According to local historian Chuck Langerman, Jack Sheetz, a 1912 graduate of Cheltenham High School, became a national hero in August of 1911.

The CHS senior-to-be and Wyncote Boy Scout was the wireless operator on the steamship “The Lexington” which was bound from Savannah, Georgia to Philadelphia. The steamer encountered a major hurricane near Charleston, South Carolina and was grounded.

After the storm wrecked the ship’s wireless station, Sheetz climbed into the rigging at the risk of his life and improvised the equipment while flashing SOS signals for several hours until a Coast Guard cutter came to the rescue.

When the rescuing vessel arrived, Sheetz climbed down and fell exhausted on the deck, but not before he saved some 60 passengers and crew on the steamer.

Sheetz’s wireless knowledge was self-taught, beginning with a small wireless station that he had built on the roof of his Wyncote home.

For his heroic exploits, he was honored by the Boy Scouts of America. The story was covered by The New York Times on August 31, 1911, and Sheetz’s feat was described in a July 1912 Boys’ Life article and a Le Petit Journal (France) September 1911 article.

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Feature image photo of Sheetz courtesy of Chuck Langerman, illustration courtesy of bridgemanimages.com