Evening star., 1939-09-29
Macleod Family
Tells Horrors
OF Ship Sinking
Mother Did Not Know
Of Sons Fate for
Week, She Declares

A~OA 40 AsAoSANO0 put 1ACl al lulo di Ouliu
her three children today and de-
clared II have lost nothing"
Still shaky from the tragedy and
the gruelling days that followed, the
four Athena survivors came to
Washington late yesterday to visit
Mrs. MacLeods brother -in-law and
sister, Mr.. and Mrs. Edward Barnes
of 4544 Conduit road NV, until
they decide what to do next.
Dorothy Mae, IS, and Betty Jean,
II, sat by their mother as she re-
told the story of the sinking of the
Athena, but 14-year-old John
Charles disappeared.
He can't stand hearing about it,"
his mother explained. He was on
deck when it happened and he got
the worst of it. From what little he
has told me, I've gathered that he
saw a number of people blown to
bits"
John Charles wasn't with his
mother and sisters when they we're
rescued.
Feared He Was Killed.
He said there we're too many
people in our lifeboat," she said. II
said good-by to him then. 1 didn't
even know whether he got into
another lifeboat. He said he was
supposed to go in No. 9.
Later, when I heard that lifeboat
had been cut by propeller, 1 was
sure he was gone. They told me he
was safe, but I couldn't believe it
until saw him. That was a week
later.
Il kept saying to myself. Some
people lost their only child. God
couldn't be kind enough to let me
keep all three.
THE family that took him in in
Glasgow said he would tell people
his mother and sisters had been
rescued, but he didn't seem to be-
heve 1t. They said I wouldn't have
recognized him for the horror in his
eyes"
The little family was widely
separated when the ship was hit.
John Charles was up on deck,
Dorothy Mae was in her berth. Both
OF them had been too seasick to 60
into dinner. Betty Jean and her
mother were sitting in the lounge.
Thrown to Floor.
1--WE were thrown to the floor
and the lights went out" Mrs. Mac
Leod said. I'VE kept calling to each
other and finally our hands met in
the dark. We found Dorothy Mae
calling Mother in the corridor and
John Charles looking for us on deck.
Then I suddenly remembered we
had forgotten our Ifebelts. I went
down to our cabin with Betty Jean.
but we could find only two. 1 kept
saying I had to have another one
and the stewardess finally gave it to
me. After Id gotten in the life.
boat 1 realized she'd probably given
me her own. I was so relieved
when I saw her safe"
After John Charles left them. thev
tried to get, in the lifeboats. but
were told theirs was upstairs. They
raced to the upper deck only to see
their boat being lowered into the
water. Frantic. they hurried down
again and finally managed to lump
INTO one, having to be very careful.
because the ship kept lurching and
the lifeboat swung away from the
side.
All Terribly Seasick.
When they started to lower It..
Mrs. Macleod went on, "the stern
went straight down. It was a
miracle we weren't all thrown into
the water.
"Just before left the ship I saw
a huge squirt of flame with smoke
encircling it some distance from
the boat. I thought it was another
torpedo. I'm sure the ship was tor
pedoed."
At first, she said, the passengers
crowded together in the lfeboat
tried to sing, but after a while that
died out.
I'VE thought it would keep our
spirits up she explained. But
none OF us felt much like singing.
We were all terribly seasick. our
clothes were wet and it was fright
fully cold"
After nine hours they sighted the
Norwegian steamer Knute Nelson.
Their boat was leaking, but the
greater danger was the chance Of
having 1t smashed against the side
Of the steamer.
Yelled to Other Boats.
+ I'VE yelled to the other boats to
keep back or we'd all be drowned. but
I guess they were as anxious as
we were to get aboard" she said.
Then began the trip to Galway,
ireland. With the injured occupy
ing the only cabins, the acLeods
and others sat on the floor. There
was nothing to eat except hardtack,
but none of them were hungry. Most
OF them were thinly clad or in pa
jamas, and the sailors gave them all
they could. Mrs. Macleod still has
the coat one of them gave her.
It's one Of the few things she
has. The family had planned to
settle IN Scotland; had all their
clothes, their linens and their house,
hold furnishings with them. When
war was declared, they decided to
come back. bringing everything on
the Athena.
Tension on Ship.
Even after the reunion in Glas-
gov with her son, the tension wasn't
lifted for the young mother. Com
Ing back, even though they were on
the neutral U. S. S. Orizaba, the
passengers were in deadly fear of q
repetition Of the Athena disaster.
One night fire alarm accident
ally went off, Women tainted or
screamed, rushing around with the
panic of nerves overwrought.
If there had been a fire." Mrs.
Macleod smiled, II couldn't have
gotten out. My legs refused to