The last living witness
by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor
Want to be corrected by Frank Mays, 77, the last living survivor of the SS Carl D. Bradley 50 years ago, use the word supposedly when describing the sinking of the ship on that tragic November evening.
?No, it broke,? Mays will say. ?Don?t even use that word supposedly. That gets me offended.?
Mays, who was in Rogers City for week-long events to commemorative the 50th anniversary of the sinking, doesn?t turn down many opportunities to talk about what happened November 18, 1958, or its aftermath. When the Advance asked Mays what the biggest myth of the sinking is, his answer is: that it went down in one piece.
He was scheduled to visit Rogers City High School teacher Chad Coolman?s civics class Tuesday, but school was closed because of the weather. Mays can never seem to get away from weather changing his plans. He took some time out of his visit to northern Michigan to answer several questions. They range from Bradley artifacts, and if anything else should be brought to the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum; to the efforts to keep things quiet in Rogers City; and the unfair treatment he believes he received from U.S. Steel.
Q. What are your thoughts about the commemorative events of last week?
Mays: I believe it was fantastic. It was beautiful. It was well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn?t want to be told in advance, what it was completely about. I wanted to be surprised.
Q. What was it like hearing the bell?
Mays: Well, of course I had the honor of ringing it for the first time in 50 years. We never rang it on ship; it was more of a symbol than anything. All ships have a bell. They used to use them many years ago on ships. I didn?t know what the sound was going to be. I didn?t know if it would be a high pitch or a low pitch. When I pulled it, I pulled it kind of hard to make sure the sound would travel through the gymnasium.
Q. Tell me about the battle with United States Steel Corporation in 1959.
Mays: I can tell you anything and you have to believe it, because I?m the only one left. I remember my attorney said to me, ?You get up on that stand and tell the truth. Leave the lying up to me.? I did it, I told it the way it was. When I didn?t side with their attorneys (U.S. Steel), as Elmer Fleming did, they told me in December of 1959 that if I want to work with U.S. Steel I have to go back sailing. Prior to that they said, ?you don?t have to go back, we?re going to put you in a storehouse shuffling papers.? I did that for one year. I didn?t quit. I just never went back. I found a job in Posen at Bruski Lumber. I worked there for seven years. Then I went to Medusa Cement in Charlevoix.
Q. What are your thoughts about the Bradley being on her last trip of the season, even though she was logged in at Calcite for two more shipments?
Mays: At eight o?clock on the morning on November 18, we were still on our last trip, because I got off watch. I went into the galley for breakfast and went up to my room and I could still see the Wisconsin shoreline. So, I knew we were doing real well. When I came back out in the afternoon, I looked and didn?t see the shoreline. I went back to the galley and said, ?Hey, we?re going back to Calcite.?
Q. The captain could have been told he needs to get across the lake, or do you believe the captain thought the ship could handle the storm?
Mays: The captain is the master. He makes the decisions. Now, the big shots can tell him get here. He doesn?t have to if he doesn?t want to. But, he made the decision at Cana Island, to haul for Lansing Shoal and that put us out in the center of that. Q. If you hadn?t gone out in that tempest, do you believe the Bradley could have survived the night? Mays: Absolutely! If we could have stood pat for 24 hours. Not only that, but think of the shape of Lake Michigan and the winds coming from the south, pushing the water toward the north edge. The water can?t get through the Straits of Mackinac fast enough, so it starts coming back?Here, we were being pushed and heading into a wall of water at the same time. Something is going to give. She?s twisting and turning, we?re light. We had 12,000 tons of water aboard verses 16,000 tons of cargo.
Q. Did you feel you were treated fairly by United States Steel?
Mays: No, I do not. They did their best to try and keep things quiet. One person came to see me from U.S. Steel and that was Harry Meharg. He came over with a $300 check for a loss of personal affects.
Even working down in the storehouse at Calcite, nothing ever was said. It was like it never had happened. They brain washed the people in Rogers City. Chris Beukema (who died in 1999) said, and I have him on tape, now it is on a DVD, saying the Bradley is in one piece. ?Frank Mays didn?t know what he saw. He was delirious.? How the hell did he know, he wasn?t there. Elmer and I testified separately and our stories were identical. Beukema advertised that ?we have photos of the Bradley and the Bradley is in one piece and not broken in two.? Now comes the litigation. Victor Hansen represented several family members, I had (attorney) Ken Davies. My attorney subpoenaed U.S. Steel for these photographs. The U.S. Steel attorneys said ?We don?t know where they are. We don?t know who?s got them.? Now, you know two and two makes four. In this case it doesn?t make four. I mean, that is an outright, outrageous, fabricated lie. That?s my personal opinion. I mean, that?s how they hid this stuff. But when we came out in ?95, I went down in a two-man submarine. In 1997 we went out with a remote operated vehicle and photographed both pieces in two separate areas. Jim Clary sketched, from the videotape, the Bradley lying on the bottom and The Advance published it.
Q. What did you think of the possibly of a 1959 dive on the Bradley?
Mays: I found out about that this year. It is hard for me to believe. You have a diver, an assistant diver, boat captain and a few other people. How can you not tell a living soul on this Earth for 49 years? Unless, they go to confession and the minister says ?Okay, I?ll keep it here.? This (R. David Lewis), who dove on it, sent me an e-mail and described it to me and how this ?Mr. Smith? came around and paid all of this. It is a possibility, but until he actually can prove to me, I will doubt that.
Q. If it were true, how would have that changed things?
Mays: It probably would have changed things quite a bit. When the litigation started, and you got Vic Hansen going?he came out (and said) U.S. Steel is going to give this much and we are going to divide up the pie. Well, they could have gone in for more. Then again, you don?t know what transpired. You know when attorneys get together. He came back and convinced all of his clients that this is what to take. It was a very strange outcome.
Q. In your book, you say you didn?t get any response from Beukema. You went and visited him in Detroit and he wouldn?t see you.
Mays: That?s when they said I had to go back sailing. My oldest brother, he was working for Ford Motor Company. He was sailing on the Great Lakes, but flying up here on weekends. So, I flew back with him and stayed with him Sunday night and took a bus downtown (Detroit) to the Guardian building and went up there and told this girl who I was, and that I wanted to see Chris Buekema. ?He?s in a meeting. H
Q. Where did you get the tape?
Mays: I don?t know. I?ve had it for years.
Q. Are you concerned about the site and should any other artifacts be brought up? Mays: No. I?m glad they brought the bell up and I?m glad they placed the memorial bell down there. I view the Bradley as a cemetery. Now, this (commemorative bell) is the head stone.
In part two next week, Mays talks about the changes on the vessels and the books that have been written about the wreck, and the one that is closest to the truth. Look for part two next week.