Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-06-04 | Page 1 | Sailor on the Cole Tells Graphic Tale

SAILOR ON THE COLE TELLS GRAPHIC TALE Never So Scared in His Life as When the Schooner Was Sent to Bottom. By International News Service. NEW YORK, Juno 3. "I've been at sea a good many years, but I never waa so : scared in all my life as when that bloom-in" bloom-in" U-boat popped up and poked a gun at us and blazed away." This was the way First Mate Robert ' Lathlgee, of the schooner Edward H. Cole, today described his feelings when the schooner was sunk by a U-boat seventy-five miles southeast of tbe highlands high-lands Sunday afternoon. Lathigee, who speaks with a pronounced pro-nounced southern accent, despite his claim to East Boston as his home, arrived ar-rived at the office of the United States shipping commissioner at the Battery this afternoon on board a rescue steamer, with Captain H. G. Newcomb and eleven members of the crew. "We were loafing along at about three knots," he continued, "about 4 o'clock yesterday aftemooD. Nobody was thinking think-ing of U-boats, when somebody spots something black about a mile to port. "Every day up to yesterday we saw lots of patrols. We had our flags flying so they'd see we was American, but the first signal we got was, 4Lay to; we're comin' aboard.' "Ain't that just like them darned naval na-val reserves, says I. All gold lace, but they don't know nothing about the sea. Here we are, all signals set, telling who we are, and now they're comin' aboard to look us over, anyhow." "Well, sir, the next signal we got almost al-most keeled me over, " 'We're German,' it read, and bo they was. " 'Let's beat it,' says one of our fellows. fel-lows. 'Where to?' says I. 'There ain't no wind. The Dutchman didnt seem to like the way we was hcavin to, so he plunged a shot across our bows. Then a good lookin' young officer comes over to us in a small boat with a bunch of armed men. He sure was a pretty duck, that officer, and he had a gun that would impress anyone. " 'You're a nice lookin' says omv of my men. "The officer looked at him, and said, kind of quiet like: 'That'll be about all," and it was. His English was good. "He asked for the captain, and when Captain Newcombe spoke up, he says: Tou've got just ten minutes to got away ; I'm going to sink you.' We didn't need ton; we made it In five. "They let us go below and get oar stuff; but most of us didn't bother about our duds; we made for the boats, for fear thoso fellows' watches might be wrong. "We rowed straight for tho Jersey shore. We could see some of the Dutchmen Dutch-men going below decks on the Cole and then coming up again and making for the U-boat in their own boa t. Then there came an awful explosion, and the old Colo begun to do down. "When the Cole began to sink, the U-boat U-boat submerged, and we didnt see ber again ; but there was another submarine subma-rine lying about three miles off while this fellow was sinking us. "He sighted a smudge of smoke away, off on the horizon, and made toward it. The last wo saw of him, he waa still going after the emoke."