be
alive and that all they had done was
to raise out of the sea a coffin contain
ing 81 bodies.
With no means for communication
with the submarine to let, the men
know that the stern was already
above water, one of the sailors tapped
the Morse code with hammer on the
outside. A few minutes passed and
the hatchway3 was opened. A man
appeared, exhausted, pale and his eyes
lbloodshot. One by one, the rest fol-
lowed.
= Then when it was thought that only
the captain was still on board; it was
found that two men were missing.
Captain Del Solar descended again
into the submarine and found a ma
chinist still calking and fireman still
at the pump. Neither of the two had
received orders to come out and they
remained at their, posts.
The Gillian submarine H-3 was des-
ignated with the number E-12 in the
English navy. It was the belief Of
the sailors that because it had borne
this number it was certain to come to
harm.
It was said that the accident was
caused by the breaking Of the bottom
Of the tank in the battery. At the
time Of the accident the automatic
scaphanders for the rescue Of the
crew were not on board. They had
been taken to the arsenal for repairs.