SEAFARERS LOG • 1 • OFFICIAL ORGAN of the SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL UNION • ATLANTIC and GULF DISTRICT • AFL • DRIVE BEGINS in IM M 'Il
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i^ESaBSSEK^ii^^ VOL XIV No^ 17 SEAFARERS LOG • 1 • OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL UNION • ATLANTIC AND GULF DISTRICT • AFL • DRIVE BEGINS IN im m 'il Story on Page 3 if Story on Page 3 walls and empty beds point up the deserted condition D IFRIF Seafarer Luther Milton totes up nvsptWOf rviOSm of the Mobile marine hospital a few days after the US •• 'KfC rtay* the vacation, birth and hospitsu Public Health Service annotmced it was closing down four hospitals for lack of oper benefits he collected this week. They totaled more than I ^ ating funds. The SlU Jias lodgeda strong protest in Washington. (Story oh Page 2.) all his Union dues in eight years. (Story on Page Z.) • . ' / \... • • • SEAFARERS LOG ri£liijr.Aiicv«i 39, ill Mobile Hospital Closing Order The only six survivors of la^ year's Southern Isles sinking were photographed aboard the Coast Guard cutter Cherokee after they were rescued. They are: (left to right, around the table), Wilson Deal, stewardcook; Howard Bastenback, oiler; Raymond Holden, cook; Charles Perkins, MM; James Childress, AB; Sam Lynn, OS. CC Probe Scores Company For Southern Isles Loss The longawaited Coast Guard re|)ort on the Southern Isles disaster, which cost 17 lives, places the blame for the sinking squarely on the company's shoulders and recom" mends Government prosecution. In virtually the same breath, the report then states that it does not consider the evi ' On visit to the Mobile Marine hospital the last few days it was dence sufficient to warrant sank because it was overloaded unequal distribution of weights open, SIU Patrolman Robert Jordan (left) discussed the forced "criminal prosecution of the and the cargo improperly distrib during loading of and discharge of closing with Seafarer J. H. Jones, FWT, a patient at *he hospital. president or manager of the South uted on board, and because the iron ore cargoes and the driving of : em Trading Company. vessel was being driven at its max the' vessel during heavy weather The Southern Isles, a converted imum speed in heavy weather. It encountered on her last voyage." . A strong protest against the closing of four USPHS hos LST, broke in two and sank on 'also blames the fact that there was Not only was the ship overloaded pitals, including the one in Mobile, Ala., has been made by October 5, 1951 off Cape Hatteras. no previous experience in using on her fatal trip, but on three pre the SIU to the Federal Security Agency. The closing of the She went down so rapidly that the LST's as bulk cargo carriers so that vious voyages as well, with over » crew could not launch lifeboats. there was no way of telling wheth loads between 223 and 386 tons of Mobile Hospital along with^ Only six crewmembers survived er the vessel was suitable for that cargo. These overloads, the board USPHS units in Kirkwood, the SIU. Seafarers passing through the disaster. kind of service. said, weakened the structure of the this port will now have to fall back Cargo. Distribution Wrong As the report putjt, "the causes ship thus contributing to her Mo., Portland, Me., and San on private hospitals for emergency Juan was called a crippling blow The report of the Marine Board of the breaking of the Southern breakup. care or depend on facilities at New of Investigation states that the Isles were a weakening of the hull Company Allowed It to proper medical care for seamen Orleans. While the USPHS is mak vessel probably broke in two and structure by overloading and by Further, the board of investiga and a step backward from a 150 ing arrangements with the private tion specifically states "That Mil yearold Government policy. hospitals for this emergency care, ton P. Jackson, president of the The closing of the four hospitals there is no guarantee that treat Southern Trading Company and was ordered by the FSA after Con ment will be up to the high stand W. M. Bradbury, operating mana gress cut $1V6 millions out of ap ard of the USPHS hospitals. ThreeWay $$ Benefit ger of the Southern Trading Ckmo . propriations for veteran's medical The closing will hit large num pany had knowledge of and will care. Since the USPHS hospitals bers of Seafarers who make their fully allowed overloading of the care for a certain number of vet homes in an around the city of Southern Isles." erans under arrangements with the Mobile, and will compel them to Veterans Administtation they were Adds Up For Seafarer Despite this report, survivors . travel long distances ° for medical and beneficiaries of the men lost hit by the budget cut and had to care with loss of time and earnings "The SIU is the best deal in the world for a seaman—and reduce services. in the disaster have had to settle resulting. I can prove it in black and white," Luther R. Milton main their claims against the company Mobile Hard Hit Indignation against the closing tains. "Not even counting the better wageS*, the representa in the Federal District Court in The effect of the reduction how was running high in Mobile, where tion, and "the better working^ ^ Norfolk at sums ranging up to a ever, will be to eliminate USPHS veterans organizations and civic conditions I've gotten by Vacation Pay that accumulated maximum of $34)000. Total claims facilities for seamen in the port of groups joined with the SIU and belonging to the SIU," he s^id, while he was on the Steel Artisan. awarded against the company were Mobile, one of the largest and most other maritime unions in vigor "I can prove where I've made When he combined that with the estimated, at about $250,000. import^t ports in the country and ously protesting the closing of the money." $45 he collected in hospital bene Limit On Claims hospital. Up until the order came Luther collected a total of $421 fits for his three weeks In Staten Attorneys for the claimants at through, the Mobile hospital had. in Welfare Plan benefits and va Island, it came to a total of $421. tempted unsuccessfully to have the SEAFARERS LOG been in. continuous operation for cation pay last week, and after When he figured it out, Luther cases transferred to Delaware, Aaq. 22. m'z Vol. XIV. No. 17 109 years. ' figuring it out, said, "Without announced that the money cov where the Southern Trading Com Protest. Meeting (Continued on page 27). (Continued on page"* 23) As I See It TAge 13 counting the Welfare Plan bene Burly ., Page 16 As soon as the order was re fits I've collected before this, the Crossword Puzzle Page 12 ceived, a meeting of veterlhs and money I got this time more than Sea Transfer Off Miami Did You Know ....Page 18 seamen's representatives was or covers all the dues I've "ever paid Editorial Page 13 ganized on Monday afternoon, Aug to the Union since 1944) when I Foc'sle Fotog ....Page 19 ust 11. The meeting emphasized first started sailing with the SIU." Galley Gleanings ........Page 20 that the Mobile hospital served ap Luther's two sons are following Inquiring Seafarer ......Page 12 proximately 11,006 seamen in vari right in their dad's footsteps. One In The Wake .^Page 12 ous maritime unions as well as has been sailing for two years and Labor RoundUp .Page 16 300,000 veterans living in the area. the other has just s,tarted sailing Letters ^. .Pages 21, 22 Consequently the group went om —both with the SIU. "You can Letter Of The Week Page 13 record. vigorously objecting to the see why I'm making darned sure closing of tile hospital. Telegrams they sail SIU,", Luther said. Maritime .Page 16 were sent to Senators Hill, and Meet The Seafarer ......Page 12 Sparkman ~ and to Representative Luther's fifth child, CeUa Dar On The Job .Page 16 Frank Boykin urging them to use lene, was bom June 11 in Tlenry, Personals Page 24 every possible effort' to keep the Va. His other two daughters, Mar Port of Rotterdam ..Pages 14, 15 hospital open. tha Louise and Beulah Mae, along Quiz . .Page 19 with his wife,. Beulah Mae, are at Ship's Minutes Pages 24, 25 Similar protests were filed by the home in Roanoke, SIU History Cartoon Page 8 Junior Chamber of Commerce and Sports Line .Page 20 the Knights of Columbus. Three Weeks in Hosp. Ten Years Ago ..........Page 12 Need Hos^tal Here After signing off the Steel Arti Top Of The News........ Page 6 SIU Mobile Port Agent, Cal san (Isthmian) as a wiper, Lu Union 'I'alk ..............Page 8 Tanner, one of the leaders ih the ther spent three weeks in Wash. News Letter ......Page 5 protest meeting declared that "I Staten Island USPHS Hospital and Welfare Benefits... Pages 26, 27 can't see why a port the size and then went to the New York head Your Dollar's Worth ... Page 7 importance, of Mobile should be quarters. i , Pub'lishwI^Blweckfy ar m« Matfqwarrtr* deprived jof suc,h a vital Ijospital There, Luther collected a $200 Successful transfer of injured Seafarer AntoTne Landry, pantry .• f th« Saafarars Intarnational Union, At facility; It's certainly going to Maternity Benefit check from the mon,,(with hat) to a Coast Guard cutter is completed by crewmem Jantle A Oulf District, AFL, «75 Fourth Avanua, Brooklyn 33, NY. Tal. STarilns make things tough for" Seafarers Welfare Plan and a $25 US bond bers ©f the Chickasaw (right).