Evening star., 1933-04-07
BY THE S. S. BALTIC.

and, sadly enough, Is to be scrdpped JoT
the metal her gallant old huIE contains.
BY THE S. S. BALTIC.
You will remember Rudyard Kiplin
says that when a ship finds herself
all the talking of the separate piece
ceases and melts into one voice, which
Is the soul of the ship.
A ship finds her voice on her flrs
trip, and I was born in ,ociiaat, Ireland
in the yards of Harlan g. Wolff, q
wears ago, which makes me old. as ship
go SO YOU must make allowance /
my voice isn't what it used to be. :.
When the White Star Line was found
ed in 1871, the first Baltic was borr
in Belfast. She was an iron. four
masted, single funnel schooner, 420 fee
by 40 feet 9 inches, with gross ton
mage of 3,707.
i am 726 feet by 75.5, and my gros:
tonnage is 1885, My chief character
istic was steadiness. From my firs
days I carried the mail and, In !9Oo
became the first British liner on whicf
the letters and packages were sortee
at sea.
It was four years later that l go'
one of the biggest thrills OF my c;stcer
The Republic of our line was r2mmee
by the italian Lloyd steamship Florida
lust south of Martha's Vineyard, IN
the dark and fog of a Saturday morn
ing. The Florida had 10 Marconi set
but 26-year old Jack Binns OF the
Republic, with his cabin smashed IN
all lights out and two men lying deao
outside his door. picked himself UP
from sthe floor, where he had been
thrown from his bunk, found that ne
still could send, and for II hours In
the January cold clicked out call tol
help and gave the position OF his snip
Now a wireless operator would sigma
S o S, but in those days it was G u u
Hurried to Rescue.
Well, our operator, Tattersall, heard
him and, naturally, I hurried TO the
rescue. Steadily, you understand
Calmly, but going all out, you know. BY
Jove. that was big responsibility! l
had to get there in time, or almost 2,000
persons might never see port again;
got there, took 1850 passengers OF the
two ships and landed them safely in
New York. Good work, you say? Nom
sense! England expects every ship to
do her duty.
The Florida managed to get tarpau-
lins over her smashed bow and crawled
into port. Capt Sealby of the Republic
STAYED on board with the 38 men and
did his best, but when I said goodbye
and left her with other boats around
her. knew that was a last farewell.
Jack Binns, who had come over to me
to get warm, went back on board her
and STAYED to the end. A revenue
cutter took him off, with Capt. Sealby
and the crew, just before she went down
in As fathoms Binns had worked his
kew in the bitter cold for total OF SO
hours. His last message said: The
ships sinking, but I'm on the job"
I was jolly proud of my own operator,
Tattersall. He kept sending almost from
the time we picked up the first c. D. @.
until the time we reached port. Finally,
with all danger over and reports made,
in response to press demands for still
further details, he Marconi-grammed:
Can send no more. Have been con-
stantly at this key without sleep 81
hours" 8.
I have never forgotten that January
%, 1909, although that was by no
means my only errand of mercy. There
was that late November day in 1928,
when the message came from Capt.
Thomas Gates of the Minnewaska, ask
ing aid to save the life of child I was
bound for New York, but my captain,
John Roberts, turned me around and,
in mid-ocean put my doctor, w. Greame
Robertson, on board the other ship.
Three hours later, he came back on
board The 8-year-old girl he had
gone to aid was all right again, and I
can tell you her father was grateful.
It was in August of 1925 that the
tanker Oilfield radioed to say that as
sistance was needed for Chief En-
gineer Charles E. King. Capt. White,
who commanded me then, managed a
transfer at sea and Mr.. King was cared
for in our sick bay. never was deaf
to any call for help.
Stopped for Mail.
Once this desire to be of aid resulted
in some ripples of humor, although
Capt. Summers wasn't pleased at the
moment. He stopped me on what
seemed to be an urgent signal from the
Nantucket Light Ship. When boat
came alongside. it developed that the
letter mailed. His report was due AND
there had been no opportunity to get
1t ashore.
In December, 1929, took five fisher
men off the schooner Northern Light
which was sinking in a gale. Capt
Evan Davies certainly handled me
beautifully on that occasion.
There was the time I was late in
leaving my New York dock because
Purser Robert Edwards, who was tc
play Santa Claus that trip forgot his
beard and had to send back for it. And
there was the time I brought over q
consignment of $50 canaries.
Yes, I've had humorous moments
and tragedies. June, 1923, wasn't any
too good a month for me. First,
Stubbed my forefoot over a submerged
obstruction, near Queenstown, ane
Capt. Robertson, taking no chances
turned me around and went back II
Liverpool. I really wasn't hurt, but vol
don't take risks with passengers.
My war record is not one of which
any Baltic that comes after me neee
feel ashamed. AS matter of fact, vol
knc-r, I was the ship which in May
19l took Gen. Pershing and the frs
con. .ngent of the American Expedi
tionary Forces to France. First ant
last, I carried 1000 soldiers across tn
Atlantic and I may say that I did ;
good, steady job and got them Their
safely, if 1 did have to dodge and zig
gag bit.
Gen. Pershing, his staff and picket
detail of about 100 enlisted men board
ed me from a ferry boat in lower New
York Bay. 1t was a dark, rainy after
noon and I went out, without lights
into a three-day fog. Billy Finch wa
my captain then. the stout fellow VIII
was on the Arabic, In 1915. when sh
was torpedoed. He went down with hi
ship, only to be blown to the surfac
again and rescued. Well, he steere
me on a sharply angled course, but
was pretty pleased when the America
destroyers, Rowan and Tucker, met m
and escorted me to the mouth of tn
Mersey-and Liverpool.