The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, September 13, 1948, Page 2

PAGE TWO Safe in Juneau after five days| and nights stranded on the beach near Icy Point the five crew mem- Lers and three passengers of the wrecked power barge Caledonia, 132 tons, 87 feet, artived Saturday | noon by Coast Guard PBY from Hoonah, where they spent Friday | “Blnight and are awaliting transporta- Ation south by plane. Crew members are Capt. Kai Secher-Jensen, Kent; Chief Engi-| neer Lioyd Hewitt, Bremerton; Ray McLane, 2nd Enginegr, Seattle; Lewis Kathreine, mate, Paulsco; Ralph Van Dalen, ok, Chicago. r | Capt. Secner-sense expected lo D e c““"“';mf x‘]‘ig‘eer;z:ectrau: a:;:l‘:;;&}n-m-n Cape Spencer at 1 &3 ?u’;(- blsk mh.' bounde for Seattle, after a summer;w us,” the men said. “Pros Ganty dav morning. Thg night was bfic 8 at a San Juan cannery, were Ktrnmpmed his store at 9 o'clock so we stormy seas raging and no land Levin and Paul Rothfus, Seattle,! ou1q get some clothing. We were fall had been made at 12 mid- and Gus Holland, Everett. certainly ‘glad to be there.” Inisht, so Capt. Secher-Jensen; p back on his course and! l A graphic story of fighting siorms, wading glacier rivers, of b2iny hun- 2ry and wet from the constant rain is told by the men aided by the diary kept by Paul Rothfus, only record of the wreck and of the ulti- mate rescue of the men. The Caledonia was 20 miles off ‘Icy Point when the alarm was 1sounded at 6:20 Sunday night, Sep- |lember 5. The ship had been figh'- ing heavy seas and was barely kold- '(ore planking from the bow. All that kept the ship afloat, the ‘rescued men said, were the six emp~ ty 2,000 gallon cargo tanks in the kow. Engine pumps failed to work and all aboard were manning the hand Lilge pumps. Hero of Moment Hero of the moment was Ray {McLane, 2nd Engineer, who waded ! chest deep into the flooded engine room and removed a pair of over-| alls clogging the bilge pump. At 8:20 the Caledonia hit the| ceach. Capt. Secher-Jensen attempt- | ed to land the barge, but the break- | ers were too high and it was de-| cided to stay aboard the ship. At 4 am. September 6, it was thought the ship was breaking up | land all aboard went safely ashore,| throwing to the beach what luggage kmey had. Coast Guard Citrus Arrives i | That day the C. G. Cutter Cit- rus made an attempt to take the eight men off the beach. It was then that the two Coast Guards- | 'men, attempting to land at the béach in a rubber boat, capsized and jdned the stranded Caledonians. | ue; plan. had been to haul the) 1 m back to the Citrus by raft, but mountainous seas prevented. i “Rain all the time. No shelter| until we built a lean-to out of | vreckage,” said Rothfus’ diary. i September 7 they started to hike | It's ;he “extras" in a handbag that give it that special appeal. And that's why Ramblers are exira special! There's place a-plenty for all your essentials ...a zip-fastener compartment for your safe keeping of “‘important details". And the mellow top grain leather has bear the famous Good Housekeeping seal of approval. No wonder ultra smart women buy these extra smart bags ing river. Very little food. Still rain- ing. Built fire. Built lean-to of boughs. Two Coast Guardsmen and Engineer Hewitt are going back to the Caledonia to try to use the radio aboard the ship and to bring ! B M Behrends Co QAALITY SINCE /887 _lus back some food.” i Rain! Rain! Rain! ! September 8: “Night cold, rained all night. Still raining. Soaking wet. As of this morning we are out of food. Lean-to leaks. Feeling pretty low. It is 10 o'clock ‘and still waiting for our three men to come back.| Had mussels for breakfast.” | And for dinner the seven men on | the beach had a can of soup and | a seagull. Rothfus shot the seagull. Wreck, Rescue of Calendoni Is Told in Diary; 5 Crewmen, 3 Passengers Arrive in Ju THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE— " neau Caledonia had been reached, food| {secured, but the river swollen by y..ce leit Uganik Bay rain was impassable. 1 A tent, flown in by the Coast until it near Icy Point the following Sun- ; MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1948 ans TORMS BATIERED LOKS LB HEARS CALEDONIA FROM UGANIK T0 ICY PT. What caused the wreck? Capt. Kai Secher-Jensen knows. Storms. One storm after an- her from the time the power Monday beach landed on the Caledonia | 'MOUNTIOY RETURNS | , " FROM INSPECTION Charles R. Mountjoy, Directdr of | | Two Army coionels and Lion Joe Ni Alaska Na- | killing *will be allowed there next season. Mauntjoy was accompanied by Dilé Belcher, Assistant Director of Native Resources and Charles H. Rouse, biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service. The trip was made in a FWS plane and the pilot was Walt White. Mountjoy reported that the criti- IShoiner shared the speakers plat- |form at the Lions meet held, at noon today in the Baranof Hotel. Col. T. J. Tully, new command- ative Resources for the tive® Service, returned Sunday fol- lowing an inspection of reindeer herds in the Bering and Arctic Sea areas, Mountjoy reported that there ing officer of the Alaska Communi- j; 5 poticeable variation in the| cation System, gave a brief ac- perds; the herds owned by individ- | count of things to come dm com- yajs gre increasing while the herds | 1Guard, provided shelter that night-lduy night, the Captain said in munication service for the Te"i"cwned by associations are generally {cal food situation at Barrow had | keen alleviated by the ice closing in |for a three-week period, after it | opened in July. The Eskimos caught a sufficient supply of seal durh’xg the period when the ice was closed in to allow them a winter's supply. > September 10th, after a night in Juneau Sunday. storms at ing its own. The pounding of waves | jarsange to have supplies for sal- {ing the engine to catch on tlre,‘ans Administration. the tent, cold but dry for a change, | | the party, now thirteen, started {or‘K;}::i :’s:fi Icy Point at 6:30 a.m. ' “Going is tough over the beach.! .. OCape Elrington More e 2T e B R ST Lt :l‘::kmsmdel:)!cd lhemgflt Port San | a0e00 atgived. at Jek EROE Juan and again at Port Etches. | |, Final entry in Rothfus’ diary writ-| “'r, \ " cype Ainchinbrook they f e pablanerd, e CLLCUE, | were unable to see land. | “Rescued at 1:05. Thank God.” . { held by Tuesday morning. The Caledonia crew and passen- | turncd : gers arrived in Juneau at 12:30|went slowly out to sea, fearful p.n. Satupday cy Coast Guard PBY jthat in the night and storm the! from Hoonah, spent the afternoon Caledonia might go aground. | We just held our own,” he said.{ talked to|“We didn’t go back or ahead.” 24 hours of heavy beat-{ |take them south. | Capt. Secher-Jensen William Calvert, of the 'San Juan | company as soon as he arrived in the seas broke her open at Juneau and arrangements for the!6:30 p. m. Sunday.” vage flown to the wreck. “The bottom is out of tHe Cale- donia, ktut if the weather is good, there is a chance to salvage the | ship,” said Logan who then added | praise of his pilot who “made a remarkable landing among the boulders on the beach.” v The Chris Craft luxury cruiser aboard the Caledonia is in good ccadition after the storm, accord- ing to Logan, and it, too be saved. Logan, who is well-known in Ju- |southbound trip were made. From the moment that happen-, 1 he wanted to go. 'vafi M There was only one spot to L - ( = glaciers. We had her going full 3 oy est two hours and ten minutes I} % 'S\, mE ever spent in my life—until we hit | said. ! High praise was given the Coast | Marine Underwriters, is hopeful | Coastguardsmen Warren W. Jones that the power barge Caledonia, and James R. Williams who risked ' near La Perouse Glacier, north of | trying to come ashore from the Icy Point, may be saved. | Citrus in a rubber raft with which rier pilot who operates out of stranded Caledonia crew and pass-, Yakutat, Logan landed on the engers. { made a survey of the wreck, came Caledonia were wonderful, too, the to Juneau Sunday to confer with | captain said. “There was never a cold and wet and hungry, had to wade chest-deep across glacier riv- | drowned, and another man almost drowned trying to save him. Final- nothing to eat but mussels and there weren't many mussels—and [Was high” | Capt. Secher-Jensen, Paul Roth-, were passengers south aboard the Whiz cannery tender Ambassador ! 7id ed, Capt. Secher-Jensen knew in a break between two speed ahead, but it was the long- the beach at 8:30, the captain| E. J. “Bob” Logan, Board of Guard by Cdpt. Secher-Jensen, and ' wrecked a week ago on the shores, their lives, were nearly drowned' With Cal Ward, a former car- it was planned to rescue Lhe' rccky beach Saturday afternoon, | The boys and crew aboard the ' Capt, Kai Secher-Jensen and to murmur from anyone. We were ers. Ralph Van Dalen almost ly we were all sort of weak with |one seagut. But espyn. de corps fus, Gus Holland and Van Dalen | | today with Mike Goodwin, opera- L ; ¢ neau, 1iirst came north on an|tor of the Whiz cannery at Hood | for fashion, for function, for always! R ey o wo| Alaska Packers sailing ship in | Bay. Others will go by first avail- | ke i tha dlu:y cotaibeih: 1922. During the war he was able Pan American or steamer Finally a larger glacier river ‘ms|Dlsmct s:;lvage ori_xcmj for the | transportation. i reached and at 5 p.n. Rothfus’ diaryl‘m‘-y‘ A Ill§ home is in Cordova, - B entry says: “Have given up. Cross- and his wife, Hazel Rosswog, a ON VACATION former Douglas girl. Mr. and Mrs. David Andrus left | e e 2-9 ALARM The wiring in an automobile owned by Mrs. Geraldine McConnel short-circuited last evening caus- via Pan American Airways on Sat- urday for a month’s visit in Salt | | Lake City, Utah, with Mr. Andrus’ parents. Mr. and Mrs. Andrus are | on annual leave from the Veter- The car was parked near the - Northern Light Presbyterian FROM PORTLAND Church, and the Juneau Fire De- Here from Portland and staying partment was called to the scene, |at the Baranof are A. M. Wright, and immediately disconnected the H. Clifiord Troop and Donald R. wires in the car. Smith. > — “They aren't as big as they look, cy the time you get the feathers off them, The meat is stringy but tastes like sweet beef,” the boys said. Rothfus’ diary continued: “Get- ting kind of hungry. Has been foggy and rainy all day. There's a storm in progress and we haven't seen the Coast Guard today. We sure need some food and shelter.” Wednesday the hoys kept warm by a driftwood fire. Warm, but not dry. “Sure hope we get home soon,” was the final diary entry on the eighth, “Sept. 9. Rained off and on ali night. At 4:30 a.m. we bad balf a piece of seagull liver. Weather is & little better, At 7:40 a C.G. PBY| flew over us and dropped us C-| Rations, clothes and smell radio. We tound out that the other three men are safe.” Citrus Coming “The plane told us the ship Cit- tus will be here in about two hours. Plane will be back with more sup~ plies in case we can’t reach the Citrus and have to stay here an- other night.” “We are dry for the first time.” Aud for the first time the sun came out. “We are planning to get aboard the Citrus, but the swells look 10 or 1§ feet high to me,” Rothius wrote. Then the Coast Guard chavged: its glans and sent a three-mam party to land at Icy Point to work down the beach to the stranded men camped seven miles away and sep~ arated from Icy Point ty the swollen glacier river. ATEOTERREY ey FATTLE IS ALMOST A SUBURB +«.by Pan American Clipper " NOME only breakfes 3 dinner from FAIRBA“S o oaly an ofternoon from ... . J““H“ Gl‘rm(c AROUND ALASKA is easy. And quick, too. Flying Clippers take you where you want to go—from Nome clear to Seattle—on frequent, regular schedules. And you'll feel at home aboard the big, dependable Clippers. The food and service are world-famous. The fare low— with a saving of 10% on round trips. Call us at . ., BARANO¥ HOTEL—Telephone 106 L4 0"‘ &’mfl o h’fl“fl” hom y A GRAND OLD CANADIAN NAME PRODUCED IN THE U.S.A. Under the Direct Supervision of Our Expert Canadian Blender CORBY'’S is o light, sociable blend. It is our sincere belief you'll enjoy its smooth, satisfy- ing meliowness. Next fime ask for CORBY'S..a fine whiskey. C. G. Men Fall Trees The Coast Guard men by falling trees successfully crossed the river, reached the Caledonian men who had been joined i the meantime hy AN AMERTCAN Woro Arawarys P Chhe Syiiem of heTiying Clppers A, their way to the ship apg back, The the three who had tried to make $6 PROOF 68.4% Grain Neutral Spitits S 'AiClAY & CO., LTD, PEORIA, ILLINOIS !purg and Wrangell. {ine -— tory. { i Col. Joseph D, Alexander, di- rector of National Guard in the ‘There were bad storms from KO- meivitory told Lions members of” (plans being formed by the Guard for Territcrial defense. Lion Shofner, recently return- ed from Mexico, gave a short talk on his impressions of the people, customs and history of the south of the border country. Last year was the biggest sea- son in the history of ACS, Col. Tully told Lions. More than 200 long-distance calls a day are put tiirough out of Juneau, over 100 calls a day last year at this time, he said, “Eighty-five active construction tentlng at the Baranof, getting hair- | “A! daylight we turned f‘,rJ““dilvl-ojec(s are underway for ACS in \cuts, shoe shines, waiting for that|on our course again and sightedlipe” field now,” Col. Tully said. [first available space on Pan Am to Iey Point at 12 noon on Sunday.| ., o onc o sunean, he added is work on the repair of a break in !cable connections between Peters- The submar- cable ship Lenoir will com- plete repairs within ten days to two weeks, connecting Juneau and Ketchikan, the Colonel told mem- bers. A New equipment is slated for An- chorage and Fairbanks and exten- sions of Alcan Highway lines to 26 Mile and Big Gully are planned for next summer, he said. Plans for a Native Scout Battal- ion frcm Nome to Point Barrow, which will serve as an intelligence screen for the Territory and the U.S. Army were discussed by Na- tional Guard Col. Alexander. Natives of the area will be arm- ed with the latest equipment and arctic clothing, he said, and will serve the National Guard on a 24- hour Lasis while they carry on their daily occupations. National ‘Guard units for popu- lation centers in the Territory ecan be organized only when facilities are made lable for training by the Territorial Legislature. Guests were the Rev. Edward Knight of Seward, Donald Rude, Capt. Sverid Hansen, Art-Kannen, Herb Hilscher and Lester Rober! ‘T0 THINK OF While you're with us and Summer going. _ greases, DON'T DRIVE WITH R. W. 135 Fromt njsls Dodg AND SOME OTHER THINGS ovethaul you for good Spring @ We'll change your oils and o We'll c&‘m’ your brakes, ® We'll tune your engine, © We'll scrub and clean you, @ We'll align your wheels. We'll do everything thaPs needed. FINGERS CROSSED GE - PLY decreasing, He said decrease in some | WELL-BABY TLENIC areas is, due to the reindeer being C— killed by ‘wolves and in other areas, ~ A well-baby clinic will be held where the caribou are prevalent, Tuesday afternoon between .the the reindeer join the caricou herds 'hours of 1 and .3 at-the Govern- and migrate to other areas. Mount- 'ment Hospital. Dr. Phillip Maison- joy said that Nunivak Island is now | ville and Miss Ann Lello will be over-stocked with reindeer and more ' in charge of the clinic. i | ! 1 [ [ &% 3 I ] [l I | | = | | | I - | | e | | . | | | | 1 } ] : Pearl Oil, a long-time Alaskan Pearl Oil leaves the air fresh | } favorite, is solvent-refined to ... won’t taint foods. Every I | remove all impurities that drop burns . . . gives more | : cause smoke and soot. heatand light for your dollar. = | ] I | ECINIPISIRIIRN *ING OF The KeRosEMs | | ’ e e £ } I ~ -~ } 1 - (e | [ = 1 I - I | I | I | I 1 I | I | When you use Pearl Oil you I ‘ seldom have to adjust burn- } | ers...its clear, ‘steady flame 1 ! won't “‘creep up.” 5 : : . e I 4 1 7 | | STANDARD of CALIFORNIA ! I o b S ————— e it WHAT yowll hear is the chorus of well tuned engines, tuned by mechanics, who know their stufi,—-whose in- struments are valves, rings and pistons, whose tuning fork makes no mistakes in tone or pitch. Come in and let your engine sing a summer song and never skip a beat. let us i s For your. summer’s pleasure (with Factory Engineered parts for replacement if you need them). YOUR OWLIN —_— i FUuc ow rvl/n./_