Cogswell Polytechnical College - Cogswell Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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THE COGSWELL SQ 'iOn board the pilot boat were reporters from all of the newspapers. I gave the story to a representative ol the Associated Press and told him to give it to the rest of the reporters. The 1'eporter asked the usual questions: WVhat condition was the ship in? Wlhat was the cause? Wfho was the hero of the occasion? I told the story of the heroism ol the young Seaman. 'But,' said the reporter, 'were there no officers or people of rank connected with the rescue?' 'Yes, to a slight degreef I replied. 'First Officer Campbell and his men showed bravery in going down into the hold to close what bullcheads they could: but remember the credit of saving' the ship belongs to the young' seaman whose name I have given to youf The next day a photograph of Officer Campbell appeared on the first page of the morning papers and underneath was a long article telling of the Hrst officers bravery. of which the following' is an excrept: 'First Officer Campbell of the Neptune is to-day hailed as a hero. Wfere it not for his heroism the Neptune in all probability would be at the bottom of the Pacific. NYhen the bulkheads of the ship became obstructed the fire from the coal bunkers threatened to spread to the cargo of explo- sives she was carrying. Campbell led his men into the burning hold and closed the bullcheads, thus saving the ship. Campbell deserves great praise for his heroic action, and it is rumored that his reward will probably be a command. Only one life was lost in the Fire-that of Edward NYalker, an able- bodiecl seaman. ' W. B. Sreruiixsox, '14,

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58 THE COGSWELL that the heat could be felt through my shoes when T walked across the deck in the vicinity of the burning coal bunkers. T then ordered the bulk- heads closed and the bunkers Hooded. Wfithin five minutes Officer Camp- bell returned with the report that the cargo had been so poorly stowed away that some of the bulkheads were blockaded and could not be closed. That made the situation more complicated, because the shipment of explo- sives was next to bunker No. 9 and the fire had already spread to the latter bunker. 'With the bulkhead closed the seacocks to the bunkers could be opened and thus the fire could be drowned out. Officer Campbell and his men worked bravely and succeeded in closing all the bulkheads 'except one, but the indicator in the pilot house showed that the remaining bulkhead was the one which separated the burning bunkers and the part of the cargo which consisted chiefly of explosives. That one bulkhead had to be closed or all would be lost, for if once the fire got to the explosives it would simply destroy the ship. Officer Campbell declared that there was nothing to do but abandon the ship, because no man could close the open bulkhead and survive. I had almost decided to accept that view when T noticed a young seaman waiting to speak to me. I motioned to him and he came forward. 'Sir, I understand that the safety of the ship depends on the closing of -the bulkhead next to bunker No. 9,' he said. T nodded affirmatively. 'VVith your permission, sir,' said the young man, 'T would like to try to close the bulkheadf I turned to Gfficer Campbell: 'Mn Campbell, you have heard this request. Vifhat do you think of it?' 'It can't be done,' he answered. 'The heat is so terrific that a man could not get to the bulkhead, much less close it. To try would be noth- ing less than suicide' A 'But if T do not succeedf said the seaman, 'there is no harm done, for I have no one dependent upon me. At least give me the opportunity to try to save the ship. That is better than abandoning her without trying' I decided to let the young fellow try, so gave orders that he was to be given every assistance in his dangerous undertaking. He tied a rope around his waist and told the men to pull him out when he gave the signal by jerking the rope. He then took a wet towel to put over his nose and climbed down the ladder into the hold. AnXiously T watched the indicator. Wfould he be able to remove the obstruction? Could he save my ship? A thousand hopes and fears gripped me.. .Then the indicator moved, then stopped, then slowly it moved to the pOs1t1on 'closed' I signaled to open the seacocks in bunkers Nos. 7 and 9. My ship was saved! The young hero was pulled out, but the deadly flames and fumes had doneftheir work. He never recovered consciousness. VVe entered the Golden Gate one week behind our schedule. The ship W!?S very low in the water, due to the water in the bunkers, but she was sa e.

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60 THE cooswntt illllarivrhvn Chewing meditatively on a piece of grass, Mariechen, the daughter of a German peasant farmer, sat in the little vegetable patch so carefully cherished by her father, whose property in land was scant. On one side of her lay her hoe, with which she had been hoeing weeds, and as she lay there, leaning her hands against a piece of stubble, which had already pressed red marks into her hand, she thought and thought to herself. Here she was, Mariechen Zemler, pretty as a picture, with nut-brown wavy hair, big violet blue eyes and a merry disposition, but what good was all this when she was as poor as a church mouse? Marie's father in his younger days had worked for the railroad as a bookkeeper, but one day, being sent to the small village of Schwering on business, he had met Mariechen's mother, a beautiful peasant girl, or bauer- madchen. They married. Mariechen's mother did not like city life, so the result was Mariechenls father took up farming, and, as he was not skilful at it, the family had got along as best they could, always having enough to live on, but not enough to save. This was the cause of Mariechen's thinking-Mariechen with her mother's beauty and her father's firm idea of freedom and enjoying life. VVhy should she bother doing such hard work as carrying a heavy wooden bracket over her shoulders, from which suspended two heavily filled milk buckets? W'hy should she bother going out into the fields hoeing potatoes and doing all this hard work for the mere sum of sixty marks a year QSZO in American moneyj when other girls had gone to the large cities and obtained employment at better salaries, some even having the luck of reaching America? As she sat there turning these things over in her mind she heard foot- steps in the road nearby and some one whistling softly to himself the latest German melody, namely, Ptippchen, du bist mein Augensternu CLittle one, you are the star of my eyej. Mariechen peered through the hedge and as she looked a rosy blush tinged her fair cheeks and she quickly drew closer to the hedge, murmuring to herself a Gott sei dank that the passer-by had not seen her, for who should it be but Albert, lVfariechen's most persistent admirer, whom she had determined not to care for, as it was one of Marie- chen's most set ideas that she would never fall in love with a German farmer boy and live the remainder of her life in a little German village like Schwering. Finally Marie decided she had better begin working, so picking up her hoe she began l1OC11'1g vigorously. She had been working some time when along came a double seated spring wagon, in which were seated three ladies fl n' I , I and a gentleman. Americans, no doubt, ' said Mariechen to herself as she looked up. ii