A Memorial Fountain to Wireless Operators 



By J. Andrew White 



A MEMORIAL fountain to the 

 wireless operators lost at sea now 

 rears its noble column where the tip 

 end of New York looks out toward the 

 remorseless ocean. Standing at the low- 

 er end of Battery Park, in the shadow 

 of the Barge Office walls, against a back- 

 ground of stately poplars, this simple 

 and beautiful testimonial to those who 

 have gone to death in the sanctified cause 

 of manliness and self-sacrifice stirs the 

 imagination of the passer-by as no other 

 memorial of uncompromising granite 

 could. It is an eloquent reminder of a 

 tradition that has grown out of the brand 

 of courage which seeks no precedent, 

 which, founded on the heroic action of 

 a mere boy, has been written in the in- 

 delible annals of the men who go down 

 to the sea in ships. 



"Most of us are creatures of the land, 

 and the dangers of the sea have in our 

 minds the added terror that attaches to 

 things unknown and mysterious," said 

 Acting Mayor McAneny at the unveiling 

 on May I2th. "So it is that the picture 

 we form of a man on a sinking vessel, 

 sitting calmly at his post and ticking off 

 the calls for help calls which may or 

 may not be answered stirs our deepest 

 admiration. Could any sort of courage 

 and sacrifice be more impressive than 

 that of Jack Philips and the coolness 

 with which he stuck to his post on the 

 Titanic on that awful Spring morning in 

 mid-Atlantic, three years ago? It was 

 a story that went around the world, and 

 won the respect and gratitude of mil- 

 lions." 



It was remarked that, as in the case of 

 Captains, these young men quit their 

 posts only when their ships have gone 

 down, that they have accepted the tradi- 

 tion of their class or rank. And that is 

 the most beautiful thought of the rec- 

 ords of the wireless men. There was 

 no such tradition five years ago, no such 

 unwritten obligation. It remained for a 

 little fellow whose name appears incon- 

 spicuously on the shaft, Stephen S. 



Sczpanck, to blaze the trail which so 

 many have unselfishly followed. 

 Sczpanck was lost on Car Ferry No. 18 

 on September 9, 1910, on Lake Michi- 

 gan. A long train filled with passengers 

 was being ferried from Ludington, 

 Mich., to Milwaukee, and two-thirds of 

 the distance of a little over one hundred 

 miles had been covered when the boat 

 received her death blow, filling rapidly 

 and settling in the waters with scarcely 

 a ripple. On order from the captain 

 Sczpanck sent out a call for help while 

 the crew summoned to the deck the pas- 

 sengers, who were still comfortably seat- 

 ed in the railroad coaches. The decks 

 were awash before the human freight 

 had sought the safety of the lifeboats. 

 Great excitement reigned. In the midst 

 of the confusion the cool and collected 

 wireless operator appeared, making his 

 way slowly through the aisles and stop- 

 ping at each seat to reassure the passen- 

 gers. Help was coming, his wireless ap- 

 peal had been answered and a sister ship 

 was speeding to the rescue. When the 

 boats had been lowered away in good 

 order and his assistance was no longer 

 needed on deck, Sczpanck returned to 

 the wireless room. There he remained 

 by his crackling key, directing the speed- 

 ing rescue ships until the still waters 

 closed relentlessly over the vessel he had 

 served so well. 



With this noble example of quiet de- 

 votion to duty before him, George Ec- 

 cles, whose name appears among the nine 

 inscribed on the memorial, stood stead- 

 fastly by his wireless instruments while 

 his ship, the Ohio, pounded to pieces on 

 an Alaskan reef on August 26, 1911. In 

 thirty minutes from the time she struck, 

 the great vessel, which had been carry- 

 ing two hundred passengers, had slipped 

 from the reef and sunk in the hungry 

 maw of the sea. From the first it had 

 been known that the ship was doomed 

 and the crew worked frantically to get 

 the passengers off in the lifeboats. Ec- 

 (Continued over leaf.} 



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