My Dear Sir:Prompted by my own impulses, and urged to do so by the passengers under my charge, I improve this first opportunity to express to you our high appreciation for your noble but very modest son, to whom more than to any one else we owe the lives of all on board our fated ship.I am sending this direct to you both, because I understand a father's heart and because the young man escaped as soon as we came to land, without any of us learning his address. I beg you will communicate to him the desire of the president of our company to meet him and personally to thank him for his gallant conduct. I am also instructed to say that whenever Harold desires to cross the ocean the best which any ship I may command can afford will be his without charge.
My Dear Sir:
Prompted by my own impulses, and urged to do so by the passengers under my charge, I improve this first opportunity to express to you our high appreciation for your noble but very modest son, to whom more than to any one else we owe the lives of all on board our fated ship.
I am sending this direct to you both, because I understand a father's heart and because the young man escaped as soon as we came to land, without any of us learning his address. I beg you will communicate to him the desire of the president of our company to meet him and personally to thank him for his gallant conduct. I am also instructed to say that whenever Harold desires to cross the ocean the best which any ship I may command can afford will be his without charge.
Very respectfully yours,———— Captain.S. S.
Another letter was the following:
My Dear Sir:Permit me to congratulate you on having such a heroic and self-possessed son. We, his fellow passengers, are, if possible, as proud of him as you must be.I fear that his account of the affair will not do himself full justice, and so, with your permission, I will give you the full details as I have gathered them from the passengers, from the crew, and from my own observation.During the last night of our voyage a thick fog closed about us. The constant blowing of the fog whistle made the night dismal. Few persons slept at all. About two o'clock in the morning the ship struck a reef, and instantly it seemed as though every person on that ship reached the decks at the same time. The water poured in and put out the fires. The ship heeled badly, and it seemed that any minute she might slip off the reef on which she was resting into deep water and go down. To add to our horror fire broke out. It seems to have started in the wireless operator's room.Very much damage was done to the wireless outfit itself, and the operator was badly burned, so much so that he was taken to the ship's hospital suffering with many painful and dangerous wounds.Meanwhile the flames spread rapidly and we were unable to summon help. The crew and many of the passengers fought the flames, but with little success.In the midst of our despair word passed around the ship that an unknown boy from among the passengers was sending the C. Q. D. message to all the world by wireless. It was afterward learned that your Harold was the youth. He had repaired the damaged apparatus sufficiently to establish connection with a storage battery which he found, and, under the captain's direction, was sending forth that hurry call for help known to all the wireless fraternity and heeded by all sea-faring men. I learned that your boy was not a regular operator, but that somehow he had learned to send this message and also to send out the captain's calculations of our position at sea. He was also able to detect that his call had been heard and that help was coming, although he could not understand much that came to his instrument in reply to his calls. I learned, also,that he was one of the first to reach the operator's room and to give assistance. He was himself badly burned, so much so that one hand was being dressed by a nurse while he was continually using the other to operate his instrument.I can testify, my dear sir, that he appeared to be the calmest and most self-possessed person on board that ship, as I saw him in the glare of the dreadful flames which lit up the blackest night.I am an artist and would like to attempt to paint that scene, which has left its lasting impression upon my soul. I beg that you will allow me to exhibit it for a time in several of our galleries and finally present it to your family.Help came none too soon. We were all transferred to other boats, but the sea was rising, and scarcely had we reached a safe distance when the burning ship slipped into the sea and disappeared.I do not know by which boat your son reached the land. In the great confusion I lost sight of him at last. He has doubtless communicated with you by this time, and I shall esteem it a great favour if you will put me in communication with him again.In order that I may do justice to him in the painting I would like to arrange with him a few sittings while he is in Europe.Could you kindly send me a photograph of him which will assist me somewhat?
My Dear Sir:
Permit me to congratulate you on having such a heroic and self-possessed son. We, his fellow passengers, are, if possible, as proud of him as you must be.
I fear that his account of the affair will not do himself full justice, and so, with your permission, I will give you the full details as I have gathered them from the passengers, from the crew, and from my own observation.
During the last night of our voyage a thick fog closed about us. The constant blowing of the fog whistle made the night dismal. Few persons slept at all. About two o'clock in the morning the ship struck a reef, and instantly it seemed as though every person on that ship reached the decks at the same time. The water poured in and put out the fires. The ship heeled badly, and it seemed that any minute she might slip off the reef on which she was resting into deep water and go down. To add to our horror fire broke out. It seems to have started in the wireless operator's room.
Very much damage was done to the wireless outfit itself, and the operator was badly burned, so much so that he was taken to the ship's hospital suffering with many painful and dangerous wounds.
Meanwhile the flames spread rapidly and we were unable to summon help. The crew and many of the passengers fought the flames, but with little success.
In the midst of our despair word passed around the ship that an unknown boy from among the passengers was sending the C. Q. D. message to all the world by wireless. It was afterward learned that your Harold was the youth. He had repaired the damaged apparatus sufficiently to establish connection with a storage battery which he found, and, under the captain's direction, was sending forth that hurry call for help known to all the wireless fraternity and heeded by all sea-faring men. I learned that your boy was not a regular operator, but that somehow he had learned to send this message and also to send out the captain's calculations of our position at sea. He was also able to detect that his call had been heard and that help was coming, although he could not understand much that came to his instrument in reply to his calls. I learned, also,that he was one of the first to reach the operator's room and to give assistance. He was himself badly burned, so much so that one hand was being dressed by a nurse while he was continually using the other to operate his instrument.
I can testify, my dear sir, that he appeared to be the calmest and most self-possessed person on board that ship, as I saw him in the glare of the dreadful flames which lit up the blackest night.
I am an artist and would like to attempt to paint that scene, which has left its lasting impression upon my soul. I beg that you will allow me to exhibit it for a time in several of our galleries and finally present it to your family.
Help came none too soon. We were all transferred to other boats, but the sea was rising, and scarcely had we reached a safe distance when the burning ship slipped into the sea and disappeared.
I do not know by which boat your son reached the land. In the great confusion I lost sight of him at last. He has doubtless communicated with you by this time, and I shall esteem it a great favour if you will put me in communication with him again.
In order that I may do justice to him in the painting I would like to arrange with him a few sittings while he is in Europe.
Could you kindly send me a photograph of him which will assist me somewhat?
Most sincerely and gratefully yours,————.
The letter contained several references to mutual acquaintances.
Harold's letters have been frequent and full of the pleasure he is having in European travel, but the only thing he has said about the voyage is that "it was not worth so much fuss."
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Transcriber's Notes:Obvious typos and inconsistencies in spelling have been corrected:p31. intrument -> instrumentp35. mantain -> maintainp48. represents the [the] counter-electro-motive forcep64. 2 volts × .1 ampere = .6 watts. -> 6 volts × .1 ampere = .6 watts.The correct voltage is deduced from the preceding paragraph.p141. 55 ampere -> .55 amperep168. familar -> familiarp173. preceptible -> perceptiblep229. - p230. countershaft -> counter shaftp259. H_{2}SO^{4} -> H_{2}SO_{4}p295. Note C refers to C´ not C´´ and these should be labelled C, and C,, to denote octaves below middle C.p316. electri-tricity -> electricityp356. oufit -> outfitThroughout the text:The few cases of "volt-meter" have been changed to "volt meter" which has been used for the majority of the text.The single instances of watt meter and watt-meter have been changed to wattmeter which has been used for the majority of the text.The few cases of "electro magnet" have been changed to "electro-magnet" which has been used for the majority of the text.In the Table of Contents:Chapter XII page number changed from 118 to 218Chapter XV name changed from "Electricity from Chemical Action and Chemical Action from Electricity" to match text which reads "ELECTRIC CURRENTS FROM CHEMICAL ACTION AND CHEMICAL ACTION FROM ELECTRIC CURRENTS"In the Table of Illustrations:"Operating a Switchboard" changed to match caption which reads "Operating the Switchboard"p63. The example of Morse code given is correct for "Original" or American Morse. It has some differences from Continental or International Code which is the current standard. The spacing of the dots is significant.
Obvious typos and inconsistencies in spelling have been corrected:
Throughout the text:
In the Table of Contents:
In the Table of Illustrations:
p63. The example of Morse code given is correct for "Original" or American Morse. It has some differences from Continental or International Code which is the current standard. The spacing of the dots is significant.