Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-09
Mean Liner SINKS
with MIGHTY HISS
Z S0optain of Guard Cutter Tells
q Of Gallant Fight OF
Rescue
\ BRAvED WAVES AND GALE
nv n stag Correspondent


keep weary vigil for the four men in
4 the ship's company uuaccpuntcd for.
None of the rescue ships picked up
these four shipbuildcrs yesterday after
! The ship had burned and sank. and non"
Z have reported them today. Final hor"'
about died when The coast guard cutter
Kicknpoo dcrkcd here NJ o'clock last
night and reported mo Survivors ON
I board this vessel" 1t had been hoped
Until tho Inst moment that the missing
(, four might have been aboard.
The members Of the Kickapoo crcw
are about convinced the missing nrn
were trapped IN their brrths in the aft
mart Of the doomed ship. and We're
amothered without n chance I" cS"ap".
They entered no lifcboats. and they
clung Ia no wrcckagC, for thcr" was u"
wreckagc. They wCr" never sc"n ur"n
the deck aud they were not In tho rag
ging. They wrrc last noticed going
aft to their cnbtns by members of u"
Northern Faciiic's crew. and they wcrr
seen 10 more.
man Brothers. sub cont rnctors Tor the
Sun Shipbuilding Company. Of th"H-
ter.
1t had been the intention Of the miss.
ing men to look the vessel over during
her trim from New York to tn" Sun
yard. that they might hr prepared TO
make recommendations concerning her
rcconiitioning upor her arrival. The
entire job was to have cost the Admiral
Line 500. 900 The line had Just
bought the ship from the United States
Government.
Their rabins. as a special mark Of
favor, were in the passenger quarters
I'm the after part Of the ship. II i. this
,r;, H., h,,,. nir
lives. In the terrible confusion that on
sued when the vessel caught fire in tho
midst Of tremendous seas. and in n
bowling gale. 1t may b" tIcy were not
missed until too late.
Once more the KiclapOo will put to
sea and make IA final search for the
missing shpyard workers. Tho cutter
left the naval station today and will
search the waters while daylight lasts.
.\frc in Vicious Sea
1t WIS not until / 30 o'clock tha,
word WAS sent TO Captain John J.
Hutson. Of H." ki"l;apoo. to put to sca.
Several Of 'hc crew who were ashore
were sort fer. One of thrm was told
In error Il was the it'll" kickapoo it.
self that WAS atirn, and hc dashed IN
IN II taXicab 10 find the boat quietly
lying at her iuoorng.
The night vas clear. but tho wind
was' blowing sixty miles an hour. 1t
was quiet enough in the harbor~. bur
outside the waves were found a be-
running tremendously high. They we're
what sailormen Gated "short and hi-h. ="
and were choppy and vicious.
The first word received by Captain
:, ,Hutson said: Northern Pacific on
IRE, twelve miles northeast by north
of Five Fath0ms Lightship.'
The KiCkapUo !rnt out 70 sea. Then
the steamship Transportation wire
1tsscd. "Think all hands saved The
Transportation had r"nch"d the North.
ern Pacific and was standing by
Then cam" another wireless from the
Transportation, "Somc on board, some
Still missing"
BY thi. time ,h" Eickapoo was being
lifted by the seas und shaken auu
down on her deck. and even was forced
through tn" cracks about the pilot
liOusc window frames. This meant
nothing in the Kicknnoo'> career. for
when II j. quiet and calm all Is well
outside. aud the Kickanoo loafs at hcr
dock. 1T is when he elements rage tha,
the Kicknnoo l. up and doing.
Smoke Drifts in Clouds
+ y so Tue NI'hdDpo StThtSltI on. sue
found the burning vessel southeast of
the position given. Driven by the ga!c.
the burinins boat was drifting TOWARD!
the south.
Standing by her were the Trnnspor.
tatiOn, with her sInoke>tark scr far
astern and bobbIns wildly up aud down
as the bOat was lifted by the wavn$. E..
Not far off in another direction In,
the Herbert G.. Wylic. a tanker She
il bound from Tampico, with oil. To
Portland. Ne.
The Northern Pacific was doomed,
and all the survivors seemed 10 hay"
been taken of. 1t was then nearly 10
O'Clock in the morning. Great cloud,
Of smoke, black ana low. billowcd above
the hull OF the ship, only 10 be torn
and dispersed by the gale. The winds
fed with strcamerS Of oily smoke uu1!
more black billowS poured from rlrr
deck and from every purtholr.
Overhead the sun shOnp bvi.htI, in #
clear sky and glittcrcd upon the .,hoavcs
os spray lorn from the tops of mighrv
waves by the gale. Slowly the North .
ern Pacific listed TO starboard until she
lay at an angle of twenty five degrees.
Around the klckapoo circlcd ON tI,u
starboard side dull red fumcs could be-
seen licking from the portfolios, Three
boats were seen hung on davi,s on the
port side.
The decks were burned away. All
the woodwork was ablaZc. There was
no one in the rigging. Til" vcs.r
seemed deserted. Somewhere wcr" four
men not accounted for. The officer,
and crew Of the kiCkapoo fear thcst
men were pcnncd In, I'LL alone. IN IL,
long corridors and rows upon rows ul
staterooms, aft. below decks.
Captain IlursOu said when lie arrive,
back at Cape May:
1--WE searched the rigging Withou
glasses to make sure If any on" wa,
2clinging there. We drove the Krkupoc
4 as close in ns we dared We had t.
consider the safety uf onr ship. and ia,
men upon II. Had We seen any bod,
aboard well, that is n different matter
something wor,l havc been dom" to ="
h1m OH. We saw 10 one. The rlggiu,
was empty the ship seemed deserted.
'She was burning clean out. A. V,
circled around we could SEQ the dccl
S planking had been burned completed !,
away. Tue iron deck beams we're Iluiu
~ visible. All the wOodw ork Of thu
bridge had been burned away. Yet thu
chip blazed fi"rcely. The TrauNporta
tion wirelesscd she thought four mcl
were OH hoard, trapped In the cabin
astern, Al the crew. according 80 tin
message, had been accounted for. Ihcs
four men were ShipbuilderS. travelling
Sn the vessel to the shipyard.
,&ss when we were first told they wcr
enlisslng. | tod the two ships | wa
going to circle about the ship and So
what I could see. I took several trip