Evening Star Newspaper, September 4, 1935, Page 5

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO D. C., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1935. Mé 'PASSENGERS AWAIT RESCUE — GALE SWEEPS TRAIN OFF TRACK This view of the Morgan liner Dixie grounded on French Key, southeast of Miami, shows some of her passengers lining the rails waiting to be taken off. One of the rescue hoats that * RELIEF 15 RUSHED T0 STORM AREAS Red Cross Sends Medicines, Food and Clothing From Miami. By the Associated Press. MIAMI, Fla, September 4. v - f*«‘ ;gge*s Streaming southward by air, boat and | highway motors. medicine and food was pouring today into the stricken sections of the Florida Keys, where an undetermined number of persons were killed and heavy property damage caused by Sunday night's hurricane ‘The relief expeditions moved south- ward from Miami with military preci- | | sion as the Red Cross had by early morning dispatched 10 truck loads of medicines, food and clothing toward the area. Other caravans gasoline, drinking water and other supplies were being made up. There was no shortage of relief necessities. | Among the first of the major ex- | peditions to leave at daybreak was the | 772-foot speed cruiser Byronic, capable of reaching the stricken keys within three hours. The boat, owned by By- ron Miller of New York, will serve as an emergency Red Cross dressing sta- tion. Marpne and Pan-American air; planes were co-operating in attemps- | ing to establish an air base in the keys and all Pan-American planes flying out of Miami were held at the | disposal of the Red Cross. Fighteen ambulances, carrying 15 doctors, had gone into the area and 8 second squad of 12 physicians was ready to leave to relieve the 15 who had been dn duty 2¢ hours, Hurricane (Continued From First Page.) Gulf of Mexico and endangered cities on the Florida West Coast. ‘The full intensity of the hurricane. in this area, was looked for around Cedar Key, a dot of land in the gulf | 00 miles north of St. Petersburg, con- nected with the mainland only by a harrow causeway. Many of the 1,200 residents of Cedar Key began evacuating the village when the word of the approaching hurricane reached them. The school and other substantial buildings were thrown open as shelters and people began to fill them. Most of the homes in Cedar Key are of flimsy wooden construc- tion. ‘With the tides rising and the waters raging about St. Petersburg; in Tampa Bay and up the West Coast, the hur- ricane flags were flown all over the area. Property damage on the West Coast was reported but no loss of life. There was no word from Clearwater and Tarpon Springs. Weather offi- cials said the effects of the hurricane would be felt up into Georgia. Part of the storm was reported swinging back to the east, into the northern part of Florida. West Coast News Scanty. ‘With communication lines down in many sections, reports from the West | There were no | Coast were meager. reports, however, of loss of life. ‘With the abatement of the storm | ever the keys, there came the first carrying coffee, | The 8. S. Dixie, with 372 passengers aboard, photographed from the air today as the vessel pounded French Key, near the Florida coast. liner. Tuesday on the narrow strips of land that stretch from the Florida main- land down to Key West. Many of the first survivors, placed in Miami hospitals to recover from injuries and the shock of exposure, were from the Government’s Camp No. 1 on Upper Matecumbe Key. They expressed fears many lives ‘were lost in camps 3 and 5, on Lower Matecumbe Key. Joseph Factsau, timekeeper at Camp No. 5, was the only known person from that camp alive. He was in a Miami hospital, his spine injured. Sees Family Killed. A former Army aviator, Factsau saw his wife, two daughters and two grandchildren killed. He expressed doubt any one else in Camp 5 sur- vived because of lack of shelter. The Florida East Colst Railway, linking the mainland with Key West, traversing the keys, was a mass of twisted wreckage and broken at many storles of the long hours of horror | places by the force of the hurricane and fear Monday night and early The highway being constructed by A ¥’ the veterans was washed into bits of concrete in many places. A rescue train, dispatched Monday into the camps to bring back the vet- erans after the storm warning was sounded, was a mass of wreckage. There was no word from any of the crew, and rescuers feared all aboard were killed. ‘The train passed through the Camp No. 1, on Upper Matecumbe. The crew intended to pick up the veterans here on the route back, but the train struck a washout and all the cars were over- turned. Bridge Built for Rescuers. One of the first efforts of rescuers was to build & bridge from the south- ern tip of Key Largo to Upper Mate- cumbe Key to get trucks, loaded with National Guardsmen and volunteers and medical supplies, into the worst stricken areas. Prom Washington, officials of the Government ordered naval eraft and Coast Guard cutters to lend all possible v Rescue efforts are now under way as passengers are being taken off the Morgan —Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. answer ed the Dixie's distress signals can be seen in the background. —Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. This 11-car train, sent by the Florida East Coast Railway to evacuate 687 veterans from their construc- tion camps on the Florida keys, was overturned by the force of the hurricane which lashed the coast. This air view shows the wreckage of the ill-fated rescue train. sid. The National Guardsmen were dispatched by Gov. Dave Sholtz. The Government Relief Adminis- tration, in charge of the Government camps on the Keys, said some 680 veterans—many of them members of the bonus march to Washington, who were shipped down to the Keys by the Relief Bureau—were at work on the coastai highway. At least 100 of them, however, were on leave in Miami when the hurricane broke. One of the first rescue expeditions to leave Miami with daybreak today was aboard the 72-foot speed cruiser Byronic, ‘'owned by Byron Miller of New York. It was destined to serve as a Red Cross medical station off the Keys. Airways Gives Aid. Co-operating with Coast Guards- men in dispatching airplanes over the | e e | Hef work. devastated area was the Pan-Amer- fean Airways. All its planes in Miami | were placed at the disposal of the Red Cross and other rescue agencies. Another relief train quickly was [ mobilized to aid in the evacuation of the keys and to carry supplies. Huge gangs of employes were set to work repairing the tracks. Box cars were loaded with bags of sand and gravel. They will be used to bolster weakened grades and causeways. Oyerhead, Coast Guard planes gave information of the condition ahead. The first reports from below Mate- cumbe Keys sald there was little dam- age at Vaca Key and to the south- ward. Several persons were- seen on a house on a small key to the south of Matecumbe. AT A D.C. DOCTORS AID RELIEF Red Cross headquarters announced last night that six doctors connected with the Washington staff had left for Miami to assist in hurricane re- Dr. Willilam De Kleine, medical di- rector, was ordered to proceed at once from St. Louis to assist in organizing the relief work, L) —Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. Log of Stricken ShiR Wireless Messages Tell of S. S. Dixie’s Peril, Pounding Seas and High Mordle of Passengers Aboard. BY W. H. DEPPERMAN. By the Associated Press. (Eastern Standard Time) ‘Monday, 9:40 p.m.—Unintelligible 8. 0.8 (Morgan liner Dixie with 372 per- sons aboard strikes reef off Florida and hurricane-driven waves pound it.) Tuesday, 12:14 a.m.—Distress calls identified. 1 am—“Main antennae and re- ceiver out. Using emergency trans- mitters. Heavy seas pounding badly.” 2 am—“Still pounding, but not taking much water yet." L, (Tropical Radio at Miami informs Dixie steamships Reaper, Platano, Agwistar and Limon on way to as- sist) 6:30 a.m.—"“Few passengers bruised. Several members of crew minor in- juries; Ship making some water in double<bottom tanks. Waiting for weather to moderate before trans- ferring passengers.” 12 noon—Limon heaves to. 12:40 p.m~—"Our position now off French Reef. Consider it too rough to transfer passengers. Ship in no immediate danger. El Occidente will arrive alongside 1:30 p.m.” Ly ‘ Known Dead. Hurricane Toll Partial List Includes Persons From All Parts of U. S, By the Ass Press MIAMI, Fla, September 4.—The partial casualty list in the tropical disturbance which struck the Florida xeys and today swept up the West coast of the peninsula follows: William Clark, Veterans' Camp | No. 1. Lenning Lilja, drowned at Marathon Ed Kettner of West Palm Beach killed in bus accident near Fort Myers. W. A. Tyre, Tavernier Harry Roten, Tavernier. Mrs. Betty Roten, Tavernier. Missing. Benny Van Ness, Matecumbe Benny Van Ness, jr., Matecumbe Eugene Van Ness, Matecumbe Katherine Van Ness, Matecumbe Joseph Crusoe, Camp No. 1. Dr. D. C. Main, Camp No. 1. Jesse Gleaton, Gulfport. Vergil Pegg, Gulfport. Marybell Tyre, Tavernier. Injured. N. E. Howell, Franklin, Va. H. Gaines, Kansas City. W. N. Nepsha, Minneapolis. Joseph Nepsha, Minneapolis. Harry U. Baker, Washington. Frank Higgins, Youngstown, Ohi Dr. Lassiter Alexander, Camp No Ernest McCanley, Youngstown, Oh: Irwin Sutton, Lansing, Mich. Joe Fecheau, Providence, R. I Willard M. Parker, Long Islan New York. Arthur Parker, Long Island. James Murray, Titusville, Pa. W. Wise, Cleveland. william Cawthorne, known. J. W. Towles, Sapulpa, Okla. H. Stalnaker. Forest City, N. C. Everett McComb, Lowell, Mass. H. F. Kerne, Beltsville, Md. Jackson M. Hoffman, Fort Payne, Ala. William J. Wiemann, Louisville, Ky. Austin Petross, Detroit, Mich Robert J. McPherson, New Castle, Pa. V. Toulmine, Atlanta. ‘Thomas W. Conrad, Lakeland, Fla. Thomas D. Sarell, Atlantay R. Letreux, Washington. Lloyd R. Fitchett, Terre Alta, W. Va. G. L. Harrison, Waverly, Va. D. C. Brewer, Knoxville, Tenn. A. B. Flow, Los Angeles. J. M. Lydon, Massachusetts. Bill Lambert, address unknown. J. F. Rowe, Esmeralda, Fla. J. E. Edwards, Park Valley -(State not given). William King, 29, address unknown, Thomas Giniak, address unknown, Harold Langlers, Chelsford, Mass, ‘W. A. James, Baltimore, Md. Later—“Wind is now hauling to south and west, but still too rough to transfer passengers. Four ships standing by. All is well.” (Limon informs Dixie standing by with boat crews ready.) (To S. S. Limon)—“The captain sees you okay, but can't transfer the passengers now. It's too rough.” 7 pm.—Limon advises that itself and steamers Platano, Reaper and El Occidente are standing by. 10:10 p.m.—“Chief engineer reports floor plates in fire room up 2 inches. address un- Making no water except in double bottom. Ship pounding slightly, | Morale of passengers hig! | Wednesday, 12:53 a.m.—“Leak de- | veloped in one fuel tank. Oil leak- | ing out. Ship resting easy.” k)