Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-12-20
Six Men
Continued from Page one)

lives.
Forward are the torpedo tubes
compressed air tanks and compli-
Gated controls by which the pro-
tectiles are shot out While no plans
of the boat were available, naval
men said they believed there are fou1
of these tubes, each about 81 inches
lin diameter. It was from these
tubes that some submarine experts
believed that the men might pro-
ject themselves in torpedo tubes.
| The chamber probably carried
eight torpedoes, four in rack on
either side.
In this ugly steel chamber, where
perhaps in dim light, the great
Asnks, the 17-foot torpedoes, and
the complicated mechanism loomed
| in Great dark shapes, casting eerie
shadows, the six men gasped for
breath as the life giving oxygen
was steadily consumed.
Here they clanked messages in
! code with a hammer against the
steel wall and waited frantically
for the tapping of diver outside,
and continued to tap, hoping the
oscillating receiver of another sub
marine might record their words,
+, although no diver replied.
In the next chamber. only few
feet away the submarine men said
was probably food and oxygen, for
which the six prisoners appealed in
one of their hammer tapped mes
SageS. In that room the battery
room, they said. in addition to large
storage batteries and many hunks
Was habitually kept an oxygen tank
and the ship comestibles
| Meanwhile a discovery was made
which led to even graver fears for
the men down under the ocean. The
air line through which it had been
thought they were being given
means to breathe was not function
ing as had been desired.
! The mine sweeper Falcon had
hooked an airline to a connection
with one of the two airlines on the
S-4 opening into the torpedo room.
1t was when Diver L. G, Michaels
went down t otry to connect the air
! line with second line on the sub
marine that his lines became fouled
and he was caught in the tangle.
He was unconscious when hauled up.
The connection was not made.
! The army of men aboard the res
cue fleet was HELPLESS while the
gale ragged and Michaels needed
hospital attention, so Rear Admiral
Frank H. Brumby, aboard the Fall
con and in charge of operations, de-
cided to make run for Boston.
! The Falcon made quick trip to
! the Charlestown navy yard and
Michaels was taken to the naval hos
pital at Chelsea where 1t was said
| tonight he probably would recover.
| Admiral Brun1by held a hasty con-
ference with Rear Admiral Philip
Andrews, connandant of the yard
Then the Falcon, with more supplies
aboard, hurried back to- Provincecown.
Could the men down below survive
another night?sL That was the ques-
tion in the minds of the rescuers as
they stood he1plessly by. Perhaps
the best opinion obtainable was that
voiced in Washington by Lieutenant
iCharles B. Mon1sen. submarine expert
of the navy Under favorable condi-
tionS, he said, the men could last
until early Wednesday morning.
The reScuers continued to work
frantically on preparations for efforts
/ to raise the submarine-likely to
prove a long, wearisone task. Pom
toons arrived on the scene late today.
Chains and gear came from the
! Charlestown navy yard. Everything
pointed to a night OF intense activity.
| The terrifying news OF the break
/ in the air line OF the S-4 was received
! by the same system of dots and
/ daslles which had BROUGHT the hopeful
! message that six still lived in the
torpedo compartment at the forward
] end of the submarine.
! Tt was this latter MESSAGE which
ended with the urgent: Please hurry,
will you be long now?"
The air line of the SD is a pipe
/ about one and half inches in
diameter running from one end of the
ship to the other and affording an
outside connection near the coming
tower. The line is DESIGNED to carry
air to men in the various compart-
ments when the submarine is be-
4 meath the surface. In each compart-
ment is a gag valve. a small wedge-
shaped piece of metal which usually
is left open. so that air can be
forced into the compartment in any
emergency.
| With this line unbroken the I'M
prisoned men could be fed life-giving
air indefinitely 1t was to the ex-
ternal connection OF this vein OF
4 life that divers last night bent all
their efforts.
"Try your Gag valve" he Falcon
messaged to the imprisoned men a
hundred feet Feneath the surface. The
answer came that the valve admitted
water when opened, that it rnustr
be kept closed to save the men from
the water which would force its way
into their compartment from a break
in civilization that the Maddux lines
were in the business OF transporting
| people comfortably, rapidly, reliably
and safely and that it was their
purpose to impress their passengers