Evening star., 1935-01-03
178 ARE RESCUED
ASSTEAMER SINKS
1870 Passengers Taken
From Vessel Cut in Two.
A. of Crew Missing.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, January 3.-The SUM-
dered hull of the steamer Lexington
lay at the bottom of the East River
today, victim of a collision in which
four members of her crew were miss
ing.
Almost under the towering arch of
Manhattan Bridge, the Lexington,
bound for Providence with 130 pas
sengers and crew of So, was ripped
in two when the tramp freighter Jane
Christensen rammed her amidships
In the darkness last night.
Tugs raced to the Lexington's side
and took off passengers and crew in
nip-and-tuck rescues before the ship
went down 10 minutes after being hit.
Probe Started.
An investigation was started by As
sistant District Attorney Sylvester
Cosantino, who questioned Capt. Will
liam Pendleton of the Lexington and
Capt. John Wickman of the Jane
Christensen. He indicated the COL
lision was caused by a misunderstand-
ing of navigation signals in the heavy
harbor traffic.
The Federal Steamboat Inspection
Service prepared to hold a hearing
into the crash later in the day.
More than a score of injured, in
Guiding II women, were taken to hos
pitals. Their injuries, however, were
not considered serious.
The Lexington, Long Island Sound
steamer CT the Colonial Line, had just
started on her overnight trip to Provi-
dence and was proceeding up the East
River when the Jane Christensen.
bound down the river, rammed her
high prov into the Lexington's mid
ship section.
Hasty Rescues.
The Lexington's whistle was at once
the signal for one of the busiest and
most efficient series of rescues of New
York Harbor's maritime history.
AS the Jane Christenson's skipper,
Capt. John Wickman, kept the bow
of his vessel jammed into the gaping
hole in the Lexington'S hull, tugs
swarmed around the stricken steamer
and took off jolted and frightened
passengers.
Knee deep in water that swirled
over the main lounge, the ships
orchestra blared Somebody Stole My
GAL" while nine colored stewards
stuck to the vessel to help the last
passenger onto the tugs.
The tug Patience threw over
rickety gangplank to the fitting deck
of the Lexington and took aboard
90 persons. The tug Diamond IS"
rescued IL, the John Rugge At and
the Elmira 4.
A police launch picked up some
who had jumped into the water from
the slippery deck, while dock hands
and stevedores on Manhattan piers
hauled out others.
Part Floats Away.
The passengers were unable to save
their belongings.
The LeXington's superstructure and
after portion was sheared away in
the collision and carried nearly
mile upstream by the tide to Grand
Street Ferry, where Coast Guards
moored it to the ferry slip.
The hull and forward section went
down in 10 minutes at the foot Of
Market street, with only a bit of
pilot house and funnel above water.
Under the ghostly illumination of
magnesium flares, police and salvage
tug crews searched the tide-ripped
waters for bodies. None was found.
Capt. Pendleton of the Lexington,
master of 80 years experience,
praised his crew.
Were it not for their bravery there
would have been loss of life," he said.
"The passengers also we're very calm
in the emergency"
The Jane Christensen showed
five-foot hole in the prov above the
water line.
Photographer Hurt.
Anthony Camerano, 25, pho
tographer in the~ Associated Press Bu-
reau, suffered SCI Ere burns while max
ing pictures of the Lexington.
A gust of wind carried some fash
light powder to his arm, where it
ignited
Camerano stayed on the job for
more than an hour. When he had
completed his assignment he went
to a hospital for first-aid treatment
and then returned to the scene of the
ocridapt