The story of the Sun, New York, 1833-1918 / by Frank M. O'Brien.

392

THE STORY OF "THE SUN"

the best it has ever had. Another Sun man who
wrote yachting well is Duncan Curry, later of the
American.
In turf matters the Sun has long been looked upon
as an authority. In the heyday of racing the paper
enjoyed the services of Christopher J. Fitzgerald, since
then familiar as a starter on many race-tracks, and
of Joseph Vila, now sporting editor of the Evening
Sun. Fitzgerald, although a speciaiast in sports, was
also a first-class general reporter. He is the hero
of a story of the proverbial "Sun luck," which in
this case might better be called Sun persistence and
activity.
In the latter part of December, 1892, the steamship
Umbria, the fastest transatlantic boat of her day, was
two weeks overdue at New York. Every newspaper
had tugs out to watch for her first appearance. On the
night of December 28 Fitzgerald was assigned to tug
duty. The first tug he took down the moonlit bay
broke her propeller in the ice; with the second tug he
ran twenty miles beyond Sandy Hook. Presently an
inward-bound liner appeared in the dark, and the other
newspaper boats followed her; but this was not the
Umbria, but the Britannic. An hour later a tank
steamer came ln along, and Fitzgerald hailed her on the
chl:nce that she knew something about the missinle
ship.
" The Umbria," came back the answer, "is about five
miles astern, coming in slowly."
The Sun's tug raced to sea and soon came alongsi'-re
the overdue steamer. On board was Frank Marshall
WhTite, the Stu's London correspondent, and he hlrld
all ready written, a story telling how the Umbria broke
her machinery, and how the chief engineer lay on his
back for five days trying to mend the break. Fitz