Show adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 fog of death H HELLO ELLO EVERYBODY well sir the vikings of old used to sail the seas in oared galleys that were hardly bigger than the motor cruisers in which we through our lakes and rivers today ill give them a lot of credit for their nerve but they had oars to row with an and d sails to carry them along they knew where they were going and they had a pretty good chance of getting there im betting a lot that there a viking in any age who would have put himself in the spot pete gear of sunnyside Sunny side L I 1 found himself in not for any amount of money it happened in september 1927 and heres how pete got a job on a coal barge and one of the first trips that barge was sent on after pete joined the crew was a tow out to sea with a load of coal for a ship that was to meet them a hundred and ninety five miles out in the atlantic the rendezvous at which they were to meet was southeast of block island A tug was to take the barge out five men composed the barges crew four of those fellows pete included had never been out to sea before the afif fifth th man was a regular seagoing bargeman trip was like a Bloon moonlight light 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 land lubbers immediately got seasick it was a hard night for those lads but it was going to be a lot harder before they got back the next day when they arrived at the appointed spot there was no sign of the boat they liall bad come to meet the tugboat captain told the bargeman to drop anchor and he would circle around and see if he could find the other boat lie he cast oft off the tow line 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 water they were nearly two hundred miles from the nearest land then half an hour later a thick tog fog settled down over the anchored 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 likely 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 af ya K pete went out and started ringing the fog bell 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 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 when he had done what little he could for the injured man pete went out and started ringing the fog bell the night wore on and the fog showed no sign of lifting pete yanked away rhythmically on that bell tolling a monotonous dirge his arm was getting tired his hand band was chafing from its constant contact with the bell rope every minute he expected to see the bow of an 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 t two wo pete began to feel that he hold his arm up to pull on that bell rope any longer ile he went into the cabin an and d tried 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 vain he told them of the dangers of leaving that bell unmanned they care whether the barge went down or not in fact one or two of them hoped it would pete dragged himself back to the bell lie he was sick sleepy aching but he quit ills his life depended on it and so did the lives of those other four men in their bunks dawn came and still he was jerking iway away on that rope still the fog lifted all morning long all afternoon he stuck to his post both his hands were so raw now that he be hall had to hook his elbow through the bell rope and pull it with his arm night came 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 bell for 36 hours straight and for kwo wo nights and a day peter rang that bell never neer will he forget the nightmare of that experience on the morning of th the thi third d day he take it any longer he quit he just fell as asleep beep right where he was from sheer exhaustion when pete awoke again the sun was just disappearing over the western horizon but the fog had lifted there was no sign of the tug when the tog fog came down it had been unable to find the barge and it still found it all that third night they waited on the fourth day pete sighted a plane it circled around in the skies and then headed back toward land again when it turned around says pete 1 I thought that pilot seen us but the plane had spotted the birge ba rge it had been sent out from new london for that very purpose and on the fifth day the tug boat came out and reclaimed its lost tow it take pete long to get over the effects of 0 his adventure now he looks back on it as quite an exciting experience theres 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 1 I see a single one of those big liners that I 1 was in such fear of copyright service |