Evening star., 1922-10-13

tails later.
The above was sent to the
Associated Press by Capt. Hall
of the transport Thomas.
Ry the Associated Press.
SAN FRANCISCO. Calf. October l3.
Tie passengers of the City of Homo
l'Ilu. which burned at sea, were trans
{-rred 70 the United states Army trans
Iort Thomas from the rescue ship West
taralon at dawn today. according to an
official message received by the Federa.
Telegraph Company. The Thomas Is
que in San Francisco tomorrow, but II
- expected she will be at least a day
late
The message said that the City OF
Honolulu was burned beyond repair. and
that it would be two days at least be-
fore any ship would be able to approach
her on account of the high sea The
the passengers had been effected without
any particular incident
Two messages, sent by the Thomas to-
day to Army transport headquarters
here. were made pubic upon their re-
ceipt The first said that the Thomas
was alongside the West Faraion at 3
an, and the second said that it had
been decided to wait until dawn to
transfer the passengers, ''as they are
asleep"
261 Rescued.
According TO this last message, the
West Faralon advised the Thomas that
4. did not have proper accommodations
tyr the passengers and crew Of the CITY
of Honolulu.
The second message gave the list from
-ile City of Honolulu at thiry-nine wom-
en-, thirty-dve men and 1S7 members of
the crew
The radio. mans bride on space,
and that hardly less potent thing. the
fellowship of those who go down to
the sea in ships, stands responsible
today for the safety of 261 persons-the
passengers and ships company of the
steamer City of Honolulu. The readi-
ress with which mariners of half a
dozen craft, from pleasure craft to
ireadnaugh.S of the Pacific fleet, offered
themselves for the rescue Of the dis
tressed fellow travellers af1oat was but
an echo of story first told SO long ago
that men nave forgotten the time of tn"
telling, but the tale of the radios part
belongs to n more modern generation
They mingled. this old thing and this
new one, to save life.
Flames Spread Rapidly.
Early yesterday. while she was $40
miles off San Pedro. Calf. fire broke
out in the second-class cabins of the
steamer. pne-time pride Of the North
German Lloyd line and more recently
leader of the Los Angeles Steamship
Company's new Honolulu service. I'm
accountably the flames gained such
Roadway on the fighting crew that,
two hours later, 1t was necessary to
H., hi ENyt hr.f0 hat
came the radio had cried far and wide
the "dot-dot-dot. dash-dash dash.
dot-dot-dot" that means disaster, dis
Iress and human extremity on the
high seas.
Two ships, the Enterprise of the
Natson Line and the Thomas, an
Army transport. eastbound from Ha-
waii. caught the signal ard turned
toward the position the operator had
given. A pleasure yacht. the CaSania,
".uising 70 Honolulu with party. in
Guiding Cromptoa Anderson. brother
inlaw OF z. l.. Roheny. who is in New
York. caught the appeal and turned
her bow that way. Los Angeles caught
The signals and Navy vessels stood by
10 race with death to the scene of the
FIRE. San Francisco caught the sig
nails and learned that distant ship
had turned toward the scene.
1t was that ship. the West Fara-
Ion. NJ. NJ. Walk, master, that swept
down the sea lanes to the City Of
Honolulu and effected the rescue.
All Passengers Escape.
But she did not get there until more
than four hours after the flames had
forced the captain, his first officer, the
chief engineer and the radio oper-
I,tor. who had stayed behind to serve
10 the uttermost the passengers con-
1ided to their care. to leave the blaz-
ing hulk. The officers stayed to ad-
wise, suggest and confer; the radio
operator stayed TO keep the West
Faralon advised. lest she miss the
boatloads of passengers floating
nearby and the rescue be delayed.
The fire broke out between and s
o'clock in the morning; the passengers
were put oversize at s; the captain
left the steamer a little after 10; the
West Faralon arrived about 2:30 In
she afternoon. BY quarter TO 4 the
asst boatload of castaways had been
auled aboard the West Faralon, and
that ship. her every corner crowded
with cargo and human salvage. lay to
n mile from the iire-swept vessel and
all hands watched her burn. All
hands, that is. but the radio operator
.-he was busy sending messages that
told the world the steamers company
was safe and other messages that
kept the Thomas steaming southwark
20 provide for the rescued passengers
some smoother comforts than the
planking Of the West Faralon's decks
The Thomas officers transferred
the City of Honolulu's passengers
carly today. The Thomas will bring
Them to San Francisco. They were
bound for Los Angeles.
Radio Calls Cease.
There, just before the Thomas
reached the West Faralon, the story
was broken this morning, for shore
radio stations ceased communicating
with the vessels so that the West
Faralon's radio might be used to
guide the transport to her. The ces-
sation left much untold-the cause Of
<he fire. the reason 1t spread with
such fierce rapidity, the details Of the
tight against it, and those more grip
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