Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1920-09-10
TWO DAYS UNDER
SEA IN SUBMARINE
A SMALL BUOY WITH BELL AND
suzzER DEVICE MADE RES
CUE POSSIBLE.
THIRTYREsCuED; suBiN TOW
Lieut.. Commands c. N. Cook, Arkan-
sas, the Last Man to Leave His
vcssei--Takea Aboard the s
Steamship Aianthus.

Philadelphia. Radio messages
flashed from the army transport Cen
eral Goethals to the Philadelphia navy
yard via Cape May told of the rescue
of the four officers and rs men com
crising the crew of the submarine
So after they had spent nearly two
days locked in the disabled vessel be-
meath the Atlantic ocean, SO miles
south of Cape Henlopen.
1t was after 3 am. Sept. g.. when
Lieut.. Commander G. M. Cook, a ma
tive OF Arkansas, who exercised his
prerogative of being the last man to
leave his vessel, was taken aboard the
steamship Alanthus. Nine hours had
elapsed since the plight of the under
sea boat had been made public
through wireless call picked up by
an amateur operator in Pennington,
Connecticut. ,at .e,a.l
The alanthus proceeded slowly
with the SO in tow to the Delaware
bfeakwater, 80 miles down the Della
ware river from Philadelphia. "
1t was a small buoy, development
OF the world war, with the vigilant
eye of a lookout on the bridge OF the
transport General Goethals that gave
the 80 men on the submerged subma
rine So their chance for life. a.
This small buoy, with bell and
buzzer device that can be operated
when the boat is submerged, is part
of the equipment OF all later type sub
marines. 1t was cast loose when the
SIS went down The lookout on the
General Goethals saw it, attracted by
its bell as well as the fact that it
.was not noted on the chart.
A small boat, with an officer In
command, was lowered from theptrsns-
port to Investigate. When the buoy
was reached, the buzzer device could
be heard. The officer cut into the
connection and quickly there came
this message:
"The submarine SIS has been sub
merged for 35 hours. Air is running
short. Machinery is damaged. Send
for help"
This plea was sent broadcast BY The
wireless of the General Goethals.
Among those who responded was the
steamer Alanthus, which with the
army transport stood by the submerg'
ed vessel and managed to attach
graphing hooks to its stern. Holding
the submarine in a vertical position,
q hole was bored through her plates
and air pumped through to the sur-
fering crew, who had almost given up
all hope of rescue.
Meanwhile the call for help had
been picked up ty the navy wireless
stations and by command of Secre-
tary Daniels destroyers were rushed
to the rescue from Philadelphia, New
port News and New York.
Before all these vessels had had
time to reach the scene. however,
word was flashed that all the crew
had been token aboard the steamer
Alanthus The wireless did not tell
how the rescue had been effected or
what vessels besides the Alanthus and
General Goethals. If any. had assisted.
1t merely told that all were safe
aboard the Alanthus. None had been
injured. although all had suffered for
lack of air. 1t was | o'clock when the
first man was taken off the submar
rine and more than two hours later
before Lieut.. Commander Cook left his
vessel. ~
Rescue Effected BY Device Developed
During World War.
New York.--The rescued officers
and men OF the United States subma-
rine SIS, who were submerged for
more than AZ hours in their crippled
submersible off Cape Henlopen. owe
their lives to q hitherto little tested
SAFETY aevise7the telephone buoy. de-
veloped during the world war. s
The steamer Gen. George w. Goef
thals, blowing along her course OFT
| the cape, caught the insistent clang-
ing of a huge gong; sighed a buoy
where the mariners charts showed no
buoy ought 10 be;l drew closer and
observed. that there was tele ehhnne
on the mysterious buoy. A rev mo-
ments later the vGoethals. had a. boat
oversize and learned Of the subnla-
rine's plight. . ~
The Goefhals' wireless flashed the
news ashore and within short time
fleet destroyers and other navel craft
were rushing to the rescue. The
Goethals in the meantime got line
about the stern OF the SIS and, draw
ing. It to the surface. drilled small
hole through the metal hull through
which air was pumped to the suffo-
oating men until the rescusrs arrived.