Show GL Fog a of Death ELLO EVERYBODY H HELLO W Well ell sir the Vikings of old used to sail the seas in oared galleys s that were hardly bigger than the motor cruisers in which we plough through our lakes and rivers today Ill I'll give ive them a lot of credit for their nerve But they they had oars oars to row with and sails to carry them along They knew where they were going and they had a pretty good chance of getting there Im I'm betting a lot that there wasn't a Viking in any age who would have put himself inthe in inthe inthe the spot Peter Gear of Sunnyside L. L I. I found himself in Not for any amount of money It happened in September 1927 1927 and 1927 and nd heres here's how Pete got a job fob on a coal barge And one of the first trips that i barge was sent on after Pete joined t the e crew was a tow out outto outto outto to sea with a load of coal for a ship that was to meet them thema themI I a hundred and ninety-five ninety miles out in the Atlantic I The rendezvous at which they were to meet was southeast southeast southeast south south- east of Block island A tug was to take the barge out Five men composed the barges barge's crew Four of those fellows Pete fellows Pete included included- had never been out to sea before The fl fifth th man was a regular seagoing seagoing seagoing sea sea- going bargeman Trip Was Vas Like a Moonlight Excursion On the afternoon of the day appointed the tug came along and the barge was hooked on behind it Pete says the trip up Long Island sound was like a moonlight excursion But after they passed Montauk Point the sea was mighty rough The four landlubbers immediately got seasick It was a hard night for those lads but lads but It was going to be a alot alot alot lot harder before they got back The next day when they arrived at the appointed spot there was no sign of the boat they had come to meet The tugboat captain told the bargeman to drop anchor and he be would circle around and see if he be could find the other boat He cast of off the tow line lino and the tug steamed away Soon It was out of sight There was nothing in sight as a matter of fact but water and more moro water They were nearly two hundred bundred miles from the nearest land Then balfan half balf an hour bour later a thick fog settled down over the anchored d barge Says Pete We were lying In our bunks too sick to move when the regular bargeman came in and told us about the fog He explained that we were anchored in the shipping lane and that was a dangerous position We would have to keep the fog bell ringing as long as the fog lasted Otherwise we would most lik likely ly be run down by one of the liners which were continually passing through that part of the ocean And that was only the beginning The troubles crowded thick and fast after that It was night now and the bargeman went aloft to hang Pete went out and started ringing the fog bell beU a riding light He was hardly up there when he fell to the deck and lay still his leg broken Then says Pete the nightmare began Pete Hauls Injured Inured Bargeman to His Bunk Pete picked him up and carried him to his bunk The other three men were still lying in their bunks the ghastly pallor of seasickness on their faces races When When he had had done what little he could for the injured man Pete went out and started ringing the fog bell belle The night wore on and the fog showed no sign of lifting Pete yanked away on that bell tolling a a monotonous dirge His arm arm was getting tired His hand was chafing from its constant contact with the bell rope Every minute he expected to see the bow of an nn ocean liner looming over the barge Every minute he expected to hear a thud and a crash of splintering timbers as some huge craft cut them in two Pete began to feel that he couldn't hold his arm up to pull on that bell rope any longer He went into the cabin and tried hied to rouse one of the seasick men Not one of them would get up Pete was seasick himself but these fellows felt a lot worse In vain he be told them of the dangers of leaving that bell unmanned They didn't didn t care whether the barge went down or not In fact one or two of them hoped it would Pete dragged himself back to the thc bell He was sick sleepy sick sleepy aching But he be couldn't quit His J life e depended on it And so did the lives of those other four men in hi their bunks Dawn came and still he be was jerking away on that bat rope Still the fog hadn't lifted lilted All AIl morning long long all all afternoon afternoon he he stuck to his post Both his bands hands were so raw now that he had to hook book his elbow through the bell ben rope and pull it with his arm Night came came and and still Pete was at it His whole body was stiff now He ached in every muscle and joint and bone His arm was working mechanically now He scarcely realized that he was pulling that cord Pete Rings Be Beil l for 36 Hours Straight And for two nights and a day Peter rang that bell Never will he be forget torget the nightmare of that experience On the morning of the third day he be couldn't take it any longer He didn't quit He just fell feU asleep- asleep right where he was was from from sheer exhaustion When Pete awoke again the sun was just disappearing over the western horizon But the fog had 1 lifted ted There was no sign of the tug When the fog tog came down it had been unable to find the barge barge and and it still hadn't found it it All AH that third night they waited On the fourth day Pete sighted a plane It circled around in the skies and then headed beaded back toward land again When it turned around says Pete I thought that pilot hadn't seen us But the plane had spotted the barge It had bad been sent out from New London for that very purpose And on the fifth day the tug boat came out and reclaimed reclaimed reclaimed re re- claimed its lost tow It didn't take Pete long to get over the effects of his adventure Now he looks back on it as quite an nn exciting experience Theres There's one thing though that makes Pete mad He worked himself to exhaustion trying to keep some vessel from sending that barge to the bottom But in all that time he says I didn't see a single one of those big liners th that I was in such fear tear of Copyright Service |