Evening star., 1939-09-28
Horrors Of Athena
Sinking Described
By D. {. Rescued
: Six Begin Lost Lap
Of Troeic Journey
To Their Homes

Miss Jane Sunderland, 2101 Con-
necticut avenue NV, daughter of
MAI. Gen. A. H. Sunderland, chief
OF coast artillery, was to remain in
New York long enough to do some
shopping.
Miss Bernice Jansen, sister of DR.,
Russell Jon Jansen, 1920 Seven
teenth street NV, whose head was
severely cut by flying debris when
the torpedo plowed into the Athe-
MAS middle, also remained In New
York at the Gramercy Park Hotel.
DR.. Jansen said this morning he was
expecting her home within a few
days.
Survivors Tell Of Hysteria.
The survivors, many of them
swathed in bandages, told of the hvs-
terra aboard the Orizaba when the
liners alarm bells began Changing
suddenly in mid-ocean last Sunday
morning.
Remembering how their first
crossing attempt had been halted
abruptly by the submarine raid. the
survivors dashed from their cabins.
Women and children began scream
Ing and several tainted before the
shlp's stewards and officers hastened
to explain that the electric system
had been short-circuited,
1t was some time before the pas-
sengers were quieted and the ORR
zaba's physician, DR.. Rudolph Muel-
Ter, was kept busy treating prostra-
ton and hysteria cases.
AS the Orizaba, q small coastwise
vessel pressed into emergency serv-
Ice to bring Americans home from
war-plagued Europe, glided serenely
into her pier, thousands cheered
Wildly from the docks. The 1000
ton vessel bulged with her extraor-
dinary load of $50 passengers-all
OF them Americans-andw white rows
OF cots in her public rooms made
her resemble a hospital ship.
Fire Adds to Horrors.
Mrs. Mcleod told the Associated
Press that death by fire added to
the horrors Of the Athena sinking.
She said that as she and her
children ran to lifeboat they passed
three men whose clothing was in
flames"
I'VE were unable to get into that
boat Mrs. Mcleod continued, "and
when we turned around we passed
three charred bodies on the deck. I
don't know how the men were
burned"
The McLeods were separated in
the subsequent rush for lifeboats
which could be lowered from the
fast-sinking Athena, and John
Charles was unable to locate the
other members of his family when
he finally was rescued and taken to
Glasgow.
For nearly two days he heard
nothing from his mother and Sis
tiers, but finally through efforts of
the State Department the family
was brought together again. Mrs.
Mcleod and her daughters had been
picked up and taken to Galway.
Hurled From Liner.
Miss Jansen told reporters she
was tossed overheard by a sudden
lurch of the disabled Athena and
plunged more than so feet to the OIL
coated, debris-laden water. She said
she swan for nearly 20 minutes be-
fore she was picked UP by a life
boat.
Il collapsed when they pulled me
into the boat" she related. and
must have been unconscious for
several hours. After we drifted for
about seven hours the Knut Nelson
picked us up and a doctor who had
been rescued took eight stitches in
my scalp"
Other survivors pieced together a
picture of the disaster when the
Orizaba docked in New York harbor.
Charles Cotterman, an instructor
at Ohio State University, said he
was standing on deck when a SUBJ
marine suddenly appeared and loosed
her torpedo. AS it struck the pas
senger vessel, Mr.. Cotterman and
his companion were thrown to the
deck. They saw bodies of five men
come hurtling up through the after
hatch.
Helps Boy Into Lifeboat,
Miss Florence Hargrave, a retired
school teacher of Madison, Wis. who
with another Wisconsin teacher as
sisted 10-year-old Joan Hecht of
Baltimore into a lifeboat, said that
after the blast she tried to help a
man to his feet on the Athenia's
deck only to discover that he had
died in the explosion.
At the New York pier, the Ameri-
can Red Cross set up an emergency
station to assist in providing food,
clothing and shelter for those sur
vivors who had lost all their pos
sessions in the disaster. More than
100 registered for the service.
The American Express Co. today
issued cash refunds for those who
lost travellers checks in the blast
In almost every case, company
representatives took the passengers
word and handed out sums ranging
from $40 to several hundred dol
lars.
Judge Allen Hannay of Houston.
Tex, was on hand to greet his
daughter, Helen, a sophomore at
the University Of Texas, with a two
page letter from Ambassador joseph
P. Kennedy commencing her for
her bravery and heroism during the
panicky minutes Immediately after
the torpedo struck its mark.
The passengers agreed that Helen
led all the rest in sheer heroism.
She plunged into the fast-filling
hold OF the stricken Athena to aid
several women and children trapped
by the explosion.
This she accomplished while SUI
fering from the nausea of sea-
sickness. Moreover, in the process
OF the rescue work she broke her
left arm and shoulder and suffered
s~.S,