Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 80, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1919 — 625 TAKEN OFF U. S.TRANSPORT ASHORE IN GALE [ARTICLE]

625 TAKEN OFF U. S.TRANSPORT ASHORE IN GALE

{Troopship Northern Pacific Still ■ Aground Off Fire Island and May Break Up. ' WOUNDED CAST INTO SEA efforts to Rescue Soldiers Are Halted After 234 Soldiers and 17 Navy Nurses Are Landed —Captain Says Ship Is Safe. Fire Island N. Y., Jan. B.—Breeches buoys were pressed into service to (transfer passengers from the stranded transport Northern Pacific and some were taken in small boats to* tpther vessels lying as near the troopship as safety would permit. Latest reports say that the total number removed from the transport was 625. Three lifeboats were capsized by the heavy seas and wounded men were hurled into the surf. Eight of the •wounded were unconscious when rescued by coast guards who rushed through the breakers to save them from drowning. After these mishaps the breeches buoy was rigged and the soldiers were brought ashore two at a time. A trolley boat also was run on a cable between shore and the transport, bringing twelve to fifteen men to laud at jeach trip. No Danger, Captain Says. j The Northern Paclflc Is resting easily and is in no danger, according to a wireless message received from Captain Connolly, commanding. Another attempt to float the vessel will be made at high tide today. Each end of the ship 'rests on a sandbar, with an open space beneath Its middle. The wind and high seas drove the heavy vessel farther inland during the night and It was only 150 yards from shore —only 150 yards from safety. Women Rush Into Surf. As the lifeboats came through the surf many of the Red Cross women waded waist deep into the chill water to throw blankets about the wounded soldiers, who were drenched Skin, and to give them hot coffee. ‘

The soldiers on the transport are tranquil in spite of their precarious situation. Far into last night the watchers who kept vigil on the shore could hear the blare of the band on the Northern Pacific and the voices of men singing ragtime. When the first coast guard boat managed to get alongside the stranded ship this morning the lifesavers were greeted by cheers and a barrage of doughboy wit. “Shy,” yelled a doughboy who has come back home with but one leg, “is there any danger of my. getting my feet wet? If there is I’m not coming; I’ve just got a new shoe." ? One More War Incident. , This is the spirit of the 1,854 wounded men, which latest reports give as the exact number, on board the Northern Pacific. The unwounded men are Just as tranquil. They are taking It as just one more incident of war. “I’ve nearly been killed seven times now, six times on land and once at sea, but I’ve got nine lives,” declared one of the first of the woundedwsoldiers brought ashore. Lieut. A. W. Broughton of Brooklyn stepped from a lifeboat to be clasped to the arms of his wife and mother. They had kept vigil on the beach all night, knowing he was on the threatened transport. Hospital Cases Serious. There were fbur wounded men in the. first boat to land. "The first of the tour ashore was Private Albert Litcfi'per from Buffalo. He was followed by Lieuts. Robert H. Wilson, Brooklyn; Robert XV. Thorp of Washington, Ind., and Joseph Logan Wilton, from Pennsylvania. The officers declared the stranded troops were In the best of spirits and were, in fact, making merry over their predicament. * Many of the hospital cases on the Northern Pacific are extremely serious, augmenting 'the difficulty of rescue. The wounded are veterans of the terrific fighting to the Argonne. Among them are a number of shell shock and mental cases, and there is £ne Yankee on board without arms or legs.