Evening star. [volume], June 12, 1930, Page A-3, Image 3

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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iWECIEOoS
Girls on 111-Fated Fairfax
Thought Choice Between
Fire and Water.
_ (Continued Prom First Page )
"when Sara was hurt. A colored man.
one of the stewards. I suppose, came
running by screaming and jolted her
against the side of the ship—Sara
wasn’t hurt seriously, though—just a i
bad bru.se.”
Driving home. Miss Browne to 925
Ingraham street, where she lives with
her father and mother, Sergt. Maj. C.
H. Browne and Mrs. Browne, and Miss
Poynton to 2722 Twelfth street north
east. the girls took up th' story again.
’’People were praying in the passage
way. standing up straight with their
heads uncovered and not in the least
ashamed. Everybody prayed. I think,
some in English and some in Portuguese
and Spanish. The foreigners must have
been of the ship's crew.
Heat Breaks Porthole.
"About them.” Miss Browne said, “the |
heat from the burning gasoline on the j
water broke in a porthole just over j
our heads. Some of the glass fell on us, j
we were so close to the wall, and flames
and smoke came shooting inside.
"We had to go then—anywhere, I
hardly knew’ where. Sara and I got
separated as we ran down the passage
way with the others. It was then I
thought of what my father had told
me—he's a Marine, you know, and he
once said. ’lf you ever need help in a
hurry. Just call on a Marine '
"There were several Marines on I
board. They had left Boston with the
Fairfax and were going to Norfolk to
take another steamer for Nicaragua. I
found one of them tvhen I came out on
t deck and he took me to one of the life
boats that was being filled with women
and children.
"On deck W’e could see the gasoline
burning on the sea all around us in the
fog. I never got a glimpse of the tanker
we rammed. It had gone down long
before. I guess. They were bandaging
those who had been burned; some were
dead, I learned later.
Taken to Life Boat.
’ The Marine guided me to the side
of the ship, where they were filling the
life boat. We found we would have
time to go back after my coat, as I had
on only a light dress. The two of us
Went back then.
’’When we came to our cabin he said
It mightn’t look proper to go into a
girl’s cabin, so he held a match in the
, companionway while I waded through
the 6 inches of w r ater inside and got
- my coat.
“They were still fighting the fire in
the upper structure when the Marine—
I never learned his name—helped me
Into the lifeboat. Water dashed over
us from the fire hose. We hung there
and w’aited for the fire to go down on
the sea below us. It seemed a long
time later when they put out the fire
on the Fairfax and helped us back on
deck.”
The two girls, who are employed in
the same life insurance office here, left
Baltimore by boat Friday afternoon
for Boston, arrived there Monday and
left on the afternoon of the following |
day for Norfolk.
Tow’ard dusk on Tuesday the girls
had finished dinner and were unde
cided wither-to go to the social room
•ft or join numerous other passengers
on the deck forward.
Attracted by Amos V Andy.
“What decided us to go to the social
room,” said Miss Browne, “and It must
have saved our lite*, was the fact that
they had a radio back there and
wanted to hear Amos ’n’ Andy. We
went back and turned on the radio,
heard the broadcast and were seated
comfortably reading when the crash
came.
“It seemed as if the ship stopped
suddenly and at once there was an
explosion. We ran toward the deck
and met a lot of passengers running
in., and when we turned back to go
toward the cabins the passengers run
ning up from below’ blocked us in the
passageway.
. “Neither of us seems to Temember
I much of what happened at first. Some
r' SPECIAL NOTICE.
THE AMERICAN SECURITY AlfD TRUST
Company of the District of Columbia, .regis
trar under deed of trust dated July 1. 1926.
mad- by the Chevy Chase Club, a corpora
tion created under the laws of the District
of Columbia, pursuant to the provisions
thereof as stated in the said instrument in
connection with the sinking fund, has drawn
for redemption at the office of the registrar
on July 1. 1930. bends numbered: 1. 133. 153
and 358 for *I.OOO each. 440 for *SOO. secured
by said deed of trust. The bonds enumerated
herein are called for the purpose of the
•inking fund and the interest on said bonds
Will cease on the first day of July. A D 1930
AMERICAN BECURITY & TRUST CO .
By HOWARD MORAN.
<Beal > Attest: Vice President.
FREDERICK P H SIDDONS. Secretary._
A SPECIAL MEETING OP THE SERGT.
George Berry Camp. No. 10. Dept, of the
Potomac. U. 8. W. V.. is called to meet at
the residence of the commander, 131 Heck
man st. s.e.. Friday. June 13. at 8 p m., for
the purpose of electing delegates to the dept.
' •ncampment My order
CLARENCE RUSSELL, Commander.
■W. T. CONRAY. Adjutant. _l2*_
" NOTICE TO CREDITORS.
The National Merchnats' Association met
In the office of the company in Washington.
D. C.. on the 10th day of June. 1930. for the
purpose of considering the advisability of
ehangidg the name of said company, and
at said meeting it was moved, seconded and
unanimously adopted to change the name of
aald company from National Merchants’ As
sociation to that of System Service Com
pany and to advertise the change of name
in two newspapers, in the District of Colum
bia. as notice to creditors of the National
Merchants’ Association.
Witnes* our hands this 10th day of June.
A. D. 1930.
C. GRANT CHASE. President.
M. L. CASE. Secretary. *
je12.19.26 „
CARD OF THANKS
The seventh annual convention of the
National Federation of Men’s Bible Classes,
held in this city, has passed into history,
and the general chairman wishes to publicly
thank all those who aided to make it a
success. They follow: Maj. Gei>. Wm. G.
Everson. Dr Homer J. Councilor. Mai. Prank
A. Frost, Inspector W. H. Harrison. Col.
Ohas. O. Stark. Dr. A V. Cummings. Mrs.
Gertrude A. Donovan. Mr. Guy A. Ourand.
Mr. Norman Sandrldge. Mr. Percy S. Fos
ter. Mr. John Thomas. Mr. Walter N Palin
ouist. Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Clark, Mr.
R. Frank Barr, Mr. Luther Ktnard. Mr.
John St. Clair Hambly, Mr. J C. Vick;
R. Harris & Co. and A Kahn Inc. tor do
nating loving cups. 'Bigned« RICHARD
SPENCER PALMER. General Chairman.
convention. *
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SCENES FOLLOWING THE SEA TRAGEDY THAT TOOK MANY LIVES
Damaged bow of the passenger liner Fairfax after it hit and sank the oil Two Washington girl* who returned home last night to tell their experi- j
■ tanker Pinthis off Scituate, Mass. Picture made at the ship's dock in Boston, enees in the Fairfax tragedy. Left to right: Miss Sarah Poynton and Miss lona 1
—A. P. Photo. Brown. —Star Staff Photo.
I k * l
- x * 'tM*' I
Port side of the liner after it had been showered wi th blazing oil. — A. P. Photo.
college boys on the boat buckled on our
life preservers. The one who helped me
with mine was so excited he almost tore
my arms off, and then got it on back
ward.”
With the other passengers, the girls j
were transferred at sea to the Glou
cester and returned to Boston, where
they were given first aid and put up at j
a hotel. On the following morning j
Miss Poynton was treated at a local j
hospital for her bruises by direction of !
the ship's physician.
When Miss Poynton became separated
from her chum she, too. was assisted
into a lifeboat by a Marine.
"What's left of our vacation,” Miss
Browne said, “we’re going to spend at
home!”
Heroism and Cowardice.
In the four interminable hours which
the girls spent on the smoke-swept,
crowded deck of the crippled Fairfax, J
watching for the lights of the rescue |
vessel through the fog, they heard I
stories of heroism and cowardice from j
their fellow passengers.
One member of the crew, believed to
have been a sailor, sought in vain to
keep a young girl from jumping over |
the rail in the intense excitement after
the explosion spurted burning oil over
the sea and over the Fairfax.
The girl, however, wrested free and
leaped overboard. The sailor followed
without hesitation and neither of them
was seen again in the seething caldron
below. j
At another time a mother wrapped
her clothing about her baby and dashed ,
through the flamss, receiving fatal
burns herself, while the infant escapedi
unharmed.
Husband and wife, mother and chil
dren, families and traveling groups were
torn apart in the milling crowds. Some
dashed frantically through the burning
oil on deck, seeking loved ones and
themselves becoming ignited by the
flames.
Tanker Sank Quickly.
The tanker went down almost imme
diately, witnesses said, but most of its
cargo was heaved outward upon the
waves by the explosion. No one seemed
to have glimpsed the doomed crew of
the tanker.
In the confusion, the Marines and
Service men on board appeared best
to keep their heads, assisting the ship’s
crew to rig fire hose and to quiet the
passengers. One of these men, they
were informed, helped repair the radio
aerial after it had melted away, clam
bering up the mast to a precarious
perch in the smoke and heat which
billowed up.
When the welcome lights of the
Gloucester came in view through the
smoke and fog, it was an hour before
she could be maneuvered alongside
closely enough to permit the transfer
of passengers. *
Bunks were ripped out to make im
provised stretchers for the injured and
the dead and these were passed over
the rail in the glow of the gasoline fires
on the waves and the illumination of
searchlights.
Once aboard the rescue ship, the girls
were assigned comfortable quarters.
Hours later they hurried ashore with
the worn and injured passengers to the
boom of camera flashlights and the ex
cited greetings of crowds on the docks.
“It was the most thrilling experience
of my life,” Miss Poynton said, “but I
hope I never go through another one!”
Scotland has started a campaign
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GULDEN'S
J|
THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C„ THTRSDAY. -ITNE
FAIRFAX DEATHS
BLAMED ON PANIC
Woman Passenger Describes
Horror in Blazing
Sea of Oil.
The following graphic description of
the Marine disaster which occurred
Tuesday night off the Massachusetts
Coast, when the S. S. Fairfax rammed
the oil tanker Pinthls. is written by
Mrs. Neil A. Dayton, wartime Red Cross
nurse and formerly chief surgical nurse
at Raritan. N. J., arsenal. Mrs, Dayton
j has been hailed by naval and Marine
j officers, of whom there were a number
I aboard, as the heroine of the disaster
for her flrst-aid work and cool-headed
ness. She is the wife of Dr. Neil A.
| Dayton, research physician of the Massa
chusetts State Department of Mental
i Diseases.
BY ANNE DAYTON,
Passenger Aboard the S. 8. Fairfax.
BOSTON, June 12 (N.A.N.A.).
When the steamship Fairfax, on which
1 I was returning to Massachusetts, was
just outside Boston Harbor, I knew from
; the listing that she had turned toward
the Cape Cod Canal, which is only a
short trip from the harbor entrance.
I could not see anything nor could
any cf the passengers, as there was a
dense fog. The steamer was moving
very slowly. ,A naval man told me that
we were proceeding at what they call
“steerage speed"— just sufficient speed
to enable the captain to control the
rudder.
Suddenly the ship crashed. I was in
Will Rogers
Says:
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., June 11.—
Just been over to Northampton and
had a fine visit with Mrs. Coolidge.
She showed me their lovely new
fhome and grounds.
Mr. Coolidge had
gone down to New
York to attend
the monthly in
surance directors’
meeting. I asked
her if he ever
missed one. She
laughingly said
not for S7O. I
asked her what
he did about the
meetings when he.
was in California. She said he sent
in his double. I hated to have missed
him, but I wouldn’t have found out
anything if he had been there. In
fact, I think I got a great break.
Yours, WILL ROGERS.
PS. —I was wp there getting an
honorary degree from Smith College.
NOT ME!
•‘Not with Old Sol doing hia best
to melt the pavements . . . espe
cially when I can ride in a com
fortable Bell Cab, In absolute
safety.
the lounge and with others ran out on
deck. Everything shook at the Impact j
and my first thought was that we had
run aground.
Blinding Flash Amid Screams.
We were no sooner on deck, where
men were shouting orders and women
were beginning to scream, when there
j was a blinding flash and a sort of dull
! roar.
Then it literally rained fire on the
ship. I did not know until afterward
that we had struck a tanker, the Pin
this, and that the oil in the tanker,
about 10,000 gallons, I believe, had
flowed into the engine room, become
ignited and exploded.
The whole sea was afire and it was
as bright as day.
It. was not more than a minute later
when I saw that our ship was ablaze.
Above our heads the whole ship seemed
to be on fire. The flames were licking
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(.’apt. Albert V. Jones of the Pinthis.
—A. P. Photo.
along the sides and you could smell
paint burning.
We didn’t know whether the ship
was going to sink or whether it was
going to burn. The mast natural thing
to do was to run to the top of the ship
and that is what every one did. As a
matter of fact, the ship was not in
I danger of sinking and if the passengers,
including myself, had stayed in the
| cabins or in the lounge I don’t think
| there would have been any lives lost on
| the Fairfax.
Run Into Death in Flames.
But with everybody going up on the
' deck, we ran right into the worst of
the flames. The place had been sprayed
; with burning oil and there were people
J running around with their clothes on
| fire. The lifeboats were burning and
the ropes that they swing them down
on w’ere on fire. The cabins were burn
ing and no one seemed to know what
to do.
The most frightful thing was the
colored crew of stewards. Some of them
were burned by the oil and they be
came panic stiicken and started jump
ing overboard. I don’t know how many
jumped.
There were several sailors and Ma
rines aboard —men who had been trans
ferred from the Charleston Navy Yard
and were going to all parts of the
world—China and South America and
Nicaragua. They were the coolest peo
ple in the ship.
Some of them started breaking state
room doors in case people were locked
in and they saw that every one had
life preservers. They were fighting the
flames and four of them repaired th?
radio antenna, which had burned down.
No Sign of Tanker Crew.
There was no sign of the tanker crew
as the tanker had sunk with the ex
plosion. But the sea was a bubbling
fire. It really looked as though the
water were burning.
The sailors swung three life boats
out, which were not harmed by the
flames, but they couldn't launch them
because of the oil burning on the
water. Fortunately there was no need
to get away from the ship because it
was not sinking.
A number of women and a few babies
w r ere in the life boats and they hung
there for hours it seemed, until finally
the fire on the Fairfax was about out.
In the meantime, the Gloucester, an
other ship, had come alongside to take
the passengers off so the fear of the
passengers was allayed, but they began
to complain of their injuries.
The sailors and Marines were work
ing everywhere. I asked some of them
to go to the medical supply room aboard
the ship and get everything out to
render first-aid. Some of the steward
esses show r cd them where the supplies
were and they helped and we went
around the ship looking for people who
had been burned.
There was one terrible sight—l will
never forget it. There was a young
girl, 18 years old, on board who was
going to Baltimore to be married. She
got panic-stricken when the flames were
leaping all about her and ran for the
railing. A sailor, who was with the
boys who helped me, ran after her.
i Her name was Joseph Walker, the other
! boys said. He seized the girl to keep
• her from jumping overboard, but site
struggled with him and they both went
down into the burning water. Nobody
could go after them, there was so much
to be done on the Fairfax to save the
others.
We applied olive oil to the buims of
the people on board and when we ran
out of olive oil we got lard from the
kitchen. The boys carried the bandages
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1 1(11
and the atewardesses and I put them
; on those who had been injured.
A great many persons were burned
by the rain of oil but not many seri
ously, perhaps about a dozen. There
I were others burned worse than these
but I think they jumped overboard.
After we were transferred to the
Gloucester they told us ambulances and
doctors were waiting in Boston. We
kept on going among the passengers to
see what we could do.
One woman died before we got. back
to the harbor. She was horribly burned.
There was another woman with a little
babv. Both were burned. But the
mother had wrapped the baby in a wet
I sheet so he was not as badly scorched
|as he might have been. The mother
died later.
There were many who were suffering
from inhaling smoke fumes and I guess
; I was one of them, although I didn't
realize it until I got back to the wharf
i and had to go to bed. My clothes were
burned in places but I was not injured
; except for the congestion in my chest
i from the smoke I breathed.
I nearly fell overboard when the cffi
! cers ordered everybody off the top deck
| because of the smoke fumes. They told
1 ! us to go over the railing and climb to
| the deck beneath us. I w’ould have
i slipped off the rail but a deck hand
| raught me and lowered me down safely.
1 I think he was drowned later because
• I did not see him again.
Sailors and Marines Were Heroes.
I had seen suffering before this, al
j though I have not practiced nursing
, | since 1920. but I never saw anything
;! more harrowing than that night cn the
J I sea. It was such a strange combination
I | of fog, accident and Are. And the whole
; sea was ablaze. When we were safelv
' I on the Gloucester we could look back
; I and the sea was still burning fiercely.
! If there was heroism aboard the Fair
• ! fax, it was the sailors and Marines who
[ I are entitled to credit. Every one might
’ j have entered into the panic and gone
■ i overboard except for the work they did
L in quieting passengers and helping the
' ship's officers calm them.
\ When the colored stewards jumped
; there seemed to be a magnet pulling
, every one over Into the water, but the
sailors and Marines steadied the pas
| sengers and the cool heads prevailed.
(Copyright, 1930. by North American Ifews
> naner Alliance >
if if (f
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A-3