Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-09-05

masks are now IN the navy Sard
hospital.
AS the gas spread through the
boat the thirty-seven men were
forced from one compartment to
another, getting nearer the stern
each time, until all were gathered.
Crowded in the stern of the boat
the men drank the juice of canned
peas and beans until they were too
weak to open cans. They tried to
eat other food but the oil and
water had ruined it. ....
Without a watch or match, the
men were unable to tell whether it
was night or day Commander
Cooke suggested that when they
pierced the shell and set a signal
they would need something for a
night sign of distress. one of the
commissioned officers volunteered
to drop into the chlorine filled tor
pedo compartment and get one of
the batteries there. He was per
mitted to do so but in his quest got
hold of one that was useless.
Returns With Battery.
Stephen Gaven, Il seaman, sa-
luted and said:
I'VE need that battery. I will
get it,"
And before anybody could pro-
test he slipped back into the gas
| filled room and returned with the
battery.
The presence of eight torpedoes
made the bow heayy and aided in
pressing it further !nto the mud.
Efforts 70 release the torpedoes
were without result.
At about s o'clock after the ship
had been under water about SIX
hours, Commander Cooke decided
on trying to force a hole through
the side. With Chief Gunners
Mate Fox he tried an electric drill,
Then the commander learned that
none of the electrical apparatus
was of any use whatever
Only one ratchet was aboard
and this was used to drill a small
hole in the stern.
Take Turns at Drilling.
The men took turns at drilling.
| The ratchet made slow progress
through the tough stern and the
men were hampered by the dark
| lltbS III WHlCll lHtN WI ht's
Finally, at about 3 a. m. Thurs
| day, a hole seven inches long by
five eighths of a inch wide had
been made. The ratchet was ruin
ed by this time and it was impos-
sible to widen the hole sufficiently
| to permit the egress OF a human
body. A long iron rod was pushed
| through the aperture with Youk-
er's undershirt tied to It, This was
the distress signal which brought
the Atlanthus to the rescue. Some
hours later the, transport General
Goethals appeared and released
the men.
| H. A. Love, gunner's mate, first
class, Fall River. Mass, was in the
torpedo room when the dive was
! taken. Love said it was the six
teenth crash dive" they had taken
since the cruise started. The air
intake valve which, according to
the official report to Washington,
was responsible for the accident,
opened directly into the room in
which Love was working.
Defective Intake Valve.
| when we began to so below
| the surface" Love said, Il started
to set the diving rudders in posi-
ton. After We were almost COM
pletely submerged. felt water
pouring into the. room. | turned
around quickly and saw that it was
entering through the intake valve.
| / ran over to try to shut it, leav-
ing my rudders. | was alone in
the room. When 1 ATTEMPTED to
close the valves from the inside
was knocked to the floor by the
rush of water. | got up and tried
again. Again I was bowled over,
! 1t was a powerful stream of water,
| but l managed to get out We
were forced by chlorine gas from
room to room until finally we
were confined in the two stern
compartments, the motor room and
the tiller room,
1--WE did yet know the depths OF
the water we were in before we
were forced to retreat from the
coming tower we could look out
and see the bow was resting on the
sand. That led us to believe we
were not in water whose depth was
more than the length of the boat.
Gould Hear Water Tapping.
when we got into the two COM
rartments we could hear the water
tapping against the side of the
boat. That convinced us that the