Show twi r y 48 adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES 41 OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF I 1 off kinsale head H HELLO ELLO EVERYBODY at his home at if you go to see patrick J hanley richmond hill N Y he might show you an old life preserver that he acquired at sea on the afternoon of friday may 7 1915 off the old head of kinsale on the coast of ireland and maybe pat will even tell you the story of that tale pat part with that old contraption of cork and canvas for half the wealth of the indies for it carried him safely through his lifes greatest adventure and how great a danger it was you wa will easily realize when I 1 tell you that although pat lived eleven hundred and ninety eight others lost their lives before it was over maybe youve already already got a hunch what hat this story is going to be about maybe that mention pt of kinsale head has struck a responsive chord in your memory then again maybe it its been more than 20 years now and few people remember that the old head of kinsale was the scene of the greatest of marine disasters the sinking of the lusitania was passenger ft er on the lusitania yes pat hanley was on the lusitania when a german submarine shot a torpedo into its innards and sent it plunging to the bottom the big ship had successfully dodged the U boats all the way across the atlantic she was racing down the home stretch and the passengers had forgotten their fears and were beginning to have a good time when suddenly at two in the afternoon there came a loud report pat hanley had shaved and come up on deck about 15 minutes before and he be saw it all right from the first A pinic panic started immediately people ran wildly about the ship searching for their friends and children then in less than a minute the ship began to list right bight there says say pat was where people started drowning they got on the incline and started sliding the deck rail was broken away to starboard and they fell wholesale into the water an officer bellowed through a megaphone that every E admirl only five lifeboats got clear of the ship one must get on a life preserver but two thirds of the passengers were in such a state of collapse that you get them to stand still to get a life preserver on them pat found a life preserver and started stripping off his outer clothing A woman ran into him and down he went on the slippery deck with difficulty he managed to keep from sliding overboard like many others had done but he be got feet again and began working his way aft only five lifeboats life boats got clear of the ship with passengers A sixth got fouled in the davits and the people in it were dumped into the water they tell fell like a load of sand says pat and I 1 noticed that not one of them seemed to survive that upset I 1 saw two more boats hurriedly pushed off so that people in the water could cling to them after that there was no chance to launch any more on either side as the ship was under water to the second deck on the starboard side pat arrived safely at the stern of the ship and with about 40 other men made ready beady to jump we take a chance jumping from the side he says for it looked as though the ship might turn over on top of us if we did already the water was full of bobbing heads suddenly a shower of water and soot shot up from the second and third funnels of the ship drenching the afterdeck after deck and curnin turning us all black as ink spots the ship was going down steadily now and we we all realized that if we jump soon the suction would carry us down when she went under overboard we went fishing trawler came to rescue by that time an irish fishing trawler the first craft to come to the rescue was just arriving at the scene of disaster pat held up by his life preserver began swimming toward it says he it was a sailing vessel equipped with four big oars which the crew pulled like trojans already they were picking people out of the water by the dozen lifeboats were rowing out to it unloading their passengers and going back to pick up more the small boats made several trips back and forth but they only picked up those who showed signs of life by the time we reached the trawler there were others already on it the time pat spent on that trawler was an adventure all in itself the cockpit the deck the hold all of them were literally jammed with people up on deck the passengers had to stand close together and hang onto one another for they were packed right to the edge of the deck and there was no railing to keep them from going overboard when the last bit of available space was occupied with the task of saving a human life the little craft took in tow three lifeboats filled with more of the rescued and started away from the scene pat clung tor for his bis life to the man next to him now the waters were full of other craft steaming rowing sailing to the rescue A large boat hove to and took the crowd off the trawler while the trawler went L back to pick up more survivors the big boat with pat aboard it steamed toward queenstown Queens town harbor but the trawler pick up another load like her first for the records show that less than people were saved out of a total of nearly 2000 pat says they met several patrol boats coming to the rescue but they were too late to do anything but pick up the dead the boat pat was on landed him in queenstown Queens town at about nine that night the next morning he was asked to go down to the cunard pier which had been converted into a temporary morgue to see if he could identify any of the poor souls who had lost their lives pat still has the life preserver he wore when he jumped over the stern of the ill fated lusitania a souvenir of a 6 remarkable adventure hell get it out and show it to you and tell you the story of it when you drop over thereof an evening but tor for the sake of the people who dont know pat well enough to be dropping in on him im glad lad hes gi given gavenus venus us a chance to spin that yarn here in this 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