New Britain herald., 1920-01-28
NEW BRITAIN MAN TELLS OF SHIPWRECk
Describes How Passengers Were
 Rescued From P0Whatan
WAS ON NORTHERN PACIFIC
Army Field Clerk One of Witnesses to Heroic Behavior of Men, Women and Children Taken From Dis ablcd Transport:

and Children Taken From D3S-
 ablcd Transport:
 The only New Britain man, and possibly the only man in Connecticut who witnessed the rescue work nnder the dircctiCn Of the Northern Pacific when the Powhatan was inexperienced at sea, is Army Field Clerk Elmer Ol- son of 244 South Main street, who is now at home awaiting further orders from Washington. He was with t.u last increment of A. F. ts men to leave France. sailing from Antwerp. Belgium, on January II, following a period of service i'll France. His serv ice overseas covered a period of a year and d day. part of which was spent in each of three countries France, Belgium and Germany.
 Voyage Just Begun.
 The Northern Pacific was but short time out when news Gf the Pow hatan's distress was communicated by N NireleSS. Passengers aboard were ap- praised of the fact and the course of the ship was charged to bring it to the location of it's goal and the en- zines spcedcd up to a "A knot an hour rate, the fastest speed possible. The rescue ship was at the scene in about q day and a. half. Lying beside the disabled ship were two destroyers, d tramp steamer. Western Comet, and the Lady Lorncr, all of which had answered the distress signal sent out from the PoWhalan.
 Communication Established.
 Means of communication between the ships Was soon established and the nature of the difficulty explained 10 the crew aboard the rescue ship. It appears that q bloW-hole. used to eject ashes out into the ocean, had become cl0gged, making it impossible for the crew to close it. and offering an inlet for water When the extent of dan ger was discovered, the ships pumps were put to work to bail out the boat and the work was progressing favcrab bly when the water came with q rush. closed in on the furnaces and auenched thesesires The only course left was to apply the hand pumps soon after the crew had been assigned to man those pumps the water u1l- dcrmined the bins of coal, causing a slide that resulted in the breaking of all availa ble hand pumps.
 As d last resort the compartm m cnt was set off from the rest of the ship, its bulkheads closed and locked and the crew left the engine rooms With out light or heat and with but small supply of fresh water on hand. the ship loundered about and sent out signals of distress, resulting in the calling of the Northern Pacific and sister ships.
 Oil Thrown Overheard.
 Barrels of oil were thrown over board to calm the sea so that rescue
 t.l; est possible danger. On the first night the sea was too rough to at tempt the work. On the next day three boats were lowered to start for the Powhatan but the rough sea made he trip inadvisable and the crews returned. One of the boats went 1drift but, fortunately, tho crews were saved At ' o'clock on the follow ng evening the sea was calm and the work was started with six boats taking part in the rescue.
 Many SwclI>.
 Although calm. there was the usual sWellS making it difficult for the boats to navigate when along side the Northern Pacific. The prob lem was solved by throwing Q rope, ] sort of life line. from the ships ?eck When this rope was attached to the body of the person, the lifebOat would ride in on the swell and when about two feet from the Northern Pacific the passenger would make a flying jump and scramble up the rope ladder. This operation was gone over 33O times, that number having been aboard the disabled ship.
 Baby Aboard.
 The youngest pasSeng ger aboard was I,J I rI,tn of val and Mrs. Worden. The problem of getting the baby aboard was easily solved when q petty officer from the rescue ship climbed down rope lad der. stood in wait. and when the boat rode in on a swell caught the baby that had been thrown in the manner of shooting" d basketball. A four year old son of Col Worden cried because his father refused to allow him back on the lifoboat after he had been taken aboard the North crn Pacific. Olson says.
 When the Northern Pscifit' sailed away the crew of the PowFatan was left behind. to be taken on one of the smaller ships. At that time there was A feet of water in the disabled trans port.
 Tndcrtal1crs Grumblc
 Olson, in common with the other A. E. r. men who were returning to the country. has a grievance against the grave registra ton bureau dc tachmen aboard the Powha tan. These undertak CTS. he claims. grum blad against being forced to live With the soldiers, wash with salt water and sleep in the. hold of the ship. AL though Olson, and even Gen. Connor, who commanded the division. gave