Patriotism is Abundant at Beaver Dam

Ensign Stevens, Home for Visit, Was On Ship Torpedoed in Atlantic

By W. E. Daniel, Owensboro Messenger Staff Writer

Beaver Dam, Ky. Four men stood before the Messenger staff writer on a recent visit here to prove
the patriotism of this thriving Ohio county town, two in person and two in silhouette. They were:
Mayor Latna Oldham, in his fourth term; Ensign Harrison Stevens, home from four days in an open
lifeboat after his ship was torpedoed in the Atlantic; Chaplain Evans T. Moseley, in the Hawaiian
Islands, and Dr. Hays Treikel, who has closed his office to enter service August 10.

Mayor Oldham, dairyman and general farmer, is contributing materially and in civic leadership to
the national defense. Ensign Stevens is a vital part of that defense. Chaplain Moseley, former
pastor of the Beaver Dam Baptist church, is using his talents and experience as minister to help
preserve the spiritual strength of the men in uniform. Dr. Treikel has put aside the promise of a
highly profitable practice to serve in the army. And in the Baptist church, a 20-starred flag
epitomizes the meaning of their labors, and the unquestioning loyalty of the many other boys who
have gone from this community into various branches of service.

Joy in Stevens Home

There was joy in the Otis Stevens home near town when the broad-shouldered son arrived a few days
ago and pride in the heart of his young bride, the former Peggy McKenney, who knows the trials of
a wife at home while the husband is away in constant peril. They were married last January in
Detroit, a day after the former science teacher in the Beaver Dam high school completed a course
in Northwestern University, Chicago, and was awarded his commission. And after a too-short period
of companionship in New Orleans while the young officer was with the Gulf patrol, she came home
to await, and for what?

Sunday morning, June 28, the ship with Ensign Stevens aboard was steaming on the rolling waves of
the Atlantic, when at 9:45 a torpedo from a German submarine pierced its side. Combustible
materials on the ship were ignited, and the crew took to lifeboats. The submarine surfaced near
the flimsy craft and called the American commander aboard. The Germans knew his name, his
destination, and the cargo he carried. After a brief parley, he was allowed to return to the
lifeboat, and the sub submerged.

For four days the boats were tossed about, finally coming near a small rock island up whose
precipitous sides the men clambered with the aid of a ladder thrust down by one of the few
inhabitants. An American patrol plane on routine duty came near and dropped down to inquire about
signals of distress. Then away to summon help which came with a ship that conveyed the stranded
navy men to the states and hospitals for treatment.

Saw Atlantic in Varying Moods

Some of the crew had died and others were suffering from exposure and burns sustained aboard the
ship that was destroyed by flames. The Beaver Dam man still feels some ill effects from inhaling
fumes as he sought to recover a few articles from his quarters, but his clean living and rugged
physique are rapidly returning him to normal, and save for slightly perceptible nervousness, he is
the same Harrison Stevens who taught here.

Reared far inland from the ocean, Ensign Stevens was fated to see the Atlantic in varying moods,
and to witness and remember examples of German attacks on the high seas. From the quiet of a
Sabbath morning while his family here prepared for church, he was hurled from a secure footing on
deck to grasp at supports while his ship reeled under the fierce impact, and sharp blazes sent the
men overboard, leaving men dead and dying, victims of the murderer. As night fell, rain spattered
their open boat and made even less palatable the scanty rations of crackers and chocolate, washed
down with water that bore little resemblance in taste to that on his father’s farm.

Ensign Stevens is home for a few days to chat with old friends, to sleep without a lurking
submarine to disturb, to enjoy wholesome food, and to store his reserve strength for whatever is
out yonder. And at home, Mayor Oldham and others cultivate their own and the community’s strength
to make stronger the boys who go away to represent them. And the former pastor and the physician
who has closed his office are part of the vigor of Beaver Dam expressed in action.