Now I’ve told you something about the ship and her wireless equipment and right here I want to introduce Algernon Percy Jeems, Second Wireless Officer of the _Andalusian_ and my assistant. Perce, as I called him, looked his name and lived up to it. He was as thoroughbred a gentleman as ever worked a key. He wasn’t very big in body--only 5 foot 4--and he was of very frail build but he proved to be a giant when it came to sheer bravery and as for meeting death when duty called he was absolutely unafraid. In fact when he saw the grim old reaper bearing down on him he went out of his way to grasp him by the hand and said: “When I get through with this message I’ll be ready to go with you.” And he did! Before I tell you what happened to the _Andalusian_ and of the heroic nerve of Jeems, I want you to know what _C Q D_ means and how it came to be used as a distress signal. It was not until Jack Binns, who stuck to his key for 52 hours on the ill-fated _Republic_ and by so doing saved the lives of 1600 passengers and crew on board that _C Q D_ came to be known the world over as a distress signal. In the _Continental code_, which is used all over Europe by the wire telegraph lines, _C Q_ means that every operator on the line shall give attention to the message which is to follow. It was natural then that when wireless apparatus began to be installed on ships that the _Continental code_ should be the one used. _C Q_ was the call signal employed to mean that every operator was to give attention to the message to follow, just as in the wire systems, or as it is said on shipboard to _stand by_. Then the _Marconi Company_ added the letter _D_ which means danger, hence _C Q D_ means _stand by danger_ and when this signal is received by an operator at sea, no matter how important the message that he is sending or receiving may be, he drops it at once and answers the _C Q D_ signal to find out what the trouble is. Now to go on with the story: We sailed from Liverpool about noon on the 15th of March for New York with a full passenger list and a valuable cargo. The first couple of days out the weather was fairly decent but as usual at this time of the year we ran into a real winter gale. We were struck time and again by mountainous seas. One gigantic wave that broke over her bow tore away a part of the bridge, others poured through ventilators and nearly every time she was hit more damage was done. To make matters worse the high winds drove us out of our course. Although a sharp watch was kept it was so dark at night the lookout couldn’t see his hand an arm’s length before his eyes though he might have been able to see a ship’s lights ahead had one been bearing down on us. As the Captain had been on the bridge continuously for three days and nights I felt it was my duty as the first wireless officer to stick to my key, and though it was Perce’s watch I told him to turn in.