Show Adventurers Adventurers' I 1 IJ Club Six Men Al en in a Boat By FLOYD GIBBONS 2 ti Famous Headline Hunter IT TT T ISN'T often that heroes get the medals they deserve for their brave deeds but heres here's one that did He is John Garnish of Brooklyn N. N Y and if the reward is any criterion of the deed John must have done the most heroic act of the century He got not just one medal but two wo And in addition he was presented with a gold watch and two life saving certificates Now Ive I've got you wondering what a man could do to deserve all that stuff for one act of heroism Well John Just threw away his life that's all He just tossed It out outon on on the waters waters chucked chucked It Into the laps of the Fates And it was nothing but dumb luck luck luck- or maybe an act of Providence that ProvIdence that It came floating back to him It was wag September 9 1922 The Lamport and Holt bit line steamship Euclid Euclid Eu Eu- clid cUd picked up an sn S 0 O S call from the Hamburg American American liner Harmonia It was 0 G a. a a m. m m and a n storm was raging In the Bay of Biscay through which the Euclid was plowing Its way but the S SOS 0 S was urgent urgent the the HarmonIa was as sinking rapidly rind rapidly and the tine Euclid was only a n few hours' hours run away awny The skipper ordered the ship about and set the men who were oft duty to lowering all available Jacobs Jacob's ladders over OYer the side and making them fast Stricken Ship Wallows in the Heavy Seas John Garnish was wad wa a n fireman on the Euclid He was one of ot the men off of duty dufy and working on the Jacobs Jacob's ladders He saw the whole rescue from start to finish and wound up by getting right Into the thick of ot It The Euclid reached the tho Harmonia at a. a m. m after having fought its way through a sea that had seriously Injured one of the sailors What a sight she was says John I 1 have been through the World war In the merchant marine have marine have seen ships torpedoed and sunk sunk have have watched oil tankers burst into flame drop out of the convoy and go to the bottom But the Harmonia is isone isone isone one ship Ill I'll never forget As we approached her she was l lying Ing on her starboard side her rails almost In the water The lifeboats on her port side sille were useless on account account account ac ac- ac- ac count of or the list Of the starboard b boats ats only a n few had been able to get getaway getaway getaway away because of the hea heavy sen sea We saw dozens of corpses floating In the water But the storm made It Impossible for tor us to lower our own boats We could only stand by bj and wait walt Craven Crew Seeks Refuge in Life Boats A lifeboat from the Harmonia came toward us and our skipper saw V that It was tilled filled with members of the crew He ordered them to go back I 4 y Six Men In a Little Boat Reached the Sinking Liner and rescue women and children Instead they the scrambled and fought for forthe forthe forthe the ladders until our skipper brought the tine ship around to the weather side and their boat bont was swamped by the heavy sea sen It was one of those disgraceful things that happen ever so often In sea disasters The captain of the Euclid gave orders to fish the stricken panic sailors out of the water and turned to the chief officer I wont won't order my men to take a boat out In that sea he said but If any of them want to volunteer they can go ahead John Garnish heard him say that So did another fireman Both of th them m volunteered on the spot John wasn't the only hero on that boat bont that day nor tho the only man to earn earn and and deserve watches deserve watches saving life certificates certificates and a flock of medals Three more sailors and the chief officer Joined with them and they lowered a boat bont into the tho raging sea Heroic Volunteers Risk Lives in Desperate Rescue Venture The wind and waves buffeted the little boat about like Uke a cork The six men in her were tossed high In the tine air on the crest of every wave waye until it seemed little short of or miraculous that their cockleshell boat wasn't capsized cap cap- T. T 1 sized and swamped They fought like fiends against the power of tho the Atlantic and at length they reached the stricken liner We came close under her stern says John and soon discovered discovered discovered dis dis- covered that this was a mistake for the sea was washing up on her well deck We pulled out again and came back In in amidships I caught one of her port holes with a boat hook and a sailor grabbed one of the blocks that was dangling over the side of 0 her davits Passengers now started jum Jumping from the sa saloon oon d deck ck Many of them missed the boat and landed jn in n the water but we got them We started back for our ship loaded down with 40 people peo peo- pie and I never thought wed we'd be able to make it Half way between the tine two ships we saw an upturned boat with four women and a little girl clinging desperately to the bottom It was a pitiable pitiable pitiable piti piti- able sight but we could do nothing until we hind had unloaded our passengers However we reached the ship safe safely got all nil our people aboard and then set out to aid the upturned boat John Rated a Flock of Medals for This Feat That was the most terrible part of the whole adventure The men at atthe atthe the oars were already exhausted by their grueling trip to the Harmonia but they rowed on until they reached the upturned lifeboat After a bitter fight they got there there pulled pulled the castaways castaways' Into their boat and brought them safely back to the ship Then the brave crew of that little boat dragged themselves aboard the Euclid Euclid Euclid Eu Eu- clid with the cheers of the people they had rescued ringing In their ears Other ships began appearing on the scene now and helped with tho rescue work The Harmonia sank and the captain the last man aboard was rescued by the tine crew of ot the Kingsford ln I for Castle Castl But nut a hundred lives Jl had been lost In the excitement and panic that reigned aboard the tine stricken vessel before the Euclid had bad reached rached the scene O p Service |