Rescue of 54 Men Thwarted By Gale

Two Freighters Sinking. Boats Standing by Helpless in Heavy Storm.

By the Associated Press.

NEW YORK. January 27.—The fate of 54 men, members of the crews of the British freighters Antinoe and Laristan, which have been in distress in a storm at sea for three days, was still In doubt today.

Six men of the were rescued yesterday by the German liner Bremen, leaving 24 aboard. The United States liner President Roosevelt, which has lost two of its crew in efforts to aid the Antinoe, was still standing by today.

Five of the dozen passenger liners that have been battling toward Atlantic ports front one to two days late in the teeth of the storm reached port yesterday. They were the Transylvania, Duilio, Giuseppe Verdi, Mount Royal and Regina.