Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-28

20 remember meeting me night before
snn,,os sass ns the Aica,ar Grand. sir. Mrs.
= sees nSs said 70 Captain sspsaHs' Trigger re-.
nMectlyely. M ,You will report at once to
loD, as you call It." A twinkle came
INTO his eyes. He doesn't like the hat
yCahe 'ySs h, wearing. Nor the shirt Nor
Thank you, SIR,
And. BY the way, Percivai a. soon
as you are slightly refurbished I want
you to stroll through the second cabin
nd; srS: u b possible ss, ldsntify the two stew.
was II during the day or at nightT'
=, Some time during the night, sir.
S'sysn sWs,y or ,vh,, haif past, 1 should say"
Trigger. II have y seen ieS ali Of y the sAHS stew,
erds. sir, according to Mr.. Codge, and
% not recognize any Of them as the men
who came 70 No. 20. had q fairly good
yiew of them too. from beneath the
iogsI S;a berth Se. They spoke n language
DO you understand derman7"
NO. sir know II when hear II,
however. They were, not speaking Cor
man. may have been wrong, but I
came came to the conclusion that they were
transferring some one to No. %. Thoy
brought In two suitcases and left them
when they went out T.
Captain Trigger brought his clenched
INST down on the table with resoundins.
Now we have nl That Chicago de-
tective IL right. by cad !"
He turned to the small group of off,
GERS clustered behind him. Fresh alarm.
real CONSERVATION, had leaped Into the
eyss y OF every man Of them.
Isn't overf' cried Mr.. Mott, starting up.
1T does! Every inch of this ship,
every damned inch Of II, from stem to
stern. Overlook nothing, Mr.. Mott. Don't
delay a second"
Perclval was alone with the agitatod
captain an instant later. Triggers eyes
were rather wild and bloodshot. The
younger mans face blsnched. He knew
now that the danger was real. He walt
ed for the captain to speak.
were not stewards. They were the men
who Jumped overheard. You tell mo
they left two bags there when they went
out OF the room. Well, they were not
there this morning when the regular
disappeared. But tho contents Of those
ship. And II they are not found in time,
by CAD. sir. we will all be In kingdom
come before we know It."
The bombs Lot 90
THE first explosion occurred at eleven
minutes past 9. The chart house and
part Of the bridge were blown to pieces
Three dull, splinterins crashes ensued In
rapid succession, proving beyond ques-
automatically at a given time. One. Of
them wrecked the engine room another
blew n great hole in the stern Of the
ship. above the water line the third de.
| Btroyed the wireless house and carried
away u portion Of the deck with It
Thara uare eipht In all NJ fheaa dey-
ilish machines In the heart Of the Dor.
aine. Some time prior to the first ex.
plosion tho feverish searchers had un..
covered four Of them, cunningly planted
in the most vital parts OF the ship. Two
were taken from the lower hold. one at
each end Of the vessel. and two moro
were found close to the carefully pro-
tected section Of the weasel In which a
rather insignificant but deadly shipment
| Of high explosives was stored.
The discovery Of the four bombs and
their immediate consignment to the sea
| saved the ship from being blown to bits.
With another hour to spare, II is more
than probable the remaining four would
amazing -oleverness with which they
were hidden. 70 thorough and 30 dogged
was the search.
Confusion, terror, stupefaction. and
| finally panic. followed the successive
blasts. The decks were e. strewn m, with W 9,
|
ais, and many there were who never
got up again. Stunned, dazed. bewil-
dered, those who were able to do 80
scrambled to their feet only to be hurled
down again and again. Shrteks. groans,
ghastly silences between the muffled dc:
donations. The great vessel surged and
rolled and plunged like tortured AMI
nal.
| % xo1a he ahAftarip0 81 0iQaa md
above all this horrid turmoil the mighty
roaring and Kissing of steam! And the
wild, gursling cries Of the frantic un.
fortunates who had leaped into the sea-
Out Of the chaos with incredible swift:
out Of that slowly but surely CROPPED the
never failing courage Of the men who
70 down to the sea In ships. Hoarse
commands lifted above the Froans and
prayers. and strong but shaken figures
posts allotted them. Lifeboat after
iifeboat went down into sea that
Elistened with the slanting rays OF an
untroubled sun. low-lying ut the emo
Fire broke out In several places
Down into the bowels OF the ship
plunged the resolute heroes who re:
mained behind, the chosen complement
reserved for Just such On emergency
| by the farseeing master.
| ADOv6 IN0 Va okSohi 1he sso
first feeble cracklings Of flame rose the
stentcrian voice Of the captain from,
his post at the base Of the demolished
bridge , rsus., r.,., Thar.
are dying men below! stand oy' Fight
w He was bloody and almost unrecog-
nizable as ne stood there clutching a
stanchion for support. His legs were
rigid, his body swayed, but his spiri!
guided whs d him % FOR afty years through the
And while these doughty. desperate
spirits fought the fire and smoke with
every means at their command. down
braving not only the peril visible and
at hand but the prospect of annihila-
tion In the event that a belated bomb
pro ojected It's hideous force into the nest
OF high explosives. while these men
with small white craft that bobbed IN
the cleaning sunlight, lifeboats crowded
70 the gunwales with shuddering. bleak
eyed men, women and children waiting
to pick up those who stayed behind.
overheard by the resistless, conquerins
Cruising about at safe distane,
from the menacing hull, these boats
managed to rescue a few Of the beinss
mad panic OF fear but many there weSs
who went down never to be seen again
No boat was without Its wcunded-anc
| its dead; no boat was without ~
| strlcken, anxious-eyed survivors who
watched and prayed for the salvation ol
loved ones left behind. With straininR
eyes they searched the surface OF the
sea, peered at the occupants or near
and distant boats. stared at the scurry'
ing figures on the decks Of the smoking
steamer. hoping. always hoping. and