Show F k S ADVENTURERS ADVENTURERS' CLUB ti H HEADLINES E A D L I N E S FRO FROM M THE L LIVES JV E S OF PEOPLE LIKE White Streak tree k in the Water ELLO EVERYBODY H HELLO Bill Bin says he has nothing to kick about and that's a swell way of looking at it And at the same time Im I'm wondering how many other people could go through what Bill did and suffer as Bill suffered and lose as Bill lost and still take that same attitude that Bill takes about what happened to him in the dreadful hours that followed his seeing a white line shoot toward him across the wind- wind tossed waters of the trie North sea That white line was a common sight on the North sea in World war days It meant bad luck to the ship from which it was seen and that was no mere sailors' sailors superstition tion either Bill saw it on July 29 1915 from the Belgian steamer Princesse Marie on which he was working as an anable anable anable able seaman And now the Princesse Marie is at the bottom of the sea several of her crew are dead and Bill has some horrible hours to remember Bill lives in Nutley N. N J. J He has a wife and a thirteen- thirteen year-old year daughter and he says Life is good after all But on that July day in 1915 his prospects for continuing that life began to look as though they weren't worth a plugged nickeL Then he was a young Dutch lad working on that Belgian ship for the extra I ten shillings th that t were handed out every month to the men who risked death in the submarine infested war zone Bill BiU and the boatswain were I up on a scaffold washing the sides of the wheelhouse and the bridge when Bill looked ofT off over the water to starboard and saw that white streak Streak Headed for Center of Ship Bill BiU says he be froze in his shoes Every sailor knew what that streak meant Torpedo And this streak was headed right for forthe forthe forthe the center of the ship right slip right for the spot below the thc wheelhouse on which he an and the boatswain were working Like a man in a dream I watched that white mark grow longer he says It was almost on us and I knew there wasn't time to avoid it Almost at nt the same instant I saw a periscope come out o of the water I shouted to the bosn but Ill I'll never know whether he heard me or not For at that same instant there was a terrific explosion and everything went black before m my my eyes Wb When n Bill came to again he was lying Iring on the deck in a lot Jot of or debris debris and and a pool of blood The ship had all but broken in two Water was rushing into it and it was sinking fast Bill tried to get to his feet but h he couldn't move His arm hurt and his head seemed to be spinning around like a top I tried to shake off oIT that dizzy feeling he says but it was no use Blood was running into my e eyes es from a wound in my head and my injured arm was useless I thought I 1 would fould go crazy as I I. I lay Jay there unable to move while the ship sank steadily threatening every moment to go under But at last Bill BiU managed to pull puJI himself together He struggled to his feet and looked about him The decks were deserted His right oAt o- o oH H j At the same instant there was a terrific explosion and everything went black before beCore my eyes arm was covered with blood and nearly blown off Using his left arm he climbed the ladder to the boat deck deck but but there were no boats there I any more His shipmates had gone leaving him to drown Last Life Boat Ready to Shove Off Just as Bill was ready to give up he looked over the side and Ind that look s saved his life Down there in the water was just one lifeboat the lifeboat the thelast last one one getting getting ready to shove off oIT Bill knew he didn't have a moment to lose Those lads in the boat weren't going to wait for or stragglers He had to get in that boat or go down with the ship and the only way to get into it in time tune was to jump for it Bill did jump right jump right from the boat deck He landed in a heap on top of a bunch of cursing sailors who wanted to know who he wasI wasI was I I thought they were craz crazy to ask such a question says Bill Em they know me their me-their their shipmate shipmate any any more Little did I realize how I looked d to them I 1 was just a black and bloody mess that even 01 my own mother wouldn't have recognized Lifeboat Steams Full Speed Toward Harwich The boat had no sooner pulled away th than ln the ship sank with a groan and a hiss of steam Bill lay in m the bottom while the others rowed U I My r head was burning he ho says and I thought I would go crazy Of Off and on I did go out of at my mind About an hour later we were verc picked up by a British mine sweeper They pulled me up in a canvas because I was too weak to climb aboard Some officer put an emergency bandage around my head and they kept giving me coffee colIee and cigarettes to keep me alive We steamed full tull speed toward Harwich the nearest Dearest port part where there was a hospital Radio messages to shore had told told the hospital of their coming coming coming com com- ing and there was an ambulance waiting for Cor Bill Bm at the dock When Wh n I got to the lie hospital says Bill BiU I III 1 felt somehow that I would be safe and didn't fight any more against the darkness that kept trying to close down over m my eyes I 1 dont don't know lillow what happened after that but when I awoke the nurse told me I had been unconscious for Cor two days They did their best for Bill at that hospital hospital In In spite of at the fact tact that he be was a Hollander and the English had bad just about all they could do to take care of their own wounded who were coming over every day from France One day a nurse started to teach him to write with his left leU hand and and then Bill Dill knew he would never use his right arm again When his wounds had healed up the Dutch consul general sent Bill BiU to a hospital in Holland and there he spent two more years rears while the doctors performed five operations trying to give him back the use of or his arm and a little while after aCter he was was' discharged discharged discharged dis dis- charged he came to America And after all he went through Dill Bill still says he has no kick coming The Belgian government awarded me a pension he says and I am grateful to that country for the square deal It gave me Ill I'll never forget the wonderful treatment I got in the British hospital and I am thankful to America for the wonderful opportunities it has given me me And that's from a bird who really got a tough break and has every right in the world to complain about his luck CRele Released sed by Western Newspaper Union |