Hero Lifeguards
The restaurants could serve alcohol for the summer of 34. William Molden at Club Lido, Bill Dan’s Ye Old Tavern (Rods), The Parker House, the Tremont, Stockton, and carry out at Cranmer’s and the new Guinco’s Market. Many were too poor to afford much, but it certainly helped business.
The Asbury Park Press reported that at the Council meeting in May, Councilman Harry Braender, chairman of the beach committee, appointed John Holthusen, Thomas Black, Elvin Lake, and William Watkins as lifeguards, with one to be a substitute, and Fred Cook manager of the bathhouse group.
The life guards were appointed subject to their passing rigid Red Cross life guard tests and Braender said that the captain would be picked by an outside judge.
Houthusen was selected captain. George Brendner and Jack Little were attendants. The boys had an awesome summer and began a tradition of coming back to the beach after supper for a pickup softball game. Anyone was welcomed, but the games were serious and of a quality high enough to draw a few dozen spectators each night at the Pavilion to watch the action. Tom Black and Hank Crawford were usually captains, and Alice Thomas, the daughter of the Lighthouse keeper, played outfield. The games would continue each summer into the 1950s.
In September, the Ward Line ship Morro Castle was sailing back to NY on its last day of travel from Havana. The cruise ship was filled with passengers enjoying a modest vacation at the end of the summer. Captain Willmott had been at the helm for 174 sailings, but he fell ill at the most critical time. He complained of severe indigestion, and then he died in his cabin just before the Captain’s dinner dance, which was cancelled.
Around 3 AM, A fire started in a mailbox outside the writing room and quickly spread along the heavily painted rails and ornate wood lining the hallways. The First Officer mistakenly steered the ship into the gale force winds in hope of getting the boat home, never checking on the severity of the fire. The ship’s ventilation system, a substitute for air conditioning, fed the fire through the passenger levels. Panic ensued. Poorly trained sailors left their posts, or abandoned ship entirely. Passengers were cut off from lifeboats, and the life jacket drills did not emphasize that they needed to be properly fitted and held. Many passengers jumped from the rails to avoid the flames only to slip out of their vest or get knocked unconscious by the hard cork of the vests ramming their chin.
An SOS signal from the Morro Castle’s radio was picked up and as morning broke on Saturday, September 8, the ship was anchored off Sea Girt ablaze with 550 aboard. Only six lifeboats were launched, most filled with 85 crew members. They reached the shore break near the lighthouse. Most were taken to the Spring Lake First Aid Headquarters. But hundreds of passengers and crew bobbed in the sea, unable to get past the wicked wind and waves.
Sea Girt lifeguards, John Holthusen, Thomas Black, Elvin Lake, and Watkins’ replacement Richard Tucker gathered on the beach. Houthsen, the strongest swimmer of the group, swam out to passengers both alive and dead with a line tied around him. The lifeguards pulled him ashore through the breakers and a strong undertow sixteen times with living passengers in his arms. They also helped others who washed ashore without help. Many were in shock and suffering from exposure. One woman was in the water for ten hours.
Borough Hall was turned into a makeshift hospital, with neighborhood women bringing clothes, blankets, food, and drink. The same effort was repeated in Spring Lake and Manasquan as the current deposited passengers wherever it wanted. Captain Jim Bogan, his father and brother aboard the Paramount and their fishing crew out of Brielle fished sixty-seven from the high waves.
Governor A. Harry Moore was woken and before he took off in an observation plane, he issued an order to the Guard units, to help with the rescue. The First Separate Battalion A&B were at the camp. They were named so because they were the only African American guard units in the state. The men helped with the rescue, and then moved on to guarding the Morro Castle as it broke free of its tow, and still smoldering ground itself in shallows next to the Asbury Park Convention Hall.
It became a macabre tourist attraction for thousands of spectators, which ultimately led to the implementation of parking meters in Asbury. 137 souls were lost. The Sea Girt Lifeguards were honored for their bravery.
To learn more, visit the Sea Girt Lighthouse. They have several relics from the day and docents to tell the story.
The mystery of the captain dying, a suspicious fire, and the murder of 137 people has been written about in several books. When the Dancing Stopped: The Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster and Its Deadly Wake by Brian Hicks is probably the best of the bunch. He pins the likely culprit as the radio operator who was first lauded as a hero, but later arson and murder followed him around.
More on the First Separate: https://monmouthtimeline.org/timeline/the-first-separate-battalion-to-the-rescue/
For home movies from the period, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NoNMR6XSsg
