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THE TRUTH
ABOUT THE TITANIC
BY
COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE
AUTHOR OF
THE TRUTH ABOUT CHICKAMAUGA
SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK
MITCHELL KENNERLEY
1913
Co^right 1913 by
Mitchell Kennerley
.'1. /■ ■? /''v
Tu
/
Pr/// e/^ 7. J. Little ^ Ives Company
East Twenty-fourth Street
New Tork
CONTENTS
I. The Last Day Aboard Ship i
II. Struck By an Iceberg 14
III. The Foundering of the "Titanic" 5 1
IV, Struggling in the Water for
Life 64
V. All Night on Bottom of Half-
Submerged Upturned Boat 87
VI. The Port Side: Women and Chil-
dren First 114
VII. Starboard Side: Women First,
But Men When There Were
No Women 225
Concluding Note 325
^V ILLUSTRATIONS
V
H^^olonel Archibald Grade Fronlhpiece ^^|
The Titanic
2
The Promenade Deck of the Titanic
12
Mr. and Mrs. Isidor Straus
24
First-Class Smoking Room
28
Bedroom of Parlor Suite
40
Suite Bedroom
40
James Clinch Smith
48
Boilers of the Titanic arranged in Messrs.
Harland & Wolff's Works
52
Thomas Andrews, Jr., Designer of the
Titanic
S8
Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer
S8
The Last Photograph of the Titanic' s Com-
mander and Three Officers
60
Passengers of the Olympic awaiting Events
104
The Overturned Engelhardt Boat B
no
The Titanic narrowly Escapes Collision at
Southampton
'34
Fifth Officer Lowe Towing the Canvas
Collapsible
158
The Canvas Collapsible
IS8
Captain Rostron of the S.S. Carpathia
180
Photographed from the Carpathia
242
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
"TITANIC"
THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
"There is that Leviathan."— Ps. 104:26.
AS the sole survivor of all the men passen-
gers of the Titanic stationed during the
loading of six or more lifeboats with
women and children on the port side of the ship,
forward on the glass-sheltered Deck A, and later
on the Boat Deck above, it is my duty to bear
testimony to the heroism on the part of all con-
cerned. First, to my men companions who
calmly stood by until the lifeboats had departed
loaded with women and the available complement
of crew, and who, fifteen to twenty minutes later,
sank with the ship, conscious of giving up their
i lives to save the weak and the helpless.
Second, to Second Officer LJghtoUer and his
2 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
ship's crew, who did their duty as if similar oc-
currences were matters of dally routine; and
thirdly, to the women, who showed no signs of
fear or panic whatsoever under conditions more
appalling than were ever recorded before in the
history of disasters at sea.
I think those of my readers who are accus-
tomed to tales of thrilling adventure will be glad
to learn first-hand of the heroism displayed on
the Titanic by those to whom it is my privilege
and sad duty to pay this tribute. I will confine
the details of my narrative for the most part to
what I personally saw, and did, and heard dur-
ing that never-to-be-forgotten maiden trip of the
Tilanic, which ended with shipwreck and her
foundering about 2.22 a. m., Monday, April 15,
1912, after striking an Iceberg "in or near lati-
tude 41 degrees, 46 minutes N,, longitude 50 de-
grees, 14 minutes W., North Atlantic Ocean,"
whereby the loss of 1490 lives ensued.
On Sunday morning, April 14th, this marvel-
lous ship, the perfection of all vessels hitherto
conceived by the brain of man, had, for three and
one-half days, proceeded on her way from South-
ampton to New York over a sea of glass, so level
it appeared, without encountering a ripple brought
on the surface of the water by a storm.
The Captain had each day improved upon
THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
previous day's speed, and prophesied that, with
continued fair weather, we should make an early
arrival record for this maiden trip. But his
reckoning never took into consideration that
Protean monster of the Northern seas which, even
before this, had been so fatal to the navigator's
calculations and so formidable a weapon of
destruction.
Our explorers have pierced to the furthest
north and south of the icebergs' retreat, but the
knowledge of their habitat, insuring our great
ocean liners in their successful efforts to elude
them, has not reached the detail of time and
place where they become detached and obstruct
their path.
In the twenty-four hours' run ending the 14th,
according to the posted reckoning, the ship had
covered 546 miles, and we were told that the
next twenty-four hours would see even a better
record made.
Towards evening the report, which I heard,
was spread that wireless messages from passing
steamers had been received advising the officers
of our ship of the presence of icebergs and ice-
floes. The increasing cold and the necessity of
being more warmly clad when appearing on deck
were outward and visible signs in corroboration of
these warnings. But despite them all no diminu-
*
N
N
4 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
tion of Speed was indicated and the engines kept
up their steady running.
Not for fifty years, the old sailors tell us, had
so great a mass of ice and icebergs at this time
of the year been seen so far south.
The pleasure and comfort which all of us en-
joyed upon this floating palace, with its extraor-
dinary provisions for such purposes, seemed an
ominous feature to many of us, including myself,
who felt it almost too good to last without some
terrible retribution inflicted by the hand of an
angry omnipotence. Our sentiment in this respect
was voiced by one of the most able and distin-
guished of our fellow passengers, Mr, Charles M.
Hays, President of the Canadian Grand Trunk
Railroad. Engaged as he then was in studying and
providing the hotel equipment along the line of
new extensions to his own great railroad system,
the consideration of the subject and of the mag-
nificence of the Titaniifs accommodations was
thus brought home to him. This was the pro-
phetic utterance with which, alas, he sealed his
fate a few hours thereafter: "The White Star,
the Cunard and the Hamburg-American lines,"
said he, "are now devoting their attention to a
struggle for supremacy in obtaining the most
luxurious appointments for their ships, but the
time will soon come when the greatest and most
THE LAST DAY ABOASD SHIP
appalling of alt disasters at sea will be the result.**
In the various trips which I have made acroM
the Atlantic, it has been my custom aboard ship,
whenever the weather permitted, to Cake as mocfa
exercise every day as might be needful to put nrf'
self In prime physical condition, but on board the
Titanic, during the first days of the voyage, from
Wednesday to Saturday, I had departed from
this, my usual self-tmposed regimen, for during
this interval I had devoted my time to social eo-
joymeot and to the reading of books taken from
the ship's well-supplied library. I enjoyed my-
self as if I were in a summer palace on the sea-
shore, surrounded with every comfort — there was
nothing to indicate or suggest that we were on
the stormy Adantic Ocean. The motion of the
ship and the noise of its machinery were scarcely
discernible on deck or in the saloons, either day
or night. But when Sunday morning came, I con-
sidered it high time to begin my customary exer-
cises, and determined for the rest of the voyage
to patronize the squash racquet court, the gym-
nasium, the swimming pool, etc. I was up early
before breakfast and met the professional racquet
player in a half hour's warming up. preparatory
for a swim in the six-foot deep tank of salt water,
heated to a refreshing temperature. In no swim-
bath had I ever enjoyed such pleasure be-
I
k
6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
fore. How curtailed that enjoyment would have
been had the presentiment come to me telling how
near it was to being my last plunge, and that be-
fore dawn of another day I would be swimming
for my life in mid-ocean, under water and on the
surface, in a temperature of 28 degrees Fahren-
heit!
Impressed on my memory as if it were but yes-
terday, my mind pictures the personal appear-
ance and recalls the conversation which I had with
each of these employees of the ship. The racquet
professional, F. Wright, was a clean-cut, typical
young Englishman, similar to hundreds I have
seen and with whom I have played, in bygone
years, my favorite game of cricket, which has
done more than any other sport for my physical
development. I have not seen his name men-
tioned in any account of the disaster, and there-
fore take this opportunity of speaking of him, for
I am perhaps the only survivor able to relate any-
thing about his last days on earth.
Hundreds of letters have been written to us
survivors, many containing photographs for
identification of some lost loved one, whom per-
chance we may have seen or talked to before he
met his fate. To these numerous Inquiries I have
been able to reply satisfactorily only in rare in-
stances. The next and last time I saw Wright
I
THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
^
was on the stairway of Deck C within three-
quarters of an hour after the collision. I was
going to my cabin when I met him on the stairs
going up. "Hadn't we better cancel that appoint-
ment for to-morrow morning?" I said rather jo-
cosely to him. "Yes," he replied, but did not
stop to tell what he then must have known of
the conditions in the racquet court on G Deck,
which, according to other witnesses, had at that
time become flooded. His voice was calm, with-
out enthusiasm, and perhaps his face was a little
whiter than usual.
To the swimming pool attendant I also made
promise to be on hand earlier the next morning,
but I never saw him again.
One of the characters of the ship, best known
to us all, was the gymnasium instructor, T. W.
McCawley. He, also, expected me to make my
first appearance for real good exercise on the
morrow, but alas, he, too, was swallowed up by
the sea. How well we survivors all remember
this sturdy little man in white flannels and with
his broad English accent! With what tireless
enthusiasm he showed us the many mechanical de-
vices under his charge and urged us to take ad-
vantage of the opportunity of using them, going
through the motions of bicycle racing, rowing,
boxing, camel and horseback riding, etc.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
Such was my morning's preparation for the un-
foreseen physical exertions I was compelled to
put forth for dear life at midnight, a few hours
later. Could any better training for the terrible
ordeal have been planned?
The exercise and the swim gave me an appetite
for a hearty breakfast. Then followed the
church service in the dining saloon, and I remem-
ber how much I was impressed with the "Prayer
for those at Sea," also the words of the hymn,
which we sang, No. 418 of the Hymnal, About a
fortnight later, when I next heard it, sung, I was
in the little church at Smithtown, Long Island, at-
tending the memorial service in honor of my old
friend and fellow member of the Union Club,
James Clinch Smith. To his sister, who sat next
to me In the pew, I called attention to the fact
that it was the last hymn we sang on this Sunday
morning on board the Titanic. She was much
affected, and gave the reason for Its selection for
the memorial service to her brother because it
was known as Jim's favorite hymn, being the first
piece set to music ever played by him as a child
and for which he was rewarded with a promised
prize, donated by his father.
What a remarkable coincidence that at the first
and last ship's service on board the Titanic, the
hymn we sang began with these impressive lin
THE LAST DAr ABOAKD SHIP
O God <rar help in age* p«st,
Onr bope for jean to cone.
Oar sbeltrr f kcd the etsmij falMt
Aod oar ctenul bofBc
One day vas so like another that it is S&aik
to differentiate in our description all the details
of this last day's incidents aboard ship.
The book, that I finished and retnmed to the
ship's library was Mary Johnston's "Old Do-
minion." While peacefully reading the tales of
adventure and accounts of extraordinary escapes
therein, how little I thought that in the next few
hours I should be a witness and a party to a scene
to which this book could furnish no a)unter-
part, and that my own preser^'ation from a
watery grave would afiord a remarkable illus-
tration of how ofttimes "truth is stranger than
fiction."
During this day I saw much of Mr. and Mrs.
Isidor Straus. In fact, from the very beginning
to the end of our trip on the Titanic, we had been
together several times each day. I was with them
on the deck the day we left Southampton and
witnessed that ominous accident to the American
liner, New York, lying at her pier, when the dis-
placement of water by the movement of our gi-
gantic ship caused a suction which pulled the
smaller ship from her moorings and nearly caused
I
I
lO
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
I
a collision. At the time of this, Mr. Straus w
telling me that it seemed only a few years back
that he had taken passage on this same ship, the
New York, on her maiden trip and when she was
spoken of as the "last word in shipbuilding." He
then called the attention of his wife and myself
to the progress that had since been made, by com-
parison of the two ships then lying side by side.
During our daily talks thereafter, he related
much of special interest concerning Incidents In
his remarkable career, beginning with his early
manhood in Georgia when, with the Confederate
Government Commissioners, as an agent for the
purchase of supplies, he ran the blockade of Eu-
rope. His friendship with President Cleveland,
and how the latter had honored him, were among
the topics of daily conversation that interested
me most.
On this Sunday, our last day aboard ship, he
finished the reading of a book I had loaned him,
in which he expressed intense Interest. This book
was "The Truth About Chlckamauga," of which
I am the author, and It was to gain a much-needed
rest after seven years of work thereon, and In
order to get It oil my mind, that I had taken
this trip across the ocean and back. As a counter-
irritant, my experience was a dose which was
highly efficacious.
THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP
^Lan
1 recall how Mr. and Mrs. Straus were par-
ticularly happy about noon time on this same day
In anticipation of communicating by wireless teleg-
raphy with their son and his wife on their way to
Europe on board the passing ship Amerika.
Some time before six o'clock, full of contentment,
they told me of the message of greeting received
in reply. This last good-bye to their loved ones
must have been a consoling thought when the end
came a few hours thereafter.
That night after dinner, with ray table com-
panions, Messrs. James Clinch Smith and Edward
A. Kent, according to usual custom, we adjourned
to the palm room, with many others, for the usual
coffee at individual tables where we listened to
the always delightful music of the Titanic's band.
On these occasions, full dress was always en regie;
and it was a subject both of observation and ad-
miration, that there were so many beautiful
romen — then especially in evidence — aboard the
'ip-
I invariably circulated around during these de-
^ghtful evenings, chatting with those I knew, and
with those whose acquaintance I had made during
the voyage. 1 might specify names and particu-
larize subjects of conversation, but the details,
while interesting to those concerned, might not
be so to all my readers. The recollections of
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
those with whom I was thus closely associated iifi
this disaster, including those who suffered theV
death from which I escaped and those who sur-
vived with me, will be a treasured memory and
bond of union until my dying day. From the palm
room, the men of my coterie would always go to
the smoking room, and almost every evening join
in conversation with some of the well-known men
whom we met there, including within my own
recollections Major Archie Butt, President Taft's
Military Aid, discussing politics; Clarence Moore,
of Washington, D, C, relating his venturesome
trip some years ago through the West Virginia
woods and mountains, helping a newspaper re-
porter in obtaining an interview with the outlaw.
Captain Anse Hatfield; Frank D. Millet, the
well-known artist, planning a journey west;
Arthur Ryerson and others.
During these evenings I also conversed with
Mr. John B. Thayer, Second Vice-President of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, and with Mr. George
D. Widener, a son of the Philadelphia street-car
magnate, Mr. P. A. B. Widener.
My stay in the smoking-room on this particu-
lar evening for the first time was short, and I re-
tired early with my cabin steward Cullen's prom-
ise to awaken me betimes next morning to get
ready for the engagements I had made before
THE LAST DAY ABOARD SHIP I3
breakfast for the game of racquets, work in the
gjrmnasium and the swim that was to follow.
I cannot regard it as a mere coincidence that
on this particular Sunday night I was thus
prompted to retire early for nearly three hours of
invigorating sleep, whereas an accident occurring
at midnight of any of the four preceding days
would have found me mentally and physically
tired. That I was thus strengthened for the ter-
rible ordeal, better even than had I been fore-
warned of it, I regard on the contrary as the first
provision for my safety (answering the constant
prayers of those at home), made by the guardian
angel to whose care I was entrusted during the
series of miraculous escapes presently to be re-
corded.
CHAPTER II
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
"Watchman, what of the night?" — Isaiah 21:11.
MY stateroom was an outside one on Deck
C on the starboard quarter, somewhat
abaft amidships. It was No. €,51. I
was enjoying a good night's rest when I was
aroused by a sudden shock and noise forward on
the starboard side, which I at once concluded was
caused by a collision, with some other ship per-
haps. I jumped from my bed, turned on the elec-
tric light, glanced at my watch nearby on the
dresser, which I had changed to agree with
ship's time on the day before and which now reg-
istered twelve o'clock. Correct ship's time would
make it about 11.45. ^ opened the door of my
cabin, looked out into the corridor, but could not
see or hear anyone — there was no commotion
whatever; but immediately following the collision
came a great noise of escaping steam, I listened
intently, but could hear no machinery. There was
14
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 1 5
no mistaking that something wrong had happened,
because of the ship stopping and the blowing off
of steam.
Removing my night clothing I dressed myself
' hurriedly in underclothing, shoes and stockings,
trousers and a Norfolk coat, I give these details
in order that some idea of the lapse of time may
be formed by an account of what I did during the
interval. From my cabin, through the corridor
to the stairway was but a short distance, and I
ascended to the third deck above, that is, to the
Boat Deck. I found here only one young lad,
seemingly bent on the same quest as myself.
From the first cabin quarter, forward on the
iport side, we strained our eyes to discover what
[had struck us. From vantage points where the
view was not obstructed by the lifeboats on this
deck I sought the object, but in vain, though I
swept the horizon near and far and discovered
nothing.
It was a beautiful night, cloudless, and the
stars shining brightly. The atmosphere was quite
cold, but no ice or iceberg was in sight. If an-
other ship had struck us there was no trace of it,
and it did not yet occur to me that it was an ice-
berg with which we had collided. Not satisfied
with a partial investigation, I made a complete
the deck, searching every point of the
i6
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
compass with my eyes. Going toward the stern, I
vaulted over the iron gate and fence that divide
the first and second cabin passengers. I disre-
garded the "not allowed"*notice. I loolied about
me towards the officers' quarters in expectation
of being challenged for non-observance of rules.
In view of the collision I had expected to see
some of the ship's officers on the Boat Deck, but
there was no sign of an officer anywhere, and no
one from whom to obtain any information about
what had happened. Making my tour of the
Boat Deck, the only other beings I saw were a
middle-aged couple of the second cabin prome-
nading unconcernedly, arm in arm, forward on
the starboard quarter, against the wind, the man
in a gray overcoat and outing cap.
Having gained no satisfaction whatever, I de-
scended to the glass-enclosed Deck A, port side,
and looked over the rail to see whether the ship
was on an even keel, but I still could see nothing
wrong. Entering the companionway, I passed
Mr. Ismay with a member of the crew hurrying up
the stairway. He wore a day suit, and, as usuat,
was hatless. He seemed too much preoccupied to
notice anyone. Therefore I did not speak to him,
but regarded his face very closely, perchance to
learn from his manner how serious the accident
might be. It occurred to me then that he was
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
putting on as brave a face as possible so as to
cause no alarm among the passengers.
At the foot of the stairway were a number of
men passengers, and I now for the first time dis-
covered that others were aroused as well as my-
self, among them my friend, Clinch Smith, from
whom I first learned that an iceberg had struck
us. He opened his hand and showed me some ice,
fiat like my watch, coolly suggesting that I might
take it home for a souvenir. All of us will re-
member the way he had of cracking a joke with-
out a smile. While we stood there, the story of
the collision came to us — how someone in the
smoking room, when the ship struck, rushed out
to see what it was, and returning, told them that
he had a glimpse of an iceberg towering fifty feet
above Deck A, which. If true, would indicate a
height of over one hundred feet. Here, too, I
learned that the mall room was flooded and that
the plucky postal clerks, in two feet of water,
were at their posts. They were engaged in trans-
ferring to the upper deck, from the ship's post-
oflice, the two hundred bags of registered mail
containing four hundred thousand letters. The
names of these men, who all sank with the ship,
deserve to be recorded. They were: John S.
Marsh, William L. Gwynn, Oscar S, Woody, lago
Smith and E. D. Williamson. The first three
i
i8
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
were Americans, the others Englishmen, and the
families of the former were provided for by their
Government.
And now Clinch Smith and myself noticed a list
on the floor of the companionway. We kept our
own counsel about it, not wishing to frighten any-
one or cause any unnecessary alarm, especially
among the ladies, who then appeared upon the
scene. We did not consider it our duty to express
our individual opinion upon the serious character
of the accident which now appealed to us with the
greatest force. He and I resolved to stick to-
gether in the final emergency, united in the silent
bond of friendship, and lend a helping hand to
each other whenever required. I recall having in
my mind's eye at this moment all that I had read
and heard in days gone by about shipwrecks, and
pictured Smith and myself clinging to an over-
loaded raft in an open sea with a scarcity of food
and water. We agreed to visit our respective
staterooms and join each other later. All pos-
sessions in my stateroom were hastily packed into
three large travelling bags so that the luggage
might be ready in the event of a hasty transfer
to another ship.
Fortunately I put on my long Newmarket over-
coat that reached below my knees, and as I passed
from the corridor into the companionway my
STRUCK BV AN ICEBERG
'9
worst fears were confirmed. Men and women
were slipping on life-preservers, the stewards as-
sisting in adjusting them. Steward Cullen insisted
upon my returning to my stateroom for mine, 1
did so and he fastened one on me while I brought
out the other for use by someone else.
Out on Deck A, port side, towards the stern,
many men and women had already collected. I
sought and found the unprotected ladies to whom
I had proffered my services during the voyage
when they boarded the ship at Southampton, Mrs.
E. D. Appleton, wife of my St. Paul's School
friend and schoolmate; Mrs. R. C. Cornell, wife
of the well-known New York Justice, and Mrs.
J. Murray Brown, wife of the Boston publisher,
all old friends of my wife. These three sisters
were returning home from a sad mission abroad,
where they had laid to rest the remains of a fourth
sister, Lady Victor Drummond, of whose death
I had read accounts In the London papers, and all
the sad details connected therewith were told me
by the sisters themselves. That they would have
to pass through a still greater ordeal seemed im-
possible, and how little did I know of the respon-
sibility I took upon myself for their safety 1 Ac-
companying them, also unprotected, was their
friend. Miss Edith Evans, to whom they intro-
duced me, Mr. and Mrs. Straus, Colonel and
I
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Mrs. Astor and others well known to me were
among those here congregated on the port side
of Deck A, including, besides Clinch Smith, two of
our coterie of after-dinner companions, Hugh
Woolner, son of the English sculptor, whose
works are to be seen in Westminster Abbey, and
H. Bjornstrom Steffanson, the young lieutenant
of the Swedish army, who, during the voyage,
had told me of his acquaintance with Mrs.
Grade's relatives in Sweden.
It was now that the band began to play, and
continued while the boats were being lowered.
We considered this a wise provision tending to al-
lay excitement. I did not recognize any of the
tunes, but I know they were cheerful and were
not hymns. If, as has been reported, "Nearer
My God to Thee" was one of the selections, I
assuredly should have noticed it and regarded it
as a tactless warning of immediate death to us all
and one likely to create a panic that our special
efforts were directed towards avoiding, and which
we accomplished to the fullest extent. I know of
only two survivors whose names are cited by the
newspapers as authority for the statement that
this hymn was one of those played. On the other
hand, all whom I have questioned or corresponded
with, including the best qualified, testified emphati-
cally to the contrary.
STRUCK BV AN ICEBERG
Our hopes were buoyed with the information,
imparted through the ship's officers, that there
had been an interchange of wireless messages witli
passing ships, one of which was certainly coming
to our rescue. To reassure the ladies of whom I
had assumed special charge, I showed them a
bright white light of what I look to be a ship
about five miles off and which I felt sure was com-
ing to our rescue. Colonel Astor heard me tell-
ing this to them and he asked me to show it and
I pointed the light out to him. In so doing we
. both had now to lean over the rail of the ship
and look close in towards the bow, avoiding a
lifeboat even then made ready with its gunwale
lowered to the level of the floor of the Boat Deck
above us and obstructing our view; but instead of
growing brighter the light grew dim and less and
less distinct and passed away altogether. The
light, as I have since learned, with tearful regret
for the lost who might have been saved, be-
longed to the steamer Californian of the Leyland
line. Captain Stanley Lord, bound from London to
Boston. She belonged to the International Mer-
cantile Marine Company, the owners of the
Titanic.
This was the ship from which two of the six
"ice messages" were sent. The first one received
and acknowledged by the Titanic was one at 7.30
I
22 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
p. m.,an intercepted message to another ship.
The next was about 1 1 p. m,, when the Captain
of the Califomian saw a ship approaching from
the eastward, which he was advised to be the
Titanic, and under his orders this message was
sent; "We are stopped and surrounded by ice."
To this the Titanic's wireless operator brusquely
replied, "Shut up, I am busy. I am working Cape
Race." The business here referred to was the
sending of wireless messages for passengers on
the Titanic; and the stronger current of the Cali-
fornian eastward interfered therewith. Though
the navigation of the ship and the issues of life
and death were at stake, the right of way was
given to communication with Cape Race until
within a few minutes of the Titanic's collision with
the iceberg.
Nearly all this time, until ir.30 p. m,, the
wireless operator of the Califomian was listen-
ing with 'phones on his head, but at 11.30 p. m.,
while the Titanic was still talking to Cape Race,
the former ship's operator "put the 'phones down,
took off his clothes and turned in."
The fate of thousands of lives hung in the bal-
ance many times that ill-omened night, but the
circumstances in connection with the S. S. Cali-
fomian (Br. Rep. pp. 43-46), furnish the evidence
corroborating that of the American Investigation,
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
23
I
■
■
■
viz., that it was not chance, but the grossest neg-
ligence alone which sealed the fate of all the
noble lives, men and women, that were lost.
It appears from the evidence referred to, In-
formation in regard to which we learned after
our arrival in New York, that the Captain of the
Calif ornian and his crew were watching our
lights from the deck of their ship, which remained
approximately stationary until 5,15 a. m, on the
following morning. During this interval it is
shown that they were never distant more than six
or seven miles. In fact, at 12 o'clock, the Cali-
fortiian was only four or five miles off at the
point and in the general direction where she was
seen by myself and at least a dozen others, who
bore testimony before the American Committee,
from the decks of the Titanic. The white rockets
which we sent up, referred to presently, were also
plainly seen at the time. Captain Lord was com-
pletely in possession of the knowledge that he
was in proximity to a ship in distress. He could
have put himself Into immediate communication
with us by wireless had he desired confirmation
of the name of the ship and the disaster which
had befallen it. His Indifference is made appar-
ent by his orders to "go on Morseing," Instead of
utilizing the more modern method of the inven-
tive genius and gentleman, Mr. Marconi, which
24 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC*
eventually saved us all. "The night was clear
and the sea was smooth. The ice by which the
Calif oTtiian was surrounded," says the British
Report, "was loose ice extending for a distance of
not more than two or three miles in the direction
of the Titanic." When she first saw the rockets,
the Calif oruian could have pushed through the ice
to the open water without any serious risk and so
have come to the assistance of the Titanic. A
discussion of this subject is the most painful of all
others for those who lost their loved ones aboard
our ship.
When we realized that the ship whose lights
we saw was not coming towards us, our hopes of
rescue were correspondingly depressed, but the
men's counsel to preserve calmness prevailed; and
to reassure the ladies they repeated the much ad-
vertised fiction of "the unsinkable ship" on the
supposed highest quaUfied authority. It was at
this point that Miss Evans related to me the story
that years ago in London she had been told by a
fortune-teller to "beware of water," and now
"she knew she would be drowned." My efforts
to persuade her to the contrary were futile.
Though she gave voice to her story, she presented
no evidence whatever of fear, and when I saw
and conversed with her an hour later when condi-
tions appeared especially desperate, and the last
I
I
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 2$
lifeboat was supposed to have departed, she was
perfectly calm and did not revert again to the
superstitious tale.
From my own conclusions, and those of others,
it appears that about forty-five minutes had now
elapsed since the collision when Captain Smith's
orders were transmitted to the crew to lower the
lifeboats, loaded with women and children first.
The self-abnegation of Mr. and Mrs. Isidor
Straus here shone forth heroically when she
promptly and emphatically exclaimed: "Nol I
will not be separated from my husband; as we
have lived, so will we die together;" and when he,
too, declined the assistance proffered on my ear-
nest solicitation that, because of his age and help-
lessness, exception should be made and he be al-
lowed to accompany his wife in the boat. "No!"
he said, "I do not wish any distinction in my fa-
vor which is not granted to others," As near as
I can recall them these were the words which
they addressed to me. They expressed them-
selves as fully prepared to die, and calmly sat
down in steamer chairs on the glass-enclosed Deck
A, prepared to meet their fate. Further en-
treaties to make them change their decision were
of no avail. Later they moved to the Boat Deck
above, accompanying Mrs. Straus's maid, who en-
tered a lifeboat.
I
^
26 THE TROTH ABOUT THE "TTTASIC"
When dw order to load the boats was received
I had promptly moved forward with the ladies in
my charge toward the boats then being lowered
from the Boat Dedc above to Deck A on the port
side of the ship, where we then were. A tall,
slim young Englishman, Sixth Officer J. P.
Moody, whose name I learned later, with other
members of the ship's crew, barred the progress
of us men passengers any nearer to the boats.
All that was left me was then to consign these
la(£es in my charge to the protection of the ship's
officer, and I thereby was relieved of their respon-
sibility and felt sure that they woold be safely
loaded in the boats at this point. I remember a
steward rolling a small barrel out of the door of
the companionway, "What have you there?"
said I. "Bread for the lifeboats," was his quick
and cheery reply, as I passed inside the ship for
the last time, searching for two of my table
companions, Mrs. Churchill Candee of Wash-
ington and Mr. Edward A- Kent. It was
then that I met Wright, the racquet player, and
exchanged the few words on the stairway already
related.
Considering it well to have a supply of blankets
for use in the open boats exposed to the cold, I
concluded, while passing, to make another, and my
last, descent to my stateroom for this purpose, only
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
k
>
to find it locked, and on asking the reason why
was told by some other steward than Cullen that
it was done "to prevent looting." Advising him
of what was wanted, I went with him to the cabin
stewards' quarters nearby, where extra blankets
were stored, and where I obtained them. I then
went the length of the ship inside on this glass-
enclosed Deck A from aft, forwards, looking in
every room and corner for my missing table com-
panions, but no passengers whatever were to be
seen except in the smoking room, and there all
alone by themselves, seated around a table, were
four men, three of whom were personally well
known to me, Major Butt, Clarence Moore and
Frank Millet, but the fourth was a stranger, whom
I therefore cannot identify. All four seemed per-
fectly oblivious of what was going on on the decks
outside. It is impossible to suppose that they did
not know of the collision with an iceberg and that
the room they were in had been deserted by all
others, who had hastened away. It occurred to me
at the time that these men desired to show their
entire indifference to the danger and that if I ad-
vised them as to how seriously I regarded it, they
■would laugh at me. This was the last I ever saw
of any of them, and I know of no one who testi-
fies to seeing them later, except a lady who men-
tions having seen Major Butt on the bridge five
28 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
minutes before the last boat left the ship.* Thei
is no authentic story of what they did when the
water reached this deck, and their ultimate fate is
only a matter of conjecture. That they went
down in the ship on this Deck A, when the steer-
age passengers (as described later) blocked the
way to the deck above, is my personal belief,
founded on the following facts, to wit: First, that
neither I nor anyone else, so far as 1 know,
ever saw any of them on the Boat Deck,
and second, that the bodies of none of them
were ever recovered, indicating the possibility
that all went down inside the ship or the enclosed
deck.
I next find myself forward on the port side,
part of the time on the Boat Deck, and part on
the deck below it, called Deck A, where I re-
joined Clinch Smith, who reported that Mrs.
Candee had departed on one of the boats. Wc
remained together until the ship went down. I
was on the Boat Deck when I saw and heard the
first rocket, and then successive ones sent up at in-
tervals thereafter. These were followed by the
Morse red and blue lights, which were signalled
near by us on the deck where we were; but we
looked in vain for any response. These signals
of distress indicated to every one of us that the
* Sec page — .
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 29
ship's fate was sealed, and that she might sink
before the lifeboats could be lowered.
And now I am on Deck A again, where I helped
in the loading of two boats lowered from the deck
above. There were twenty boats in all on the
ship; 14 wooden lifeboats, each thirty feet long
by nine feet one inch broad, constructed to carry
sixty-five persons each; 2 wooden cutters, emer-
gency boats, twenty-five feet two inches long by
seven feet two inches broad, constructed to carry
forty persons each ; and 4 Engclhardt "surf-
boats" with canvas collapsible sides extending
above the gunwales, twenty-five feet five inches
long by eight feet broad, constructed to carry
forty-seven persons each. The lifeboats were
ranged along the ship's rail, or its prolongation
forward and aft on the Boat Deck, the odd num-
bered on the starboard and the even numbered on
the port side. Two of the Engelhardt boats were
on the Boat Deck forward beneath the Emergency
boats suspended on davits above. The other
Engelhardt boats were on the roof of the officers'
house forward of the first funnel. They are
designated respectively by the letters, A. B. C. D;
A and C on the starboard, B and D on the port
sides. They have a rounded bottom like a canoe.
The name "collapsible boat" generally applied has
given rise to mistaken impressions in regard to
30
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
them, because of the adjustable canvas sidesJ
above-mentioned.
At this quarter I was no longer held backl
from approaching near the boats, but my as-l
sistance and work as one of the crew in the*
loading of boats and getting them away as
quickly as possible were accepted, for there
was now no time to spare. The Second Officer,
Lightoller, was in command on the port side
forward, where I was. One of his feet was
planted in the lifeboat, and the other on the rail
of Deck A, while we, through the wood frames
cf the lowered glass windows on this deck, passed
women, children, and babies in rapid succession
without any confusion whatsoever. Among this
number was Mrs. Astor, whom I lifted over the
four-feet high rail of the ship through the frame.
Her husband held her left arm as we carefully
passed her to Lightoller, who seated her in the
boat. A dialogue now ensued between Colonel
Astor and the officer, every word of which I lis-
tened to with intense interest, Astor was close
to me in the adjoining window-frame, to the left
of mine. Leaning out over the rail he asked per-
mission of Lightoller to enter the boat to protect
his wife, which, in view of her delicate condition,
seems to have been a reasonable request, but the
officer, intent upon his duty, and obeying orders,
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 3I
and not knowing the millionaire from the rest of
us. replied: "No, sir, no men are allowed in these
boats until women are loaded first." Colonel As-
tor did not demur, but bore the refusal bravely
and resignedly, simply asking the number of the
boat to help find his wife later in case he also was
I rescued. "Number 4," was Llghtoller's reply.
' Nothing more was said. Colonel Astor moved
away from this point and I never saw him again.
I do not for a moment believe the report that he
attempted to enter, or did enter, a boat and it is
evident that if any such thought occurred to him
at all it must have been at this present time and
in this boat with his wife. Second Officer Ljghtol-
ler recalled the incident perfectly when I reminded
him of it. It was only through me that Colonel
Astor's identity was established in his mind. "I
assumed," said he, "that I was asked to give the
number of the lifeboat as the passenger intended,
r for some unknown cause, to make complaint about
I me." From the fact that I never saw Colonel As-
r tor on the Boat Deck later, and also because his
body, when found, was crushed (according to the
statement of one who saw it at Halifax, Mr.
Harry K. White, of Boston, Mr. Edward A.
Kent's brother-in-law, my schoolmate and friend
from boyhood), I am of the opinion that he met
ite on the ship when the boilers tore through
Lit, as described later.
32
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
One of the incidents I recall when loading the
boats at this point was my seeing a young woman
clinging tightly to a baby in her arms as she ap-
proached near the ship's high rail, but unwilling
even for a moment to allow anyone else to hold
the little one while assisting her to board the life-
boat. As she drew back sorrowfully to the outer
edge of the crowd on the deck, I followed and per-
suaded her to accompany me to the rail again,
promising if she would entrust the baby to me I
would see that the officer passed it to her after she
got aboard. I remember her trepidation as she
acceded to my suggestion and the happy expres-
sion of relief when the mother was safely seated
with the baby restored to her. "Where is my
baby?" was her anxious wail. "I have your
baby," I cried, as It was tenderly handed along. I
remember this Incident well because of my feeling
at the time, when I had the babe In my care;
though the interval was short, I wondered how I
should manage with it In my arms If the lifeboats
got away and I should be plunged into the water
with it as the ship sank.
According to LIghtoller's testimony before the
Senate Committee he put twenty to twenty-five
women, with two seamen to row, in the first boat
and thirty, with two seamen, in the second.
Our labors in loading the boats were now
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
shifted to the Boat Deck above, where Clinch
Smith and I, with others, followed Lightoller and
the crew. On this deck some difficulty was expe-
rienced in getting the boats ready to lower. Sev-
eral causes may have contributed to this, viz., lack
of drill and Insufficient number of seamen for such
emergency, or because of the new tackle not work-
ing smoothly. We had the hardest time with the
Engelhardt boat, lifting and pushing it towards
and over the rail. My shoulders and the whole
weight of my body were used in assisting the crew
at this work. LightoUer's testimony tells us that
as the situation grew more serious he began to
take chances and in loading the third boat he filled
it up as full as he dared to, with about thirty-five
persons. By this time he was short of seamen,
and in the fourth boat he put the first man passen-
ger. "Are you a sailor?" Lightoller asked, and
received the reply from the gentleman addressed
that he was "a yachtsman," Lightoller told him
if he was "sailor enough to get out over the bul-
warks to the lifeboat, to go ahead." This pas-
senger was Major Arthur Peuchen, of Toronto,
who acquitted himself as a brave man should. My
energies were so concentrated upon this work of
loading the boats at this quarter that lapse of
time, sense of sight and sense of hearing recorded
pressions during this interval until the last
I impn
34 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
boat was loaded; but there is one fact of which I
am positive, and that is that every man, woman,
officer and member of the crew did their full duty
without a sign of fear or confusion. LightoUer's
strong and steady voice rang out his orders in
clear firm tones, inspiring confidence and obe-
dience. There was not one woman who shed
tears or gave any sign of fear or distress. There
was not a man at this quarter of the ship who in-
dicated a desire to get into the boats and escape
with the women. There was not a member of
the crew who shirked, or left his post. The cool-
ness, courage, and sense of duty that I here wit-
nessed made me thankful to God and proud of
my Anglo-Saxon race that gave this perfect and
superb exhibition of self-control at this hour of
severest trial. "The boat's deck was only ten feet
from the water when I lowered the sixth boat,"
testified Lightoller, "and when we lowered the
first, the distance to the water was seventy feet.
We had now loaded all the women who were in
sight at that quarter of the ship, and I ran along
the deck with Clinch Smith on the port side some
distance aft shouting, "Are there any more
women?" "Are there any more women?" On
my return there was a very palpable list to port as
if the ship was about to topple over. The deck
was on a corresponding slant. "All passengers t
STKf CK BY AN ICEBERG
35
ft
the starboard side," was Lightoller's loud com-
mand, heard by all of us. Here I thought the
final crisis had come, with the boats all gone, and
when we were to be precipitated into the sea.
Prayerful thoughts now began to rise in me that
my life might be preserved and I be restored to
my loved ones at home. I weighed myself in the
balance, doubtful whether I was thus deserving of
God's mercy and protection. I questioned myself
as to the performance of my religious duties ac-
cording to the instructions of my eariiest Precep-
tor, the Rev. Henry A. Colt, whose St. Paul's
School at Concord, N. H., I had attended. My
West Point training In the matter of recognition
of constituted authority and maintenance of com-
posure stood me in good stead.
My friend. Clinch Smith, urged immediate obe-
dience to Lightoller's orders, and, with other men
passengers, we crossed over to the starboard quar-
ter of the ship, forward on the same Boat Deck
where, as I afterwards learned, the officer in com-
mand was First Officer Murdoch, who had also
done noble work, and was soon thereafter to lose
his life. Though the deck here was not so notice-
ably aslant as on the port side, the conditions ap-
peared fully as desperate. All the lifeboats had
been lowered and had departed. There was some-
what of a crowd congregated along the rail. The
I
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
nctly
36
light was sufficient for me to recognize distina
many of those with whom I was well acquainted.
Here, pale and determined, was Mr. John B.
Thayer, Second Vice-President of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, and Mr. George D. Widener.
They were looking over the ship's gunwale, talking
earnestly as if debating what to do. Next to them
It pained me to discover Mrs. J. M. Brown and
Miss Evans, the two ladies whom more than an
hour previous I had, as related, consigned to the
care of Sixth Officer Moody on Deck A, where he,
as previously described, blocked my purpose of ac-
companying these ladies and personally assisting
them into the boat. They showed no signs of
perturbation whatever as they conversed quietly
with me. Mrs. Brown quickly related how they
became separated, in the crowd, from her sisters,
Mrs. Appleton and Mrs. Cornell. Alas ! that they
had not remained on the same port side of the
ship, or moved forward on Deck A, or the Boat
Deckl Instead, they had wandered In some un-
explained way to the very furthest point diag-
onally from where they were at first. At the time
of introduction I had not caught Miss Evans'
name, and when we were here together at this crit-
ical moment I thought it important to ask, and
I
I
he gave me her name. Meantime the
s ga
working on the roof of the officers'
crew wei
quarters 1
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 37
cut loose one of the Engelhardt boats. All this
took place more quickly than it takes to write it.
Meantime, T will describe what was going on at
the quarter where I left Lightollcr loading the last
boat on the port side. The information was ob-
tained personally from him, in answer to my care-
ful questioning during the next few days on board
the Carpathia, when I made notes thereof, which
were confirmed again the next week in Washing-
ton, where we were both summoned before the
Senate Investigating Committee. "Men from the
steerage," he said, "rushed the boat." "Rush"
is the word he used, meaning they got in without
his permission. He drew his pistol and ordered
them out, threatening to shoot if they attempted
to enter the boat again. 1 presume it was in con-
sequence of this incident that the crew established
the line which I encountered, presently referred to,
which blocked the men passengers from approach-
ing the last boat loaded on the port side forward,
where we had been, and the last one that was
safely loaded from the ship.
During this very short interval 1 was on the
starboard side, as described, next to the rail, with
Mrs. Brown and Miss Evans, when I heard a
member of the crew, coming from the quarter
where the last boat was loaded, say that there was
room for more ladies in It. I Immediately seized
38 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
each lady by the arm, and, with Miss Evans on my
right and Mrs, Brown on my left, hurried, with
three other ladies following us, toward the port
side; but I had not proceeded half-way, and near
amidship, when I was stopped by the aforesaid
line of the crew barring my progress, and one of
the officers told me that only the women could
pass.
The story of what now happened to Mrs.
Brown and Miss Evans after they left me must
be told by Mrs. Brown, as related to me by her-
self when I rejoined her next on board the Car-
paihia. Mis'S Evans led the way, she said, as they
neared the rail where what proved to be the last
lifeboat was being loaded, but In a spirit of most
heroic self-sacrifice Miss Evans insisted upon
Mrs. Brown's taking precedence in being assisted
aboard the boat. "You go first," she said. "You
are married and have children." But when Miss
Evans attempted to follow after, she was unable
to do so for some unknown cause. The women in
the boat were not able, it would appear, to pull
Miss Evans in. It was necessary for her first to
clear the four feet high ship's gunwale, and no
man or member of the crew was at this particular
point to lift her over. I have questioned Mr.
LightoUer several times about this, but he has not
been able to give any satisfactory explanation and
STRUCK EY AN ICEBERG
39
I
cannot understand it, for when he gave orders to
lower away, there was no woman in sight. I have
further questioned him as to whether there was
an interval between the ship's rail and the life-
boat he was loading, but he says, "No," for until
the very last boat he stood, as has already been de-
scribed, with one foot planted on the ship's gun-
wale and the other in the lifeboat. I had thought
that the list of the ship might have caused too
much of an interval for him to have done this.
Perhaps what I have read in a letter of Mrs.
Brown may furnish some reason why Miss Evans'
efforts to board the lifeboat, in which there was
plenty of room for her, were unavailing. "Never
mind," she Is said to have called out, "I will go
on a later boat." She then ran away and was not
seen again; but there was no later boat, and it
would seem that after a momentary impulse, be-
ing disappointed and being unable to get into the
boat, she went aft on the port side, and no one
saw her again. Neither the second officer nor I
saw any women on the deck during the interval
thereafter of fifteen or twenty minutes before the
great ship sank.
An inspection of the American and British Re-
ports shows that all women and children of the
first cabin were saved except five. Out of the one
hundred and fifty these were the five lost: (i)
40 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Miss Evans; (2) Mrs. Straus; (3) Mrs. H. J.
Allison, of Montreal; (4) her daughter, Miss
Allison, and { 5 ) Miss A. E. Ishara, of New York.
The first two have already been accounted for.
Mrs. Allison and Miss Allison could have been
saved had they not chosen to remain on the ship.
They refused to enter the lifeboat unless Mr. Alli-
son was allowed to go with them. This statement
was made In my presence by Mrs. H, A. Casso
beer, of New York, who related it to Mrs. Alli-
son's brother, Mr. G. F, Johnston, and myself.
Those of us who survived among the first cabin
passengers will remember this beautiful Mrs. Alli-
son, and will be glad to know of the heroic mould
in which she was cast, as exemplified by her fate,
which was similar to that of another, Mrs, Straus,
who has been memorialized the world over. The
fifth lady lost was Miss A. E. Isham, and she is
the only one of whom no survivor, so far as 1 can
learn, is able to give any Information whatever as
to where she was or what she did on that fateful
Sunday night. Her relatives, learning that her
stateroom, No. C, 49, adjoined mine, wrote me in
the hope that I might be able to furnish some in-
formation to their sorrowing hearts about her last
hours on the shipwrecked Titanic. It was with
much regret that I replied that I had not seen my
neighbor at any time, and, not having the pleasure
I
BKDKOOM OK PARLOR SIMTE
iPn
SUITE BEDROOM
STRUCK BV AN ICEBERG
41
^^^ vis
of her acquaintance, identification was impossible.
I was, however, glad to be able to assure her fam-
ily of one point, viz., that she did not meet with
the horrible fate which they feared, in being
locked in her stateroom and drowned. I had re-
visited my stateroom twice after being aroused by
the collision, and am sure that she was fully
warned of what had happened, and after she left
Jier stateroom it was locked behind her, as was
The simple statement of fact that all of the first
cabin women were sent off in the lifeboats and
saved, except five — three of whom met heroic
death through choice and two by some mischance
— is in itself the most sublime tribute that could
be paid to the self-sacrifice and the gallantry of the
first cabin men, including all the grand heroes who
sank with the ship and those of us who survived
their fate. All authentic testimony of both first
and second cabin passengers is also in evidence
that the Captain's order for women and children
to be loaded first met with the unanimous approval
of us all, and in every instance was carried out
both in letter and in spirit. In Second Officer Ligh-
toller's testimony before the Senate Committee,
when asked whether the Captain's order was a
rule of the sea, he answered that it was "the rule
of human nature." There is no doubt in my mind
42
THE TKUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
that the men at that quarter where we were would
have adopted the same rule spontaneously whether
ordered by the Captain, or not. Speaking from
my own personal observation, which by compari-
son with that of the second officer I find in ac-
cord with his, all six boat loads, including the last,
departed with women and children only, with not
a man passenger except Major Peuchen, whose
services were enlisted to replace the lack of crew.
I may say further that with the single exception of
Colonel Astor's plea for the protection of his wife,
in delicate condition, there was not one who made
a move or a suggestion to enter a boat. ,
While the light was dim on the decks it was al-
ways sufficient for me to recognize anyone with
whom I was acquainted, and I am happy in being
able to record the names of those 1 know beyond
any doubt whatever, as with me in these last ter-
rible scenes when Lightoller's boats were being
lowered and after the last lifeboat had left the
ship. The names of these were: James Clinch
Smith, Colonel John Jacob Astor, Mr. John B.
Thayer and Mr, George D. Widener, So far as
I know, and my research has been exhaustive, I am
the sole surviving passenger who was with or as-
sisted LightoUer in the loading of the last boats.
When I first saw and realized that every lifeboat
had left the ship, the sensation felt was not an
I
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
■ fe;
43
agreeable one. No tho
bead, but I experienced a feeling which others may
recall when holding the breath in the face of some
frightful emergency and when "vox faucibus
hiesit," as frequently happened to the old Trojan
hero of our school days. This was the nearest ap-
proach to fear, if it can be so characterized, that
is discernible in an analysis of my actions or feel-
ings while in the midst of the many dangers which
beset me during that night of terror. Though
still worse and seemingly many hopeless conditions
soon prevailed, and unexpected ones, too, when I
felt that "any moment might be my last," I had
no time to contemplate danger when there was
continuous need of quick thought, action and com-
posure withal. Had I become rattled for a mo-
ment, or in the slightest degree been undecided
during the several emergencies presently cited, I
am certain that I never should have lived to tell the
tale of my miraculous escape. For it is eminently
fitting, in gratitude to my Maker, that I should
make the acknowledgment that I know of no re-
corded instance of Providential deliverance more
directly attributable to cause and effect, illustrat-
ing the efficacy of prayer and how "God helps
those who help themselves." I should have only
courted the fate of many hundreds of others had I
lupinely made no effort to supplement my prayers
44
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
with all the strength and power which He has
granted to me. While I said to myself, "Good-
bye to all at home," I hoped and prayed for es-
cape. My mind was nerved to do the duty of the
moment, and my muscles seemed to be hardened
ill preparation for any struggle that might come.
When I learned that there was still another boat,
the Engelhardt, on the roof of the officers' quar-
ters, I felt encouraged with the thought that here
was a chance of getting away before the ship sank ;
but what was one boat among so many eager to
board her?
During my short absence in conducting the
ladies to a position of safety, Mr. Thayer and Mr,
Widener had disappeared, but I know not whither.
Mr, Widener's son, Harry, was probably with
them, but Mr. Thayer supposed that his young
son, Jack, had left the ship in the same boat with
his mother. Messrs. l"hayer and Widener must
have gone toward the stern during the short in-
terval of my absence. No one at this point had
jumped into the sea. If there had been any, both
Clinch Smith and I would have known it. After
the water struck the bridge forward there were
many who rushed aft, climbed over the rail and
jumped, but I never saw one of them.
I was now working with the crew at the davits
on the starboard side forward, adjusting them,
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 4$
ready for lowering the Engclhardt boat from the
roof of the officers' house to the Boat Deck below.
Some one of the crew on the roof, where it was,
sang out, "Has any passenger a knife?" I took
mine out of my pocket and tossed it to him, say-
ing, "Here is a small penknife, if that will do any
good." It appeared to me then that there was
more trouble than there ought to have been in
removing the canvas cover and cutting the boat
loose, and that some means should have been
available for doing this without any delay. Mean-
time, four or five long oars were placed aslant
against the walls of the officers' house to break the
fall of the boat, which was pushed from the roof
and slipped with a crash down on the Boat Deck,
smashing several of the oars. Clinch Smith and I
scurried out of the way and stood leaning with
our backs against the rail, watching this procedure
and feeling anxious lest the boat might have been
stove in, or otherwise injured so as to cause her to
leak in the water. The account of the junior
Marconi operator, Harold S. Bride, supplements
mine, "I saw a collapsible boat," he said, "near
a funnel, and went over to it. Twelve men were
trying to boost it down to the Boat Deck. They
were having an awful time. It was the last boat
left. I looked at it longingly a few minutes; then
1 gave a hand and over she went."
46 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
About this time I recall that an officer on the
roof of the house called down to the crew at this
quarter, "Are there any seamen down there among
you?" "Aye, aye, sir," was the response, and 1
quite a number left the Boat Deck to assist in '
what I supposed to have been the cutting loose
of the other Engelhardt boat up there on the roof.
Again I heard an inquiry for another knife. I
thought I recognized the voice of the second of-
ficer working up there with the crew. Lightoller
has told me, and has written me as well, that
"boat A on the starboard side did not leave the
ship," * while "B was thrown down to the Boat
Deck," and was the one on which he and I even-
tually climbed. The crew had thrown the Engel-
hardt boat to the deck, but I did not understand
why they were so long about launching it, unless
they were waiting to cut the other one loose and
launch them both at the same time. Two young
men of the crew, nice looking, dressed in white,
one tall and the other smaller, were coolly debat-
ing as to whether the compartments would hold
the ship afloat. They were standing with their
backs to the rail looking on at the rest of the crew,
and I recall asking one of them why he did not
assist.
•With the efldence on the subject presented later he recog-
nues that Boat A floated away und was afterwards utili>ed<
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG
47
At this time there were other passengers
around, butClInch Smith was the only one asso-
ciated with me here to the last. It was about this
time, fifteen minutes after the launching of the last
lifeboat on the port side, that I heard a noise that
spread consternation among us all. This was no
less than the water strilting the bridge and gur-
gling up the hatchway forward. It seemed mo-
mentarily as if it would reach the Boat Deck. It
appeared as if it would take the crew a long time
to turn the Engelhardt boat right side up and lift
it over the rail, and there were so many ready to
board her that she would have been swamped.
Probably taking these points into consideration,
Clinch Smith made the proposition that we should
leave and go toward the stern, still on the star-
board side, so he started and I followed imme-
diately after him. We had taken but a few steps
in the direction Indicated when there arose before
us from the decks below, a mass of humanity sev-
eral lines deep, covering the Boat Deck, facing us,
and completely blocking our passage toward the
stern.
There were women in the crowd, as well
as men, and they seemed to be steerage passengers
who had just come up from the decks below. In-
stantly, when they saw us and the water on the
deck chasing us from behind, they turned in the
48 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
opposite direction towards the stern. This
brought them at that point plumb against the iron
fence and railing which divide the first and second
cabin passengers. Even among these people there
was no hysterical cry, or evidence of panic, but oh,
the agony of it! Clinch Smith and I instantly saw
that we could make no progress ahead, and with
the water following us behind over the deck, we
were in a desperate place. I can never forget the
exact point on the ship where he and I were lo-
cated, viz., at the opening of the angle made by
the walls of the ofEcers' house and only a short
distance abaft the Titanic's forward "expansion
joint." Clinch Smith was immediately on my left,
nearer the apex of the angle, and our backs were
turned toward the ship's rail and the sea. Look-
ing up toward the roof of the officers' house I
saw a man to the right of me and above lying on
his stomach on the roof, with his legs dangling
over. Clinch Smith jumped to reach this roof, and
I promptly followed. The efforts of both of us
failed. I was loaded down with heavy long-skirted
overcoat and Norfolk coat beneath, with clumsy
life-preserver over all, which made my jump fall
short. As I came down, the water struck my right
side. I crouched down into it preparatory
jumping with it, and rose as If on the crest of
wave on the seashore. This expedient brought the
I
J
I
STRUCK BY AN ICEBERG 49
attainment of the object I had In view. I was able
to reach the roof and the iron railing that is along
the edge of it, and pulled myself over on top of the
officers' house on my stomach near the base of the
second funnel. The feat which I instinctively ac-
complished was the simple one, familiar to all
bathers in the surf at the seashore. I had no time
to advise Clinch Smith to adopt it. To my utter
dismay, a hasty glance to my left and right
showed that he had not followed my example, and
that the wave, if I may call it such, which had
mounted me to the roof, had completely covered
him, as well as all people on both sides of me, in-
cluding the man I had first seen athwart the roof.
I was thus parted forever from my friend,
Clinch Smith, with whom I had agreed to remain
to the last struggle. I felt almost a pang of re-
sponsibility for our separation; but he was not in
sight and there was no chance of rendering assis-
tance. His ultimate fate is a matter of conjecture.
Hemmed in by the mass of people toward the
stern, and cornered in the locality previously de-
scribed, it seems certain that as the ship keeled
over and sank, his body was caught in the angle or
in the coils of rope and other appurtenances on the
deck and borne down to the depths below. There
could not be a braver man than James Clinch
He was the embodiment of coolness and
50 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TlTANIc"
courage during the whole period of the disaster.
While in constant touch and communication with
him at the various points on the ship when we
were together on this tragic night, he never showed
the slightest sign of fear, but manifested the same
quiet imperturbable manner so well known to all of
his friends, who join with his family in mourn-
ing his loss. His conduct should be an inspira'tion
to us all, and an appropriate epitaph to his mem-
ory taken from the words of Christ would be:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friend,"
I
CHAPTER III
N
THE FOUNDERING OF THE "TITANIC"
"There is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet."
— Jeremiah 49:23.
BEFORE I resume the story of my personal
escape it is pertinent that I should, at this
juncture, discuss certain points wherein the
statements of survivors are strangely at variance.
First: Was there an explosion of the ship's
boilers?
1 am of opinion that there was none, because I
should have been conscious of it. When aboard
ship I should have heard It and felt it, but I did
not. As my senses were on the lookout for every
danger, I cannot conceive It possible that an ex-
plosion occurred without my being made aware of
it. When I went down holding on to the ship and
was under water, I heard no sound Indicating any-
thing of the sort, and when I came to the surface
there was no ship In sight. Furthermore, there
was no perceptible wave which such a disturbance
would have created.
The two ranking surviving officers of the Ti-
52
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC"
tanic, viz., Second Officer Lightoller and Third
Officer Pitman, with whom I had a discussion on
this and other points in almost daily conversation
in my cabin on the Carpathia, agreed with me that
there was no explosion of the boilers. The second
officer and myself had various similar experiences,
and, as will be noticed in the course of this narra-
tive, we were very near together during all the
perils of that awful night. The only material dif-
ference worth noting was the manner in which
each parted company with the ship, and finally
reached the bottom-up Engelhardt boat on top
of which we made our escape. According to his
testimony before the Senate Committee, he stood
on the roof of the officers' quarters in front of
the first funnel, facing forward, and as the ship
dived, he dived also, while I held on to the iron
railing on the same roof, near the second funnel,
as has been described, and as the ship sank I was
pulled down with it. The distance between us on
the ship was then about fifteen yards.
There are so many newspaper and other pub-
lished reports citing the statements of certain sur-
vivors as authority for this story of an explosion
of the boilers that the reading world generally has
been made to believe it. Among the names of
passengers whose alleged statements (I have re-
ceived letters repudiating some of these inter-
I
I
I
ft
■
■
FOUNDERING OF THE TITANIC 53
views) arc thus given credence, I have read those
of Miss Cornelia Andrews, of Hudson, N. Y.;
Mrs. W. E. Carter, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Mr.
John Pillsbury Snyder, of Minneapolis, Minn.;
Miss Minahan, of Fond du Lac, Wis., and Lady
Duff Gordon, of England, all of whom, according
to the newspaper reports, describe their position
in the lifeboats around the ship and how they
heard, or saw, the "ship blow up," or "the boilers
explode" with one or two explosions just before
the ship sank out of their sight. On the other
hand, Mr. Hugh Woolncr told me on the Car'
pathia that from his position in the lifeboat, which
he claims was the nearest one to the Titanic when
she sank some seventy-five yards away, there
was a terrific noise on the ship, as she slanted to-
wards the head before the final plunge, which
sounded like the crashing of millions of dishes of
crockery. Woolncr and I when on board the
Carpathia, as presently described, had our cabin
together, where we were visited by Officers Ligh-
toller and Pitman, This was one of the points we
discussed together, and the conclusion was at once
reached as to the cause of this tremendous crash.
Since then, Lightoller has been subjected to rigid
examination before this country's and England's
Investigating Committees, and has been a party
to discussions with experts, including the designers
54
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
^
and builders of the Titanic. His conclusion ex-
pressed on the Carpathia is now strengthened, and
he says that there was no explosion of the boilers
and that the great noise which was mistaken for
it was due to "the boilers leaving their beds" on
E Deck when the ship was aslant and, with their
great weight, sliding along the deck, crushing and
tearing through the doomed vessel forward to-
ward the bow. Third Officer Pitman also gave
his testimony on this, as well as the next point con-
sidered. Before the Senate Committee he said:
"Then she turned right on end and made a big
plunge forward. The Titanic did not break
asunder. I heard reports like big guns In the dis-
tance. I assumed the great bulkheads had gone
to pieces." Cabin-steward Samuel Rule said: "I
think the noise we heard was that of the boilers
and engines breaking away from their seatings
and falling down through the forward bulkhead.
At the time it occurred, the ship was standing
nearly upright in the water."
The peculiar way in which the Titanic is
described as hesitating and assuming a ver-
tical position before her final dive to the depths
below can be accounted for only on this hypothesis
of the sliding of the boilers from their beds. A
second cabin passenger, Mr. Lawrence Beesley,
a Cambridge University man, has written an ex-
FOUNDERING OF THE TITANIC
55
cellent book about the Titanic disaster, dwelling
especially upon the lessons to be learned from it.
His account given to the newspapers also contains
the most graphic description from the viewpoint
of those in the lifeboats, telling how the great ship
looked before her final plunge. He "was a mile
or two miles away," he writes, "when the oars-
men lay on their oars and all in the lifeboat were
motionless as we watched the ship in absolute si-
lence — save some who would not look and buried
their heads on each others' shoulders. . . .
As we gazed awe-struck, she tilted slightly up, re-
volving apparently about a centre of gravity just
astern of amidships until she attained a vertical
upright position, and there she remained — motion-
less! As she swung up, her lights, which had
shown without a flicker all night, went out sud-
denly, then came on again for a single Qash and
then went out altogether; and as they did so there
came a noise which many people, wrongly, I think,
have described as an explosion. It has always
seemed to me that it was nothing but the engines
and machinery coming loose from their place and
bearings and falling through the compartments,
smashing everything in their way. It was partly
a roar, partly a groan, partly a rattle and partly a
smash, and it was not a sudden roar as an explo-
sion would be; it went on successively for some
56 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
seconds, possibly fifteen or twenty, as the heavy
machinery dropped down to the bottom (now the
bows) of the ship; I suppose It fell through the
end and sank first before the ship. (For evidence
of shattered timbers, see Hagan's testimony, page
85.) But it was a noise no one had heard before
and no one wishes to hear again. It was stupefy-
ing, stupendous, as it came to us along the water.
It was as if all the heavy things one could think
of had been thrown downstairs from the top of a
house, smashing each other, and the stairs and
everything in the way.
"Several apparently authentic accounts have been
given in which definite stories of explosions have
been related — in some cases even with wreckage
blown up and the ship broken in two; but I think
such accounts will not stand close analysis. In
the first place, the fires had been withdrawn and
the steam allowed to escape some time before she
sank, and the possibility from explosion from this
cause seems very remote."
Second: Did the ship break in two?
I was on the Carpathia when I first heard any
one make reference to this point. The seventeen-
year-old son of Mr, John B. Thayer, "Jack"
Thayer, Jr., and his young friend from Philadel-
phia, R. N. Williams, Jr., the tennis expert, in de-
scribing their experiences to me were positive that
FOUNDERING OF THE TITANIC
57
»
they saw the ship split in two. This was from
their position In the water on the starboard quar-
ter. "Jack" Thayer gave this same description to
an artist, who reproduced it in an Illustration in
the New York Herald, which many of us have
seen. Some of the passengers, whose names I
have just mentioned, are also cited by the news-
papers as authority for the statements that the
ship "broke in two," that she "buckled amidships,"
that she "was literally torn to pieces," etc. On
the other hand, there is much testimony available
which is at variance with this much-advertised sen-
sational newspaper account. Summing up its in-
vestigation of this point the Senate Committee's
Report reads: "There have been many conflicting
statements as to whether the ship broke in two,
but the preponderance of evidence is to the eflfect
that she assumed an almost end-on position and
sank intact." This was as Lightoller testified be-
fore the Committee, that the Titaiiic's decks were
"absolutely intact" when she went down. On this
point, too, Beesley is In accord, from his viewpoint
in the lifeboat some distance away out of danger,
whence, more composedly than others, he could
see the last of the Ill-fated ship as the men lay on
their oars watching until she disappeared. "No
phenomenon," he continues, "like that pictured in
some American and English papers occurred —
58 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
that of the ship breaking in two, and the two ei
being raised above the surface. When the noise
was over, the Titanic was still upright like a col-
umn; we could see her now only as the stern and
some 150 feet of her stood outlined against the
star-specked sky, looming black In the darkness,
and in this position she continued for some min-
utes — I think, as much as five minutes — but It may
have been less. Then, as sinking back a little at
the stern, I thought she slid slowly forwards I
through the water and dived slantingly down." '
From my personal viewpoint I also know that
the Titanic's decks were Intact at the time she sank,
and when I sank with her, there was over seven-
sixteenths of the ship already under water,
and there was no indication then of any im-
pending break of the deck or ship. I recently
visited the sister ship of the Titanic, viz., the
Olympic, at her dock In New York harbor.
This was for the purpose of still further
familiarizing myself with the corresponding locali-
ties which were the scene of my personal expe-
riences on the Titanic, and which are referred to
In this narrative. The only difference in the deck
plan of the sister ship which I noted, and whidi
the courteous officers of the Olympic mentioned, is
that the latter ship's Deck A Js not glass-enclosed
like the Tilanic'i; but one of the principal points o '
FOUNDERING OF THE "tITANIC"
59
discovery that I made during ray investigation con-
cerns this matter of the alleged breaking in two
of this magnificent ship. The White Star Line
officers pointed out to me what they called the
ship's "forward expansion joint," and they
claimed the Titanic was so constructed that she
must have split in two at this point, if she did so
at all. I was interested in obser\'ing that this "ex-
pansion joint" was less than twelve feet forward
from that point on the Boat Deck whence I
jumped, as described {to the iron railing on the
roof of the officers' quarters). It is indicated by
a black streak of leather-covering running trans-
versely across the deck and then up the vertical
white wall of the officers' house. This "joint" ex-
tends, however, only through the Boat Deck and
Decks A and B, which are superimposed on Deck
I C. If there was any splitting in two, it seems to
me also that this superstructure, weakly joined,
would have been the part to split; but It certainly
did not. It was only a few seconds before the
time of the alleged break that I stepped across this
dividing line of the two sections and went down
with the after section about twelve feet from this
"expansion joint."
One explanation which I offer of what must
be a delusion on the part of the advocates of the
"break-In-two" theory is that when the forward
I
6o
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
funnel fell, as hereafter described, it may have
looked as If the ship itself was splitting in two, par-
ticularly to the young men who are cited as au-
thority.
Third: Did either the Captain or the First Of-
ficer shoot himself?
Notwithstanding all the current rumors and
newspaper statements answering this question af-
firmatively, I have been unable to find any passen-
ger or member of the crew cited as authority for
the statement that either Captain Smith or First
Officer Murdoch did anything of the sort. On the
contrary, so far as relates to Captain Smith, there
are several witnesses, including Harold S. Bride,
the junior Marconi operator, who saw him at the
last on the bridge of his ship, and later, when sink-
ing and struggling in the water. Neither can I dis-
cover any authentic testimony about First Ofiicer
Murdoch's shooting himself. On the contrary, I
find fully sufficient evidence that he did not. He
was a brave and efficient officer and no sufficient
motive for self-destruction can be advanced. He
performed his full duty under difficult circum-
stances, and was entitled to praise and honor.
During the last fifteen minutes before the ship
sank, I was located at that quarter forward on the
Boat Deck, starboard side, where Murdoch was
In command and where the crew under him were
I
!iH.\\.Mc'E.\tw
O'LoUKtiUn, Flnt,.
FOUNDERING OF THE TITANIC 6]
engaged in the vain attempt of launching the
Engelhardt boat. The report of a pistol shot dur-
ing this interval ringing in my ears within a few
feet of me would certainly have attracted my at-
tention, and later, when I moved astern, the dis-
tance between us was not so great as to prevent my
hearing it. The "big wave" or "giant wave," de-
scribed by Harold Bride, swept away Murdoch
and the crew from the Boat Deck first before it
struck me, and when I rose with it to the roof of
the officers' house, Bride's reported testimony fits
in with mine so far as relates to time, place, and
circumstance, and I quote his words as follows:
"About ten minutes before the ship sank, Captain
Smith gave word for every man to look to his own
safety. I sprang to aid the men struggling to
launch the life raft {Engelhardt boat), and we
had succeeded in getting it to the edge of the ship
when a giant wave carried it away." Lightoller
also told me on board the Carpalhia that he saw
Murdoch when he was engulfed by the water and
that if before this a pistol had been fired within
the short distance that separated them, he also is
confident that he would have heard it.
Fourth: On which side did the ship list?
The testimony on this point, which at first blush
appears conflicting, proves on investigation not at
1 so, but just what was to be expected from the
62
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
mechanical construction of the ship. We find the
most authoritative testimony in evidence that the
Titanic listed on the starboard side, and again, on
equally authoritative testimony, that she listed on
the port side. Quartermaster Hitchens, who was
at the wheel when the iceberg struck the ship, tes-
tified on this point before the Senate Committee
as follows: "The Captain came back to the wheel
house and looked at the commutator (clinome-
ter) in front of the compass, which is a little in-
strument like a clock to tell you how the ship is
listing. The ship had a list of five degrees to the
starboard about five or ten minutes after the im-
pact. Mr. Karl Behr, the well-known tennis
player, interviewed by the New York Tribune is '
quoted as saying: "We had just retired when the .
collision came. I pulled on my clothes and went
down the deck to the Beckwith cabin and, after I
had roused them, I noted that the ship listed to the
starboard, and that was the first thing that made
me think that we were in for serious trouble." On
the other hand, the first time I noticed this list was,
as already described in my narrative, when I met
Clinch Smith in the companionway and we saw a
slight list to port, which gave us the first warning
of how serious the accident was. The next and
last time, as has also been described, was' when
Second Officer LightoUer ordered all pasengers to
th.
FOUNDERING OF THE TITANIC
63
starboard side because of the very palpable
list to port, when the great ship suddenly appeared
to be about to topple over, Lightoller also cor-
roborates the statement as to this list on the port
side. Other witnesses might be quoted, some of
whom testify to the starboard list, and others to
the one to port. The conclusion, therefore, is
reached that the Titanic listed at one time to star-
board and at another time to port. This is as it
should be because of the transverse water-tight
compartments which made the water, immediately
after the compact, rush from the starboard quar-
ter to the port, and then back again, keeping the
ship balancing on her keel until she finally sank.
If she had been constructed otherwise, with longi-
tudinal compartments only, it is evident that after
the impact on the starboard side, the Titanic would
have listed only to the starboard side, and after a
very much shorter interval would have careened
over on that quarter, and a much smaller propor-
tion of lives would have been saved.
CHAPTER IV
STRUGGLING IN THE WATER FOR LIFE
"Out of the deep hat
—Pa. 130:1.
I called unto Thee, O Lord."
I NOW resume the narrative description of my
miraculous escape, and it is with consider-
able diffidence that I do so, for the personal
equation monopolizes more attention than may be
pleasing to my readers who are not relatives or
intimate friends.
As may be noticed in Chapter II, it was Clinch
Smith's suggestion and on his initiative that we
left that point on the starboard side of the Boat
Deck where the crew, under Chief Officer Wilde
and First Officer Murdoch, were in vain trying to
launch the Engelhardt boat B which had been
thrown down from the roof of the officers' quar-
ters forward of the first funnel. I say "Boat B"
because I have the information to that effect In a
letter from Second Officer Llghtoller, Confirma-
tion of this statement I also find in the reported
interview of a Saloon Steward, Thomas Whitely,
in the New York Tribune the day after the Car-
64
J
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
6S
pathia'
iia's arrival. An analysis or his statement
shows that Boat A became entangled and was
abandoned, while he saw the other, bottom up and
filled with people. It was on this boat that he
also eventually climbed and was saved with the
rest of us. Clinch Smith and I got away from this
point just before the water reached it and drowned
Chief Officer Wilde and First Officer Murdoch,
and others who were not successful in effecting a
lodgment on the boat as it was swept off the deck.
This moment was the first fateful crisis of the
many that immediately followed. As bearing
upon it I quote the reported statement of Harold
S. Bride, the junior Marconi operator. His ac-
count also helps to determine the fate of Captain
Smith, He says: "Then came the Captain's voice
[from the bridge to the Marconi operators],
L'Men, you have done your full duty. You can do
^o more. Abandon your cabin. Now, it is every
' man for himself.' " "Phillips continued to work,"
he says, "for about ten minutes or about fifteen
minutes after the Captain had released him. The
water was then coming Into our cabin. ... I
went to the place where I had seen the collapsible
boat on the Boat Deck and to my surprise I saw
the boat, and the men still trying to push it off.
They could not do it. I went up to them and was
just lending a hand when a large wave came awash
66 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
of the deck. The big wave carried the boat off.
I had hold of an oarlock and I went off with it.
The next I knew I was in the boat. But that was
not all. I was in the boat and the boat was up-
side down and I was under it. . . . How I
got out from under the boat I do not know, but I
felt a breath at last."
From this it appears evident that, so far
as Clinch Smith is concerned, it would have
been better to have stayed by this Engelhardt
boat to the last, for here he had a chance
of escape like Bride and others of the crew who
clung to it, but which I only reached again after
an incredibly long swim under water. The next
crisis, which was the fatal one to Clinch Smith and
to the great mass of people that suddenly arose
before us as I followed him astern, has already
been described. The simple expedient of jump-
ing with the "big wave" as demonstrated above
carried me to safety, away from a dangerous posi-
tion to the highest part of the ship; but I was the
only one who adopted It successfully. The force
of the wave that struck Clinch Smith and the oth-
ers undoubtedly knocked most of them there un-
conscious against the walls of the officers' quarters
and other appurtenances of the ship on the Boat
Deck. As the ship keeled over forward, I believe
that their bodies were caught in the angles of this
I
I
I
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE 67
deck, or entangled in the ropes, and in these other
appurtenances thereon, and sank with the ship.
My holding on to the iron railing just when I did
prevented my being knocked unconscious. I pulled
myself over on the roof on my stomach, but before
I could get to my feet I was in a whirlpool of
water, swirling round and round, as I still tried to
cling to the railing as the ship plunged to the
depths below. Down, down, I went: it seemed a
great distance. There was a very noticeable pres-
sure upon my ears, though there must have been
plenty of air that the ship carried down with it.
When under water I retained, as it appears, a
sense of general direction, and, as soon as I could
do so, swam away from the starboard side of the
ship, as I knew my life depended upon it. I swarp
with all my strength, and I seemed endowed with
an extra supply for the occasion, I was incited to
desperate effort by the thought of boiling water,
or steam, from the expected explosion of the ship's
boilers, and that I would be scalded to death, like
the sailors of whom I had read in the account of
the British batde-ship Victoria sunk in collision
with the Camperdown in the Mediterranean In
1893. Second Officer Lightoller told me he also
had the same idea, and that If the fires had not
been drawn the boilers would explode and the
water become boiling hot. As a consequence, the
68
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TfTANIC '
plunge in the icy water produced no sense of cold-
ness whatever, and I had no thought of cold until
later on when I climbed on the bottom of the up-
turned boat. My being drawn down by suction to
a greater depth was undoubtedly checked to some
degree by the life-preserver which I wore, but it
Is to the buoyancy of the water, caused by the
volume of air rising from the sinking ship, that I
attributed the assistance which enabled me to strike
out and swim faster and further under water than
I ever did before, I held my breath for what
seemed an interminable time until I could scarcely
stand it any longer, but I congratulated myself
then and there that not one drop of sea-water was
allowed to enter my mouth. With renewed de-
termination and set jaws, I swam on. Just at
the moment T thought that for lack of breath
I would have to give in, I seemed to have been
provided with a second wind, and it was just then
that the thought that this was my last moment
came upon me. I wanted to convey the news of
how I died to my loved ones at home. As I swam
beneath the surface of the ocean, I prayed that
my spirit could go to them and say, "Good-bye,
until we meet again in heaven." In this connec-
tion, the thought was in my mind of a well authen-
ticated experience of mental telepathy that oc-
curred to a member of my wife's family. Here
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE 69
was a similar experience of a ship-
wrecked loved one, and I thought if I prayed hard
enough that this, my last wish to communicate
with my wife and daughter, might be granted.
To what extent my prayer was answered let
Mrs. Gracie describe in her own written words,
I as follows: "I was in my room at my sister's
I house, where I was visiting, in New York. After
retiring, being unable to rest I questioned myself
several times over, wondering what it was that
prevented the customary long and peaceful slum-
ber, lately enjoyed. 'What is the matter?' I
uttered. A voice in reply seemed to say, 'On
your knees and pray.' Instantly, I literally obeyed
with my prayer book in my hand, which by chance
opened at the prayer 'For those at Sea.' The
thought then flashed through my mind, 'Archie
is praying for me,' I continued wide awake until
a little before five o'clock a. m., by the watch
that lay beside me. About 7 a. m. I dozed a
while and then got up to dress for breakfast. At
8 o'clock my sister, Mrs. Dalliba Dutton, came
softly to the door, newspaper in hand, to gently
break the tragic news that the Titanic had sunk,
and showed me the list of only twenty names
saved, headed with 'Colonel Archibald Butt'; but
my husband's name was not included. My head
sank In her protecting arms as I murmured help-
^
70 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
lessly, 'He is all I have in the whole world.' I
could only pray for strength, and later in the day,
believing myself a widow, I wrote to my daughter,
who was in the care of our housekeeper and ser-
vants in our Washington home, 'Cannot you see
your father in his tenderness for women and
children, helping them all, and then going down
with the ship? If he has gone, I will not live
long, but 1 would not have him talte a boat.' "
But let me now resume my personal narrative.
With this second wind under water there came to
me a new lease of life and strength, until finally
I noticed by the increase of light that I was draw-
ing near to the surface. Though it was not day-
light, the clear star-lit night made a noticeable
difference in the degree of light immediately be-
low the surface of the water. As I was rising,
I came in contact with ascending wreckage, but
the only thing I struck of material size was a
small plank, which I tucked under my right arm.
This circumstance brought with it the reflection
that it was advisable for me to secure what best
I could to keep me afloat on the surface until
succor arrived. When my head at last rose above
the water, I detected a piece of wreckage like a
wooden crate, and I eagerly seized it as a nucleus
of the projected raft to be constructed from
what flotsam and jetsam I might collect. Look-
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
71
ing about me, I could see no Titanic In sight. She
had entirely disappeared beneath the calm surface
of the ocean and without a sign of any wave.
That the sea had swallowed her up with all her
precious belongings was indicated by the slight
sound of a gulp behind me as the water closed
over her. The length of time that I was under
water can be estimated by the fact that I sank
with her, and when I came up there was no ship
in sight. The accounts of others as to the length
of time it took the Titanic to sink afford the
best measure of the interval I was below the sur-
face.
What impressed me at the time that my
eyes beheld the horrible scene was a thin light-
gray smoky vapor that hung like a pall a few feet
above the broad expanse of sea that was covered
with a mass of tangled wreckage. That it was
a tangible vapor, and not a product of imagina-
tion, I feel well assured. It may have been caused
by smoke or steam rising to the surface around
the area where the ship had sunk. At any rate
it produced a supernatural effect, and the pictures
I had seen by Dante and the description I had
read in my Virgil of the infernal regions, of
Charon, and the River Lethe, were then upper-
most in my thoughts. Add to this, within the
area described, which was as far as my eyes could
72
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
I
reach, there arose to the sky the most horrible
sounds ever heard by mortal man except by those
of us who survived this terrible tragedy. The
agonizing cries of death from over a thousand
throats, the wails and groans of the suffering,
the shrieks of the terror-stricken and the awful
gaspings for breath of those in the last throes of
drowning, none of us will ever forget to our
dying day, "Helpl Help I Boat ahoy I Boat
ahoyl" and "My God! My God!" were the
heart-rending cries and shrieks of men, which
floated to us over the surface of the dark waters
continuously for the next hour, but as time went
on, growing weaker and weaker until they died
out entirely.
As I clung to my wreckage, I noticed just
in front of me, a few yards away, a group
of three bodies with heads In the water, face
downwards, and just behind me to my right an-
other body, all giving unmistakable evidence of
being drowned. Possibly these had gone down
to the depths as I had done, but did not have
the lung power that I had to hold the breath and
swim under water, an accomplishment which I
had practised from my school days. There was
no one alive or struggling in the water or calling
for aid within the imnaediate vicinity of where
I arose to the surface. I threw my -right leg^
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
73
over the wooden crate in an attempt to straddle
and balance myself on top of it, but I turned
over in a somersault with it under water, and
up to the surface again. What may be of interest
is the thought that then occurred to me of the
accounts and pictures of a wreck, indelibly im-
pressed upon my memory when a boy, because of
my acquaintance with some of the victims, of a
frightful disaster of that day, namely the wreck
of the f'ille de Havre in the English Channel in
1873, and I had in mind Mrs. Bulkley's de-
scription, and the picture of her clinging to some
wreckage as a rescue boat caught sight of her,
bringing the comforting words over the water,
"We are English sailors coming to save you." I
looked around, praying for a similar interposition
f Fate, but I knew the thought of a rescuing boat
was a vain one — for had not all the lifeboats,
loaded with women and children, departed from
the ship fifteen or twenty minutes before I sank
with it? And had I not seen the procession of
them on the port side fading away from our
sight?
But my prayerful thought and hope were
answered in an unexpected direction. I espied
to my left, a considerable distance away, a better
vehicle of escape than the wooden crate on which
my attempt to ride had resulted in a second duck-
74 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
ing. What I saw was no less than the same
Engelhardt, or "surf-boat," to whose launching
I had lent my efforts, until the water broke upon
the ship's Boat Deck where we were. On top of
this upturned boat, half rechnlng on her bottom,
were now more than a dozen men, whom, by their
dress, I took to be all members of the crew of
the ship. Thank God, I did not hesitate a mo-
ment in discarding the friendly crate that had been
my first aid. I struck out through the wreckage
and after a considerable swim reached the port
side amidships of this Engelhardt boat, which
with her companions, wherever utilized, did good
service in saving the lives of many others. All
honor to the Dane, Captain Engelhardt of Copen-
hagen, who built them. I say "port side" because
this boat as it was propelled through the water
had LightoUer in the bow and Bride at the stern,
and I believe an analysis of the testimony shows
that the actual bow of the boat was turned about
by the wave that struck it on the Boat Deck and
the splash of the funnel thereafter, so that its
bow pointed in an opposite direction to that of
the ship. There was one member of the crew
on this craft at the bow and another at the stern
who had "pieces of boarding," improvised pad-
dles, which were used effectually for propulsion.
When I reached the side of the boat I met with
\
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
75
a doubtful reception, and, as no extending hand
was held out to me, I grabbed, by the muscle of
the left arm, a young member of the crew
nearest and facing me. At the same time I threw
my right leg over the boat astraddle, pulling my-
self aboard, with a friendly lift to my foot given
I by someone astern as I assumed a reclining posi-
[ tion with them on the bottom of the capsized boat.
Then after me came a dozen other swimmers
who clambered around and whom we helped
aboard. Among them was one completely ex-
hausted, who came on the same port side as my-
self. I pulled him In and he lay face downward
in front of me for several hours, until just before
dawn he was able to stand up with the rest of us.
The journey of our craft from the scene of
the disaster will be described in the following
chapter. The moment of getting aboard this up-
turned boat was one of supreme mental relief,
more so than any other until I reached the deck
I of the hospitable Carpathia on the next morning.
I I now felt for the first time after the lifeboats
left us aboard ship that I had some chance of
escape from the horrible fate of drowning in the
icy waters of the middle Atlantic, Every moment
of time during the many experiences of that night,
it seemed as if I had all the God-given physical
strength and courage needed for each emergency,
76 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
and never suffered an instant from any exhaustion,
or required the need of a helping hand. The only
time of any stress whatever was during the swim,
just described, under water, at the moment when
I gained my second wind which brought me to
the surface gasping somewhat, but full of vigor.
I was all the time on the lookout for the next
danger that was to be overcome. I kept my
presence of mind and courage throughout it all.
Had I lost either for one moment, I never could
have escaped to tell the tale. This is in answer
to many questions as to my personal sensations
during these scenes and the successive dangers
which I encountered. From a psychological view-
point also, it may be a study of interest illustrat-
ing the power of mind over matter. The sensa-
tion of fear has a visible effect upon one. It
palsies one's thoughts and actions. One. becomes
thereby short of breath; the heart actually beats
quicker and as one loses one's head one grows
desperate and is gone. I have questioned those
who have been near drowning and who know this
statement to be a fact. It is the same in other
emergencies, and the lesson to be learned is that
we should —
"Let courage rise with danger.
And strength to strength oppose."
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
77
I this
1 the hour of dangei
To attain i
very much a matter of physical, mental and
religious training. But courage and strength
would have availed me little had I not provi-
dentially escaped from being knocked senseless,
or maimed, as so many other strong swimmers
undoubtedly were. The narrow escapes that I
had from being thus knocked unconscious could
be recapitulated, and I still bear the scars on my
body of wounds received at the moment, or
moments, when I was struck by some unde-
fined object. I received a blow on the top of
my head, but I did not notice It or the other
wounds until I arrived on board the Carpathia,
when I found inflamed cuts on both my legs and
bruises on my knees, which soon became black
, and blue, and I was sore to the touch all over
my body for several days.
It is necessary for me to turn to the accounts
' of others for a description of what happened dur-
ing the interval that I was under water. My
information about it is derived from many sources
and includes various points of general interest,
showing how the Titanic looked when she foun-
dered, the undisputed facts that there was very
little suction and that the forward funnel broke
from the ship, falling on the starboard side into
, the sea. Various points of personal interest are
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
I
78
also derived from the same source which the
reader can analyze, for estimating the interval
that I was below the surface of the ocean and
the distance covered in my swim under water; for
after I rose to the surface it appears that I had
passed under both the faUing funnel and then
under the upturned boat, and a considerable dis-
tance beyond. Had I gone but a short distance
under water and arisen straight up, I should have
met the horrible fate of being struck by the fall-
ing funnel which, according to the evidence sub-
mitted, must have killed or drowned a number
of unfortunates struggling in the water. I select
these accounts of my shipwrecked companions,
which supplement my personal experience, par-
ticularly the accounts of the same reliable and
authoritative witnesses already cited, and from
those who were rescued, as I was, on the bottom
of the upset Engelhardt boat.
The following is from the account of Mr.
Beesley: "The water was by now up to the last
row of portholes. We were about two miles
from her, and the crew insisted that such a tre-
mendous wave would be formed by suction as
she went down, that we ought to get as far as
possible away. The 'Captain' (as he calls Stoker
Fred Barrett), and all, lay on their oars. Pres-
ently, about 2 a.m. (2.15 a. m. per book account),
STTOSGUNG KM UFB
79
u near at I on rcmanbcr. we obfcrved bcr
setding vciy rapidlr. with the bow and bridge
completely under water, and condudcd it was now
only a question of minutes before she went: and
>o it- proved. She slowly tilted, straight on end,
with the stem vertically opward. . . . To
oor amazement, she remained in that upright posi-
tion for a time which I estimate as five minutes."
On a previous page of my narrative, I have al-
ready quoted from his book account how "the
stem and some 150 feet of the ship stood out-
lined against the star-specked sky. looming black
in the darkness, and in this position she continued
for some minutes — I think as much as live minutes,
but it may have been less." Now, when I disap-
peared under the sea, sinking with the ship, there
is nothing more surely established in my testimony
than that about nine-sixteenths of the Tilaitic
was sdll out of the water, and when my head
reached the surface she had entirely disappeared.
The New York Times, of April 19, 1912, con-
tained the story of Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Bishop,
first cabin passengers from Dowagiac, Michigan.
Their short account is one of the best 1 have read.
As they wrote it independently of Beeslcy's ac-
count, and from a different point of view, being
in another lifeboat (No. 7, the first to leave the
ship), the following corroborative testimony,
I
8o THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
taken from their story, helps to establish the
truth:
"We did not begin to understand the situation
till we were perhaps a mile away from the Titanic.
Then we could see the row of lights along the
deck begin to slant gradually upward from the
bow. Very slowly the lines of light began to
point downward at a greater and greater angle.
The sinking was so slow that you could not per-
ceive the lights of the deck changing their posi-
tion. The slant seemed to be greater about every
quarter of an hour. That was the only difference.
"In a couple of hours she began to go down
more rapidly. . . . Suddenly the ship seemed
to shoot up out of the water and stand there per-
pendicularly. It seemed to us that it stood up-
right in the water for four full minutes.*' Then
it began to slide gently downwards. Its speed
increased as It went down head first, so that the
stern shot down with a rush."
Harold Bride, who was swept from the Boat
Deck, held on to an oarlock of the Engelhardt
boat (which Clinch Smith and I had left a few
moments before, as has already been described).
I have cited his account of coming up under the
boat and then clambering upon it. He testifies
to there being no suction and adds the following:
■"Italics are mine. — AurnoH.
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE
8i
r "I suppose I was 150 feet away when the Tilantc,
on her nose with her after-quarter sticking straight
up into the air, began to settle — slowly. When
at last the waves washed over her rudder, there
was not the least bit of suction I could feel. She
. must have kept going just so slowly as she had
been," Second Officer Lightoller too, in his con-
I versation with me, verified his testimony before
the Senate Committee that, "The last boat, a flat
collapsible (the Engelhardt) to put off was the
one on top of the officers' quarters. Men jumped
upon it on deck and waited for the water to float
it off. The forward funnel fell into the water,
just missing the raft (as he calls our upset boat).
The funnel probably killed persons in the water.
This was the boat I eventually got on. About
: thirty men clambered out of the water on to it."
Seventeen year old "Jack" Thayer was also on
I the starboard side of the ship, and jumped from
' the rail before the Engelhardt boat was swept
, from the Boat Deck by the "giant wave." Young
Thayer's reported description of this Is as follows:
"I jumped out, feet first, went down, and as
I I came up I was pushed away from the ship by
f some force. I was sucked down again, and as
I came up I was pushed out again and twisted
around by a large wave, coming up In the midst
Lof a great deal of small wreckage. My hand
82
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
touched the canvas fender of an overturned life-
boat. I looked up and saw some men on the top.
One of them helped me up. In a short time the
bottom was covered with twenty-five or thirty men.
The assistant wireless operator (BrJde) was right
next to me holding on to me and kneeling in the
water."
In my conversations with Thayer, LightoUer
and others, it appears that the funnel fell in the
water between the Engelhardt boat and the ship,
washing the former further away from the
Titanic's starboard side.
Since the foregoing was written, the testimony
before the United States Senate Committee has
been printed in pamphlet form, from which I have
been able to obtain other evidence, and particu-
larly that of Second Officer LightoUer In regard
to the last quarter of an hour or so on board
the ship and up to the time we reached the upset
boat. I have also obtained and substantiated
other evidence bearing upon the same period.
Mr. LightoUer testified as foUows: "Half an
hour, or three quarters of an hour before I left
the ship, when it was taking a heavy list — not a
heavy list-
list
over to port.
the order ■
called, I think by the chief officer, "Everyone on
the starboard side to straighten her up," which
I repeated. When I left the ship I saw no women
■ STRUGGLING FOR LIFE 83
or children aboard whatever. All the boats on
the port side were lowered with the exception of
one — the last boat, which was stowed on top of
the officers' quarters. We had not time to launch
it, nor yet to open it. When all the other boats
were away, I called for men to go up there; told
them to cut her adrift and throw her down. It
floated off the ship, and I understand the men
standing on top, who assisted to launch it down,
jumped on to it as it was on the deck and floated
off with it It was the collapsible type of boat,
and the bottom-up boat we eventually got on.
When this lifeboat floated off the ship, we were
thrown off a couple of times. When I came to it,
it was bottom-up and there was no one on it. Im-
mediately after finding that overturned lifeboat,
and when I came alongside of it, there were quite
a lot of us in the water around it preparatory to
getting up on it. Then the forward funnel fell
I down. It fell alongside of the lifeboat about four
linches clear of it on all the people there alongside
f of the boat. Eventually, about thirty of us got
on it: Mr. Thayer, Bride, the second Marconi
operator, and Col. Gracie. I think all the rest
were firemen taken out of the water."
Compare this with the description given by J.
Hagan In correspondence which he began with
me last May. J. Hagan Is a poor chap, who
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
described himself in this correspondence as one
who "was working my passage to get to America
for the first time," and I am convinced that he
certainly earned it, and, moreover, was one of us
on that upset boat that night. His name does not
appear on the list of the crew and must not be
confounded with "John Hagan, booked as fire-
man on the steamer, who sailed for England April
20th on the Lap!a?id," whereas our John Hagan
was admitted to St. Vincent's hospital on April
zznd. In describing this period John Hagan says
it was by the Captain's orders, when the ship was
listing to port, that passengers were sent to the
starboard side to straighten the ship. He went
half-way and returned to where Lightoller was
loading the last boat lowered. Lightoller told
him there was another boat on the roof of the
officers' house if he cared to get it down. This
was the Engelhardt Boat B which, with three
others, he could not open until assisted by three
more, and then they pushed it, upside down, on
the Boat Deck below. Hagan cut the string of
the oars and was passing the first oar down to
the others, who had left him, when the boat floated
into the water, upside down. He jumped to the
Boat Deck and into the water after the boat and
"clung to the tail end of the keel." The ship
was shaking very much, part of it being under
STRUGGLING FOR LIFE 85
water. "On looking up at it. I could see death in
a minute for us as the forward funnel was falling
and it looked a certainty it would strike our boat
and smash it to pieces; but the funnel missed
us about a yard, splashing our boat thirty yards
outward from the ship, and washing off several
who had got on when the boat first floated."
Hagan managed to cling to it but got a severe
soaking. The cries of distress that he heard near
by were an experience he can never forget. It
appeared to him that the flooring of the ship
forward had broken away and was floating all
around. Some of the men on the upset boat made
use of some pieces of boarding for paddles with
which to help keep clear of the ship.
John Collins, assistant cook on the Titanic, also
gave his interesting testimony before the Senate
Committee. He appears to have come on deck
at the last moment on the starboard side and wit-
nessed the Engelhardt boat when it floated off
into the sea, he being carried off by the same wave
when he was amidships on the bow as the ship
I sank, and kept down under water for at least two
I or three minutes. When he came up, he saw this
I boat again — the same boat on which he had seen
I men working when the waves washed it off the
I deck, and the men clinging to It. He was only
j about four or five yards off and swam over to it
S6
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
and got on to it. He says he is sure there
were probably fifteen thereon at the time he
got on. Those who were on the boat did not
help him to get on. They were watching the
ship. After he got on the boat, he did not see
any lights on the Titanic, though the stern of the
ship was still afloat when he first reached the
surface. He accounts for the wave that washed
him off amidships as due to the suction which took
place when the bow went down in the water and
the waves washed the decks clear. He saw a mass
of people in the wreckage, hundreds in number,
and heard their awful cries.
ALL my companions in shipwreck, who made
their escape with me on top of the bottom-
side-up Engelhardt boat, must recall the
anxious moment after the limit was reached when
"about 30 men had clambered out of the water
on to the boat." The weight of each additional
body submerged our lifecraft more and more be-
neath the surface. There were men swimming In
the water all about us. One more clambering
aboard would have swamped our already crowded
craft. The situation was a desperate one, and
was only saved by the refusal of the crew, es-
f pccially those at the stern of the boat, to take
aboard another passenger. After pulling aboard
I the man who lay exhausted, face downward in
front of me, I turned my head away from the
I gights in the water lest I should be called upon
87
88 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
to refuse the pleading cries of those who were
struggling for their lives. What happened at
this juncture, therefore, my fellow companions
in shipwreck can better describe. Steward Thomas
Whiteley, interviewed by the New York Tribune,
said: "I drifted near a boat wrong-side-up.
About 30 men were clinging to it. They refused
to let me get on. Somebody tried to hit me with
an oar, but I scrambled on to her." Harry Senior,
a fireman on the Titanic, as interviewed in the
London Illustrated News of May 4th, and in the
New York Times of April 19th, is reported as
follows: "On the overturned boat in question
were, amongst others, Charles LightoUer, Second
Officer of the Titanic; CoL Archibald Gracie, and
Mr. J. B. Thayer, Jr., all of whom had gone down
with the liner and had come to the surface again" ;
and ''I tried to get aboard of her, but some chap
hit me over the head with an oar. There were
too many on her. I got around to the other side
of the boat and climbed on. There were thirty-
five of us, including the second officer, and no
women. I saw any amount of drowning and dead
around us." Bride's story in the same issue of
the New York Times says: "It was a terrible
sight all around — men swimming and sinking.
Others came near. Nobody gave them a hand^
The bottom-up boat already had more men than
I
I
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT 89
it would hold and was sinking. At first the large
waves splashed over my clothing; then they began
to splash over my head and I had to breathe when
I could,"
Though I did not see, I could not avoid hearing
what took place at this most tragic crisis in all
my life. The men with the paddles, forward
and aft, so steered the boat as to avoid contact
with the unfortunate swimmers pointed out strug-
gling in the water. I heard the constant explana-
tion made as we passed men swimming in the
wreckage, "Hold on to what you have, old boy;
one more of you aboard would sink us all." In
no instance, I am happy to say, did I hear any
word of rebuke uttered by a swimmer because
of refusal to grant assistance. There was no case
' of cruel violence. But there was one transcendent
piece of heroism that will remain fixed in my
memory as the most sublime and coolest exhibition
of courage and cheerful resignation to fate and
fearlessness of death. This was when a reluctant
refusal of assistance met with the ringing response
in the deep manly voice of a powerful man, who,
in his extremity, replied: "All right, boys; good
luck and God bless you." I have often wished
that the identity of this hero might be established
and an individual tribute to his memory preserved.
He was not an acquaintance of mine, for the tones
90 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
of his voice would have enabled me to recognize
Collins in his testimony and Hagan in his letter
to me refer to the same incident, the former be-
fore the Senate Committee, saying: "All those
who wanted to get on and tried to get on got on
with the exception of only one. This man was
not pushed off by anyone, but those on the boat
asked him not to try to get on. We were all
on the boat running [shifting our weight] from
one side to the other to keep her steady. If this
man had caught hold of her he would have
tumbled the whole lot of us off. He acquiesced
and said, 'that is all right, boys; keep cool; God
bless you,' and he bade us good-bye."
Hagan refers to the same man who "swam
close to us saying, 'Hello boys, keep calm, boys,'
asking to be helped up, and was told he could
not get on as it might turn the boat over. He
asked for a plank and was told to cling to what
he had. It was very hard to see so brave a man
swim away saying, 'God bless you.' "
All this time our nearly submerged boat was
amidst the wreckage and fast being paddled out
of the danger zone whence arose the heart-rending
cries already described of the struggling swim-
mers. It was at this juncture that expressions
were used by some of the uncouth members of
I
I
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
91
»
I
the ship's crew, which grated upon my sensibilities.
The hearts of these men, as I presently discovered,
were all right and they were far from meaning
any offence when they adopted their usual slang,
sounding harsh to my ears, and referred to our
less fortunate shipwrecked companions as "the
blokes swimming in the water." What I thus
heard made me feel like an alien among my fellow
boatmates, and I did them the injustice of believ-
ing that I, as the only passenger aboard, would, in
case of diversity of Interest, receive short shrift
at their hands and for this reason I thought It
best to have as little to say as possible. During
all these struggles I had been uttering silent
prayers for deliverance, and It occurred to me that
this was the occasion of all others when we should
join in an appeal to the Almighty as our last and
only hope in life, and so It remained for one of
these men, whom I had regarded as uncouth, a
Roman Catholic seaman, to take precedence in
suggesting the thought in the heart of everyone
of us. He was astern and In arm's length of me.
He first made Inquiry as to the religion of each
of us and found Episcopalians, Roman Catholics
and Presbyterians. The suggestion that we should
say the Lord's Prayer together met with instant
approval, and our voices with one accord burst
forth in repeating that great appeal to the Creator
92
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
and Preserver of all mankind, and the only prayer
that everyone of us knew and could unite in,
thereby manifesting that we were all sons of God
and brothers to each other whatever our sphere
in life or creed might be. Recollections of this
incident are embodied in my account as well as
those of Bride and Thayer, independently re-
ported in the New York papers on the morning
after our arrival. This is what Bride recalls:
"Somebody said 'don't the rest of you think we
ought to pray?' The man who made the sugges-
tion asked what the religion of the others was.
Each man called out his religion. One was a
Catholic, one a Methodist, one a Presbyterian.
It was decided the most appropriate prayer for
all of us was the Lord's Prayer. We spoke it
over in chorus, with the man who first suggested
that we pray as the leader."
Referring to this incident in his sermon on
"T^e Lessons of the Great Disaster," the
Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, of Plymouth
Church, says: "When Col. Oracle came up,
after the sinking of the Titanic, he says that
he made his way to a sunken raft. The sub-
merged little raft was under water often, but
every man, without regard to nationality, broke
into instant prayer. There were many voices, but
they all had one signification — their sole hope was
iiu^c vvaa ^H
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
93
1 God. There were no millionaires, for millions
fell away like leaves; there were no poor; men
were neither wise nor ignorant; they were simply
human souls on the sinking raft; the night was
black, and the waves yeasty with foam, and the
grave where the Titanic lay was silent under them,
and the stars were silent over them! But as they
prayed, each man by that inner light saw an in-
visible Friend walking across the waves. Hence-
forth, these need no books on Apologetics to prove
there is a God. This man who has written his
story tells us that God heard the prayers of some
by giving them death, and heard the prayers of
others equally by keeping them In life; but God
alone is great!"
The lesson thus drawn from the incident de-
scribed must be well appreciated by all my boat-
mates who realized the utter helplessness of our
position, and that the only hope we then had in
life was in our God, and as the Rev. Dr. HiUIs
says: "In that moment the evanescent, transient,
temporary things dissolved like smoke, and the
big, permanent things stood out — God, Truth,
Purity, Love, and Oh ! how happy those who were
good friends with God, their conscience and their
record."
We all recognize the fact that our escape from
|. a watery grave was due to the conditions of wlnj
94
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
and weather. All night long we prayed that the
calm might last. Towards morning the sea be-
came rougher, and it was for the two-fold pur-
pose of avoiding the ice-cold water,* and also
to attract attention, that we all stood up in column,
two abreast, facing the bow. The waves at this
time broke over the keel, and we maintained a
balance to prevent the escape of the small volume
of air confined between sea and upset boat by
shifting the weight of our bodies first to port and
then to starboard. I believe that the life of every-
one of us depended upon the preservation of this
confined air-bubble, and our anxious thought was
lest some of this air might escape and deeper down
our overloaded boat would sink. Had the boat I
been completely turned over, compelling us to i
cling to the submerged gunwale, It could not
have supported our weight, and we should have
been frozen to death in the ice-cold water be-
fore rescue could reach us. My exertions had
been so continuous and so strenuous before I got
aboard this capsized boat that I had taken no
notice of the icy temperature of the water. We
all suffered severely from cold and exposure. The
boat was so loaded down with the heavy weight
* Temperature of water 29 degrees, of sir 37 degrees
Fahrenheit, at midnight, April 14th (American Inquiry, page
lua).
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
95
I
it carried that it became partly submerged, and
the water washed up to our waists as we lay in
our reclining position. Several of our companions
near the stern of the boat, unable to stand the
exposure and strain, gave up the struggle and
fell off.
After we had left the danger zone In the
vicinity of the wreck, conversation between
us first developed, and I heard the men aft of
me discussing the fate of the Captain. At least
two of them, according to their statements made
at the time, had seen him on this craft of ours
shortly after it was floated from the ship. In the
interviews already referred to, Harry Senior the
fireman, referring to the same overturned boat,
said: "The Captain had been able to reach this
boat. They had pulled him on, but he slipped
off again." Still another witness, the entree cook
of the Titanic, J, Maynard, who was on our boat,
corroborates what I heard said at the time about
the inability of the Captain to keep his hold on
the boat. From several sources I have the in-
formation about the falling of the funnel, the
splash of which swept from the upturned boat
several who were first clinging thereto, and among
the number possibly was the Captain, From the
following account of Bride, it would appear he
was swept off himself and regained his hold later.
96 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
"I saw a boat of some kind near me and put all
my strength into an effort to swim to it. It was
hard work. I was all done when a hand reached
out from the boat and pulled me aboard. It was
our same collapsible. The same crew was on
it. There was just room for me to roll on the
edge. I lay there, not caring what happened."
Fortunately for us all, the majority of us were
not thus exhausted or desperate. On the con-
trary, these men on this upset boat had plenty of
strength and the purpose to battle for their lives.
There were no beacon torches on crag and cliff;
no shouts in the pauses of the storm to tell them
there was hope ; nor deep-toned bell with Its
loudest peal sending cheerily, o'er the deep, com-
fort to these wretched souls in their extremity.
There were, however, lights forward and on the
port side to be seen all the time until the Car-
palhia appeared. These lights were only those of
the Titanic's other lifeboats, and thus it was, as
they gazed with eager, anxious eyes that
■ "Fresh hope did give them strength and strength
deliverance." •
The suffering on the boat from cold was intense.
My neighbor in front, whom I had pulled aboard,
• Maturin's Bertravu
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
97
must also have been suffering from exhaustion,
but it was astern of us whence came later the
reports about fellow boatmates who gave up the
struggle and fell off from exhaustion, or died,
unable to stand the exposure and strain. Among
the number, we are told by Bride and Whiteley,
was the senior Marconi operator, Phillips, but
their statement that it was Philhps' lifeless body
which we transferred first to a lifeboat and thence
to the Carpathia is a mistake, for the body re-
ferred to both Lightoller and myself know to
have been that of a member of the crew, as de-
scribed later. Bride himself suffered severely,
"Somebody sat on my legs," he says. "They were
wedged in between slats and were being
wrenched." When he reached the Carpathia he
was taken to the hospital and on our arrival in
New York was carried ashore with his "feet
badly crushed and frostbitten."
The combination of cold and the awful scenes
of suffering and death which he witnessed from
our upturned boat deeply affected another first
cabin survivor, an Englishman, Mr. R. H. Bark-
worth, whose tender heart is creditable to his
character.
Another survivor of our upturned boat, James
McGann, a fireman, interviewed by the New York
Tribune on April 20th, says that he was one of
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC '
98
the thirty ot us, mostly hremen, clinging to it as
she left the ship. As to the suffering endured
that night he says: "Ail our legs were frost-
bitten and we were all In the hospital for a day
at least,"
"Hagan" also adds his testimony as to the
sufferings endured by our boatmates. He says:
"One man on the upturned boat rolled off, into the
water, at the stern, dead with fright and cold.
Another died in the lifeboat." Here he refers
to the lifeless body which we transferred, and
finally put aboard the CarpalhJa, but which was
not Phillips'.
Lightoller testified: "I think there were three
or four who died during the night aboard our
boat. The Marconi junior operator told me that
the senior operator was on this boat and died,
presumably from cold."
But the uncommunicative little member of the
crew beside me did not seem to suffer much. He
was like a number of others who were possessed
of hats or caps — his was an outing cap; while
those who sank under water had lost them. The
upper part of his body appeared to be compara-
tively dry; so I believe he and some others escaped
being drawn under with the Titanic by clinging
to the Engelhardt boat from the outset when it
parted company with the ship and was washed
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
99
from the deck by the "giant wave." He seemed
so dry and comfortable while I felt so damp in
my waterlogged clothing, my teeth chattering and
my hair wet with the icy water, that I ventured to
request the loan of his dry cap to warm my head
for a short while, "And what wad oi do?" was
his curt reply. "Ah, never mind," said I, as I
thought it would make no difference a hundred
years hence. Poor chap, it would seem that all
his possessions were lost when his kit went down
with the ship. Not far from me and on the star-
board side was a more loquacious member of the
crew. I was not near enough, however, to him
to indulge in any imaginary warmth from the
fumes of the O-be-joyful spirits which he gave
unmistakable evidence of having indulged in be-
fore leaving the ship. Most of the conversation,
as well as excitement, came from behind me,
astern. The names of other survivors who, be-
sides those mentioned, escaped on the same nearly
submerged life craft with me are recorded in the
history of Boat B in chapter V, which contains the
results of my research work in regard thereto.
After we paddled away free from the wreckage
and swimmers in the water that surrounded us,
our undivided attention until the dawn of the next
day was concentrated upon scanning the horizon
in every direction for the lights of a ship that
I
100 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
might rescue us before the sea grew rougher,
for the abnormal conditions of wind and weather
that prevailed that night were the causes of the
salvation, as well as the destruction, of those
aboard this ill-fated vessel. The absolute calm
of the sea, while it militated against the detection
of the iceberg in our path, at the same time made
it possible for all of the lifeboats lowered from
the davits to make their long and dangerous de-
scent to the water without being smashed against
the sides of the ship, or swamped by the waves
breaking against them, for, notwithstanding news-
paper reports to the contrary, there appears no
authentic testimony of any survivor showing that
any loaded boat in the act of being lowered was
capsized or suffered injury. On the other hand,
we have the positive statements accounting for
each individual boatload, showing that every one
of them was thus lowered In safety. But It was
this very calm of the sea, as has been said, which
encompassed the destruction of the ship. The
beatings of the waves against the iceberg's sides
usually give audible warning miles away to the
approaching vessel, while the white foam at the
base, due to the same cause, Is also discernible.
But in our case the beautiful star-lit night and
cloudless sky, combined with the glassy sea,
further facilitated the iceberg's approach with-
I
ALL NIGIIT ON UPTURNED BOAT lOI
out detection, for no background was afforded
against which to silhouette the deadly outline
of this black appearing Protean monster which
only looks white when the sun is shining
upon it.
All experienced navigators of the northern seas,
as I am informed on the highest authority, know-
ing the dangers attending such conditions, invaria-
bly take extra precautions to avoid disaster. The
Tiianic's officers were no novices, and were well
trained In the knowledge of this and all other
dangers of the sea. From the Captain down, they
were the pick of the best that the White Star Line
had in its employ. Our Captain, Edward J.
Smith, was the one always selected to "try out"
each new ship of the Line, and was regarded, with
his thirty-eight years of service in the company,
as both safe and competent. Did he take any
precautions for safety, in view of the existing
dangerous conditions ? Alas ! no ! as appears from
the testimony in regard thereto, taken before the
Investigating Committee and Board in America
and in England which we review in another chap-
ter. And yet, warnings had been received on the
Tiianic's bridge from six different neighboring
ships, one in fact definitely locating the latitude
and longitude where the iceberg was encountered,
and that too at a point of time calculated by one
I
102 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
of the Titanic's officers. Who can satisfactorily
explain this heedlessness of danger?
It was shortly after we had emerged from the
horrible scene of men swimming in the water that
I was glad to notice the presence among us on
the upturned boat of the same officer with whom
all my work that night and all my experience was
connected in helping to load and lower the boats
on the Titanic's Boat Deck and Deck "A." I
identified him at once by his voice and his ap-
pearance, but his name was not learned until I met
him again later in my cabin on board the Carpathia
— Charles H. Lightoller. For what he did on the
ship that night whereby six or more boatloads of
women and children were saved and discipline
maintained aboard ship, as well as on the Engel-
hardt upturned boat, he is entitled to honor and
the thanks of his own countrymen and of us
Americans as well. As soon as he was recognized,
the loquacious member of the crew astern, already
referred to, volunteered in our behalf and called
out to him "We will all obey what the officer
orders." The result was at once noticeable. The
presence of a leader among us was now felt, and
lent us purpose and courage. The excitement at
the stern was demonstrated by the frequent sug-
gestion of, "Now boys, all together"; and then in
unison we shouted, "Boat ahoyl Boat ahoy I"
I
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT 103
This was kept up for some time until it was seen
to be a mere waste of strength. So it seemed to
me, and I decided to husband mine and make pro-
vision for what the future, or the morrow, might
require. After a while Lightoller, myself and
others managed with success to discourage these
continuous shouts regarded as a vain hope of
attracting attention.
When the presence of the Marconi boy at the
stern was made known, Lightoller called out, from
his position in the bow, questions which all of us
heard, as to the names of the steamships with
which he had been in communication for assist-
ance. We on the boat recall the names men-
tioned by Bride — the Baltic, Olympic and Car-
patkia. It was then that the Carpaihia's name
was heard by us for the first time, and it was to
catch sight of this sturdy little Cunarder that we
strained our eyes in the direction whence she
finally appeared.
We had correcdy judged that most of the lights
seen by us belonged to our own Tilanic's life-
boats, but Lightoller and all of us were badly
fooled by the green-colored lights and rockets
directly ahead of us, which loomed up especially
bright at intervals. This, as will be noticed in
a future chapter, was Third Officer Boxhall's
Emergency Boat No, 2, We were assured that
I
I04 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
these were the lights of a ship and were all glad
to believe it. There could be no mistake about it
and our craft was navigated toward it as fast as
its propelling conditions made possible; but it did
not take long for us to realize that this light, what-
ever it was, was receding instead of approaching
Some of our boatmates on the Tilanic's decks
had seen the same white light to which I have
already made reference in Chapter II, and the
argument was now advanced that it must have
been a sailing ship, for a steamer would have soon
come to our rescue; but a sailing ship would be
prevented by wind, or lack of facilities in coming
to our aid, I imagined that it was the lights of
such a ship that we again saw on our port side
astern in the direction where, when dawn broke,
we saw the icebergs far away on the horizon.
Some time before dawn a call came from the
stern of the boat, "There is a steamer coming be-
hind us." At the same time a warning cry was
given that we should not all look back at once
lest the equilibrium of our precarious craft might
be disturbed. Lightoller took in the situation and
called out, "All you men stand steady and I will
be the one to look astern." He looked, but there
was no responsive chord that tickled our ears with
hope.
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
105
^
The incident just described happened when we
were all standing up, facing forward in column,
two abreast. Some time before this, for some un-
defined reason, LightoUer had asked the question,
"How many are there of us on this boat?" and
someone answered "thirty, sir." All testimony on
the subject establishes this number. I may cite
LightoUer, who testified: "I should roughly esti-
mate about thirty. She was packed standing from
stem to stern at daylight. We took all on
board that we could, I did not see any effort
made by others to get aboard. There were a
great number of people in the water but not
near us. They were some distance away
from us."
Personally, I could not look around to count,
but I know that forward of me there were eight
and counting myself and the man abreast would
make two more. As every bit of room on the
Engelhardt bottom was occupied and as the
weight aboard nearly submerged it, I believe that
more than half our boatload was behind me.
There is a circumstance that I recall which fur-
ther establishes how closely packed we were.
When standing up I held on once or twice
to the life-preserver on the back of my boatmate
in front in order to balance myself. At the same
time and in the same way the man in my rear held
Io6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
able
on to me. 1 his procedure, bemg objectionabi
to those concerned, was promptly discontinued.
It was at quite an early stage that I had seen far
in the distance the unmistakable mast lights of a
steamer about four or five points away on the port
side, as our course was directed toward the green-
colored lights of the imaginary ship which we hoped
was coming to our rescue, but which, in fact, was
the already-mentioned Titanic lifeboat of Officer
Boxhall. I recall our anxiety, as we had no lights,
that this imaginary ship might not see us and
might run over our craft and swamp us. But my
eyes were fixed for hours that night on the lights
of that steamer, far away in the distance, which
afterwards proved to be those of the Carpathia.
To my great disappointment, they seemed to make
no progress towards us to our rescue. This we
were told later was due to meeting an iceberg as
she was proceeding full speed toward the scene
of the Tilaiiic's wreck. She had come to a stop
in sight of the lights of our lifeboats {or such as
had them). The first boat to come to her sides
was Boxhall's with its green lights. Finally dawn
appeared and there on the port side of our upset
boat where we had been looking with anxious
eyes, glory be to God, we saw the steamer Car-
pathia about four or five miles away, with other
Titanic lifeboats rowing towards her. But on our
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT IO7
Starboard side, much to our surprise, for we had
seen no lights on that quarter, were four of the
Titartic's lifeboats strung together in line. These
were respectively Numbers 14, 10, 12 and 4, ac-
cording to testimony submitted in our next chap-
Meantime, the water had grown rougher, and,
as previously described, was washing over the keel
and we had to make shift to preserve the equili-
brium. Right glad were all of us on our up-
turned boat when in that awful hour the break of
day brought this glorious sight to our eyes.
Lightoller put his whistle to his cold lips and blew
a shrill blast, attracting the attention of the boats
about half a mile away. "Come over and take
us off," he cried, "Aye, aye, sir," was the ready
response as two of the boats cast off from the
I others and rowed directly towards us. Just be-
1 fore the bows of the two boats reached us,
Lightoller ordered us not to scramble, but each to
take his turn, so that the transfer might he made
in safety. When my turn came, in order not to
endanger the lives of the others, or plunge them
into the sea, I went carefully, hands first, into the
rescuing lifeboat. Lightoller remained to the last,
lifting a lifeless body into the boat beside me. I
worked over the body for some time, rubbing the
I temples and the wrists, but when I turned the neck
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
it was perfectly stiff. Recognizing that rigor
mortis had set in, I knew the man was dead. He
was dressed like a member of the crew, and I
recall that he wore gray woollen socks. His hair
was dark. Our lifeboat was so crowded that I
had to rest on this dead body until we reached
the Carpathia, where he was taken aboard and
buried. My efforts to obtain his name have been
exhaustive, but futile, Lightoller was uncertain
as to which one he was of two men he had in
mind; but we both know that it was not the body
of Phillips, the senior Marconi operator. In the
lifeboat to which we were transferred were said
to be sixty-five or seventy of us. The number was
beyond the limit of safety. The boat sank low
in the water, and the sea now became rougher.
Lightoller assumed the command and steered at
the stern. I was glad to recognize young Thayer
amidships. There was a French woman in the
bow near us actively 111 but brave and considerate.
She was very kind in loaning an extra steamer rug
to Barkworth, by my side, who shared it with a
member of the crew (a fireman perhaps) and
myself. That steamer rug was a great comfort
as we drew It over our heads and huddled close
together to obtain some warmth. For a short
time another Titanic lifeboat was towed by ours.
My life-belt was wet and uncomfortable and I
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
109
threw it overboard. Fortunately there was no
further need of it for the use intended. I regret
I did not preserve It as a relic. When we were
first transferred and only two of the lifeboats
came to our rescue, some took it hard that the
other two did not also come to our relief, when we
saw how few these others had aboard; but the
officer in command of them, whom we afterwards
knew as Fifth Officer Lowe, had cleverly rigged
up a sail on his boat and, towing another astern,
made his way to the Carpatliia a long time ahead
of us, but picked up on his way other unfortunates
in another Engelhardt boat, Boat A, which had
shipped considerable water.
My research, particularly the testimony taken
before the Senate Committee, establishes the
identity of the Titanic lifeboats to which, at day-
Ldawn, we of the upset boat were transferred.
i These were Boats No. 12 and No. 4. The for-
' mer was the one that LIghtoller, Barkworth,
Thayer, Jr., and myself were in. Frederick
Clench, able seaman, was in charge of this boat,
and his testimony, as follows, is interesting:
"I looked along the water's edge and saw some
men on a raft. Then I heard two whistles blown.
I sang out, 'Aye, aye, I am coming over,' and
we pulled over and found it was not a raft ex-
actly, but an overturned boat, and Mr. Lightoller
no THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
1 that boat and I thought the wireless
was there on that boat and 1 thought the win
operator, too. We took them on board our boat
and shared the amount of room. They were all
standing on the bottom, wet through apparently,
Mr. Llghtoller took charge of us. Then we
started ahead for the Carpathia. We had to row
a tidy distance to the Carpathia because there
were boats ahead of us and we had a boat in tow,
with others besides all the people we had aboard.
We were pretty well full up before, but the ad-
ditional ones taken on made about seventy in our
boat."
This corresponds with Lightoller's testimony on
the same point. He says:
"I counted sixty-five heads, not including myself,
and none that were in the bottom of the boat,
I roughly estimated about seventy-five in the boat,
which was dangerously full, and it was all I could
do to nurse her up to the sea."
From Steward Cunningham's testimony I found
a corroboration of my estimate of our distance,
at daydawn, from the Carpathia. This he says
"was about four or five miles."
Another seaman, Samuel S. Hemming, who
was in Boat No. 4, commanded by Quar-
termaster Perkis, also gave his testimony as
follows :
"As day broke we heard some hollering going
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT
in
on and we saw some men standing on what wc
thought was ice about half a mile away, but we
I found them on the bottom of an upturned boat.
I Two boats cast off and we pulled to them and
I tx>ok them in our two boats. There were no
women or children on this boat, and I heard there
was one dead body. Second Officer LightoUer
was on the overturned boat. He did not get into
our boat. Only about four or five got into
ours and the balance of them went into the
other boat."
It seemed to me an Interminable time before we
reached the Carpaihia. Ranged along her sides
were others of the Titank's lifeboats which had
been rowed to the Cunarder and had been emptied
of their loads of survivors. In one of these boats
on the port side, standing up, T noticed my friend,
Third Officer H. J. Pitman, with whom I had
made my trip eastward on the Atlantic on board
the Oceanic. All along the sides of the Carpaihia
were strung rope ladders. There were no per-
sons about me needing my assistance, so I mounted
the ladder, and, for the purpose of testing my
strength, I ran up as fast as I could and ex-
perienced no difficulty or feeling of exhaustion. I
entered the first hatchway I came to and felt like
falling down on my knees and kissing the deck
[ratitude for the preservation of my life. I
112 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
made mywayto the second cabin dispensary, where
I was handed a hot drink. I then went to the
deck above and was met with a warm reception In
the dining saloon. Nothing could exceed the kind-
ness of the ladies, who did everything possible for
my comfort. All my wet clothing, overcoat and
shoes, were sent down to the bake-oven to be dried.
Being thus In lack of clothing, I lay down on the
lounge in the dining saloon corner to the right of
the entrance under rugs and blankets, waiting for
a complete outfit of dry clothing.
I am particularly grateful to a number of kind
people on the Carpalhia who helped replenish my
wardrobe, but especially to Mr. Louis M. Ogden,
a family connection and old friend. To Mrs.
Ogden and to Mr. and Mrs. Spedden, who were
on the Titanic, and to their boy's trained nurse,
I am also most grateful. They gave me hot
cordials and hot coffee which soon warmed me
up and dispersed the cold. Among the Carpathia's
passengers, bound for the Mediterranean, I dis-
covered a number of friends of Mrs. Grade's
and mine — Miss K. Steele, sister of Charles
Steele, of New York, Mr. and Mrs. Charles H.
Marshall and Miss Marshall, of New York.
Leaning over the rail of the port side I saw
anxiously gazing down upon us many familiar
faces of fellow survivors, and, among them,
I
ALL NIGHT ON UPTURNED BOAT II3
friends and acquaintances to whom I waved my
hand as I stood up in the bow of my boat. This
boat No. 12 was the last to reach the Carpathia
and her passengers transferred about 8.30 a. m.
CHAPTER VI
THE PORT SIDE: WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRSTi
IHE I
Foreword
; chapte
, previous chapters, describing my per-
I sonal experience on board the Titanic and
remarkable escape from death in the icy
waters of the middle Atlantic, were written some
months ago. In the interim I have received the
pamphlets, printed in convenient form, containing
the hearings of both the American and British
Courts of Inquiry, and have given them consid-
erable study.
These ofEcIal sources of information have
added materially to my store of knowledge con-
cerning the shipwreck, and corroborate to a
marked degree the description from my personal
viewpoint, all the salient points of which were
written before our arrival in New York, and on
the S. S. Carpathia, under circumstances which
will be related in a future chapter.
During the same interval, by correspondence
with survivors and by reading all available printed
114
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
"5
matter in books, magazine articles and news-
papers, I have become still more conversant with
the story of this, the greatest of maritime disas-
ters, which caused more excitement in our country
than any other single event that has occurred in
its history within a generation.
The adopted standard by which I propose to
measure the truth of all statements in this book
is the evidence obtained from these Courts of In-
I quiry, after it has been subjected to careful and
I impartial analysis. All accounts of the disaster,
from newspapers and individual sources, for which
no basis can be found after submission to this re-
fining process, will find no place or mention herein.
In the discussion of points of historical interest
or of individual conduct, where such are matters
of public record, I shall endeavor to present them
fairly before the reader, who can pass thereon
his or her own opinion after a study of the testi-
mony bearing on both sides of any controversy.
In connection with such discussion where the re-
flections cast upon individuals In the sworn testi-
mony of witnesses have already gained publicity,
I claim Immunity from any real or Imaginary ani-
madversions which may be provoked by my im-
partial reference thereto.
I have already recorded my personal observa-
tion of how strictly the rule of human nature,
I
Il6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
"Women and Children First," was enforced on
the port side of the great steamship, whence no
man escaped alive who made his station on this
quarter and bade good-bye to wife, mother or
sister.
I have done my best, during the limited time
allowed, to exhaust all the above-defined sources
of information, in an effort to preserve as com-
plete a list as possible of those comrades of mine
who, from first to last, on this port side of the
ship, helped to preserve order and discipline, up-
holding the courage of women and children, until
all the boats had left the Titanic, and who then
sank with the ship when she went down.
I shall now present the record and story of each
lifeboat, on both port and starboard sides of the'
ship, giving so far as I have been able to obtain
them the names of persons loaded aboard each
boat, passengers and crew; those picked up out of
the water; the stowaways found concealed beneath
the thwarts, and those men who, without orders,
jumped from the deck into boats being lowered,
injuring the occupants and endangering the lives
of women and children. At the same time will be
described the conditions existing "when each boat
was loaded and lowered, and whatever incidents
occurred in the transfer of passengers to the
rescuing steamer Carpalkia.
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
The general testimony of record, covering the
conduct which was exhibited on the port side of
^^^ the ship, Is contained in the careful statements of
^^K that splendid ofilicer, Charles H. LightoIIer, be-
^^H fore the United States Senate Committee: (Am.
^H Inq., p. 88.)
^^H Senator Smith: From what you have said,
^^B you discriminated entirely in the interest of the
^^^ passengers — first women and children — In filling
these lifeboats?
iMR. Lightoller: Yes, sir.
Senator Smith: Why did you do that? Be-
cause of the captain's orders, or because of the
rule of the sea?
, Mr. Lightoller: The rule of human na-
ture.
And also in his testimony before the British
Inquiry (p. 71) :
"I asked the captain on the Boat Deck, 'Shall
I get women and children in the boats ?" The cap-
tain replied, 'Yes, and lower away.' I was carry-
ing out his orders. I am speaking of the port
side of the ship. I was running the port side only.
All the boats on this side were lowered except
the last, which was stowed on top of the officers'
quarters. This was the surf boat — the Enge!-
hardt boat (A). We had not time to launch it,
nor yet to open it."
Il8 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
(Br. Inq.) "I had no difficulty in filling the
boat. The people were perfectly ready and
quiet. There was no jostling or pushing or
crowding whatever. The men all refrained
from asserting their strength and from crowd-
ing back the women and children. They
could not have stood quieter if they had been
in church."
And referring to the last boats that left the
ship (Br. Inq., p. 83) :
"When we were lowering the women, there
were any amount of Americans standing near who
gave me every assistance they could."
The crow's nest on the foremast was just about
level with the water when the bridge was sub-
merged. The people left on the ship, or that part
which was not submerged, did not make any dem-
onstration. There was not a sign of any lamen-
tation.
On the port side on deck I can say, as far as
my own observations went, from my own en-
deavor and that of others to obtain women, there
were none left on the deck.
My testimony on the same point before the
United States Senate Committee (Am. Inq., p.
992) was as follows:
"I want to say that there was nothing but the
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
H9
I
*
most heroic conduct on the part of all men and
women at that time where I was at the bow on
the port side. There was no man who asked to
get in a boat with the single exception that I have
already mentioned. (Referring to Co!. Astor's
request to go aboard to protect his wife. Am.
Inq., p. 991.) No women even sobbed or wrung
their hands, and everything appeared perfectly
orderly. Lightoller was splendid in his conduct
with the crew, and the crew did their duty. It
seemed to me it was a little bit more difficult than
it should have been to launch the boats alongside
the ship. I do not know the cause of that. I
know I had to use my muscle as best I could in
trying to push those boats so as to get them over
the gunwale. I refer to these In a general way
as to its being difficult in trying to lift them and
push them over. (As was the case with the
Engelhardt "D.") The crew, at first, sort of
resented my working with them, but they were
very glad when I worked with them later on.
Every opportunity I got to help, I helped."
How these statements are corroborated by the
testimony of others is recorded in the detailed
description of each boat that left the ship on the
port side as follows:
d
I20 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
BOAT No. 6.*
No male passengers.
Passengers: Miss Bowerman, Mrs. J. J,
Brown, Mrs. Candee, Mrs. Cavendish and her
maid (Miss Barber), Mrs. Meyer, Miss Norton,
Mrs. Rothschild, Mrs. L. P. Smith, Mrs. Stone
and her maid (Miss Icard).
Ordered in to supply lack of crew: Major A.
G. Peuchen.
Said good-bye to wives and sank with ship:
Messrs. Cavendish, Meyer, Rothschild and L. P.
Smith.
Crew: Hitchens, Q, M. (in charge). Seaman
Fleet. (One fireman transferred from No. l6 to
row.) Also a boy with injured arm whom Captain
Smith had ordered in.
Total: 28. (Br. Inq.)
Lightoller's testimony (Am. Inq., p. 79) :
I was calUng for seamen and one of the seamen
jumped out of the boat and started to lower away.
* British Report (p. 38) puts this boat first to leave port
Bide at 13.SS. Ligbtoiier's testlmODj- shows it could not biive
been the first.
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 121
The boat was half way down when a woman
called out that there was only one man in It. I
had only two seamen and could not part with them,
and was In rather a fix to know what to do when
a passenger called out: "If you like, I will go."
This was a first-class passenger, Major Peuchen,
of Toronto. I said: "Are you a seaman?" and
he said: "I am a yachtsman." I said: "If you
are sailor enough to get out on that fall — that is
a difficult thing to get to over the ship's side, eight
feet away, and means a long swing, on a dark
night — if you are sailor enough to get out there,
you can go down"; and he proved he was, by
going down.
F. Fleet, L. O. (Am. Inq., 363) and (Br. Inq.) :
Witness says there were twenty-three women,
Major Peuchen and Seamen Hitchens and himself.
As he left the deck he heard Mr. Lightoller shout-
ing: "Any more women?" No. 6 and one other
cut adrift after reaching the Carpalhia.
Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen, Manufactur-
ing Chemist, Toronto, Canada, and Major of
Toronto's crack regiment, The Queen's Own
Rifles (Am. Inq., p. 334) , testified :
I was standing on the Boat Deck, port side,
122 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
near the second officer and the captain. One of
them said: "We must get these masts and sails
out of these boats; you might give us a hand."
I jumped in, and with a knife cut the lashings
of the mast and sail and moved the mast out of
the boat. Only women were allowed in, and the
men had to stand back. This was the order, and
the second officer stood there and carried it out
to the limit. He allowed no men, except sailors
who were manning the boat. I did not see one
single male passenger get in or attempt to get in.
I never saw such perfect order. The discipline
was perfect. I did not see a cowardly act by any
man.
When I first came on this upper deck there were
about loo stokers coming up with their dunnage
bags and they seemed to crowd this whole deck
in front of the boats. One of the officers, I don't
know which one, a very powerful man, came along
and drove these men right off this deck like a lot
of sheep. They did not put up any resistance.
I admired him for it. Later, there were counted
20 women, one quartermaster, one sailor and one
stowaway, before I was ordered in.
In getting into the boat I went aft and said to
the quartermaster: "What do you want me to
do?" "Get down and put that plug in," he an-
swered. I made a dive down for the plug. The
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIEST 1 23
F.ladies were all sitting pretty well aft and I could
I not see at all. It was dark down there. I felt
I with my hands and then said it would be better
I for him to do it ;
: do his work. I said,
"Now, you get down and put in the plug and I
will undo the shackles," that Is, take the blocks
off, so he dropped the blocks and got down to
fix the plug, and then he came back to assist me
saying, "Hurry up," He said: "This boat is
going to founder." I thought he meant our lifeboat
was going to founder, but he meant the large boat,
and that we were to hurry up and get away from
it, so we got the rudder in and he told me to
go forward and take an oar. I did so, and got
an oar on the port side. Sailor Fleet was on my
left on the starboard side. The quartermaster
told us to row as hard as we could to get
away from the suction. We got a short
distance away when an Italian, a ■ stowaway,
made his appearance. He had a broken wrist
or arm, and was of no use to row. He was
stowed away under the boat where we could not
see him.
Toward morning we tied up to another boat
(No. 16) for fifteen minutes. We said to those
in the other boat: "Surely you can spare us one
man if you have so many." One man, a fireman,
was accordingly transferred, who assisted in row-
124 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
ing on the starboard side. The women helped
with the oars, and very pluckily too.*
We were to the weather of the Carpalhia, and
so she stayed there until we all came down on her,
I looked at my watch and it was something after
eight o'clock.
Mrs. Candee's account of her experience is as
follows :
She last saw Mr. Kent in the companionway
between Decks A and B. He took charge of an
ivory miniature of her mother, etc., which after-
wards were found on his body when brought into
Halifax, He appeared at the time to hesitate
accepting her valuables, seeming to have a pre-
monition of his fate.
She witnessed the same incident described by
Major Peuchen, when a group of firemen came
up on deck and were ordered by the officer to re-
turn below. She, however, gives praise to these
men. They obeyed like soldiers, and without a
murmur or a protest, though they knew better
than anyone else on the ship that they were going
straight to their death. No boats had been
lowered when these firemen first appeared upon
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
125
I
she Boat Deck, and it would have been an
easy matter for them to have "rushed" the
boats.
Her stateroom steward also gave an exhibition
if courage. After he had tied on her life pre-
server and had locked her room as a precaution
against looters, which she believed was done all
through the deck, she said to this brave man:
"It is time for you to look out for yourself," to
which the steward replied, "Oh, plenty of time for
that, Madam, plenty of time for that," He was
lost.
As she got into boat No. 6, it being dark and
not seeing where she stepped, her foot encountered
the oars lying lengthwise In the boat and her
ankle was thus twisted and broken.
Just before her boat was lowered away a man's
voice said : "Captain, we have no seaman." Cap-
tain Smith then seized a boy by the arm and said:
"Here's one." The boy went into the boat as
ordered by the captain, but afterwards he was
found to be disabled. She does not think he was
an Italian.
Her impression is that there were other boatu
in the water which had been lowered before hers.
There was a French woman about fifty years of
age in the boat who was constantly calling for licr
son. Mrs. Candee sat near her. After arrival
126 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
on the Carpathia this French woman became j
hysterical.
Notwithstanding Hitchens' statements, she says
that there was absolutely no upset feeling on the
women's part at any time, even when the boat, as i
it was being lowered, on several occasions hung
at a dangerous angle — sometimes bow up and
sometimes stern up. The lowering process seemed
to be done by jerks. She herself called out to
the men lowering the boat and gave instructions:
otherwise they would have been swamped.
The Italian boy who was in the boat was not a
stowaway, he was ordered in by the captain as
already related. Neither did he refuse to row.
When he tried to do so, it was futile, because of
an injury to his arm or wrist.
Through the courtesy of another fellow pas-
senger, Mrs. J. J. Brown, of Denver, Colorado, I
am able to give her experiences in boat No. 6,
told in a delightful, graphic manner; so much so
that I would like to insert it all did not space pre-
vent:
In telling of the people she conversed with,
that Sunday evening, she refers to an exceedingly
intellectual and much-travelled acquaintance, Mrs.
Bucknell, whose husband had founded the Buck-
■ nell University of Philadelphia; also to another _
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
127
F passenger from the same city, Dr. Brewe, who
[ had done much in scientific research. During her
[ conversation with Mrs. Bucknell, the latter re-
I iterated a statement previously made on the tender
at Cherbourg while waiting for the Titanic. She
I said she feared boarding the ship because she had
I evil forebodings that something might happen.
Mrs. Brown laughed at her premonitions and
. shortly afterwards sought her quarters.
Instead of retiring to slumber, Mrs. Brown
I was absorbed in reading and gave little thought
to the crash at her window overhead which threw
her to the floor. Picking herself up she proceeded
see what the steamer had struck; but thinking
nothing serious had occurred, though realizing
that the engines had stopped immediately after the
crash and the boat was at a standstill, she picked
up her book and began reading again. Finally
she saw her curtains moving while she was read-
ing, but no one was visible. She again looked out
and saw a man whose face was blanched, his eyes
protruding, wearing the look of a haunted crea-
ture. He was gasping for breath and In an un-
dertone gasped, "Get your life preserver." He
was one of the buyers for Gimbel Bros., of Paris
and New York.
She got down her life preserver, snatched up
her furs and hurriedly mounted the stairs to A
128 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
Deck, where she found passengers putting on life-
belts like hers. Mrs. Bucknell approached and
whispered, "Didn't I tell you something was go-
ing to happen?" She found the hfeboats lowered
from the falls and made flush with the deck.
Madame de Villiers appeared from below in a
nightdress and evening slippers, with no stockings.
She wore a long woollen motorcoat. Touching
Mrs. Brown's arm, in a terrified voice she said
she was going below for her money and valuables.
After much persuasion Mrs. Brown prevailed
upon her not to do so, but to get into the boat.
She hesitated and became very much excited, but
was finally prevailed upon to enter the lifeboat.
Mrs. Brown was walking away, eager to see what
was being done elsewhere. Suddenly she saw a
shadow and a few seconds later someone seized
her, saying: "You are going, too," and she was
dropped fully four feet Into the lowering lifeboat.
There was but one man in charge of the boat. As
it was lowered by jerks by an officer above, she
discovered that a great gush of water was spout-
ing through the porthole from D Deck, and the
lifeboat was in grave danger of being submerged.
She immediately grasped an oar and held the life-
boat away from the ship.
When the sea was reached, smooth as glass,
she looked up and saw the benign, resigned coun-
■
I
I
WOMEN AND CHU.DKEN FIRST
129
I tenance, the venerable white hair and the Chester-
fieldian bearing of the beloved Captain Smith
with whom she had crossed twice before, and only
three months previous on the Olympic. He peered
down upon those in the boat, like a solicitous fa-
ther, and directed them to row to the light in the
distance — all boats keeping together.
Because of the fewness of men in the boat she
found it necessary for someone to bend to the
oars. She placed her oar in an oarlock and asked
a young woman nearby to hold one while she
placed the other on the further side. To Mrs.
Brown's surprise, the young lady {who must have
been Miss Norton, spoken of elsewhere), im-
mediately began to row like a galley slave, every
stroke counting. Together they managed to pull
away from the steamer.
By this time E and C Decks were completely
submerged. Those ladies who had husbands,
sons or fathers on the doomed steamer buried
their heads on the shoulders of those near them
and moaned and groaned. Mrs. Brown's eyes
were glued on the fast-disappearing ship. Sud-
denly there was a rift In the water, the sea opened
up and the surface foamed like giant arms and
spread around the ship and the vessel disappeared
from sight, and not a sound was heard.
Then follows Mrs. Brown's account of the
130 THE TltUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC^
conduct of the quartermaster in the boat
which will be found under the heading pres-
ently given, and it will be noticed that her state-
ments correspond with those of all others in the
boat.
The dawn disclosed the awful situation. There
were fields of ice on which, like points on the
landscape, rested innumerable pyramids of ice.
Seemingly a half hour later, the sun, like a ball of
molten lead, appeared in the background. The
hand of nature portrayed a scenic effect beyond
the ken of the human mind. The heretofore
smooth sea became choppy and retarded their
progress. All the while the people In boat No.
6 saw the other small lifeboats being hauled
aboard the Carpathia. By the time their boat
reached the Carpathia a heavy sea was running,
and, No. 6 boat being among the last to approach,
it was found difficult to get close to the ship.
Three or four unsuccessful attempts were made.
Each time they were, dashed against the keel, and
bounded off like a rubber ball. A rope was then
thrown down, which was spliced in four at the
I bottom, and a Jacob's ladder was made. Catch-
ing hold, they were hoisted up, where a dozen of
the crew and officers and doctors were waiting.
They were caught and handled as tenderly as
though they were children.
I
women and children first
kitchens' conduct
I
Major Peuchcn (Am. Inq., p. 334) continued:
There was an officers' call, sort of a whistle,
calling us to come back to the boat. The quarter-
master told us to stop rowing. We all thought wc
ought to go back to the ship, but the quartermas-
ter said "No, we are not going back to the boat;
it is our lives now, not theirs." It was the women
who rebelled against this action. I asked him to
assist us in rowing and let some of the women
steer the boat, as it was a perfectly calm night and
no skill was required. He refused, and told me
he was in command of that boat and that I was
to row.
He imagined he saw a light. I have done a
great deal of yachting in my life, I have owned
a yacht for six years. I saw a reflection. He
thought it was a boat of some kind; probably it
might be a buoy, and he called out to the next boat
asking them if they knew any buoys were around
there. This struck me as being perfectly absurd.
I heard what seemed to be one, two, three
rumbling sounds; then the lights of the ship went
out. Then the terrible cries and calls for help —
moaning and crying. It affected all the women in
our boat whose husbands were among those in
the water. This went on for some time, grad-
■ atti
ually getting fainter and fainter. At first it was
horrible to listen to. We must have been five-
eighths of a mile away when this toolc place.
There were only two of us rowing a very heavy
boat with a good many people in it, and I do not
think we covered very much ground. Some of
the women in the boat urged the quartermaster to
return. He said there was no use going back, —
that there were only a "lot of stiffs there." The
women resented it very much.
Seaman Fleet (Am. Inq., p. 363) :
All the women asked us to pull to the place
where the Tilanic went down, but the quarter-
master, who was at the tiller all the time, would
not allow it. They asked him, but he would not
hear of it.
Mrs, Candee continues;
Hitchens was cowardly and almost crazed with
fear all the time. After we left the ship he
thought he heard the captain say: "Come along-
side," and was for turning back until reminded by
the passengers that the captain's final orders were:
"Keep boats together and row away from the
ship." She heard this order given.
After that he constantly reminded us who were
at the oars that if we did not make better speed
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
133
with our rowing we would all be sucked under
the water by the foundering of the ship. This he
repeated whenever our muscles flagged.
Directly the Titanic had foundered a discussion
arose as to whether we should return. Hitchens
said our boat would immediately be swamped if
we went into the confusion. The reason for this
was that our boat was not manned with enough
oars.
Then after the sinking of the Titanic Hitchens
reminded us frequently that we were hundreds of
miles from land, without water, without food,
without protection against cold, and If a storm
should come up that we would be helpless. There-
fore, we faced death by starvation or by drown-
ing. He said we did not even know the direction
In which we were rowing, I corrected him by
pointing to the north star immediately over our
bow.
When our boat came alongside No. 16, Hit-
chens immediately ordered the boats lashed to-
gether. He resigned the helm and settled down to
rest. When the Carpathia hove in sight he or-
dered that we drift. Addressing the people in
both boats Mrs. Candee said: "Where those
lights are lies our salvation; shall we not go to-
wards them?" The reply was a murmur of ap-
proval and immediate recourse to the oars.
N
134 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TlTANIC"
Hitchens was requested to assist in the toilsome
romng. Women tried to taunt and provoke him
into activity. When it was suggested that he per-
mit the injured boy to take the tiller and that
Hitchens should row, he declined, and in every
case he refused labor. He spoke with such un-
civility to one of the ladies that a man's voice was
heard in rebuke: "You are speaking to a lady,"
to which he replied: "I know whom I am speaking
to, and I am commanding this boat."
When asked if the Carpathia would come and
pick us up he replied: "No, she is not going to
pick us up; she Is to pick up bodies." This when
said to wives and mothers of the dead men was
needlessly brutal.
When we neared the Carpathia he refused to go
round on the smooth side because it necessitated
keeping longer in the rough sea, so we made a
difficult landing.
In Mrs. Brown's account of her experience she
relates the following about the conduct of the
quartermaster in charge of the boat in which she
was:
He, Quartermaster Hitchens, was at the rudder
and standing much higher than we were, shivering
like an aspen. As they rowed away from the
ship he burst out in a frightened voice and warned
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
them of the fate that awaited them, saying that
the task in rowing away from the sinking ship
was futile, as she was so large that in sinking she
would draw everything for miles around dowa
with her suction, and, if they escaped that, the
boilers would burst and rip up the bottom of the
sea, tearing the icebergs asunder and completely
submerging them. They were truly doomed either
way. He dwelt upon the dire fate awaiting them,
describing the accident that happened to the S. S.
New York when the Titanic left the docks at
Southampton.
After the ship had sunk and none of the ca-
lamities that were predicted by the terrified quar-
termaster were experienced, he was asked to re-
turn and pick up those in the water. Again the
people in the boat were admonished and told how
the frantic drowning victims would grapple the
sides of the boat and capsize It. He not yielding
to the entreaties, those at the oars pulled away
vigorously towards a faintly glimmering light on
the horizon. After three hours of pulling the
light grew fainter, and then completely disap-
peared. Then this quartermaster, who stood on
his pinnacle trembling, with an attitude like some
one preaching to the multitude, fanning the air
with his hands, recommenced his tirade of awful
forebodings, telling those in the boat that they
' 136 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
were likely to drift for days, all the while re-
minding them that they were surrounded by ice-
bergs, as he pointed to a pyramid of ice looming
up in the distance, possibly seventy feet high. He
forcibly impressed upon them that there was no
water in the casks in the lifeboats, and no bread,
no compass and no chart. No one answered him.
All seemed to be stricken dumb. One of the
ladies in the boat had had the presence of mind to
procure her silver brandy flask. As she held it
in her hand the silver glittered and he being at-
tracted to it implored her to give it to him, saying
that he was frozen. She refused the brandy, but
removed her steamer blanket and placed it around
his shoulders, while another lady wrapped a sec-
ond blanket around his waist and limbs, he look-
ing "as snug as a bug in a rug."
The quartermaster was then asked to relieve
one or the other of those struggling at the oars,
as someone else could manage the rudder while
he rowed. He flatly refused and continued
to lampoon them, shouting : "Here, you fel-
low on the starboard side, your oar is not b,e-
ing put in the water at the right angle." No one
made any protest to his outbursts, as he broke the
monotony, but they continued to pull at the oars
with no goal in sight. Presently he raised his
voice and shouted to another lifeboat to pull near
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 137
[ and lash alongside, commanding some of the other
ladies to take the light and signal to the other life-
boats. His command was immediately obeyed.
He also gave another command to drop the oars
and lay to. Some time later, after more shouts,
a lifeboat hove to and obeyed his orders to throw
a rope, and was tied alongside. On the cross-
seat of that boat stood a man in white pajamas,
looking like a snow man in that icy region. His
teeth were chattering and he appeared quite numb.
Seeing his predicament, Mrs. Brown told him he
had better get to rowing and keep his blood in
circulation. But the suggestion met with a forci-
ble protest from the quartermaster in charge.
Mrs. Brown and her companions at the oars, after
their exercise, felt the blasts from the ice-fields
and demanded that they should be allowed to row
to keep warm.
Over into their boat jumped a half-frozen
stoker, black and covered with dust. As he was
dressed in thin jumpers, she picked up a large
sable stole which she had dropped into the boat'
and wrapped it around his limbs from his waist
down and tied the tails around his ankles. She
handed him an oar and told the pajama man to
cut loose, A howl arose from the quartermas-
ter in charge. He moved to prevent it, and Mrs.
Brown told him if he did he would be thrown
138 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC
overboard. Someone laid a hand on her shoulder
to stay her threats, but she knew it would not be
nece8sat7 to push him over, for had she only
moved in the quartermaster's direction, he would
have tumbled into the sea, so paralyzed was he
with fright. By this time he had worked himself
up to a pitch of sheer despair, fearing that a
scramble of any kind would remove the plug from
the bottom of the boat. He then became very im-
pertinent, and our fur-enveloped stoker in as
broad a cockney as one hears in the Hay-
market shouted: "Oi sy, don't you know you
arc talkin' to a Iidy?" For the time being the
seaman was silenced and we resumed our task
at the oars. Two other ladies came to the
rescue.
While glancing around watching the edge of
the horizon, the beautifully modulated voice of
the young Englishwoman at the oar {Miss Nor-
ton) exclaimed, "There Is a flash of lightning."
"It is a falling star," replied our pessimistic sea-
man. As it became brighter he was then con-
vinced that it was a ship. However, the distance,
as we rowed, seemed interminable. We saw the
ship was anchored. Again the declaration was
made that we, regardless of what our quartermas-
ter said, would row toward her, and the young
Englishwoman from the Thames got to work, ac-
I
WO!.lEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
139
I
companying her strokes with cheerful words to the
wilted occupants ot the boat.
Mrs. Brown brushes the quartermaster in her
final account of him. On entering the dining-
room on the Carpathia, she saw him in one cor-
ner — this brave and heroic seaman I A cluster of
people were around him as he wildly gesticulated,
trying to Impress upon them what difficulty he had
in maintaining discipline among the occupants of
his boat; but on seeing Mrs. Brown and a few
others of the boat nearby he did not tarry long,
but made a hasty retreat.
R. Hitchens, Q. M. (Am. Inq., p. 451. Br.
Inq.) explains his conduct:
I was put in charge of No. 6 by the Second 0(>
ficer, Mr, Lightoller, We lowered away from the
ship. I told them in the boat somebody would have
to pull. There was no use stopping alongside the
ship, which was gradually going by the head. We
were in a dangerous place, so I told them to man
the oars — ladies and all. "All of you do your
best." I relieved one of the young ladies with an
oar and told her to take the tiller. She imme-
diately let the boat come athwart, and the ladies
in the boat got very nervous ; so I took the tiller
badt again and told them to manage the best way
they could. The lady I refer to, Mrs. Meyer,
14° THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
5 rathei
:ed with r
1 the boat and I spoke
r vexed
rather straight to her. She accused me ot wrap-
ping myself up in the blankets In the boat, using
bad language and drinking all the whisky, which
1 deny, sir. I was standing to attention, exposed,
steering the boat all night, which is a very cold
billet, I would rather be pulUng the boat than
be steering, but I saw no one there to steer, so I
thought, being in charge of the boat, it was the
best way to steer myself, especially when I saw
the ladies get very nervous,
I do not remember that the women urged me
to go toward the Titanic. I did not row toward
the scene of the Titanic because the suction of the
ship would draw the boat, with all its occupants,
under water. J did not know which way to go back
to the Titanic. I was looking at all the other boats.
We were looking at each other's lights. After the
lights disappeared and went out, we did hear cries
of distress — a lot of crying, moaning and scream-
ing, for two or three minutes. We made fast to
another boat — that of the master-at-arms. It was
No. 1 6. I had thirty-eight women in my boat.
I counted them, sir. One seaman, Fleet; the Ca-
nadian Major, who testified here yesterday, my-
self and the Italian boy.
We got down to the Carpathia and I saw every
lady and everybody out of the boat, and I saw ■
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
them carefully hoisted on board the Carpathia,
and I was the last man to leave the boat.
BOAT NO. 8 *
No male passengers in this boat.
Passengers : Mrs. Bucknell and her maid (Al-
bina Bazzani) ; Miss Cherry, Mrs. Kenyon, Miss
Leader, Mrs. Pears, Mrs, Penasco and her maid
(Mile. Olivia); Countess Rothes and her maid
( Miss Maloney) ; Mrs. Swift, Mrs. Taussig,
Miss Taussig, Mrs. White and her maid (Amelia
Bessetti); Mrs. Wick, Miss Wick, Miss Young
and Mrs. Straus' maid (Ellen Bird).
Women : 24,
Said good-bye to wives and sank with the skip:
Messrs. Kenyon, Pears, Penasco, Taussig and
Wick.
Crew: Seaman T. Jones, Stewards Crawford
and Hart, and a cook.
Total: 28.
INCIDENTS
T. Jones, seaman (Am. Inq., p. 570).
The captain asked me if the plug was in thi
boat and I answered, "Yes, sir." "AH right," he
■British Report <p. 3S) puts this boat second on port
side at 1.10. Notwitlis landing Seaman Fleet's testimony
(Am. Inq-i p. 3S3), I think she must have preceded No. 0.
J
142 THE TRUra ABOUT THE TITANIC
said, "any more ladies?" He shouted twice
again, "Any more ladies?"
I pulled for the light, but I found that I could
not get to it; so I stood by for a while. I wanted
to return to the ship, but the ladies were fright-
ened. In all, I had thirty-five ladies and three
stewards, Crawford, Hart and another. There
were no men who offered to get in the boat. I
did not see any children, and very few women
when we left the ship. There was one old lady
there and an old gentleman, her husband. She
wanted him to enter the boat with her but he
backed away. She never said anything; if she did,
we could not hear It, because the steam was blow-
ing so and making such a noise.*
Senator Newlands : Can you give me the names
of any passengers on this boat?
Witness : One lady — she had a lot to say and I
put her to steering the boat.
Senator Newlands ; What was her name ?
Witness: Lady Rothes; she was a countess, or
something.
A. Crawford, steward (Am. Inq., pp. iii, 827,
84«).
• By the testimony of the witness and Steward Craw-
ford it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Straus approached this
boat and their maid got in, hut Mr. Straus would not follpw
his wife aniJ she refused to leave hini.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIKST
143
^
^
^
After we struck I went out and saw the iceberg,
a large black object, much higher than B Deck,
passing along the starboard side. We filled No.
8 with women. Captain Smith and a steward
lowered the forward falls. Captain Smith told
me to get in. He gave orders to row for the light
and to land the people there and come back to the
ship. The Countess Rothes was at the tiller all
night. There were two lights not further than
ten miles — stationary masthead lights. Every-
body saw them — all the ladies in the boat. They
asked if we were drawing nearer to the steamer,
but we could not seem to make any headway, and
near daybreak we saw another steamer coming
up, which proved to be the Carpathia, and then
we turned around and came back. We were the
furthest boat away. I am sure it was a steamer,
because a sailing vessel would not have had two
masthead lights.
Mrs. J. Stuart White (Am. Inq., p. 1008) .
Senator Smith: Did you see anything after the
accident bearing on the discipline of the officers or
crew, or their conduct which you desire to speak
of?
Mrs. White : Before we cut loose from the ship
these stewards took out cigarettes and lighted
them. On an occasion like that! That is one
144
TITANIC
thing I saw. All of these men escaped under the
pretence of being oarsmen. The man who rowed
near me took his oar and rowed all over the boat
in every direction. I said to him: "Why don't
you put the oar in the oarlock?" He said: "Do
you put it in that hole?" ] said: "Certainly." He
said: "I never had an oar in my hand before." I
spoke to the other man and he said: "1 have never
had an oar in my hand before, but I think I can
row." These were the men we were put to sea
with, that night — with all those magnificent fel-
lows left on board who would have been such a
protection to us — those were the kind of men with
whom we were put to sea that night! There were
twenty-two women and four men in my boat.
None of the men seemed to understand the man-
agement of a boat except one who was at the end
of our boat and gave the orders. The officer who
put us in the boat gave strict orders to make for
the hght opposite, land passengers and then get
back just as soon as possible. That was the light
everybody saw in the distance. I saw it distinctly.
It was ten miles away, but we rowed, and rowed,
and rowed, and then we all decided that it was
impossible for us to get to it, and the thing to do
was to go back and see what we could do for the
others. We had only twenty-two in our boat.
We turned and went back and lingered around for
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I45
a long time. We could not locate the other boats
except by hearing them. The only way to look
was by my electric light. I had an electric cane
with an electric light in it. The lamp in the boat
was worth absolutely nothing. There was no ex-
citement whatever on the ship. Nobody seemed
frightened. Nobody was panic-stricken. There
was a lot of pathos when husbands and wives
kissed each other good-bye.
We were the second boat (No. 8) that got
away from the ship and we saw nothing that hap-
pened after that. We were not near enough. We
heard the yells of the passengers as they went
down, but we saw none of the harrowing part of
it. The women in our boat all rowed — every one
of them. Miss Voung rowed every minute. The
men (the stewards) did not know the first thing
about it and could not row, Mrs. Swift rowed
all the way to the Carpalhia. Countess Rothes
stood at the tiller. Where would we have been
if It had not been for the women, with such men
as were put in charge of the boat? Our head sea-
man was giving orders and these men knew noth-
ing about a boat. They would say; "If you don't
stop talking through that hole in your face there
will be one less in the boat." We were In the
hands of men of that kind. I settled two or three
fights between them and quieted them down. Im-
agine getting right out there and taking out a pipe
and smoking It, which was most dangerous. We
had woollen rugs all around us. There was an-
other thing which I thought a disgraceful point.
The men were asked when they got in if they
could row. Imagine asking men who are sup-
posed to be at the head of lifeboats if they can
row I
Senator Smith : There were no male passengers
in your boat?
Mrs. White: Not one. I never saw a finer
body of men in my life than the men passengers
on this ship — athletes and men of sense — and if
they had been permitted to enter these lifeboats
with their families, the boats would have been
properly manned and many more lives saved, In-
stead of allowing stewards to get in the boats
and save their lives under the pretence that they
could row when they knew nothing about it.
BOAT NO. 10.*
No male passengers in this boat.
Passengers: First cabin, Miss Andrews, Miss
Longley, Mrs. Hogeboom. Second cabin, Mrs.
Parrish, Mrs. Shelley. 41 women, 7 children,
'British Report (p. SB) says third at 1.20. I think No. 6
went later, though fiuley (Am. loq., p. 604) claims No. 10 as
the last lifeboat lowered.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
147
Crew: Seamen: Buley (in charge), Evans;
Fireman Rice; Stewards Burke and one other.
Stowaway: i Japanese.
Jumped from J Deck Into boat being lowered:
I Armenian.
Total: 55-
INCIDENTS
Edward J. Buley, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 604).
Chief Officer Wilde said: "See if you can find
another seaman to give you a hand, and jump in."
I found Evans, my mate, the able-bodied seaman,
and we both got in the boat.
Much of Seaman Buley's and of Steward
Burke's testimony is a repetition of that of Sea-
man Evans, so I cite the latter only;
F. O. Evans, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 675).
I went up (on the Boat Deck) with the remain-
der of the crew and uncovered all of the port
boats. Then to the starboard side and lowered
the boats there with the assistance of the Boat-
swain of the ship, A. Nichol. I went next (after
No. 12) to No. 10. Mr. Murdoch was standing
there. I lowered the boat with the assistance of
a steward. The chief officer said; "Get into that
boat." I got into the bows. A young ship's
I
148 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
baker (J. Joughin) was getting the children and
chucking them into the boat. Mr. Murdoch and
the baker made the women jump across into the
boat about two feet and a half. "He threw them
on to the women and he was catching children
by their dresses and chucking them in." One
woman in a black dress slipped and fell. She
seemed nervous and did not like to jump at first.
When she did jump she did not go far enough,
but fell between the ship and the boat. She was
pulled in by some men on the deck below, went up
to the Boat Deck again, took another jump, and
landed safely in the boat. There were none of
the children hurt. The only accident was with this
woman. The only man passenger was a for-
eigner, up forward. He, as the boat was being
lowered, jumped from A Deck into the boat — de-
liberately jumped across and saved himself.
When we got to the water it was impossible to
get to the tripper underneath the thwart on ac-
count of women being packed so tight. We had
to lift the fall up off the hook by hand to release
the spring to get the block and fall away from it.
We pushed off from the ship and rowed away
about 200 yards. We tied up to three other
boats. We gave the man our painter and made
fast to No. 12. We stopped there about an hour,
and Officer Lowe came over with his boat No. 14
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I49
and said: "You seamen will have to distribute
these passengers among these boats. Tie them to-
gether and come Into my boat to go over to the
wreckage and picit up anyone that Is alive there."
Witness testified that the larger lifeboats would
hold sixty people.
Senator Smith: Do you wish to be understood
that each lifeboat like Nos. 12 and 14 and 10
could be filled to its fullest capacity and lowered
to the water with safety?
Mr. Evans: Yes, because we did it then, sir.
Senator Smith : That is a pretty good answer.
Mr. Evans: It was my first experience in seeing
a boat loaded like that, sir.
The stern of the ship, after plunging forward,
remained floating In a perpendicular position about
four or five minutes.
W. Burke, dining-room steward (Am, Inq., p.
822).
I went to my station and found that my boat,
No. I, had gone. Then to the port side and as-
sisted with No. 8 boat and saw her lowered.
Then I passed to No. 10. The officer said, "Get
right In there," and pushed me toward the boat,
and I got In. When there were no women to be
had around the deck the officer gave the order
for the boat to be lowered.
150 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
After the two seamen (Buley and Evans) were
transferred to boat No. 14, some of the women
forward said to me: "There are two men down
here tn the bottom of the boat." I got hold of
them and pulled one out. He apparently was a
Japanese and coutd not speak English. I put him
at an oar. The other appeared to be an Italian.
I tried to speak to him but he said: "Armenian."
I also put him at an oar. I afterwards made fast
to an officer's boat — I think it was Mr. Lightol-
ler's (i. e., No. 12).
Mrs. Imanita Shelley's affidavit (Am. Inq.,
p. 1146).
Mrs. Shelley with her mother, Mrs. L. D. Par-
rish, were second cabin passengers. Mrs. Shelley
had been sick and it was with difficulty that she
reached the deck, where she was assisted to a
chair. After some time a sailor ran to her and
implored her to get in the lifeboat that was then
being launched — one of the last on the ship.
Pushing her mother toward the sailor, Mrs. Shel-
ley made for the davits where the boat hung.
There was a space of between four or five feet
between the edge of the deck and the suspended
boat. The sailor picked up Mrs. Parrish and threw
her bodily into the boat. Mrs. Shelley jumped and
landed safely. There were a fireman and a ship's
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I5I
baker among the crew at the time of launching.
The boat was filled with women and children, as
many as could get in without overcrowding. There
was trouble with the tackle and the ropes had to
be cut.
Just as they reached the water, a crazed Italian
jumped from the deck into the lifeboat, landing on
Mrs. Parrlsh, severely bruising her right side and
leg-
Orders had been given to keep in sight of the
ship's boat which had been sent out ahead to look
for help. Throughout the entire period, from the
time of the collision and taking to the boats, the
ship's crew behaved In an ideal manner. Not a
man tried to get Into a boat unless ordered to,
and many were seen to strip off their clothing and
wrap It around the women and children, who came
up half-clad from their beds. Mrs. Shelley says
that no crew could have behaved In a more perfect
manner.
J. Joughin, head baker (Br, Inq.)
Chief Officer Wilde shouted to the stewards to
keep the men passengers back, but there was no
necessity for the order as they were keeping back.
The order was splendid. The stewards, firemen
and sailors got In line and passed the ladies In;
and then we had difficulty to Hnd ladles to go Into
15* THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
the boat. No distinction at all as to class was
made. I saw a number of third-class women with
their bags, which they would not let go.
The boat was let down and the women were
forcibly drawn into it. The boat was a yard and
a half from the ship's side. There was a slight
list and we had to drop them in. The officer or-
dered two sailors and a steward to get in.
BOAT NO. 12.*
No male passenger in this boat.
Passengers: Miss Phillips.
Bade good-bye to his daughter and sank with
the ship: Mr. Phillips. Women and children, 40.
Crew: Seamen Poigndestre (in charge), F.
Clench. Later, Lucas and two firemen were trans-
ferred from boat "D,"
Jumped from deck below as boat was lowered:
I Frenchman.
Total: '43.
Transfers were made to this boat first from
Engelhardt "D" and second, from Engelhardt up-
set boat "B," so that it reached the Carpathia's
side with seventy, or more.
I the fourth boat
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
^
INCIDENTS
F. Clench, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 636).
The second officer and myself stood on the gun-
wale and helped load women and children. The
chief officer passed them along to us and we filled
three boats, No. 12 first. In each there were
about forty or fifty people. After finishing No.
1 6 boat, I went back to No. 1 2. "How many men
(crew) have you in this boat?" the chief officer
said, and I said, "Only one, sir." He looked up
and said : "Jump into that boat," and that made a
complement of two seamen. An able seaman was
in charge of this boat. (Poigndestre.) We had
instructions to keep our eye on No. 14 and keep
together.
There was only one male passenger in our boat,
and that was a Frenchman who jumped in and
we could not find him. He got under the thwart,
mixed up with the women, just as we dropped Into
the water before the boat was lowered and with-
out our knowledge. Officer Lowe, transferred
some of his people Into our boat and others, mak-
ing close on to sixty, and pretty full up. When
Mr. Lowe was gone I heard shouts. I looked
around and saw a boat in the way that appeared
to be like a funnel; we thought it was the top of
a funnel, (It was Engelhardt overturned boat
154 THE THUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC^
"B.") There were about twenty on this, and we
took off approximately ten, making seventy in my
boat.
John Poigndestre, A. B. (Br. Inq., p. 82).
Lightoller ordered us to layoff and stand byclose
to the ship. Boat "D" and three lifeboats made
fast to No. 12. Stood off about 100 yards after
ship sank. Not enough sailors to help pick up
swimmers. No light. Transfer of about a dozen
women passengers from No. 14 to No. 12. About
150 yards off when Titanic sank. No compass.
BOAT NO. 14-*
No male passenger in this boat.
Passengers: Mrs. Compton, Miss Compton,
Mrs. Minahan, Miss Minahan, Mrs. Collyer,
Miss Collyer.
Picked up out of sea: W. F. Hoyt (who died),
Steward J. Stewart, and a plucky Japanese.
Women: 50.
Volunteer when crew was short: C, Williams.
Crew: Fifth Officer Lowe, Seaman Scarrot, 2
firemen, Stewards Crowe and Morris.
s tfac fifth boat on tbe
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
155
Stowaway: 1 Italian.
Bade good-bye and sank with ship: Dr. Mma-
han, Mr. Compton, Mr. CoUyer.
Total: 60.
INCIDENTS
H. G. Lowe, Fifth Officer (Am. Inq., 116).
12, 14 and 16 were c
N.
; down about the same
I
time. I told Mr. Moody that three boats had
gone away and that an officer ought to go with
them. He said: "You go." There was difficulty
in lowering when I got near the water. I dropped
her about five feet, because I was not going to
take the chance of being dropped down upon by
somebody. While I was on the Boat Deck, two
men tried to jump Into the boat. I chased them
out.
We filled boats 14 and 16 with women and chil-
dren. Moody filled No. 16 and I filled No. 14,
LightoUer was there part of the time. They were
all women and children, barring one passenger,
who was an Italian, and he sneaked in dressed
like a woman. He had a shawl over his head.
There was another passenger, a chap by the name
of C. Williams, whom I took for rowing. He
gave me his name and address {referring to
book), "C. Williams, Racket Champion of the
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
World, 2 Drury Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Mid-
dlesex, England."
As I was being lowered, I expected every mo-
ment that my boat would be doubled up under my
feet. I had overcrowded her, but I knew that I
had to take a certain amount of risk. I thought
if one additional body was to fall into that boat,
that slight additional weight might part the hooks,
or carry away something; so as we were coming
down past the open decks, I saw a lot of Latin
people all along the ship's rails. They were glar-
ing more or less like wild beasts, ready to spring.
That is why I yelled out to "look out," and let
go, bang I right along the ship's side. There was
a space I should say of about three feet between
the side of the boat and the ship's side, and as I
went down I fired these shots without any inten-
tion of hurting anybody and with the positive
knowledge that I did not hurt anybody. I fired,
I think, three times.
Later, 150 yards away, I herded five boats to-
gether. I was in No, 14; then I had 10, 12, col-
lapsible "D" and one other boat (No. 4), and
made them tie up. I waited until the yells and
shrieks had subsided for the people to thin out,
and then I deemed it safe for me to go amongst
the wreckage; so I transferred all my passengers,
somewhere about fifty-three, from my boat and
i
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
157
equally distributed them among my other four
boats. Then I asked for volunteers to go with
me to the wreck, and it was at this time that I
found the Italian. He came aft and had a shawl
over his head, and I suppose he had skirts. Any-
how, I pulled the shawl off his face and saw he
was a man. He was in a great hurry to get Into
the other boat and I got hold of him and pitched
htm in.
Senator Smith; Pitched him in?
Mr. Lowe: Yes; because he was not worth be-
ing handled better.
Senator Smith : You pitched him in among the
^ women?
Mr. Lowe: No, sir; in the forepart of the life-
boat in which I transferred my passengers.
Senator Smith: Did you use some pretty em-
phatic language when you did this?
Mr. Lowe: No, sir; I did not say a word to
him.
Then I went off and rowed to the wreckage and
around the wreckage and picked up four people
L alive. I do not know who these live persons were.
I They never came near me afterwards either to say
f this or that or the other. But one died, Mr. W.
F. Hoyt, of New York, After we got him in the
boat we took his collar off so as to give him more
Jiance to breathe, but unfortunately, he died. He
158 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
was too far gone when we picked him up. I then |
left the wreck. I went right around, and, strange
to say, I did not see a single female body around
the wreckage. I did not have a light in my boat.
Then I could see the Carpalkia coming up and I
thought: "Well, I am the fastest boat of the lot,"
as I was sailing, you see. I was going through
the water four or five knots, bowUng along verjrj
nicely. '
By and by, I noticed a collapsible boat, Engel-
hardt "D." It looked rather sorry, so I thought:
"Well, I will go down and pick her up and make
sure of her," This was Quartermaster Bright's
boat. Mrs. H. B. Harris, of New York, was in
it. She had a broken arm. I had taken this first
coUapsible ("D") in tow and I noticed that there
was another collapsible ("A") in a worse plight
than this one that I had in tow. I got to her just
in time and took off, I suppose, about twenty men
and one lady. I left three male bodies in it. I may
have been a bit hard-hearted in doing this. I
thought: "I am not here to worry about bodies; I
am here to save life and not bother about bodies,"
The people on the raft told me these had been
dead for some time. I do not know whether any
one endeavored to find anything on their persons
that would identify them, because they were all
to their ankles in water when I took them off.
up^l
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
159
Joseph Scarrot, A. B. (Br. Inq., pp. 29, 30) : I
myself took charge of No. 14 as the only sailor-
man there. The Chief Officer ordered women and
children to be taken in. Some men came and tried
to rush the boat. They were foreigners and could
not understand the orders I gave them, but I
managed to keep them away. I had to use some
persuasion with a boat tiller. One man jumped
in twice and I had to throw him out the third
time. I got all the women and children into the
boat. There were fifty-four women and four
children — one of them a baby in arms. There
were myself, two firemen, three or four stewards
and Mr. Lowe, who got into the boat. I told
him the trouble I had with the men and he brought
out his revolver and fired two shots and said; "If
there is any more trouble I will fire at them."
The shots fired were fired between the boat and
the ship's side. The after fall got twisted and we
dropped the boat by the releasing gear and got
clear of the ship. There were four men rowing.
There was a man in the boat who we thought
was a sailor, but he was not. He was a window
cleaner. The Titanic was then about fifty yards
off, and we lay there with the other boats. Mr.
Lowe was at the helm. We went in the direc^on
of the cries and came among hundreds of dead
bodies and life belts. We got one man, who died
l6o THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ""TITANIC"
shortly after he got into the boat. One of the
stewards tried to restore him, but without avail.
There was another man who was calling for help,
but among the bodies and wreckage it was too late
for us to reach him. It took half an hour to get
to that man. Cannot say exactly, but think we got
abouttwenty offof the Engelhardt boat ("A").
E. J. Buley, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 605) :
(After his transfer from No. 10 to No. 14.)
Then, with Lowe in his boat No. 14, I went back
to where the Titanic sank and picked up the re-
maining live bodies. We got four; all the others
were dead. We turned over several to see if they
were alive. It looked as if none of them were
drowned. They looked as if frozen. The life
belts they had on were that much (indicating)
out of the water, and their heads lay back with
their faces on the water. They were head and
shoulders out of water, with their heads thrown
back. In the morning, after we had picked up all
that were alive, there was a collapsible boat
("A") swamped, which we saw with a lot of
people up to their knees in water. We sailed over
to ihem. We then picked up another boat ("D")
and took her in tow. I think we were about the
seventh or eighth boat alongside the Carpathia.
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
l6l
F. O. Evans, A. B. {Am. Inq., p. 677) :
So from No. 10 we got into his (Lowe's) boat,
No. 14, and went straight over towards the wreck-
age with eight or nine men and picked up four
persons alive, one of whom died on the way to the
Carpathia. Another picked up was named J.
Stewart, a steward- You could not hardly count
the number of dead hodies. I was afraid to look
over the sides because it might break my nerves
down. We saw no other people in the water or
heard their cries, other than these four picked
up. The officer said: "Hoist a sail forward."
I did so and made sail In the direction of the
collapsible boat "A" about a mile and a half
away, which had been swamped. There were in
it one woman and about ten or eleven men. Then
we picked up another collapsible boat ("D") and
took her in tow to the Carpathia. There were
then about twenty-five people in our boat No. 14,
including the one who died.
One of the ladies there passed over a flask of
whisky to the people who were all wet through.
She asked if anybody needed the spirits, and these
people were all soaking wet and nearly perished
and they passed it around among these men and
women. It took about twenty minutes after we
sighted the Carpathia to get alongside of her.
We saw five or six icebergs — some of them tre-
ABOUT THE TITANIC
mendous, about the height of the Titanic — and
field ice. After we got on the Carfathta we saw,
at a rough estimate, a twenty-five mile floe, sir,
flat like the floor.
F. Crowe, steward (Am. Inq., p. 615) :
I assisted in handing the women and children
into boat No, 12, and was asked if I could take
an oar. I said; "Yes," and was told to man
the boat, I believe, by Mr. Murdoch. After get-
ting the women and children in we lowered down
to within four or five feet of the water, and then
the block and tackle got twisted in some way,
causing us to have to cut the ropes to allow the
boat to get into the water. This officer, Lowe,
told us to do this. He was In the boat with us.
I stood by the lever — the lever releasing the
blocks from the hooks in the boat. He told me
to wait, to get away and cut the line to raise the
lever, thereby causing the hooks to open and allow
the boat to drop in the water.
There was some shooting that occurred at the
time the boat was lowered. There were various
men passengers, probably Italians or some foreign
nationality other than English or American, who
attempted to "rush" the boats. The officers
threatened to shoot any man who put hi
into the boat. An officer fired a revolver,
I
is foot ^H
but ^1
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 163
either downward or upward, not shooting at any
one of the passengers at all and not injuring any-
body. He fired perfectly clear upward and down-
ward and stopped the rush. There was no dis-
order after that. One woman cried, but that
was all. There was no panic or anything in the
boat.
After getting into the water I pushed out to
the other boats. In No. 14 there were fifty-seven
women and children and about six men, Including
one officer, and I may have been seven, I am
not quite sure. I know how many, because when
we got out a distance the officer asked me how
many people were in the boat.
When the boat was released and fell I think
she must have sprung a leak. A lady stated that
there was some water coming up over her ankles.
Two men and this lady assisted in bailing it out
with bails that were kept in the boat for that
purpose. We transferred our people to other
boats so as to return to the wreck and see If we
could pick up anybody else. Returning to the
wreck, we heard various cries and endeavored
to get among them, and we were successful in
doing so, and picked up one body that was float-
ing around in the water. It was that of a man
and he expired shortly afterwards. Going fur-
ther into the wreckage we came across a steward
J
~lB4 THE TRu¥h AtSOf TM
(J. Stewart) and got him into the boat. He was
very cold and his hands were kind of stiff. He
recovered by the time that we got back to the
Carpathia.
A Japanese or Chinese young fellow that we
picked up on top of some wreckage, which may
have been a sideboard or a table that was float-
ing around, also survived.* We stopped (in the
wreckage) until daybreak, and we saw in the dis-
tance an Engelhardt collapsible boat ("A") with
a crew of men in it. We went over to the boat
and found twenty men and one woman; also three
dead bodies, which we left. Returning under sail
we took another collapsible boat in tow (boat
"D") containing fully sixty people, women and
children.
I did not see the iceberg that struck the ship.
When it came daylight and we could see, there
were two or three bergs around, and one man
pointed out that that must have been the berg, and
another man pointed out another berg. Really,
I do not think anybody knew which one struck
the ship.
Mrs. Charlotte Collyer, third-class passenger,
* UDduubtedly reference <g here made to the same Jap-
anese described in an account attributed to a aecond-dua
passenger, Mrs. Collyer, and which follows Crowe's tud-
WOMEN AND CILILDREN FIRST 165
in The Semi-Monthly Magazine, May, 1912;
A little further on we saw a floating door that
must have been torn loose when the ship went
down. Lying upon it, face downward, was a
small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a
rope to his frail raft, using the broken hinges
to make the knots secure. As far as we could
sec, he was dead. The sea washed over him
every time the door bobbed up and down, and he
was frozen stiff. He did not answer when he
was hailed, and the officer hesitated about trying
to save him.
"What's the use?" said Mr. Lowe. "He's
dead, likely, and if he isn't there's others better
worth saving than a Jap!"
He had actually turned our boat around, but
he changed his mind and went back. The
Japanese was hauled on board, and one of the
women rubbed his chest, while others chafed his
hands and feet. In less time than it takes to
tell, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his
own tongue; then, seeing that we did not under-
stand, he struggled to his feet, stretched his arms
above his head, stamped his feet and in five
minutes or so had almost recovered his strength.
One of the sailors near to him was so tired that
he could hardly pull his oar. The Japanese
bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took his
I
*
j66 the truth about the "titanic"
oar and worked like a hero until we were finally
picked up. I saw Mr. Lowe watching him in
open-mouthed surprise.
"By Jove!" muttered the officer, "I'm ashamed
of what I said about the little blighter. I'd
save the likes o' him six times over if I got the
chance."
Miss Minahan's affidavit (Am. Inq., p. 1109) :
After the Titanic went down the cries were
horrible. Some of the women implored Officer
Lowe of No. 10 to divide his passengers among
the three other boats and go back to rescue them.
His first answer to these requests was: "You
ought to be d glad you are here and have
got your own life." After some time he was
persuaded to do as he was asked. As I came up
to him to be transferred to the other boat, he
said: "Jump, G — d d — n you, jump." I had
shown no hesitancy and was waiting until my turn.
He had been so blasphemous during the hours
we were in his boat that the women in my end of
the boat all thought he was under the influence
of liquor. (Testimony elsewhere shows that
Officer Lowe is a teetotaler.) Then he took all
the men who had rowed No. 14, together with
the men from other boats, and went back to the
scene of the wreck. We were left with a steward
»
^
^
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 167
and a stoker to row our boat, which was crowded.
The steward did his best, but the stoker refused
at first to row, but finally helped two men who
were the only ones pulling on that side. It was
just four o'clock when we sighted the Carpalhia,
and we were three hours getting to her. On the
Carpathia we were treated with every kindness
and given every comfort possible.
The above affidavit being of record shows
Officer Lowe in an unfortunate, bad light. There
is no doubt of it that he was intemperate In his
language only. In all other respects he was a
first-class officer, as proven by what he accom-
plished. But I am glad that I have the account
of another lady passenger in the same boat, which
is a tribute to what he did. I met Officer Lowe
in Washington the time that both of us were sum-
moned before the U. S. Court of Inquiry, and I
am quite sure that the only point against him is
that he was a little hasty in speech in the accom-
plishment of his work.
Miss Corapton, who lost her brother, I had the
pleasure of meeting on the Carpathia. She is still
a sufferer from Injuries received in the wreck, and
yet has been very kind In sending me an account
of her experience, from which I cite the follow-
ing:
l68 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TTTANIC"
I
As she stood on the rail to step "into boat No.
14 it was impossible to see whether she would
step into the boat or into the water. She was
pushed into the boat with such violence that she
found herself on her hands and knees, but for-
tunately landed on a coil of rope. This seemed
to be the general experience of the women. All
the passengers entered the lifeboat at the same
point and were told to move along to make place
for those who followed. This was difficult, as
the thwarts were so high that it was difficult to
climb over them, encumbered as the ladies were
with lifebelts. It was a case of throwing one's
self over rather than climbing over.
Miss Compton from her place in the stern of
the lifeboat overheard the conversation between
Officer Lowe and another officer, which the for-
mer gave in his testimony.
Just before the boat was lowered a man jumped
in. He was immediately hauled out. Mr. Lowe
then pulled his revolver and said: "If anyone
else tries that this is what he will get." He then
fired his revolver in the air.
She mentions the same difficulties, elsewhere
recorded, about the difficulties in lowering the
boat, first the stern very high, and then the bow;
also how the ropes were cut and No. 14 struck
the water hard. At this time the count showed
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 1 69
58 in the boat, and a later one made the number
60. A child near her answered in neither of
the counts.
"Mr. Lowe's manly bearing," she says, "gave
us all confidence. As I look, back now he seems
to me to personify the best traditions of the
British sailor. He asked us all to try and find
a lantern, but none was to be found. Mr. Lowe
had with him, however, an electric light which
he flashed from time to time. Almost at once
the boat began to leak and in a few moments
the women in the forward part of the boat were
standing in water. There was nothing to bail
with and I believe the men used their hats.
"OiEcer Lowe insisted on having the mast put
up. He crawled forward and in a few moments
the mast was raised and ready. He said this
was necessary as no doubt with dawn there would
be a breeze. He returned to his place and asked
the stewards and firemen, who were acting as
crew, if they had any matches, and insisted on
having them passed to him. He then asked if
they had any tobacco and said: 'Keep it in your
pockets, for tobacco makes you thirsty.' Mr.
Lowe wished to remain near the ship that he
might have a chance to help someone after she
sank. Some of the women protested and he re-
plied: 'I don't like to leave her, but if you feel
lyO THE TRUTH ABOOT THE TITANIC
that way about it we will pull away a little
distance,' "
Miss Compton's account corroborates other in-
formation about boat No. 14, which we have else.-
where. She was among the number transferred
to Engelhardt boat "D." "I now found myself,"
she said, "in the stern of a collapsible boat. In
spite of Mr. Lowe's warning the four small boats
began to separate, each going its own way. Soon
it seemed as though our boat was the only one
on the sea. We went through a great deal of
wreckage. The men who were supposed to be
rowing — one was a fireman — made no effort to
keep away from It. They were all the time look-
ing towards the horizon. With daylight we saw
the Carpathia, and not so very long afterwards
Officer Lowe, sailing towards us, for, as he had
predicted, quite a strong breeze had sprung up.
We caught the rope which he threw us from the
stern of his boat. Someone in ours succeeded
in catching it and we were taken in tow to the
Carpathia."
No. 16.*
No male passenger.
Passengers: Fifty women and children —
second and third-class.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I7I
Crew: Master-at-arms Bailey in charge. Sea-
man Archer, Steward Andrews, Stewardess
Leather, and two others.
Total: s6.
INCIDENTS
E. Archer, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 645) :
I assisted in getting Nos. 12, 14 and 16 out —
getting the falls and everything ready and passen-
gers into No. 14. Then 1 went to No. 16. I
saw that the plug was in tight, I never saw any
man get in, only my mate. I heard the officer
give orders to lower the boat and to allow no-
body in it, having fifty passengers and only my
mate and myself. The master-at-arms came
down after us; he was the coxswain and took
charge. When we were loading the boat, there
was no effort on the part of others to crowd
into it; no confusion at all. No individual men,
or others were repelled from getting in; every-
thing was quiet and steady. One of the lady
passengers suggested going back to see if there
were any people in the water we could get, but
I never heard any more of it after that. There
was one lady in the boat, a stewardess (Mrs.
Leather) who tried to assist in rowing. I told
her it was not necessary, but she said she would
172 THE TRUTH ABO0T THE
like to do it to keep herself warm. There was I
one fireman found in the boat after we got clear.
I do not know how he came there. He was trans-
ferred to another boat (No. 6) to help row.
C. E. Andrews, steward {Am. Inq., p. 623) :
Besides these six men I should think there were
about fifty passengers.
There was no effort on the part of the steerage
men to get into our boat. I was told by the
officer to allow none in it. When the officer
started to fill the boat with passengers and the
men to man it, there were no individuals who
tried to get in, or that he permitted to get in.
There was no confusion whatever. The officer
asked me if I could take an oar. I said I could.
BOAT No. 2.*
Only one old man, third-class, a foreigner in
this boat.
Passengers: Miss Allen (now Mrs. J.
Mennell), Mrs. Appleton, Mrs. Cornell, Mrs.
Douglas and maid (Miss Le Roy), Miss Madill,
Mrs. Robert and maid (Amelia Kenchen). One
old man, third-class, foreigner, and family:
■* British Report (p. 39) gives Hiis as the eeveiith boat
lowered on the port side at l.W a. m.
WOMliN AND CHILDREN FIRST
173
Brahim Youssef, Hanne Youssef, and children
Marian and Georges. The rest second and third-
class.
Bade good-bye to wife and sank with ship:
Mr. Douglas.
Crew: Fourth Officer Boxhall, Seamen Osman
, and Steward Johnston, cook.
Total: 25.
J. G. Boxhali, Fourth Officer (Am. Inq., p, 240,
and Br. Inq.) :
I was sent away in Emergency boat 2, the last
boat but one on the port side. There was one
of the lifeboats (No. 4) lowered away a few
minutes after I left. That was the next lifeboat
to me aft. Engelhardt boat "D" was being got
ready. There was no anxiety of people to get
into these boats. There were four men in this
boat — a sailorman (Osman), a steward (John-
ston), a cook and myself, and one male passenger
who did not speak English — a middle-aged man
with a black beard. He had his wife there and
some children. When the order was given to
lower the boat, which seemed to be pretty full,
it was about twenty minutes to half an hour be-
174 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
fore the ship sank. Someone shouted through
a megaphone: "Some of the boats come back
and come around to the starboard side." All
rowed except this male passenger, ' I handled one
oar and a lady assisted me. She asked to do it.
I got around to the starboard side intending to
go alongside. I reckoned I could take about three
more people off the ship with safety; and when
about 22 yards off there was a little suction, as
the boat seemed to be drawn closer, and I thought
it would be dangerous to go nearer the ship, I
suggested going back (after ship sank) to the
sailorman in the boat, but decided it was unwise
to do so. There was a lady there, Mrs. Douglas,
whom I asked to steer the boat according to my
orders. She assisted me greatly in it. They told
me on board the Carpailiia afterwards that It
was about ten minutes after four when we went
alongside.
After we left the Titanic I showed green lights
most of the time. When within two or three ship
lengths of the Carpalhia, It was just brealting
daylight, and I saw her engines were stopped.
She had stoppjpd within half a mile or a quarter
of a mile of an iceberg. There were several other
bergs, and I could see field ice as far as I could
see. The bergs looked white in the sun, though
when I first saw them at daylight they looked
I
I
d
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I75
black. This was the first time I had seen field
ice on the Grand Banks. I estimate about 25 in
my boat.
F. Osman, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 538) :
All of us went up and cleared away the boats.
After that we loaded all the boats there were.
I went away in No, 2, the fourth from the last
to leave the ship, Boxhall was in command.
Murdoch directed the loading. All passengers
were women and children, except one man, a third-
class passenger, his wife and two children. After
I got in the boat the officer found a bunch of
rockets which was put In the boat by mistake for
a box of biscuits. The officer fired some off, and
the Carpathia came to us first and picked us up
half an hour before anybody else. Not until
morning did we see an iceberg about 100 feet out
of the water with one big point sticking on one
side of It, apparently dark, like dirty Ice, 100 yards
away. I knew that was the one we struck. It
looked as if there was a piece broken off.
There was no panic at all. There was no
suction whatever. When we were in the boat I
shoved off from the ship and I said to the officer:
"See if you can get alongside to see if you can
get some more hands — squeeze some more hands
in"; so the women started to get nervous after
176
I said that, and the officer said: "All right."
The women disagreed to that. We pulled around
to the starboard side of the ship and found that we
could not get to the starboard side because it was
listing too far. We pulled astern again that way,
and after we lay astern we lay on our oars and saw
the ship go down. It seemed to me as if all the
engines and everything that was in the after part
slid down into the forward part. We did not go
back to the place where the ship had sunk be-
cause the women were all nervous, and we pulled
around as far as we could get from it so that
the women would not see and cause a panic. We
got as close as we would dare to. We could not
have taken any more hands into the boat. It
was impossible. We might have gotten one in;
that is all. There was no panic amongst the
steerage passengers when we started manning the
boats. I saw several people come up from the
steerage and go straight up to the Boat Deck,
and the men stood back while the women and
children got into the boats — steerage passengers
as well as others.
Senator Burton: So In your judgment it was
safer to have gone on the boat than to have stayed
on the Titatiicf
Witness: Oh, yes, sir-
Senator Burton: That was when you left?
I
i_
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
177
Witness: Yes, sir.
Senator Burton : What did you think when the
first boat was launched?
Witness: I did not think she was going down
then.
J. Johnston, steward (Br, Inq.) :
Crew: Boxhall and four men, including per-
haps McCuUough. (None such on list.) Box-
hall said: "Shall we go back in the direction of
cries of distress?" which were a half or three-
quarters of a mile off. Ladies said: "No."
Officer Boxhall signalled the Carpathia with lamp.
Soon after launching the swish of the water was
heard against the icebergs. In the morning
Carpathia on the edge of ice-field about 200 yards
ofl.
Mrs. Walter D. Douglas's affidavit (Am. Inq.,
p. 1 100) :
Mr, Boxhall had difficulty in getting the boat
loose and called for a knife. We finally were
launched. Mrs. Appleton and a man from the
steerage faced me. Mrs. Appleton's sister, Mrs.
Cornell, was back of me and on the side of her
the officer. I think there were eighteen or twenty
in the boat. There were many who did not speak
English. The rowing was very difficult, for no
I7»
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TTTANIC
Wet:
I
3 Steer under Mr, Box-
hall's orders, and he put an old lantern, with very
little oil in it, on a pole, which I held up for some
time. Mrs. Appleton and some other women had
been rowing, and did row all the time. Mr. Box-
hall had put into the Emergency boat a tin box
of green lights like rockets. These he sent off
at intervals, and very quickly we saw the Ughts
of the Carpathia, whose captain said he saw our
green lights ten miles away and steered directly
towards us, so we were the first boat to arrive at
I the Carpathia. When we pulled alongside, Mr.
IBo)diall called out: "Slow down your en^nes
and take us aboard. I have only one seaman."
do(
inti
the
net
wo
tur
wa
foi
aui
Mrs. J. B. Mennell (nee Allen) :
My aunt, Mrs. Roberts' maid, came to the
door and asked if she could speak to me. I went
into the corridor and she said: "Miss Alien,
the baggage room is full of water." I repUed she
needn't worry, that the water-tight compartments
would be shut and it would be all right for her
to go back to her cabin. She went back and re-
turned to us Immediately to say her cabin, which
was forward on Deck E, was flooded.
We were on the Boat Deck some minutes be-
fore being ordered into the lifeboat. Neither ray
aunt, Mrs. Roberts, my cousin, Miss Madill, nor
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIHST 1 79
myself ever saw or heard the band. As we stood
file by and get
eightei
stok-
I
there we saw a line of
into the boat — some sixteen
ers. An ofiicer* came along and shouted to
them : "Get out, you damned cowards ; I'd
like to see everyone of you overboard." They
all got out and the officer said: "Women and
children into this boat," and we got in and were
lowered.
With the exception of two very harrowing
leave-takings, we saw nothing but perfect order
and quiet on board the Titanic. We were rowed
round the stern to the starboard side and away
from the ship, as our boat was a small one and
Boxhall feared the suction. Mrs. Cornell helped
to row all the time.
As the Titanic plunged deeper and deeper we
could sec her stern rising higher and higher until
her lights began to go out. As the last lights
on the stern went out we saw her plunge dis-
tinctively, bow first and intact. Then the screams
began and seemed to last eternally. We rowed
back, after the Titanic was under water, toward
the place where she had gone down, but we saw
no one in the water, nor were we near enough to
any other lifeboats to see them. When Boxhall
^^H any othi
^^H • Pnibal
^^^H FeudieiL,
I Bo THE TttfTH ABOUT THE "TTTAKK^
lit his firil light the screams grew loader ind
then (tied down.
Wc touM hear the lapping of the water oa
the icebcrK», but saw none, even when Boxh^
lit hit grccn lights, which he did at regulir ta-
icrviiU, till wc sighted the Carpaihia. Our boat
was the first one picltcd up by the CarpatkiA.
I happened tci he the lirst one up the ladder, as
the oilier* seemed afraid to start up, and when
the officer who received me asked where the
Titanie was, I told him she had gone down.
Copt. A. H. Rostron, of the Carpaihia (Am.
In(i., p. aa) :
Wc pikked up the first boat, which was in
thnrdc (if an otTiter who I saw was not under full
control (if Iiis boat. lie sang out that he had
only one sciinian in the boat, so 1 had to
muniruvrc the ship to get as close to the boat as
puisibic, as I kiiew well it would be difEcult to
do the pulliiiK- By the time we had the first
boat's people it was breaking day, and then I
could sex the remaining boats all around within
nil iirua of about four miles. I also saw iceberg]
all II round inc. There were about twenty ic«
bergs that would be anywhere from about 15
to aoo feet high, and numerous smaller 1 _
also numerous ones we call "growlers" anywhen
T8o THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
lit his first light the screams grew louder and^
then died down.
We could hear the lapping of the water on
the icebergs, but saw none, even when Boxhall
lit his green lights, which he did at regular in-
tervals, till we sighted the Carpathia. Our boat
was the first one picked up by the Carpathia.
I happened to be the first one up the ladder, as
the others seemed afraid to start up, and when
the officer who received me asked where the
Titanic was, I told him she had gone down.
Capt. A. H. Rostron, of the Carpathia (Ami
Inq., p. 22) :
We picked up the first boat, which was in
charge of an officer who I saw was not under full
control of his boat. He sang out that he had
only one seaman In the boat, so I had to
man<Euvre the ship to get as dose to the boat as
possible, as I knew well it would be difficult to
do the pulling. By the time we had the first
boat's people it was breaking day, and then I
could see the remaining boats all around within
an area of about four miles. I also saw icebergs
all around me. There were about twenty ice-
bergs that would be anywhere from about 150
to 200 feet high, and numerous smaller bergs
also numerous ones we call "growlers" anywhere
I
i
from lo to 12 feet high and lO to i
above the water.
BOAT No. 4.*
No man passenger in this boat.
I Passenger's: Mrs. Astor and maid { Miss
Bidois) , Miss Bowen, Mrs. Carter and maid
(Miss Serepeca), Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Cummings,
Miss Eustis, Mrs. Ryerson and children, Miss
S. R., Miss E. and Master J. B. and maid
(Chandowson), Mrs, Stephenson, Mrs. Thayer
and maid, Mrs. Widener and maid.
^H IVomen and children: 36. (Br. Rpt.)
^H Crew: Perkis, Q. M., In charge. Seamen:
^H McCarthy, Hemmings,t Lyons ; J Storekeeper
^V Foley and Assistant Storekeeper Prentice ;t Fire-
HP men: Smith and Dillon ;t Greasers: Granger and
' Scott;t Stewards: Cunningham,! Siebert.J
Bade good-bye to wives and sank with ship:
Messrs. Astor, Clark, Cummings, Ryerson,
Thayer, Widener and his son Harry.
Stowaway: One Frenchman.
Total: 40. (Br. Rpt.)
•British Report (p. 38) says this was
lifeboat thut left tlie ship slid lowereil at
t Picked up froiu sea.
t Piclted uj) from sea but dicil iu boat.
the eighth and last
l8» THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TTTANIC"
INCIDENTS
C. H. Lightoller, Second Officer {Am. Inq.,
p.8i):
Previous to putting out Eiigelhardt Boat "D,"
Lightoller says, referring to boat No. 4: "We
had previously lowered a boat from A Deck, one
deck down below. That was through ray fault.
It was the first boat I had lowered. I was in-
tending to put the passengers in from A Deck.
On lowering the boat I found that the windows
were closed; so I sent someone down to open the
windows and carried on with the other boats, but
decided it was not worth while lowering them
down — that I could manage just as well from the
Boat Deck. When 1 came forward from the
other boats I loaded that boat from A Deck by
getting the women out through the windows. My
idea in filling the boats there was because there
was a wire hawser running along the side of the
ship for coaling purposes and it was handy to
tie the boat in to hold it so that nobody could
drop between the side of the boat and the ship.
No. 4 was the fifth boat or the sixth lowered on
the port side." *
* I agree witli this statement though other testimanf and
the British Report decide njiiiinst vs. The difference may
be reconciled by the fact thut the loailing of this boat began
early, but the final lowering was delayed.
^
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 183
W. J. Perkis, Quartermaster (Am. Inq.,
p. 581):
I lowered No. 4 into the water and left that
boat and walked aft; and I came back and a man
that was In the boat, one of the seamen, sang out
to me: "We need another hand down here," so
I slid down the lifeline there from the davit into
the boat. I took charge of the boat after I got
in, with two sailormen besides myself. There
were forty-two, including all hands. We picked
up eight people afterwards swimming with life-
preservers when about a ship's length away from
the ship. No. 4 was the last big boat on the
port side to leave the ship. Two that were picked
up died in the boat — a seaman (Lyons) and a
steward (Slebert). All the others were passen-
gers. After we picked up the men I could not
hear any more cries anywhere. The discipUne
on board the ship was excellent. Every man knew
his station and took it. There was no excitement
whatever among the officers or crew, the firemen
or stewards. They conducted themselves the
same as they would if it were a minor, everyday
occurrence.
Senator Perkins (addressing Perkis, Symon and
Hogg:)
All three of you seem to be pretty capable
young men and have had a great deal of ex-
1
1 84 THE TRUTH ABOUT TFIE "TITANIC"
perience at sea, and yet you have never been
wrecked ?
Mr. Pcrkis: Yes, sir.
Senator Perkins: Is there any other one of
you who has been in a shipwreck?
Mr. Hogg: I have been in a collision, Sena-
tor, but with no loss of life.
Senator Perkins: Unless you have something
more to state that you think will throw light on
this subject, that will be all, and we thank you
for what you have said.
Mr. Hogg: That is all I have to say except
this: I think the women ought to have a gold
medal on their breasts. God bless them. I will
always raise my hat to a woman after what I
saw.
Senator Perkins: What countrywomen were
they?
Mr. Hogg: They were American women I
had in mind. They were all Americans.
Senator Perkins: Did they man the oars?
Did they take the oars and pull?
Mr. Hogg: Yes, sir; I took an oar all the
time myself and also steered. Then I got one
lady to steer; then another to assist me with an
oar. She rowed to keep herself warm.
Senator Perkins: One of you stated that his
boat picked up eight people, and the other that
»
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 185
he did not pick up any. Could you not have
picked up just as well as this other man?
Mr. Hogg; I wanted to assist in picking up
people, but I had an order from somebody in the
boat (No. 7) — I do not know who it was — not
to take in any more; that we had done our best.
Senator Perkins: I merely ask the question be-
cause of the natural thought that if one boat
picked up eight persons the other boat may have
been able to do so. — You did not get any orders,
Mr. Symon (boat No. i), not to pick up any
more people?
Mr. Symon: No, sir; there were no more
around about where I was.
Senator Perkins: As I understand, one of the
boats had more packed into it than the other.
As I understand it, Mr. Symon pulled away from
the ship and then when he came back there they
picked up all the people that were around?
Mr. Symon made no reply.
S. S. Hemming, A, B. (Am. Inq.) :
Everything was black over the starboard side.
I could not see any boats. I went over to the
port side and saw a boat ofE the port quarter and
I went along the port side and got up the after
boat davits and slid down the fall and swam to
the boat about 200 yards. When I reached the
l86 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
boat I tried to get hold of the grab-line on the
bows. I pulled my head above the gunwale, and
I said: "Give us a hand, Jack," Foley was in
the boat; I saw him standing up. He said: "Is
that you, Sam?" I said: "Yes" to him and the
women and children pulled me in the boat.
After the ship sank we pulled back and picked
up seven of the crew including a seaman, Lyons,
a fireman, Dillon, and two stewards, Cunningham
and Siebert, We made for the light of another
lifeboat and kept In company with her. Then day
broke and we saw two more lifeboats. We pulled
toward them and we all made fast by the painter.
Then we helped with boat No. 12 to take off the
people on an overturned boat ("B"). From this
boat ("B") we took about four or five, and the
balance went into the other boat. There were
about twenty altogether on this boat ("B").
I
A. Cunningham, Steward (Am. Inq., p. 794) :
I first learned of the very serious character of
the collision from my own knowledge when I
saw the water on the post-office deck. I waited
on the ship until all the boats had gone, and then
threw myself into the water. This was about
2 o'clock. I was in the water about half an hour
before the ship sank. I swam clear of the ship
about three-quarters of a mile. I was afraid of
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 187
the suction. My mate, Siebert, left the ship with
me. I heard a lifeboat and called to it and went
toward it. I found Quartermaster Perkis in
charge. Hemmings, the sailor, Foley (store-
keeper) and a fireman (Dillon) were in this boat.
I never saw any male passengers in the boat. We
picked up Prentice, assistant storekeeper. I think
No. 4 was the nearest to the scene of the accident
because it picked up more persons in the water.
About 7.30 we got aboard the Carpathia. When
we sighted her she might have been four or five
miles away.
R. P. Dillon, trimmer (Br. Inq.) :
I went down with the ship and sank about two
fathoms. Swam about twenty minutes in the
water and was picked up by No. 4. About 1,000
others in the water in my estimation. Saw no
women. Recovered consciousness and found
Sailor Lyons and another lying on top of me dead.
Thomas Granger, greaser (Br. Inq.);
I went to the port side of the Boat Deck aft,
climbed down a rope and got into a boat near
the ship's side. No. 4, which had come back be-
cause there were not enough men to pull her.
She was full of women and children. F. Scott,
greaser, also went down the falls and got into this
TRCTH ABOUT THE "TTTAS^i
I
boat Perkis, qoartenTiaster, and Honmings then I
in it. Afterwards picked up Dillon and anotfaerl
man (Prentice) out of the water.
F. Scott, greaser (Br. Inq.) :
Wc went on deck on starboard side first as she
had listed over to the port side, but we saw no
boats. When I came up the engineers came up
just after me on the Boat Deck. I saw only eight
of them out of thirty-six on the deck. Then we
went to the port side and saw boats. An officer
fired a shot and 1 heard him say that If any man
tried to get in that boat he would shoot him like
a dog. At this time all the boats had gone from
the starboard side. I saw one of the boats, No.
4, returning to the ship's side and I climbed on
the davits and tried to get down the falls but
fell in the water and was picked up. It was
nearly two o'clock when I got on the davits and i
down the fall.
Mrs. E. B. Ryerson's affidavit (Am. Inq.»
p. 1107):
We were ordered down to A Deck, which 1
partly enclosed. We saw people getting into
boats, but waited our turn. My boy. Jack, was
with me. An officer at the window said: '^That
boy catmot go." My husbajid said: '*Of c
k
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 189
that boy goes with his mother; he is only thir-
teen"; so they let him pass, I turned and kissed
my husband and as we left he and the other men
I knew, Mr, Thayer, Mr. Widener and others,
were standing together very quietly. There were
two men and an officer inside and a sailor outside
to help us. I fell on top of the women who were
already in the boat and scrambled to the bow
with my eldest daughter. Miss Bowen and my
boy were in the stern, and my second daughter
was in the middle of the boat with my maid.
Mrs. Thayer, Mrs. Widener, Mrs. Astor and
Miss Eustis were the only ones I knew in our
boat.
Presently an officer called out from the upper
deck: "How many women are there in that
boat?" Someone answered: "Twenty-four."
"That's enough; lower away."
The ropes seemed to stick at one end. Some-
one called for a knife, but it was not needed until
we got into the water as it was but a short dis-
tance; and then I realized for the first time how
far the ship had sunk. The deck we left was
only about twenty feet from the sea. I could
see all the portholes open and the water washing
in, and the decks still lighted. Then they called
out: "How many seamen have you?" and they
answered: "One." "That is not enough," said
igo THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
the ofBcer, "I will send you another"; and he sent
a sailor down the rope. In a few minutes several
other men, not sailors, came down the ropes over
the davits and dropped Into our boat. The order
was given to pull away, and then they rowed off.
Someone shouted something about a gangway,
and no one seemed to know what to do. Barrels
and chairs were being thrown overboard. As the
bow of the ship went down the lights went out.
The stern stood up for several minutes black
against the stars and then the boat plunged down.
Then began the cries for help of people drowning
all around us, which seemed to go on forever.
Someone called out: "Pull for your lives or
you will be sucked under," and everyone that
could rowed like mad. I could see my younger
daughter and Mrs. Thayer and Mrs. Astor row-
ing, but there seemed to be no suction. Then we
turned and picked up some of those in the water.
Some of the women protested, but others per-
sisted, and we dragged in six or seven men. The
men rescued were stewards, stokers, sailors, etc.,
and were so chilled and frozen already that they
could hardly move. Two of them died in the
stern later and many of them were raving and
moaning and delirious most of the time. We had
no lights or compass. There were several babies
in the boat.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
191
I
Officer Lowe called out to tic together, and as
soon as we could make out the other boats in the
dark five were tied together. We could dimly
see an overturned boat with about twenty men
standing on it, back to back. As the sailors in
our boat said we could still carry from eight
to ten people, we called for another boat to volun-
teer and go and rescue them, so we cut loose our
painters and between us got all the men off. Then
when the sun rose we saw the Carpathta stand-
ing up about five miles away, and for the first
ime saw the icebergs all around us. We got on
itioard about 8 o'clock.
Mrs. Thayer's affidavit:
The after part of the ship then reared in the
air, with the stern upwards, until it assumed
an almost vertical position. It seemed to re-
main stationary in this position for many
seconds (perhaps twenty), then suddenly dove
straight down out of sight. It was 2.20
a. m. when the Titanic disappeared, according
to a wrist watch worn by one of the passengers
in my boat.
We pulled back to where the vessel had sunk
and on our way picked up six men who were swim-
ming — two of whom were driznk and gave us
WOMEN AND CHII.DRI^N l-IRST I93
kindly handed me for publication in my book con-
tains the following:
"We were in the companionway of A Deck
when order came for women and children to Boat
Deck and men to starboard side. Miss Eustis
and I took each other's hands, not to be separ-
ated in the crowd, and all went on deck, we
following close to Mrs. Thayer and her maid and
going up narrow iron stairs to the forward Boat
Deck which, on the Titanic, was the captain's
bridge.
"At the top of the stairs we found Captain
Smith looking much worried and anxiously waiting
to get down after we got up. The ship listed heav-
ily to port just then. As we leaned against the
walls of the officers' quarters rockets were being
, fired over our heads, which was most alarming, as
I we fully realized if the Titanic had used her wire-
lless to ill effect and was sending rockets it must be
serious. Shortly after that the order came from
the head dining room steward (Dodd) to go
down to A Deck, when Mrs. Thayer remarked,
'Tell us where to go and we will follow. You
ordered us up here and now you are taking us
back,' and he said, 'Follow me.'
"On reaching the A Deck we could see, for the
I decks were lighted by electricity, that a boat
I was lowered parallel to the windows; these were
SI? ^H
a the rM^™
tV4 THE TItCTH A»OPT THE "nTANlC^
«^«Md aa4 m wciwcr duir pot under the nul'''
fw- w «o slc|p «■. IW dup had listed bad]y by
dw boat hoag far oat from tbc side,
•f Ac WGH sud, *No woman could
im ^Msc' A oD Tms made for a
r a( dtt Ivwcr 4eds, but before it
<Mr (tt ifc ut. «c «a« al a Ac boat. Whether
4h9 Ind 4nnM Ac toK «ner with bcmtfaooks
lWM«t «hc aide I 4» M« haum, hot die ^lace was
wriH) l— fnJ «dii Ac Im^W two mm in the
*1 TCRwnAKir soraiK Cbkad .Abbs, who called
VvKtd4iv«' and »a te wmM Mkw m mi o ^m
hftat, sfilfiDC ibc nnaANr «i^ ««r hoac, iiUdi Aiy
i«M ipw '?••. Vlac<
I ««k'ri%Ba «> Amr %
i|*Nlk My to- «Nn «fed li^jc «aA I
ws Ttety damn. Xjner wc iwmi 4k 4
or ^Tt^' Iwfl fnimvii nc i
boat, and thn' 4fid cwMd :
aroiind a hsbr thinK cUd. and mine tor m ]
nvCTnS<'r of the <tw pulled in frtnr. the
"Our boat 1 think toot ofi cwry '
thc<}e«k«t that tiiTKand was the laKMi^^Kg
«idc to be lowenrd.
"When wc reacbwl the 5es we j
had);' lnt«d, her nose well in «c that 1
wrier «n Ak {> Deck, wfaidi wc «aaldy
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
195
I
as the boat was lighted and the ports on D Deck
were square instead of round. No lights could
be found in our boat and the men had great diffi-
culty in casting off the blocks as they did not know
how they worked. My fear here was great, as she
seemed to be going faster and faster and I dreaded
lest we should be drawn in before we could cast
"When we finally were ready to move the order
was called from the deck to go to the stern hatch
and take off some men. There was no hatch
open and we could see no men, but our crew
obeyed orders, much to our alarm, for they were
throwing wreckage over and we could hear a
cracking noise resembling china breaking. We
implored the men to pull away from the ship, but
they refused, and we pulled three men into the
boat who had dropped off the ship and were
swimming toward us. One man was drunk and
had a bottle of brandy in his pocket which the
quartermaster promptly threw overboard and the
drunken man was thrown into the bottom of the
boat and a blanket thrown over him. After these
three men were hauled in, they told how fast the
ship was sinking and we all implored them to pull
for our lives to get out from the suction when she
should go down. The lights on the ship burned
till just before she went. When the call came that
196 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
she was going I covered my face and heard some
one call, 'She's broken.' After what seemed a
long time I turned my head only to see the stern
almost perpendicular in the air so that the full
outline of the blades of the propeller showed
above the water. She then gave her final plunge
and the air was filled with cries. We rowed back
and pulled in five more men from the sea. Their
suffering from the icy water was intense and two
men who had been pulled into the stern after-
wards died, but we kept their bodies with us until
we reached the Carpathia, where they were taken
aboard and Monday afternoon given a decent
burial with three others.
"After rescuing our men we found several life-
boats near us and an order was given to tie to-
gether, which we obeyed. It did not seem as if
we were together long when one boat said they
could rescue more could they get rid of some
of the women and children aboard and some of
them were put into our boat. Soon after cries
of 'Ship ahoy' and a long low moan came to us
and an ofiicer in command of one of the boats
ordered us to follow him. We felt that we were
already too crowded to go, but our men, with
quartermaster and boatswain in command, fol-
lowed the officer and we pulled over to what
proved to be an overturned boat crowded with
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
197
men. We had to approach it very cautiously,
fearing our wash would sweep them ofF. We
could take only a few and they had to come very
cautiously. The other boat (No. 12) took most
of them and we then rowed away."
This rescue, which Mrs. Stephenson so well
describes, occurred at dawn. Her story now re-
turns to the prior period of night time.
"The sea was smooth and the night brilliant
with more stars than I had ever seen.
"Occasionally a green light showed which
proved to be on the Emergency boat, and our
men all recognized it as such. We all prayed
for dawn, and there was no conversation, every-
one being so awed by the disaster and bitterly
cold.
"With the dawn came the wind, and before
long quite a sea was running. Just before day-
light on the horizon we saw what we felt sure
must be the lights of a ship. The quartermaster
was a long time in admitting that we were right,
urging that it was the moon, but we insisted and
they then said it might be the Carpalhia as they
had been told before leaving the Titanic that she
was coming to us. For a long time after daylight
we were in great wreckage from the Titanic,
principally steamer chairs and a few white
pilasters.
I
198 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
"We felt we could never reach the Carpalhia
when we found she had stopped, and afterwards
when we asked why she didn't come closer we
were told that some of the early boats which put
off from the starboard side reached her a little
after four, while it was after six when we drew
under the side of the open hatch.
"It had been a long trying row in the heavy
sea and impossible to keep bow on to reach the
ship. We stood in great danger of being swamped
many times and Captain Rostron, who watched
us come up, said he doubted if we could have
lived an hour longer in that high sea. Our boat
had considerable water in the centre, due to the
leakage and also the water brought in by the
eight men from their clothing. They had bailed
her constantly in order to relieve the weight.
Two of the women near us were dying seasick,
but the babies slept most of the night in their
mothers' arms. The boatswain's chair was slung
down the side and there were also rope ladders.
Only few, however, of the men were able to go
up the ladders. Mail bags were dropped down
in which the babies and little children were placed
and hoisted up. We were told to throw off our
life-preservers and then placed in a boatswain's
chair and hoisted to the open hatch where ready
arms pulled us in; warm blankets waited those in
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST I99
need and brandy was offered to everybody. We
were shown at once to the saloon, where hot
coffee and sandwiches were being served."
ENGELHARDT BOAT "D." *
No male passenger in this boat.
Passengers: Mrs. J, M. Brown, Mrs. Harris,
Mrs. Frederick Hoyt, the Navratil children.
Picked up from ike sea: Frederick Hoyt.
Bade good-bye to wife and sank with ship:
Mr. Harris.
Crew: Bright, Q. M., in charge; Seaman
Lucas; Steward Hardy.
Stowaway: One steerage foreigner, Joseph
Dugemin.
Jumped from deck below as boat was lowered:
H. B. Steffanson (Swede) , and H, Woolner
(Englishman).
Total: 44- British Report (p. 38) : Crew
2, men passengers 2, women and children 40.
INCIDENTS
C. H. Lightoller, Second Officer (Am. Inq.,
p. 8.):
aOO THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
In the case of the last boat I got out, the veryi
last of all to leave the ship, I had the utmost
difficulty in finding women. After all the other
boats were put out we came forward to put out
the Engelhardt collapsible boats. In the mean-
time the forward Emergency boat (No. 2) had
been put out by one of the other officers, so we
rounded up the tackles and got the collapsible
boat to put that over. Then I called for- women
and could not get any. Somebody said: "There
are no women." This was on the Boat Deck I
where all the women were supposed to be because '
the boats were there. There were between fifteen
and twenty people put into this boat — one seaman
and another seaman, or steward. This was the
very last boat lowered in the tackles. I noticed
plenty of Americans standing near me, who gave
me every assistance they could, regardless of
nationality.
And before the British Court of Inquiry the
same officer testified:
Someone shouted : "There are no more
women." Some of the men began climbing in.
Then someone said : "There are some more
women," and when they came forward the men
got out of the boat again. I saw no men in her,
k
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 20I
I but I believe a couple of Chinese stowed away in
[ her.
When that boat went away there were no
women whatever. I did not consider it advisable
to wait, but to try to get at once away from
the ship. I did not want the boat to be "rushed."
Splendid order was maintained. No attempt was
made to "rush" that boat by the men. When
this boat was being loaded I could see the water
coming up the stairway. There was splendid
order on the boat until the last. As fir as I
know there were no male passengers in the boats
I saw off except the one man I ordered in, Major
Peuchen.
A. J. Bright, Q. M. (Am. Inq., p. 831) :
Quartermaster Rowe, Mr, Boxhall and myself
fired the distress signals, six rockets 1 think in all,
at intervals. After we had finished firing the
distress signals, there were two boats left
(Engelhardt coUapsibles "C" and "D"). All the
lifeboats were away before the collapsible boats
were lowered. They had to be, because the
collapsible boats were on the deck and the other
boats had to be lowered before they could be
used. The same tackle with which the lifeboats
and the Emergency boats were lowered was em-
side to the other to get her away. Saw a famtj
red light abaft the Thank's beam about nine milea^
away — the headlight also. The witness wasi
transferred to No. 12.
J. Hardy, Chief Steward, second-class (Am. I
Inq., p. 587):
We launched this boat filled with passengers. 1
Mr. Lightoller and myself loaded it. I went away I
in it with the quartermaster (Bright) and two!
firemen. There were Syrians In the bottom of 1
the boat, third-class passengers, chattering the!
whole night in their strange language. There*
were about twenty-five women and children. Wej
lowered away and got to the water; the ship thenJ
had a heavy list to port. We got clear of th^
ship and rowed out some distance from her. Mr.l
Lowe told us to tie up with other boats, that we]
would be better seen and could keep better to-l
gether. He, having a full complement of passen-
gers in his boat, transferred about ten to ours, J
making thirty-five in our boat. When we left J
the ship, where we were lowered, there were no.J
women and children there in sight at all. Then
was nobody to lower the boat. No men passen-
gers when we were ready to lower it. They had
gone; where, I could not say. We were not mora
than forty feet from the water when we wei
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
205
k
lowered. We picked up the husband (Frederick
W. Hoyt) of a wife that we had loaded in the
boat. The gentleman took to the water and
climbed in the boat after we had lowered it. He
sat there wringing wet alongside me, helping to
row.
I had great respect and great regret for Officer
Murdoch. I was walking along the deck for-
ward with him and he said: "I believe she is
gone, Hardy." This was a good half hour before
my boat was lowered.
Senator Fletcher: Where were all these pas-
sengers; these 1,600 people?
Mr. Hardy: They must have been between
decks or on the deck below or on the other side
of the ship. I cannot conceive where they were.
In his letter to me, Mr. Frederick M. Hoyt
relates his experience as follows:
"I knew Captain Smith for over fifteen years.
Our conversation that night amounted to little or
nothing. I simply sympathized with him on the
accident; but at that time, as I then never ex-
pected to be saved, I did not want to bother him
with questions, as I knew he had all he wanted
to think of. He did suggest that I go down to
A Deck and see if there were not a boat along-
side. This I did, and to my surprise saw the hi
206 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
"D" Still hanging on the davits (there having
been some delay in lowering her), and it occurred
to me that if I swam out and waited for her to
shove off they would pick me up, which was what
happened."
Hugh Woolner, first-class passenger (Am. Inq.,
p. 887):
Then I said to Steffanson, "Let us go down
on to A Deck," And we went down again, but
there was nobody there. I looked on both sides
of the deck and saw no people. It was absolutely
deserted, and the electric lights along the ceiling
of A Deck were beginning to turn red, just a glow,
a red sort of glow. So I said to Steffanson, "This
is getting to be rather a tight corner; let us go
out through the door at the end." And as we
went out the sea came in onto the deck at our
feet. Then we hopped up onto the gunwale, pre-
paring to jump into the sea, because if we had
waited a minute longer we should have been boxed
in against the celling. And as we looked out we
saw this collapsible boat, the last boat on the port
side, being lowered right in front of our faces.
Senator Smith: How far out?
Mr. Woolner: It was about nine feet out.
Senator Smith: Nine feet away from the side
of A Deck? ~
WOMEN
AND CHILDREN FIRST 207 H
Mr. Woolner:
■
Senator Smith:
You saw a collapsible boat be- ^H
ing lowered?
■
Mr. Woolner:
Being lowered; yes. ^M
Senator Smith
Was it filled with people? H
Mr. Woolner:
It was full up to the bow, and ^|
I said to Steffanson, "There is nobody in the ^M
bows. Let us make a jump for it. You go ^|
first." And he
jumped out and tumbled in ^M
head over heels
into the boat, and I jumped ^M
too and hit the
gunwale with my chest, which ^M
had on the life
-preserver, of course, and 1 ^M
sort of tumbled
od the gunwale and caught ^M
the gunwale with
my fingers and slipped off back- ^B
wards.
Senator Smith :
Into the water?
Mr. Woolner:
As my legs dropped down I
felt that they were in the sea.
Senator Smith:
You are quite sure you jumped
nine feet to get tl
at boat?
Mr. Woolner:
That is my estimate. By that
time you see we
were jumping slightly down-
K ward.
^H Senator Smith :
Did you jump out or down?
■ Mr. Woolner:
Both.
^H Senator Smith:
Both out and down?
■ Mr. Woolner:
Slightly down and out.
^M Senator Smith
It could not have been very
208 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
far down if the water was on A Deck; it must
have been out-
Mr. Woolner: Chiefly out; but it was suffi-
ciently down for us to see just over the edge of
the gunwale of the boat.
Senator Smith: You pulled yourself up out of
the water?
Mr. Woolner: Yes; and then I hooked my
right heel over the gunwale, and by this time
SteSanson was standing up and he caught hold
of me and lifted me in.
One lady (Mrs. Harris) had a broken elbow
bone. She was in a white woollen jacket. At
dawn Officer Lowe transferred five or six from
his boat No. 14 to ours, which brought us down
very close to the water. At daylight we saw a
great many icebergs of different colors, as the
sun struck them. Some looked white, some looked
blue, some looked mauve and others were dark
gray. There was one double-toothed one that
looked to be of good size; it must have been about
one hundred feet high.
The Carpalhia seemed to come up slowly, and
then she stopped. We looked out and saw there
was a boat alongside and then we realized she
was waiting for us to come up to her Instead of
her coming to us, as we hoped. Then Mr. Lowe
towed us with his boat, No, 14, under sail. After
WOMEN AND CHILDBEN FIRST
209
taking a group of people off of boat "A" — a
dozen of them — including one woman, we sailed
! to the Carpathia. There was a child in the boat
one of those little children whose parents
[ everybody was looking for (the Navatil children) .
The last of the Titamc's boats which were never
launched, but floated off, were the two Engelhardt
collapsibles "A" and "B" on the roof of the
officers' house. In my personal account I have
already given the story of boat "B," the upset one
on which Second Officer Lightoller, Jack Thayer,
myself and others escaped. Since I wrote the
account of my personal experience I have had
access to other sources of information, including
some already referred to; and though at the ex-
pense of some repetition, I think it may be of
interest to include the record of this boat in the
present chapter, as follows:
ENGELHARDT BOAT "B"
[The Upset Boal]
Passengers: A. H. Barkworth, Archibald
[ Gracie, John B, Thayer, Jr., first cabin.
Crew; Second Officer Lightoller, Junior Mar-
i Operator Bride, Firemen: McGann, Senior;
2IO THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Chief Baker Joughin ; Cooks : Collins, May-
nard; Steward Whiteley, "J. Hagan." Seaman J.
McGough (possibly). Two men died on boat.
Body of one transferred to No. 12 and finally to
Carpalhia. He was a fireman probably, but 1
Cunard Co, preserved no record of him or his j
burial.
INCIDENTS
C. H. Lightoller, Second OiBcer (Am. Inq.,
pp. 87, 91, 786}:
I was on top of the officers' quarters and there
was nothing more to be done. The ship then took
a dive and I turned face forward and also took
a dive from on top, practically amidships a little
to the starboard, where I had got to. I was
driven back against the blower, which is a large
thing that shape (indicating) which faces for-
ward to the wind and which then goes down to the
stoke hole; but there is a grating there and it was
against this grating that I was sucked by the
water, and held there under water. There was a
terrific blast of air and water and I was blown out
clear. I came up above the water, which barely
threw me away at all, because I went down again
against these fiddley gratings immediately abreast
of the funnel over the stoke hole to which this
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
211
I
hddley leads. Colonel Grade, I believe, was
sucked down in identically the same manner on the
fiddley gratings, caused by the water rushing down
below as the ship was going down.
I next found myself alongside of that over-
turned boat. This was before the Titanic sank.
The funnel then fell down and if there was any-
body on that side of the Engelhardt boat It fell
on them. The ship was not then submerged by
considerable. The stern was completely out of
the water. I have heard some controversy as to
the boilers exploding owing to coming in contact
with salt water, by men who are capable of giving
an opinion, but there seems to be an open ques-
tion as to whether cold water actually does cause
boilers to explode.
I hardly had any opportunity to swim. It was
V the action of the funnel falling that threw us out
I a considerable distance away from the ship. We
had no oars or other effective means for propel-
ling the overturned boat. We had httle bits of
wood, but they were practically ineffective.
On our boat, as I have said before, were
Colonel Grade and young Thayer, I think they
were the only two passengers. There were no
women on our overturned boat. These were all
taken out of the water and they were firemen and
others of the crew — roughly about thirty. I take
212 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
that from my own estimate and from the estimate 1
of someone who was looking down from the i
bridge of the Carpathia,
And from the same officer's testimony before
the British Court as follows:
An order was given to cut the lashings of the ^
other Engelhardt boats. It was then too late as
the water was rushing up to the Boat Deck and
there was not time to get them to the falls. He
then went across to the officers' quarters on the
starboard side to see what he could do. Then
the vessel seemed to take a bit of a dive. He
swam off and cleared the ship. The water was
so intensely cold that he first tried to get out of it
into the crow's nest, close at hand. Next he was
pushed up against the blower on the forepart of
the funnel, the water rushing down this blower,
holding him against the grating for a while. Then
there seemed to be a rush of air and he was
blown away from the grating. He was dragged
below the surface, but not for many moments.
He came up near the Engelhardt boat "B" which
was not launched, but had been thrown into the
water. The forward funnel then fell down.
Some little time after this he saw half a dozen
men standing on the collapsible boat, and got on
to it. The whole of the third funnel was still visi-
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
213
»
ble, the vessel gradually raising her stern out of
the water. The ship did not break in two, and
could not be broken in two. She actually attained
the perpendicular before sinking. His Impression
was that no lights were then burning in the after
part not submerged. It is true that the after part
of the vessel settled level with the water. He
watched the ship keenly all the time. After she
reached an angle of 60 degrees there was a rum-
bling sound which he attributed to the boilers leav-
ing their beds and crashing down. Finally she at-
tained an absolute perpendicular position and then
went slowly down. He heard no explosion what-
ever, but noticed about that time that the water
became much warmer. There were about those
on the Engelhardt boat "B," several people
struggling in the water who came on it. Nearly
twenty-eight or thirty were taken oE in the morn-
ing at daybreak. In this rescuing boat {No. 12),
after the transfer, there were seventy-five. It was
the last boat to the Carpaihia. The next morn-
ing (Monday) he saw some icebergs from fifty
to sixty to two hundred feet high, but the nearest
was about ten miles away.
After the boats had left the side of the ship he
heard orders given by the commander through the
megaphone. He heard him say: "Bring that boat
alongside." Witness presumed allusion was made
214 THE TKUTH ABOUT THE "nTANli
to bringing of boats to the gangway doors. Wit-
ness could not gather whether the orders were
being obeyed- Said he had not been on the Engel-
hardt boat more than half an hour before a swell
was distinctly visible. In the morning there was
quite a breeze. It was when he was at No. 6 boat
that he noticed the list. Though the ship struck
on the starboard side, it was not an extraordinary
thing that there should be a list to port. It does
not necessarily follow that there should be a list
to the side where the water was coming in.
Harold Bride, junior Marconi operator in his
Report of April 27th to W. B. Cross, Traffic
Manager, Marconi Co. (Am. Inq., p. 1053)
says :
Just at this moment the captain said: "You can*
not do any more; save yourselves." Leaving the
captain we climbed on top of the house compris-
ing the officers' quarters and our own. Here I
saw the last of Mr. Phillips, for he disappeared,
walking aft. I now assisted In pushing off the col-
lapsible boat on to the Boat Deck. Just as the
boat fell, I noticed Captain Smith dive from the
bridge into the sea. Then followed a general
scramble out on to the Boat Deck, but no sooner
had we got there than the sea washed over. I
managed .to catch hold of the boat we had pre-
I
I
I
»
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 215
viously fixed up and was swept overboard with
her. I then experienced the most exciting three
or four hours anyone can reasonably wish for,
and was, in due course with the rest of the sur-
vivors, picked up by the Carpaihia. As you prob-
ably heard, I got on the collapsible boat the sec-
ond time, which was, as I had left it, upturned. I
called Phillips but got no response, I learned
later from several sources that he was on this
boat and expired even before we were picked up
by the Titanic' s lifeboat (No. 12). I am told
that fright and exposure were the causes of his
death. So far as I can find out, he was taken on
board the Carpaihia and buried at sea from her,
though for some reason the bodies of those who
died were not identified before burial from the
Carpaihia, and so I cannot vouch for the truth of
^this.
He also gave testimony before the American
Inquiry (pp. IIO, i5i) :
This boat was over the ofiicers' cabin at the
side of the forward funnel. It was pushed over on
to the Boat Deck. It went over the starboard
side and I went over with it. It was washed off
and over the side of the ship by a wave Into the
water bottom side upward. I was Inside the boat
and under it, as !t fell bottom side upward. I
2l6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
coutd not tell how long. It seemed a life time to
me really. I got on top of the boat e%'entually.
There was a big crowd on top when I got on. I
should say that I remained under the boat three-
quarters of an hour, or a half hour. I then got
away from it as quickly as I could. I freed my-
self from It and cleared out of It but I do not
know why, but swam back to it about three-quar-
ters of an hour to an hour afterwards. I was up-
side down myself — I mean I was on my back.
It is estimated that there were between thirty
and forty on the boat; no women. When it was
pushed over on the Boat Deck we all scrambled
down on to the Boat Deck again and were going
to launch it properly when it was washed over be-
fore we had time to launch it. I happened to be
nearest to it and I grabbed it and went down with
it. There was a passenger on this boat; I could
not see whether he was first, second or third class.
I heard him say at the time that he was a passen-
ger. I could not say whether it was Colonel
Grade, There were others who struggled to get
on; dozens of them in the water. I should judge
they were all part of the boat's crew.
I am twenty-two years old. Phillips was about
twenty-four or twenty-five. My salary from the
Marconi Co. is four pounds a month.
As to the attack made upon Mr. Phillips to
I
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 2 I?
take away his life belt I should say the man was
dressed like a stoker. We forced him away. I
held him and Mr. Phillips hit him.
H J. Collins, cook (Am. Inq., p. 628) :
I This was my first voyage. I ran back to the
upper deck to the port side with another steward
and a woman and two children. The steward had
one of the children in his arms and the woman
was crying, I took the child from the woman and
made for one of the boats. Then the word came
around from the starboard side that there was a
collapsible boat getting launched on that side and
that all women and children were to make for it,
so the other steward and I and the two children
and the woman came around to the starboard
side. We saw the collapsible boat taken off the
saloon deck, and then the sailors and the firemen
who were forward saw the ship's bow in the water
and that she was sinking by her bow. They
shouted out for us to go aft. We were just turn-
ing round to make for the stern when a wave
washed us off the deck — washed us clear of it,
and the child was washed out of my arms. I
was kept down for at least two or three minutes
under water.
Senator Bourne: Two or three minutes?
Mr. Collins: Yea; I am sure.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST 219
Mr. Collins: Yes, sir.
Senator Bourne: Did you see the bow?
Mr. Collins: No, sir.
Senator Bourne: How far were you from the
stern end of the ship when you came up and got
on to the collapsible boat?
Mr. Collins: I could not just exactly state how
far I was away from the Titanic when I came up.
I was not far, because her lights were out then.
Her lights went out when the water got almost to
amidships on her.
Senator Bourne: As I understand it, you were
amidships of the bow as the ship sank?
Mr. Collins: Yes, sir.
Senator Bourne: You were washed off by a
wave? You were under water as you think for
two or three minutes and then swam five or six
yards to the collapsible boat and got aboard the
boat? The stern (of ship) was still afloat?
Mr. Collins: The stern was still afloat.
Senator Bourne: The lights were burning?
Mr. Collins: I came to the surface, sir,
and I happened to look around and I saw
the lights and nothing more, and I looked In
front of me and saw the collapsible boat and I
made for it.
Senator Bourne : How do you account for this
. wave that washed you off amidships?
120 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Mr. Collins: By the suction which took place!
when the bow went down In the water, Ther«^
were probably fifteen on the boat when I got on,^
There was some lifeboat that had a green hght
on it and we thought it was a ship, after the Ti-
tatiic had sunk, and we commenced to shout. All
we saw was the green light. We were drifting
about two hours, and then we saw the topmast
lights of the Carpathia. Then came dayhght and
we saw our own lifeboats and we were very close
to them. When we spied them we shouted to
them and they came over to us and they lifted a.
whole lot of us that were on the collapsible boat*
J. Joughin, head baker (Br. Inq.) :
I got on to the starboard side of the poop}
found myself in the water. I do not believe my
head went under the water at all, I thought I sawl
some wreckage. Swam towards it and found col- 1
lapsible boat {"B") with LIghtoller and aboutJ
twenty-five men on it. There was no room for J
me, I tried to get on, but was pushed off, but I ]
hung around. I got around to the opposite j
and cook Maynard, who recognized me, helpeili
me and held on to me.
The experience of my fellow passenger on t
boat, John B. Thayer, Jr., is embodied in ao
^P WOMEN first; men NEXT 221
counts written by him on April 20th and 23rd,
just after landing from the Carpathia: the first
given to the press as the only statement he had
made, the second in a very pathetic letter written
to Judge Charles L. Long, of Springfield, Mass.,
whose son, Milton C. Long, was a companion of
young Thayer all that evening, April 14th, until
at the very last both jumped into the sea and Long
was lost, as described:
"Thinking that father and mother had man-
aged to get off in a boat we, Long and myself,
went to the starboard side of the Boat Deck
where the boats were getting away quickly. Some
were already off in the distance. We thought of
getting into one of them, the last boat on the for-
ward part of the starboard side, but there seemed
to be such a crowd around that I thought it un-
wise to make any attempt to get into It. I thought
it would never reach the water right side up, but
it did.
Here I noticed nobody that I knew except Mr.
Lingrey, whom I had met for the first time that
evening. I lost sight of him in a few minutes.
Long and I then stood by the rail just a little aft
of the captain's bridge. There was such a big list
to port that it seemed as if the ship would turn
on her side.
About this time the people began jumping from
222 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
the stern. I thought of jumping myself, but was
afraid of being stunned on hitting the water.
Three times I made up my mind to jump out and
slide down the davit ropes and try to swim to the
boats that were lying ofE from the ship, but each
time Long got hold of me and told me to wait a
while, I got a sight on a rope between the davits
and a star and noticed that the ship was gradually
sinking. About this time she straightened up on
an even keel again, and started to go down fairly
fast at an angle of about thirty degrees. As she
started to sink we left the davits and went back J
and stood by the rail aft, even with the secondjl
funnel. Long and myself stood by each other and
jumped on the rail. We did not give each other
any messages for home because neither of us
thought we would ever get back. Long put his
legs over the rail, while I straddled it. Hanging |
over the side and holding on to the rail with his 1
hands he looked up at me and said; 'You arc J
coming, boy, aren't you?' I replied: 'Go ahead, 1
I'll be with you In a minute.' He let go and slid'1
down the side and I never saw him again. Almost ■
immediately after he jumped I jumped. All this'l
last part took a very short time, and when we 1
jumped we were about ten yards above the water.
Long was perfectly calm all the time and kept hi»J
nerve to the very end."
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 223
How he sank and finally reached the upset
boat is quoted accurately from the news-
paper report from this same source given
in my personal narrative. He continues as
follows :
"As often as we saw other boats in the distance
we would yell, 'Ship ahoy I' but they could not
distinguish our cries from any of the others, so
we all gave it up, thinking it useless. It was very
cold, and the water washed over the upset boat
almost all the time. Towards dawn the wind
sprung up, roughening the water and making it
difHcult to keep the boat balanced. The wireless
man raised our hopes a great deal by telling us
that the Carpaihia would be up In about three
hours. About 3.30 or 4 o'clock some men at the
bow of our boat sighted her mast lights. I could
not see them as I was sitting down with a man
kneeling on my leg. He finally got up, and I
stood up. We had the Second Officer, Mr. Ligh-
toller, on board. He had an officer's whistle and
whistled for the boats in the distance to come up
and take us off. Two of them came up. The first
took half and the other took the balance, includ-
ing myself. In the transfer we had difficulty in
t balancing our boat as the men would lean too far
lover, but we were all taken aboard the already
224 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC''
crowded boats and taken to the Carpathia in
safety."
One of these boats was No. 4, in which his
mother was.
CHAPTER VII
I STARBOARD SIDE: WOMEN FIRST, BUT MEN WHEN
THERE WERE NO WOMEN
I KNOW of the conditions existing on the port
side of the ship from personal knowledge,
as set forth in the first five chapters de-
scribing my personal experience, while the pre-
vious chapter VI is derived from an exhaustive
study of official and of other authoritative infor-
mation relating to the same side from experiences
of others. I have devoted an equal amount of
study to the history of what happened on the star-
board side of the ship, and the tabulated state-
ments In this chapter are the outcome of my re-
search into the experiences of my fellow passen-
gers on this side of the ship where I was located
only during the last half hour before the ship
foundered, after all passengers on the port side
had been ordered to the starboard in consequence
of the great list to port, and after the departure
of the last boat "D," that left the ship on the
port side. During this last half hour, though it
225
2l6 THE nUTH ABOtrr THE '^TTTAKWf*
seemed shorter, 017 attrataoo was confined to the '
work of the crew, assisting them in their vain ef-
forts to laonch the Engelhardt boat "B'* thrown
down from the roof of the officers' house. All the
starhoard boats had left the ship before I came
there.
Many misunderstandings arose in the public
mind because of ignorance of the size of the ship
and inability to understand that the same condi-
tions did not pre\-ail at every point and that the |
same scenes were not wimessed by ever)' one of us. I
Consider the great length of the ship, 852 feet;
its breadth of beam, 92.6 feet; and its many decks,
eleven in number; counting the roof of the of-
ficers' house as the top deck, then the Boat Deck,
and Decks A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and, in the
hold, two more. Bearing this in mind I illustrated
to my New York friends, in answer to their ques-
tions, how impossible it would be for a person
standing at the corner of 50th Street and Fifth
Avenue to know just what was going on at 52nd
Street on the same Avenue, or what was going on
at the corner of 52nd Street and Madison Avenue.
Therefore, when one survivor's viewpoint differs I
from that of another, the explanation is easily |
found.
Consideration must also be taken of the fact
that the accident occurred near midnight, andj
WOMEN first; men NEXT 227
though it was a bright, starlit night, and the
ship's electric lights shone almost to the last, it
was possible to recognize only one's intimates at
close quarters,
My research shows that there was no general
order from the ship's officers on the starboard
side for "Women and children first." On the
other hand, I have the statements of Dr. Wash-
ington Dodge, John B. Thayer, Jr., and Mrs.
Stephenson, also the same of a member of the
crew testifying before the British Court of In-
quiry, from which it appears that some sort of a
command was issued ordering the women to the
port side and the men to the starboard, indicating
that no men would be allowed in the port boats,
and only in the starboard side boats after the
women had entered them first. If such were the
orders, they were carried out to the letter. An-
other point of difference, especially conspicuous to
myself, is the fact that on the starboard side there
appears to have been an absence of women at the
points where the boats were loaded, while on the
port side all the boats loaded, from the first up to
the last, found women at hand and ready to enter
them. It was only at the time of the loading of
the last boat "D," that my friend. Clinch Smith,
and I ran up and down the port side shouting:
"Arc there any more women?" This too is the
228 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
testimony of Officer LightoUer, In charge of load-
ing boats on the port side.
BOAT NO. 7 *
No disorder in loading or lowering this boat.
Passengers: Mesdames Bishop, Earnshaw,
Gibson, Greenfield, Potter, Snyder, and Misses
Gibson and Hays, Messrs, Bishop, Chevre,
Daniel, Greenfield, McGough, Marechal, Seward,
Sloper, Snyder, Tuclcer.
Transferred from Boat No. 5: Mrs. Dodge
and her boy; Messrs. Calderhead and Flynn.
Crew: Seamen: Hogg (in charge), Jewell,
Wcller.
Total: 28.
INCIDENTS
Archie Jewell, L. O. (Br. Inq.) :
Was awakened by the crash and ran at once on
declt where he saw a lot of ice. All went below
again to get clothes on. The boatswain called all
hands on deck. Went to No. 7 boat. The ship
had stopped. All hands cleared the boats, cleared
away the falls and got them all right, Mr. Mur-
• First to leave ship starboard side at 13.45 J Br. Ilpf., p. 3
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 229 ^
doch gave the order to lower boat No. 7 to the
rail with women and children in the boat. Three
or four Frenchmen, passengers, got into the boat.
No. 7 was lowered from the Boat Deck. The
orders were to stand by the gangway. This boat
was the first on the starboard side lowered into the
water. All the boats were down by the time it
was pulled away from the ship because it was
thought she was settling down.
Witness saw the ship go down by the head very
slowly. The other lifeboats were further off, his
being the nearest. No. 7 was then pulled further
off and about half an hour later, or about an hour
and a half after this boat was lowered, and when it
was about 200 yards away, the ship took the final
dip. He saw the stern straight up in the air with
the lights still burning. After a few moments she
then sank very quickly and he heard two or three
explosions just as the stern went up in the air.
No. 7 picked up no dead bodies. At daylight
they saw a lot of icebergs all around, and reached
the Carpalhia about 9 o'clock. This boat had no
compass and no light. (The above, given in de-
tail, represents the general testimony of the next
witness.)
G. A. Hogg, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 577) :
He had forty-two when the boat was shoved
I
I
230 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
from the ship's side. He asked a lady if she could
steer who said she could. He pulled around in
search of other people. One man said: "We have
done our best; there are no more people around."
He said: "Very good, we will get away now."
There was not a ripple on the water; it was as
smooth as glass.
Mrs. H. W. Bishop, first-class passenger (Am.
Inq., p. 998) :
The captain told Colonel Astor something in
an undertone. He came back and told six of us
who were standing with his wife that we had bet-
ter put on our life belts. I had gotten down two
flights of stairs to tell my husband, who had re-
turned to the stateroom for the moment, before I
heard the captain announce that the life belts
should be put on. We came back upstairs and
found very few people on deck. There was very
little confusion — only the older women were a' lit-
tle frightened. On the starboard side of the Boat
Deck there were only two people — a young
French bride and groom. By that time an old
man had come upstairs and found Mr. and Mrs.
Harder, of New York. He brought us all to-
gether and told us to be sure and stay together —
that he would be back in a moment. We never
saw him again.
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 23 1
About five minutes later the boats were lowered
and we were pushed in. This was No. 7 lifeboat.
My husband was pushed in with me and we were
lowered with twenty-eight people in the boat. We
counted off after we reached the water. There
were only about twelve women and the rest were
men — three crew and thirteen male passengers;
several unmarried men — three or four of them
foreigners. Somewhat later five people were put
into our boat from another one, making thirty-
three in ours. Then we rowed sdll further away
as the women were nervous about suction. We
had no compass and no light. We arrived at the
Carpalhia five or ten minutes after five. Th6 con-
duct of the crew, as far as I could see, was abso-
lutely beyond criticism. One of the crew in the
boat was Jack Edmonds, (?) and there was an-
other man, a Lookout (Hogg), of whom we all
thought a great deal. He lost his brother.
D. H. Bishop, first-class passenger (Am. Inq.,
p. 1000) :
There was an officer stationed at the side of the
lifeboat. As witness's wife got in, he fell into the
boat. The French aviator Marechal was in the
boat; also Mr. Greenfield and his mother. There
was little confusion on the deck while the boat
was being loaded; no rush to boats at all. Wit-
232 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
ness agrees with his wife in the matter of the
counting of twenty-eight, but he knows that there
were some who were missed. There was a
woman with her baby transferred from another
lifeboat. Witness knows of his own knowledge
that No. 7 was the first boat lowered from the
starboard side. They heard no order from any
one for the men to stand back or "women first,"
or "women and children first." Witness also says
that at the time his lifeboat was lowered that that
order had not been given on the starboard side.
J. R. McGough's aiEdavit(Am, Inq,, p. 1 143) :
After procuring life preservers we went back
to the top deck and discovered that orders had
been given to launch the lifeboats, which were
already being launched. Women and children
were called for to board the boats first. Both
women and men hesitated and did not feel inclined
to get into the small boats. He had his back
turned, looking in an opposite direction, and was
caught by the shoulder by one of the officers who
gave him a push saying: "Here, you are a big
fellow; get into that boat."
Our boat was launched with twenty-eight peo-
ple in all. Five were transferred from one of the
others. There were several of us who wanted
drinking water. It was unknown to us that there
WOMEN first; men next
^
ank of water and crackers also in our boat
until we reached the Carpalhia. There was no
light in our boat.
Mrs. Thomas Potter, Jr. Letter:
There was no panic. Everyone seemed more
stunned than anything else. . . . We watched
for upwards of two hours the gradual sinking of
the ship — first one row of light and then another
disappearing at shorter and shorter intervals,
with the bow well bent in the water as though
ready for a dive. After the lights went out, some
ten minutes before the end, she was like some
great living thing who made a last superhuman
effort to right herself and then, failing, dove bow
forward to the unfathomable depths below.
We did not row except to get away from the
suction of the sinking ship, but remained lashed
to another boat until the Carpalhia came in sight
just before dawn.
BOAT NO. 5 *
No disorder in loading or lowering this boat,
Passengers: Mesdames Cassebeer, Chambers,
Crosby, Dodge and her boy, Frauenthai, Golden-
* Second boat lowered OD the starboard side at 12J5 [Br.
apt. p. 38.]
234 THE TRCTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC**
berg, Harder, Kimball, Stehli, Stengel, Taylor,
Warren, and Misses Crosby, Newson, Ostby and
Frolichcr Stebli.
Messrs: Beckwitb, Behr, Calderbead, Cham-
bers, Flynn, Goldenberg, Harder, KimbaJl, Stehli,
Taylor.
Bade good-bye to tcrces and daughters and sank
loilh skip: Captain Crosby, Mr. Ostby and Mr.
Warren.
Jumped from deck into boat being lowered:
German Doctor Frauenthal and brother Isaac, P.
Maugc.
Cretv: 3rd Officer Pitman. Seaman: Olliver,
Q. M.; Fireman Shiers; Stewards, Etches, Guy.
Stewardess .
Total: 41.
INCIDENTS
H. J. Pitman, 3rd Officer (Am. Inq., p. 277,
and Br. Inq.) :
I lowered No. 5 boat to the level with the rail
of the Boat Deck. A man in a dressing gown said
that we had better get her loaded with women and
children. I said: "I wait the commander's or-
ders," to which he replied: "Very well," or some-
thing like that. It then dawned on me that it
might be Mr. Ismay, judging by the description I
WOMEN first; men NEXT 235
had had given rae. I went to the bridge and saw
Captain Smith and told him that I thought it was
Mr. Ismay that wanted me to get the boat away
I with women and children in it and he said: "Go
I ahead; carry on." I came along and brought in
my boat. I stood in it and said: "Come along,
ladies." There was a big crowd. Mr. Ismay
helped get them along. We got the boat nearly
full and I shouted out for any more ladies. None
were to be seen so I allowed a few men to get
into it. Then I jumped on the ship again. Mr.
Murdoch said: "You go In charge of this boat
and hang around the after gangway." About
thirty (Br. Inq.) to forty women were in the boat,
two children, half a dozen male passengers, my-
self and four of the crew. There would not have
been so many men had there been any women
around, but there were none. Murdoch shook
hands with me and said: "Good-bye; good luck,"
and I said: "Lower away." This boat was the
second one lowered on the starboard side. No
light in the boat.
The ship turned right on end and went down
perpendicularly. She did not break in two. I
heard a lot of people say that they heard boiler
explosions, but I have my doubts about that. I
do not see why the boilers would burst, because
there was no steam there. They should have
236 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
been stopped about two hours and a half. The I
fires had not been fed so there was very little |
> from the
steam there, rrom the distance 1 was 1
ship, if it had occurred, I think I would have
known it. As soon as the ship disappeared I said:
"Now, men, we will pull toward the wreck."
Everyone in my boat said it was a mad idea be-
cause we had far better save what few I had in
my boat than go back to the scene of the wreck
and be swamped by the crowds that were there.
My boat would have accommodated a few more —
about sixty in all. I turned No. 5 boat around to
go in the direction from which these cries came but
was dissuaded from my purpose by the passen-
gers. My idea of lashing Nos. 5 and 7 together
was to keep together so that if anything hove in
sight before daylight we could steady ourselves
and cause a far bigger show than one boat only.
I transferred two men and a woman and a child
from my boat to No. 7 to even them up a bit.
H. S. Etches, steward (Am. Inq., p. 810) :
Witness assisted Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Ismay,
Mr. Pitman and Quartermaster Olliver and two
stewards in the loading ajid launching of No. 7,
the gentlemen being asked to keep back and the I
ladles In first. There were more ladies to go in j
No. 7 because No. 5 boat, which we went to next;
WOMEN first; men next
took i
thirl
: ladies. In No. 7 boat I
saw one child, a baby boy, with a small woollen
cap. After getting all the women that were there
they called out three times — Mr. Ismay twice —
in a loud voice: "Are there any more women be-
fore this boat goes?" and there was no answer,
Mr. Murdoch called out, and at that moment a
female came up whom he did not recognize. Mr.
Ismay said: "Come along; jump in," She said:
"I am only a stewardess." He said: "Never mind
— you are a woman; take your place." That was
the last woman I saw get into boat No. 5. There
were two firemen In the bow; Olliver, the sailor,
and myself; and Officer Pitman ordered us into
the boat and lowered under Murdoch's order.
Senator Smith: What other men got into that
boat?
Mr. Etches: There was a stout gentleman, sir,
stepped forward then. He had assisted to put his
wife in the boat. He leaned forward and she
stood up in the boat and put her arms around his
neck and kissed him, and I heard her say; "I can-
not leave you," and with that I turned my head.
The next moment I saw bim sitting beside her in
the bottom of the boat, and some voice said:
"Throw that man out of the boat," but at that
moment they started lowering away and the man
remained.
238 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
Senator Smith: Who was he?
Mr. Etches: I do not know his name, sir, butl
he was a very stout gentleman. (Dr. H. Wj
Frauenthal.)
We laid off about 100 yards from the ship am
waited. She seemed to be going down at the head"'
and we pulled away about a quarter of a mile and
laid on our oars until the Titanic sank. She
seemed to rise once as though she was going to
take a final dive, but sort of checked as though
she had scooped the water up and had levelled
herself. She then seemed to settle very, very
quiet, until the last when she rose and seemed to
stand twenty seconds, stern in that position (indi-
cating) and then she went down with an awful
grating, like a small boat running off a shingley
beach. There was no inrush of water, or any-
thing. Mr. Pitman then said to pull back to the
scene of the wreck. The ladies started calling out.
Two ladies sitting in front where I was pulling
said: "Appeal to the officer not to go back. Why
should we lose all of our lives in a useless attempt
to save others from the ship?" We did not go
back. When we left the ship No. 5 had forty-
two, including the children and six crew and the
officer. Two were transferred with a lady and 9.i
child into boat No. 7.
Senator Smith : Of your own knowledge do you'
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
239
I
I
know whether any general call was made for pas-
sengers to rouse themselves from their berths;
and when it was, or whether there was any other
signal given ?
Mr. Etches: The second steward (Dodd), sir,
was calling all around the ship. He was directing
some men to storerooms for provisions for the
lifeboats, and others he was telling to arouse all
the passengers and to tell them to be sure to take
their life preservers with them.
There was no lamp in No. 5. On Monday
morning we saw a very large floe of fiat ice and
three or four bergs between in different places,
and on the other bow there were two large bergs
in the distance. The field ice was about three-
quarters of a mile at least from us between four
and five o'clock in the morning. It was well over
on the port side of the Titanic m the position she
was going.
A. OlHver, Q. M. (Am. Inq., p. 526) :
There were so many people in the boat when I
got into it that I could not get near the plug to
put the plug In. I Implored the passengers to
move so I could do It. When the boat was put In
the water I let the tripper go and water came into
the boat. I then forced my way to the plug and
put it in; otherwise It would have been swamped.
240 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
There was no rush when I got into the boat. I
heard Mr. Pitman give an order to go back to the
ship, but the women passengers implored him not
to go. We were then about 300 yards away.
Nearly all objected.
A. Shiers, fireman (Br. Inq., p. 48) :
He saw no women left. There were about
forty men and women in the boat. There was no
confusion among the officers and crew. We did
not go back when the Titanic went down. The
women in the boat said: "Don't go back." They
said: "If we go back the boat will be swamped."
No compass in boat.
Paul Mauge, RItz kitchen clerk (Br. Inq.) :
Witness was berthed in the third-class corridor.
Was awakened and went up on deck. Went down
again and woke up the chef. Going through the
second-class cabin he noticed that the assistants
of the restaurant were there and not allowed to
go on the Boat Deck. He saw the second or third
boat on the starboard side let down into the water,
and when it was about ten feet down from the
Boat Deck he jumped into it. Before this he
asked the chef to jump, but he was too fat and
would not do so. (Laughter.) I asked him
again when I got in the boat, but he refused.
i
I
WOMEN first; men NEXT
241
When his boat was passing one of the lower decks
one of the crew of the Titanic tried to pull him
out of the boat. He saw no passengers prevented
from going up on deck. He thinks he was al-
lowed to pass because he was dressed like a pas-
senger.
Mrs. Catherine E. Crosby's affidavit (Am,
Inq., p. 1144):
Deponent is the widow of Captain Edward
Giflord Crosby and took passage with him and
their daughter, Harriette R, Crosby,
At the time of the collision, Captain Crosby
got up, dressed, went out, came back and said to
her : "You will lie there and drown," and went out
again. He said to their daughter: "The boat is
badly damaged, but I think the water-tight com-
partments will hold her up."
Mrs. Crosby then got up and dressed, as did
her daughter, and followed her husband on deck.
She got into the first or second boat. About thirty-
six persons got In with them.
There was no discrimination between men and
women. Her husband became separated from
her. She was suffering from cold while drifting
around and one of the ofScers (Pitman) put a
sail around her and over her head to keep her
242 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
George A. Harder, first-class passenger (Am. I
Inq., p. 1028) :
As we were being lowered, they lowered one
side quicker than the other, but reached the water
safely after a few scai-es. Someone said the plug
was not in, and they could not get the boat de-
tached from the tackle. Finally, a knife was
found and the rope cut. We had about forty-
two people in the boat — about thirty women, Of-
ficer Pitman, a sailor and three men of the crew.
We rowed some distance from the ship — it may
have been a quarter or an eighth of a mile. We
were afraid of the suction. Passengers said
"Let us row a little further." They did so. Then
this other boat. No. 7, came along. We tied
alongside. They had twenty-nine in their boat,
and we counted at the time thirty-six in ours, so
we gave them four or five of our people in order
to make it even.
After the ship went down we heard a lot of
cries and a continuous yelling and moaning. I
counted about ten icebergs in the morning. Our
boat managed very well. It is true that the of-
ficer did want to go back to the ship, but all the
passengers held out and said: "Do not do that; it
would only be foolish; there would be so many
around that It 'would only swamp the boat."
There was no light in our boat.
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
243
C. E. H. Stengel, first cabin passenger (Am.
Inq., p. 975):
Senator Smith : Did you see any man attempt to
enter these lifeboats who was forbidden to do so?
Mr. Stengel : I saw two. A certain physician *
in New York, and his brother, jumped into the
same boat my wife was in. Then the officer, or
the man who was loading the boat said: "I will
stop that, I will go down and get my gun." He
left the deck momentarily and came right back
again. I saw no attempt of anyone else to get
into the lifeboats except these two gentlemen that
jumped into the boat after it was started to lower.
Senator Bourne: When you were refused ad-
mission into the boat in which your wife was, were
there a number of ladles and children there at the
time?
Mr. Stengel: No, sir, there were not. These
two gentlemen had put their wives in and were
standing on the edge of the deck and when they
started lowering away, they jumped in. I saw
only two.
N. C. Chambers, first-class passenger (Am.
Inq., 1 041) :
Witness referring to boat No, 5 as appearing
sufficiently loaded says: "However, my wife said
• Dr. H. W. Frauenthsl.
244 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
she \
; was going in that boat and proceeded to jump
in, calling to me to come. As I knew she would
get out again had I not come, I finally jumped
into the boat, although I did not consider it, from
the looks of things, safe to put many more in. As
I remember it, there were two more men, both
called by their wives, who jumped in after I did.
One of them, a German I believe, told me as I
recollect it on the Carpathia that he had looked
around and had seen no one else, and no one to
ask whether he could get in, or not, and had
jumped in. Witness describes the difficulty in
finding whether the plug was in, or not, and re-
calls someone calling from above: "It's your own
blooming business to see that the plug is in any-
how."
Mrs. C. E. H. Stengel, first-class passenger,
writes as follows:
"As I stepped into the lifeboat an ofScer in
charge said: 'No more; the boat is full.' My
husband stepped back, obeying the order. As the
boat was being lowered, four men deliberately
jumped into it. One of them was a Hebrew doc-
tor — another was his brother. This was done at
the risk of the lives of all of us in the boat. The
two companions of this man who did this were the
ones who were later transferred to boat No. 7, to
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
245
which we were tied. He weighed about 250
pounds and wore two life preservers. These men
who jumped in struck me and a little child. I was
rendered unconscious and two of my ribs were
very badly dislocated. With this exception there
was absolutely no confusion and no disorder in the
loading of our boat."
Mrs. F. M. Warren, first-class passenger's ac-
count:
. . . Following this we then went to our
rooms, put on all our heavy wraps and went to
the foot of the grand staircase on Deck D, again
interviewing passengers and crew as to the dan-
ger. While standing there Mr. Andrews, one of
the designers of the vessel, rushed by, going up the
stairs. He was asked if there was any danger
but made no reply. But a passenger who was
afterwards saved told me that his face had on it
a look of terror. Immediately after this the re-
port became general that water was in the squash
courts, which were on the deck below where we
were standing, and that the baggage had already
been submerged.
At the time we reached the Boat Deck, star-
board side, there were very few passengers there,
apparently, but it was dark and we could not es-
timate the number. There was a deafening roar
I
246 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
of escaping steam, of which we had not been
conscious while Inside.
The only people we remembered seeing, except
a young woman by the name of Miss Ostby, who
had become separated from her father and was
with us, were Mr. Astor, his wife and servants,
who were standing near one of the boats which
was being cleared preparatory to being lowered.
The Astors did not get into this boat. They
all went back inside and I saw nothing of
them again until Mrs. Astor was taken onto the
Carfathia.
We discovered that the boat next to the one the
Astors had been near had been lowered to the
level of the deck, so went towards it and were
told by the officers in charge to get in. At this
monient both men and women came crowding to-
ward the spot. I was the second person assisted
in. I supposed that Mr. Warren had followed,
but saw when I turned that he was standing back
and assisting the women. People came in so rap-
idly in the darkness that it was impossible to dis-
tinguish them, and I did not see him again.
The boat was commanded by Officer Pitman
and manned by four of the Tiianic's men. The
lowering of the craft was accomplished with great
difficulty. First one end and then the other was
dropped at apparently dangerous angles, and we
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 247
feared that we would swamp as soon as we struck
the water.
Mr. Pitman's orders were to pull far enough
away to avoid suction If the ship sank. The sea
was like glass, so smooth that the stars were
clearly reflected. We were pulled quite a distance
away and then rested, watching the rockets in ter-
rible anxiety and realizing that the vessel was
rapidly sinking, bow first. She went lower and
lower, until the lower lights were extinguished,
and then suddenly rose by the stern and slipped
from sight. We had no light on our boat and
were left in intense darkness save from an occa-
sional glimmer of light from other lifeboats and
one steady green light on one of the ship's boats
which the officers of the Carpalhia afterwards
said was of material assistance in aiding them to
come direct to the spot.
With daylight the wind increased and the sea
became choppy, and we saw icebergs in every di-
rection; some lying low in the water and others
tall, like ships, and some of us thought they were
ships. I was on the second boat picked up.
From the time of the accident until I left the
ship there was nothing which in any way resem-
bled a panic. There seemed to be a sort of aim-
less confusion and an utter lack of organized ef-
fort.
I
I
248 THE TRUf H ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
BOAT No. 3.*
No disorder in loading or lowering this boat.
Passengers: Mesdames Cardeza and maid
(Anna Hard), Davidson, Dick, Graham, Harper,
Hays and maid (Miss Pericault), Spedden and
maid (Helen Wilson) and son Douglas and his
trained nurse, Miss Burns, and Misses Graham
and Shutes.
Men: Messrs. Cardeza and man-servant
(Lesneur), Dick, Harper and man-servant
(Hamad Hassah) and Spedden.
Men who helped load women and children in
this boat and sank with the ship: Messrs. Case,
Davidson, Hays and Roebling.
Crew: Seamen: Moore (in charge). For-
ward Pascoe, Steward: McKay; Firemen: "5
or 6"; or "10 or 12."
Total: 40. t
G. Moore, A. B. (Am. Inq., 559) :
When we swung boat No. 3 out I was told by
the first officer to jump in the boat and pass the
• Third boat lowered on starboard side 1.00 (Br. Rpt, p. 38).
t British Report (p. 38) sajB 15 crew, 10 men psissen-
eers, 3i women and children. Total 50,
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 249
ladies in, and when there were no more about
we took in men passengers. We had thirty-two
in the boat, all told, and then lowered away. Two
seamen were in the boat. There were a few men
passengers and some five or six firemen. They
got in after all the women and children. I took
charge of the boat at the tiller-
Mrs. Frederick O. Spedden, first-class passen-
ger's account:
. . . Number 3 and Number 5 were both
marked on our boat. Our seaman told me that
it was an old one taken from some other ship,*
and he didn't seem sure at the time which was the
correct number, which apparently was 3.
We tied up to a boat filled with women once,
but the rope broke and we got pretty well separ-
ated from all the other lifeboats for some time.
We had in all about forty in our boat, including
ten or twelve stokers in the bow with us who
seemed to exercise complete control over our cox-
swain, and urged him to order the men to row
away from the sinking Titanic, as they were in
mortal terror of the suction. Two oars were lost
soon after we started and they didn't want to
take the time to go back after them, in spite of
•" All boats were new and none transferred from an-
other ship," President Ismay's testimony.
250 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
some of the passengers telling them that there
was absolutely no danger from suction. All this
accounts for the fact of our being some distance
ofi when the ship went down. We couldn't per-
suade the coxswain to turn around till we saw
the lights of the Carpathta on the horizon. It
was then that we burned some paper, as we
couldn't find our lantern. When the dawn ap-
peared and my small boy Douglas saw the bergs
around us and remarked: "Oh, Muddle, look at
the beautiful north pole with no Santa Claus on
it," we all couldn't refrain from smiling in spite
of the tragedy of the situation.
No more accurately written or interesting ac-
count (one which I freely confess moves me to
tears whenever re-read) has come to my notice
than the following, which I have the consent of
the author to Insert in Its entirety;
I
WHEN THE TITANIC WENT DOWN
By
Miss Elizabeth W. Shutes
Such a biting cold air poured into my state-
room that I could not sleep, and the air had so
WOMEN first; men next
251
b
strange an odor,* as If it came from a clammy
cave. I had noticed that same odor In the ice
cave on the Eiger glacier. It all came back to
me so vividly that I could not sleep, but lay in
my berth until the cabin grew so very cold that
I got up and turned on my electric stove. It
threw a cheerful red glow around, and the room
was soon comfortable; but I lay waiting. I have
always loved both day and night on shipboard,
and am never fearful of anything, but now I was
nervous about the icy air.
Suddenly a queer quivering ran under me, ap-
parently the whole length of the ship. Startled
by the very strangeness of the shivering motion,
I sprang to the floor. With too perfect a trust
in that mighty vessel I again lay down. Some
one knocked at my door, and the voice of a friend
said: "Come quickly to my cabin; an iceberg has
just passed our window; I know we have just
struck one,"
No confusion, no noise of any kind, one could
beheve no danger imminent. Our stewardess
came and said she could learn nothing. Looking
out into the companionway I saw heads appearing
asking questions from half-closed doors. All
sepulchrally still, no excitement. I sat down
again. My friend was by this time dressed; still
* Seaman Lee testifies to this odor.
I
252 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
her daughter and I talked on, Margaret pretend-
ing to eat a sandwich. Her hand shook so that
the bread kept parting company from the chicken.
Then I saw she was frightened, and for the firsts
time I was too, but why get dressed, as no one:]
had given the slightest hint of any possible danger £1
An officer's cap passed the door. I asked:
there an accident or danger of any kind?" "Nonej
so far as I know," was his courteous answeriH
spoken quietly and most kindly. This same office]
then entered a cabin a little distance down thflj
companlonway and, by this time distrustful
everything, I listened intently, and distinctl]^
heard, "We can keep the water out for a while."
Then, and not until then, did I realize the horror 1
of an accident at sea. Now it was too late to I
dress; no time for a waist, but a coat and skirt I
were soon on; slippers were quicker than shoes;
the stewardess put on our life-preservers, and we J
were just ready when Mr. Roebling came to tellJ
us he would take us to our friend's mother,
was waiting above.
We passed by the palm room, where two shoifl
hours before we had listened to a beautiful con- J
cert, just as one might sit In one's own home.
With never a realizing sense of being on the J
ocean, why should not one forget? — no motion,,!
no noise of machinery, nothing suggestive of a j
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
253
ship. Happy, laughing men and women con-
stantly passing up and down those broad, strong
staircases, and the music went on and the ship
Lwent on — nearer and nearer to its end. So short
n life, so horrible a death for that great, great
■ ship. What is a more stupendous work than a
shipl The almost human pieces of machinery,
yet a helpless child, powerless in its struggle
with an almighty sea, and the great boat sank,
fragile as a rowboat.
How different are these staircases now I No
laughing throng, but on either side stand quietly,
bravely, the stewards, all equipped with the white,
ghostly life-preservers. Always the thing one
tries not to see even crossing a ferry. Now only
pale faces, each form strapped about with those
white bars. So gruesome a scene. We passed on.
The awful good-byes. The quiet look of hope in
the brave men's eyes as the wives were put into
the lifeboats. Nothing escaped one at this fearful
moment. We left from the Sun Deck, seventy-
five feet above the water. Mr. Case and Mr.
Roebling, brave American men, saw us to the
lifeboat, made no effort to save themselves, but
stepped back on deck. Later they went to an
honored grave.
Our Hfeboat, with thirty-six In it, began lower-
ing to the sea. This was done amid the greatest
254 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
nfusi
contusion. Kough seamen all giving ditterent
orders. No officer aboard. As only one side of
the ropes worked, the lifeboat at one time was
in such a position that it seemed we must capsize
in mid-air. At last the ropes worked together,
and we drew nearer and nearer the black, oily
water. The first touch of our lifeboat on that
black sea came to me as a last good-bye to life,
and so we put off — a tiny boat on a great sea —
rowed away from what had been a safe home
for five days. The first wish on the part of all
was to stay near the Titanic. We all felt so much
safer near the ship. Surely such a vessel could
not sink. I thought the danger must be exag-
gerated, and we could all be taken aboard again.
But surely the outline of that great, good ship
was growing less. The bow of the boat was
getting black. Light after light was disappearing,
and now those rough seamen put to their oars and
we were told to hunt under seats, any place, any-
where, for a lantern, a light of any kind. Every
place was empty. There was no water — no stim-
ulant of any kind. Not a biscuit — nothing to keep
us alive had we drifted long. Had no good
Carpathia, with its splendid Captain Rostron, its
orderly crew, come to our rescue we must have
all perished. Our men knew nothing about the
position of the stars, hardly how to pull together.
I
I
WOMEN first; men next
Two oars were soon overboard. The men's hands
were too cold to hold on. We stopped while they
beat their hands and arms, then started on again.
A sea, calm as a pond, kept our boat steady, and
now that mammoth ship is fast, fast disappearing.
Only one tiny light is left — a powerless little
spark, a lantern fastened to the mast. Fascinated,
I watched that black outline until the end. Then
across the water swept that awful wail, the cry
of those drowning people. In my ears I heard:
"She's gone, lads; row like hell or we'll get the
devil of a swell." And the horror, the helpless
horror, the worst of all — need it have been?
To-day the question is being asked, "Would
the Titanic disaster be so discussed had it not been
for the great wealth gathered there?" It surely
would be, for at a time like this wealth counts
for nothing, but man's philanthropy, man's brains,
man's heroism, count forever. So many men that
stood for the making of a great nation, morally
and politically, were swept away by the sinking
of that big ship. That is why, day after day, the
world goes on asking the why of it all. Had a
kind Providence a guiding hand in this? Did our
nation need so mighty a stroke to prove that man
had grown too self-reliant, too sure of his own
power over God's sea? God's part was the sav-
ing of the few souls on that calmest of oceans
256 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
on that fearful night. Man's part was the pushing
of the good ship, pushing against all reason, to
save what? — a few hours and lose a thousand
souls — to have the largest of ships arrive in port
even a few hours sooner than anticipated. Risk
all, hut push, push on, on. The icebergs could
be avoided. Surely man's experience ought
have lent aid, but just so surely it did not.
In years past a tendency to live more simply
away from pomp and display led to the founding
of our American nation. Now what are we de-
manding to-day? Those same needless luxuries,
]f they were not demanded they would not be;
supplied. Gymnasiums, swimming pools,
rooms, had better give way to make space for the
necessary number of lifeboats; lifeboats for the
crew, also, who help pilot the good ship across
the sea.
Sitting by me in the lifeboat were a mothi
and daughter (Mrs. Hays and Mrs. Davidson)
The mother had left a husband on the Titanic,
and the daughter a father and husband, and
while we were near the other boats those two
stricken women would call out a name and ask,
"Are you there?" "No," would come back the
awful answer, but these brave women never lost
courage, forgot their own sorrow, telling me to
sit close to them to keep warm. Now I began
M
I
"M
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
257
I wish for the
I left 1
I; hanging
in my cabin. I had thought of it for a minute,
and then had quickly thrown on a lighter weight
skirt, I knew the heavier one would make the
life-preserver less useful. Had I only known how
calm the ocean was that night, I would have felt
that death was not so sure, and would have
dressed for life rather than for the end. The
life-preservers helped to keep us warm, but the
night was bitter cold, and it grew colder and
colder, and just before dawn, the coldest, darkest
hour of all, no help seemed possible. As we
put off from the Titanic never was a sky more
brilliant, never have I seen so many falling stars.
All tended to make those distress rockets that
were sent up from the sinking ship look so small,
so dull and futile. The brilliancy of the sky only
intensified the blackness of the water, our utter
loneliness on the sea. The other boats had
drifted away from us; we must wait now for
dawn and what the day was to bring us we dare
not even hope. To see if I could not make the
night seem shorter, I tried to imagine myself
again in Japan. We had made two strange night
departures there, and I was unafraid, and this
Atlantic now was calmer than the Inland sea had
been at that time. This helped a while, but my
hands were freezing cold, and I had to give up
258 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TiTANIC"
pretending and think of the dawn that must soon 1
come.
Two rough looking men had jumped into our
boat as we were about to lower, and they kept
striking matches, lighting cigars, until I feared we
would have no matches left and might need them,
so I asked them not to use any more, but they
kept on. I do not know what they looked like.
It was too dark to really distinguish features
clearly, and when the dawn brought the light it
brought something so wonderful with it no one
looked at anything else or anyone else. Some
one asked: "What time is it?" Matches were
still left; one was struck. Four o'clock! Where
had the hours of the night gone? Yes, dawn
would soon be here; and it came, so surely, so
strong with cheer. The stars slowly disappeared,
and in their place came the faint pink glow of
another day. Then I heard, "A light, a ship."
I could not, would not, look while there was a
bit of doubt, but kept my eyes away. All night
long I had heard, "A light I" Each time It proved
to be one of our other lifeboats, someone lighting
a piece of paper, anything they could find to
burn, and now I could not believe. Someone
found a newspaper; it was lighted and held up.
Then I looked and saw a ship. A ship bright
with lights; strong and steady she waited, and
I
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
259
we were to be saved. A straw hat was offered
(Mrs. Davidson's) ; it would burn longer. That
same ship that had come to save us might run us
down. But no; she is still. The two, the ship
and the dawn, came together, a living painting.
White was the vessel, but whiter still were those
horribly beautiful icebergs, and as we drew nearer
and nearer that good ship we drew nearer to
those mountains of ice. As far as the eye could
reach they rose. Each one more fantastically
chiselled than its neighbor. The floe glistened like
an ever-ending meadow covered with new-fallen
snow. Those same white mountains, marvellous
in their purity, had made of the just ended night
one of the blacke»t the sea has ever known. And
near them stood the ship which had come in such
quick response to the Titatiic's call for help. The
man who works over hours is always the worth-
while kind, and the Marconi operator awaiting
a belated message had heard the poor ship's
call for help, and we few out of so many
were saved.
From the Carpathia a rope forming a tiny
swing was lowered into our lifeboat, and one by
one we were drawn into safety. The lady pulled
up just ahead of me was very large, and I felt
myself being jerked fearfully, when I heard some
one say: "Careful, fellers; she's a lightweight."
26o THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
I bumped and bumped against the side of the ship
until I felt like a bag of meal. My hands were
so cold I could hardly hold on to the rope, and
fearful of lettin
I heard:
tting go. Again
"Steady, fellers; not so fast!" I felt I should
let go and bounce out of the ropes; I hardly think
that would have been possible, but I felt so at
the time. At last I found myself at an opening
of some kind and there a kind doctor wrapped me
in a warm rug and led me to the dining room,
where warm stimulants were given us immediately
and everything possible was done for us all.
Lifeboats kept coming in, and heart-rending was
the sight as widow after widow was brought
aboard. Each hoped some lifeboat ahead of hers
might have brought her husband safely to this
waiting vessel. But always no.
I was still so cold that I had to get a towel
and tie it around my waist. Then I went back to
the dining-room and found dear little Louis,* the
French baby, lying alone; his cold, bare feet had
become unwrapped. I put a hot water bottle
against this very beautiful boy. He smiled his
thanks.
Knowing how much better I felt after taking
the hot stimulant, I tried to get others to take
" One of the NatTatil children whose pathetic story has
been full}' related In the newspapers.
WOMEN first; men NEXT
261
something; but often they just shook their heads
and said, "Oh, I can't."
Towards night we remembered we had nothing
• — no comb, brush, nothing of any kind — so we
went to the barber-shop. The barber always has
everything, but now he had only a few tooth-
brushes left, I bought a cloth cap of doubtful
style; and felt like a walking orphan asylum, but
very glad to have anything to cover my head.
There were also a few showy silk handkerchiefs
left. On the corner of each was embroidered in
scarlet, "From a friend." These we bought and
we were now fitted out for our three remaining
days at sea.
Patiently through the dismal, foggy days we
lived, waiting for land and possible news of the
lost. For the brave American man, a heart full
of gratitude, too deep for words, sends out a
thanksgiving. That such men are born, live and
die for others is a cause for deep gratitude. What
country could have shown such men as belong to
our American manhood? Thank God for them
and for their noble death.
I
EMERGENCY BOAT No.
No disorder in loading or lowering this boat.
• This WHS the fourth boat to leave the starboard side.
262 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tiTANIC"
Passengers : Lady Duff Gordon and maid
(Miss Francetelli).
Men: Lord Duff Gordon and Messrs. Solo-
mon and Stengel.
Total: 5.
Crew: Seamen: Symons {in charge), Hors-
well. Firemen: Collins, Hendrickson, Pusey,
Shee, Taylor.
Total: 7.
Grand Total: I2.
INCIDENTS
G. Symons, A. B. (Br. Inq.) :
Witness assisted in putting passengers in Nos.
5 and 3 under Mr. Murdoch's orders, women and
children first. He saw 5 and 3 lowered away and
went to No. I. Mr. Murdoch ordered another
sailor and five firemen In. Witness saw two ladies
running out of the Saloon Deck who asked if
they could get in the boat. Murdoch said : "Jump
in." The officer looked around for more, but
none were in sight and he ordered to lower away,
with the witness in charge. Before leaving the
Boat Deck witness saw a white light a point and
a half on the port bow about five miles away.
Just after boat No. i got away, the water was
up to C Deck just under where the ship's name is.
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 263
Witness got about 200 yards away and ordered
the crew to lay on their oars. The ship's stem
was well up In the air. The foremost lights had
disappeared and the only light left was the mast
light. The stern was up out of the water at an
angle of forty-five degrees; the propeller could
just be seen. The boat was pulled away a little
further to escape suction; then he stopped and
watched.
After the Titanic went down he heard the
people shrieking for help, but was afraid to go
back for fear of their swarming upon him, though
there was plenty of room in the boat for eight or
a dozen more. He determined on this course
himself as "master of the situation." * About a
day before landing in New York a present of five
pounds came as a surprise to the witness from
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon.
The President: You state that you were sur-
prised that no one in the boat suggested that you
should go back to the assistance of the drowning
people?
Witness : Yes.
The President: Why were you surprised?
Witness : 1 fully expected someone to do so.
The President: It seemed reasonable that such
a suggestion should be made?
• Italics arc mine, — Author.
264 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
I should !
would have
I
Witness : Y(
been reasonable.
The President: You said in America to Sena-
tor Perkins that you had fourteen to twenty pas-
sengers in the boat?
Witness: I thought I had; I was in the dark.
The President : You were not in the dark when
you gave that evidence.
Witness said he thought he was asked how
many people there were in the boat, all told.
The Attorney General: You meant that the
14 to 20 meant everybody?
Witness : Yes.
The Attorney General: But you know you
only had twelve all told?
Witness : Yes.
The President: You must have known per-
fectly well when you gave this evidence that the
number in your boat was twelve. Why did you
tell them in America that there were fourteen to
twenty in the boat?
Witness: I do not know; it was a mistake I
made then and the way they muddled us up.
The Attorney General: It was a very plain
question. Did you know the names of any pas-
sengers ?
Witness: I knew Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon's
name when we arrived in America.
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 265
The Attorney General : Did you say anything
in America about having received the five pounds?
Witness: No, sir; and I was not asked.
The Attorney General: You were asked these
very questions in America which we have been
putting to you to-day about going back?
Witness: Yes, sir.
The Attorney General: Why did you not say
that you heard the cries, but in the exercise of
your discretion as "master of the situation" you
did not go back?
Witness : They took us in three at a time in
America and they hurried us through the ques-
tions.
The Attorney General : They asked you : "Did
you make any effort to get there," and you said:
"Yes; we went back and could not see anything."
But you said nothing about your discretion. Why
did you not tell them that part of the story? You
realized that if you had gone back you might
have rescued a good many people?
Witness : Yes.
The Attorney General: The sea was calm, the
night was calm and there could not have been
a more favorable night for rescuing people?
Witness : Yes.
The testimony at the American Inquiry above
266 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIc"
referred to, because of which this witness was I
called to account, follows :
G. Symons, L. O. (Am. Inq., p. 573) :
I was in command of boat No. i.
Senator Perkins: How many passengers did 1
you have on her?
Mr. Symons: From fourteen to twenty.
Senator Perkins: Were they passengers or
crew?
Mr. Symons: There were seven men ordered I
In; two seamen and five firemen. They were or- ]
dered in by Mr. Murdoch.
Senator Perkins: How many did you have all
told?
Mr. Symons: I would not say for certain; it j
was fourteen or twenty. Then we were ordered i
away.
Senator Perkins : You did not return to the ship
again ?
Mr. Symons: Yes; we came back after the ship i
was gone and saw nothing.
Senator Perkins: Did you rescue anyone that
was in the water?
Mr. Symons: No, sir; we saw nothing when
we came back.
Witness then testified that there was no confu-
sion or excitement among the passengers. It
was just the same as if it was an everyday affair.
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 267
He never saw any rush whatever to get into either
of the two boats. He heard the cries of the
people in the water.
Senator Perkins: Did you say your boat could
take more? Did you make any effort to get
them?
Mr. Symons: Yes. We came back, but when
■we came back we did not see anybody or hear
anybody.
He says that his boat could have accommo-
dated easily ten more. He was in charge of her
and was ordered away by Officer Murdoch, Did
not pull back to the ship again until she went
down.
Senator Perkins: And so you made no attempt
to save any other people after you were ordered
to pull away from the ship by someone?
Mr. Symons: I pulled off and came back after
the ship had gone down.
Senator Perkins; And then there were no peo-
ple there?
Mr. Symons: No, sir; I never saw any.
C. E. H. Stengel, iirst-class passenger (Am.
Inq., p. 971) :
There was a small boat they called an Emer-
gency boat in which were three people, Sir Duff
Gordon, his wife and Miss Francatelli. I asked
I
268 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
to get into the boat There was no one else
around that I could see except the people working
at the boats. The officer said: "Jump in." The
railing was rather high. I jumped onto it and;*
rolled into the boat. The officer said: "That's*
the funniest thing I have seen to-night," and
laughed heartily. After getting down part of the
way the boat began to tip and somebody "hol-
lered" to stop lowering. A man named A. L.
Soloman also aslted to get in with us. There]
were five passengers, three stokers and two sea-i
men in the boat.
Senator Smith: Do you know who gave in-i
structions ?
Mr. Stengel: I think between Sir Cosmo Duff
Gordon and myself we decided which way to go.
We followed a light that was to the bow of the
ship. . . .Most of the boats rowed toward that
light, and after the green lights began to burn I
suggested that it was better to turn around and
go towards them. They were from another life-
boat. When I got Into the boat it was right up
against the side of the ship. If it had not been,
I would have gone right out into the water be-
cause I rolled, I did not step in it; I just simply
rolled. There was one of the icebergs particu-
larly that I noticed — a very large one which
looked something like the Rock of Gibraltar.
le
ic
1-
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
THE DUFF GORDON EPISODE
269
Charles Hendricksen, leading iireman (Br.
[Inq.)
When the ship sank we picked up nobody.
The passengers would not listen to our going back.
Of the twelve in the boat, seven were of the crew.
Symons, who was in charge, said nothing and we
I all kept our mouths shut. None of the crew ob-
[ jected to going back. It was a woman who ob-
jected, Lady Duff Gordon, who said we would be
swamped. People screaming for help could be
heard by everyone in our boat. I suggested go-
ing back. Heard no one else do so. Mr. Duff
Gordon upheld his wife.
After we got on the Carpathia Gordon sent for
them all and said he would make them a present.
He was surprised to receive five pounds from him
the day after docking in New York.
I Hendricksen recalled.
Witness cross examined by Sir Cosmo Duff
Gordon's counsel.
What did you say about Sir Cosmo's alleged
statement preventing you from going back?
Witness: It was up to us to go back.
Did anyone in the boat say anything to you
about going back?
270 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Witness: Lady Duff Gordon said something to'
the effect that If we went back the boat would be
swamped.
Who was it that first said anything about Sir
Cosmo making a presentation to the crew?
Witness: Fireman Collins came down and said.
so when we were on board the Carpalhia. i
Before we left the Carpathia all the peopl£:
rescued were photographed together. We mem-
bers of the crew wrote our names on Lady Duff
Gordon's life-belt. From the time we first left
off rowing until the time the vessel sank, Lady
Duff Gordon was violently seasick and lying on'
the oars.
A. E. Horswell, A. B. (Br. Inq.) :
Witness said it would have been quite a safi
and proper thing to have gone back and that it
was an inhuman thing not to do so, but he had to
obey the orders of the coxswain. Two days after
boarding the Carpathia some gentlemen sent for
him and he received a present.
J. Taylor, fireman (Br. Inq.) :
Witness testifies that No. i boat stood by aboul
100 yards to avoid suction and was 200 yards <
when the Titanic sank. He heard a suggestiofld
made about going back and a lady passengeq
talked of the boat's being swamped if they did »
1
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 27 1
Two gentlemen in the boat said it would be dan-
gerous.
Did your boat ever get within reach of drown-
ing people?
Witness: No.
How many more could the boat have taken In?
Witness: Twenty-five or thirty in addition to
those already in it.
Did any of the crew object to going back?
Witness : No.
Did you ever hear of a boat's crew consisting
of six sailors and one fireman?
Witness: No.
Lord Mersey: What was it that Sir Cosmo
Duff Gordon said to you in the boat?
Witness : He said he would write to our homes
and to our wives and let them know that we were
safe.
Witness said he received five pounds when he
was on board the Carpathia.
R. W. Pusey, fireman (Br. Inq.) :
After the ship went down we heard cries for a
quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes. Did not
go back in the direction the Titanic had sunk. I
heard one of the men say: "We have lost our kit,"
and then someone said: "Never mind, we will
give you enough to get a new kit." I was sur-
272 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
prised that no one suggested going back. I was
surprised that I did not do so, but we were all
half dazed. It does occur to me now that we
might have gone back and rescued some of the
strugglers. I heard Lady Duff Gordon say to
Miss Francatelli : "You have lost your beautiful
nightdress," and I said: "Never mind, you have
saved your lives; but we have lost our kit"; and
then Sir Cosmo offered to provide us with new
ones.
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon (Br, Inq.) :
No. 7 was the first boat I went to. It was justj
being filled. There were only women and the
boat was lowered away. No. 3 was partially
filled with women, and as there were no more,
they filled it up with men. My wife would not go
without me. Some men on No. 3 tried to force
her away, but she would not go. I heard an offi-
cer say: "Man No. i boat." I said to him: "May
we get in that boat?" He said: "With pleasure;
I wish you would." He handed the ladies in and
then put two Americans in, and after that he said
to two or three firemen that they had better get
in. When the boat was lowered I thought the
Titanic was in a very grave condition. At the
time I thought that certainly all the women
had gotten off. No notice at all was taken
I
WOMEN first; men next
273
I
in our boat of these cries. No thought en-
tered my mind about Its being possible to go
back, and try to save some of these people.
I made a promise of a present to the men in
rhe boat.
There was a man sitting next to me and about
half an hour after the Titanic sank a man said to
me: "I suppose you have lost everything?" I
-said: "Yes." He said: "I suppose you can get
more." I said: "Yes." He said: "Well, we
have lost all our kit, for we shall not get any-
thing out of the Company, and our pay ceases
from to-night." I said: "Very well, I will give
you five pounds each towards your kit."
Were the cries from the Titanic clear enough
to hear the words, "My God, My God"?
No. You have taken that from the story in the
American papers.
Mr. Stengel in his evidence in New York said,
"Between Mr. Duff Gordon and myself we de-
cided the direction of the boat."
That's not so; I did not speak to the coxswain
in any way.
Lady Duff Gordon (Br. Inq.) :
After the three boats had been gotten away my
husband and I were left standing on the deck.
Then my husband went up and said, might we
274 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
not get into this boat, and the officer said very
politely: "If you will do so I should be very
pleased." Then somebody hitched me up at the
back, lifted me up and pitched me into the boat.
My husband and Miss Francatelll were also
pitched into the boat; and then two Americans
were also pitched in on top of us. Before the
Titanic sank I heard terrible cries.
Q. Is it true in an article signed by what pur-
ports to be your signature that you heard the last
cry which was that of a man shouting, "My God,
My God" ?
A. Absolutely untrue-
Address by Mr. A. Clement Edwards, M. P.,
Counsel for Dock Workers' Union (Br. Inq.) :
Referring to the Duff Gordon incident he said
that the evidence showed that in one of the boats
there were only seven seamen and five passengers.
If we admitted that, this boat had accommoda-
tion for twenty-eight more passengers.
The primary responsibility for this must neces-
sarily be placed on the member of the crew who
was in charge of the boat — Symons, no conduct of
anyone else in the boat, however reprehensible,
reUeving that man from such responsibility.
Here was a boat only a short distance from the
ship, so near that the cries of those struggUng in
the water could be heard. Symons had been told
WOMEN first; men next
275
I
to stand by the ship, and that imposed upon him
a specific duty. It was shown in Hendricksen's
evidence that there was to the fullest knowledge
of those in the boat a large number of people in
the water, and that someone suggested that they
should return and try to rescue them. Then it
was proved that one of the ladies, who was shown
to be Lady Duff Gordon, had said that the boat
might be swamped if they went back, and Sir
Cosmo Duff Gordon had admitted that this also
represented his mental attitude at the time. He
(Mr. Edwards) was going to say, and to say
quite fearlessly, that a state of mind which could,
while within the hearing of the screams of drown-
ing people, think of so material & matter as the
giving of money to replace kits was a state of
mind which must have contemplated the fact that
there was a possibility of rescuing some of these
people, and the danger which might arise if this
were attempted.
He was not going to say that there was a blunt,
crude bargain, or a deal done with these men: "If
you will not go back I will give you five pounds";
but he was going to suggest as a right and true
inference that the money was mentioned at that
time under these circumstances to give such a sense
of ascendancy or supremacy to Sir Cosmo Duff
Gordon in the boat that the view to which he
I
276 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
gave expression that they should not go back
would weigh more with the men than if he had
given it as a piece of good advice. There were
twenty-eight places on that boat and no one on
board had a right to save his own life by avoid-
ing any possible risk involved in filling the vacant
places. To say the least of it, it was most repre-
hensible that there should have been any offer of
money calculated to influence the minds of the
men or to seduce them from their duty.
From the address of the Attorney-General, Sir
Rufus Isaacs, K. C. M.* P. (Br. Inq.) :
In regard to boat No. i, I have to make some
comment. This was the Emergency boat on the
starboard side, which figured somewhat promi-
nently in the inquiry on account of the evidence
which was given in the first instance by Hendrick-
sen, and which led to the calling of Sir Cosmo
Duff Gordon. Any comment I have to make in
regard to that boat is, I wish to say, not directed
to Sir Cosmo or his wife. For my part, I would
find it impossible to make any harsh or severe
comment on the conduct of any woman who, in
circumstances such as these, found herself on the
water in a small boat on a dark night, and was
afraid to go back because she thought there was
a danger of being swamped. At any rate, I will
WOMEN first; men NEXT
277
make no comment about that, and the only rea-
son I am directing attention to No. I boat is that
it is quite plain that it was lowered with twelve
persons in it Instead of forty. I am unable to say
why it was that that boat was so lowered with
only five passengers and seven of the crew on
board, but that circumstance, I contend, shows the
importance of boat drill.
As far as he knew from the evidence, no order
was given as to the lowering of this boat. He
regretted to say that he was quite unable to ofEer
any explanation of it, but he could not see why
the boat was lowered under the circumstances,
The point of this part of the inquiry was two-
fold — (i) the importance of a boat drill; (2)
that you should have the men ready.
No doubt if there had been proper organiza-
I tion there would have been a greater possibility
of saving more passengers. What struck one was
that no one seemed to have known what his duty
was or how many persons were to be placed in
the boat before It was lowered. In all cases no
boat had its complement of what could be carried
on this particular night. The vessel was on her
first passage, and if all her crew had been en-
gaged on the next voyage no doubt things would
have been better, but there was no satisfactory
organization with regard to calling passengers
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE 'TITANIC
and getting them on deck. Had these boats had
their full complement it would have been another
matter, but the worst of them was this boat No i,
because the man, Symons, in charge did not ex-
ercise his duty. No doubt he was told to stand
by, but he went quite a distance away. His evi-
dence was unsatisfactory, and gave no proper ac-
count why he did not return. He only said that
he "exercised his discretion," and that he was
"master of the situation." There was, however,
no explanation why he went away and why he did
not go back except that he would be swamped.
That was no explanation. I can see no justifica-
tion for his not going back. From the evidence,
there were no people on the starboard deck at
the time. They must have been mistaken in mak-
ing that statement, because, as they knew, four
more boats were subsequently lowered with a
number of women and children. The capacity of
this boat was forty. No other boat went away
with so small a proportion as compared with its
capacity, and there was no other boat which went
away with a larger number of the crew. I
confess it is a thing which I do not understand
why that boat was lowered when she was. Speak-
ing generally, the only boats that took their full
quantity were four. One had to see what ex-
planation could be given of that. In this particu-
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 279
lar case it happened that the officers were afraid
the boats would buckle. Then they said that no
more women were available, and, thirdly, it was
contemplated to go back. It struck one as very
regrettable that the officers should have doubts
in their minds on these points with regard to the
capacity of the boats.
BOAT NO. 9*
No disorder when this boat was loaded and
lowered.
Passengers: Mesdames Aubert and maid (Mile*
Segesser), Futrelle, Lines; Miss Lines, and sec-
ond and third-class.
Men: Two or three.
Said good-bye to wife and sank with ship: Mr.
Futrelle.
Crew: Seamen: Haines (in charge), Wynne,
Q. M., McGough, Peters; Stewards Ward, Wldg-
ery and others.
Total: 56.
INCIDENTS
A. Haines, boatswain's mate (Am, Inq,, 755) ;
Officer Murdoch and witness filled boat 9 with
ladies. None of the men passengers tried to get
into the boats. Officer Murdoch told them to
* Tbe fifth boat lowered on starboard side, 1.30 (Br. Rpt.,
p. 38).
I
a80 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
Stand back. There was one woman who refused
to get in because she was afraid. When there
were no more women forthcoming the boat was
full, when two or three men jumped Into the bow.
There were two sailors, three or four stewards,
three or four firemen and two or three men pas-
sengers. No. 9 was lowered from the Boat Deck
with sixty-three people in the boat and lowered
all right. Officer Murdoch put the witness in
charge and ordered him to row off and keep
clear of the ship. When we saw it going down
by the head he pulled further away for the safety
of the people in the boat: about loo yards away
at first. Cries were heard after the ship went
down. He consulted with the sailors about going
back and concluded with so many in the boat it
was unsafe to do so. There was no compass in
the boat, but he had a little pocket lamp. On
Monday morning he saw from thirty to fifty ice-
bergs and a big field of ice miles long and large
bergs and "growlers," the largest from eighty to
one hundred feet high.
W. Wynne, Q. M. (Br. Inq.) : fl
Officer Murdoch ordered witness into boat No.
9- He assisted the ladies and took an oar. He
says there were fifty-six all told in the boat, forty-
two of whom were women. He saw the light c
I
WOMEN first; men NEXT
a steamer — a red light first, and then a white one
— about seven or eight miles away. After an
interval both lights disappeared. Ten or fifteen
minutes afterwards he saw a white light again in
the same direction. There was no lamp or com-
pass in the boat.
W. Ward, steward (Am. Inq., 595) :
Witness assisted in taking the canvas cover off
of boat No. 9 and lowered it to the level of the
Boat Deck.*
Officer Murdoch, Purser McElroy and Mr. Is-
may were near this boat when being loaded. A
sailor came along with a bag and threw it into
the boat. He said he had been sent to take charge
of it by the captain. The boatswain's mate,
Haines, was there and ordered him out. He got
out. Either Purser McElroy or Officer Murdoch
said: "Pass the women and children that are here
into that boat." There were several men stand-
ing around and they fell back. There were quite
a quantity of women but he could not say how
many were helped into the boat. There were no
children. One old lady made a great fuss and
absolutely refused to enter the boat. She went
• Brice. A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 648) and Wheate, Asg't. 2nd
Steward (Br. Inq.), say No. 9 was &Ued from A Deck with
womeu and children only.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
back to the comparuonway and forced her way in
and would not get into the boat. One woman,
a French lady, fell and hurt herself a little. Pur-
ser McEtroy ordered two more men into the boat
to assist the women. When No. 9 was being low-
ered the first listing of the ship was noticeable.
From the rail to the boat was quite a distance
to step down to the bottom of it, and in the dark
the women could not see where they were step-
ping. Purser McElroy told ft-itncss to get into
the boat to assist the women. Women were called
for, but none came along and none were seen on
deck at the rime. Three or four men were then
taken into the boat undl the officers thought there
were sufficient to lower away with safety.
No. 9 was lowered into the water before No.
11. There was some difficulty in unlashing the
oars because for some time no one had a knife.
There were four men who rowed all night, but
there were some of them in the boat who had
never been to sea before and did not know the
first thing about an oar, or the bow from the
stern. Haines gave orders to pull away. When
200 yards off, rowing was stopped for about an
hour. Haines was afraid of suction and we pulled
away to about a quarter of a mile from the ship.
The ship went down very gradually for a while
by the head. We could just see the ports as she
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 283
dipped. She gave a kind of a sudden lurch for-
ward. He heard a couple of reports like a vol-
ley of musketry; not like an explosion at all. His
boat was too full and it would have been mad-
ness to have gone back. He thinks No. 9 was
the fourth or fifth boat picked up by the Car-
pathia. There was quite a big lot of field ice and
several large icebergs in amongst the field; also
o or three separated from the main body of the
leld.
J. Widgery, bath steward (Am. Inq., 602) :
Witness says that all passengers were out of
their cabins on deck before he went up.
When he got to the Boat Deck No. 7 was about
to be lowered, but the purser sent him to No. 9.
The canvas had been taken off and he helped
lower the boat. Purser McElroy ordered him
into the boat to help the boatswain's mate pass in
women. Women were called for. An elderly
lady came along. She was frightened. The
boatswain's mate and himself assisted her, but
she pulled away and went back to the door (of
the companionway) and downstairs. Just before
they left the ship the officer gave the order to
Haines to keep about 100 yards off. The boat
was full as it started to lower away. When they
got to the water he was the only one that had a
I
284 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
knife to cut loose the oars. He says that the balJ
ance of his testimony would be the same as thatJ
of Mr. Ward, the previous witness.
BOAT NO. II *
No disorder when this boat was loaded andj
lowered.
Passengers: fVomen: Mrs. Schabert and tw(
others of first cabin; all the rest second and third
class. Fifty-eight women and children in all.
Men: Mr. Mock, first cabin, and two ethers.
Crew: Seamen : Humphreys ( In charge) , Brice ;
Stewards: Wheate, MacKay, McMicken, Thes-
singer, Wheelton; Fireman ; Steward'
ess: Mrs. Robinson.
Total: 70.
INCIDENTS
W. Brice, A. B. (Am. Inq., 648) :
This boat was filled from A Deck. An officer
said: "Is there a sailor in the boat?" There was
no answer. I jumped out and went down the fall
into the bow. Nobody was in the stern. I went
aft and shipped the rudder. By that time the boat-
had been filled with women and children. Wfi;
had a bit of difficulty in keeping the boat clear of'
a big body of water coming from the ship's side.
* Sixth boat lowered on starboard side, 1.25 (Br. Rpt.
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 285
The after block got jammed, but I think that must
have been on account of the trip not being pushed
right down to disconnect the block from the boat.
We managed to keep the boat clear from this
body of water. It was the pump discharge.
There were only two seamen in the boat, a fire-
man, about six stewards and fifty-one passengers.
There were no women and children who tried to
get into the boat and were unable to do so. There
was no rush and no panic whatever. Everything
was done in perfect order and discipline.
Mr. Humphreys, A. B., was in charge of No.
II. There was no light or lantern in our boat.
I cut the lashing from the oil bottle and cut rope
and made torches. The ship sank bow down first
almost perpendicularly. She became a black mass
before she made the final plunge when boat was
about a quarter of a mile away. Boat No. 9 was
packed. Passengers were about forty-five women
and about four or five children in arms.
E. Wheelton, steward (Am. Inq.) :
As I made along B Deck I met Mr. Andrews,
the builder, who was opening the rooms and look-
ing in to see if there was anyone in, and closing
the doors again. Nos. 7, 5 and 9 had gone. No.
II boat was hanging in the davits. Mr. Mur-
j-doch said: "You go too." He shouted: "Women
186 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ^'tTTAKIC"
and children Rrst." f-Ie was then on the Utp 6eA
ttamiinji by the tafirail. The boat was loaded
with wumen and children, and I think there were
ci(tht or nine men in the boat altogether, Lndud-
itiB our crew, and one passenger.
"Have you got any sailors in?" asked Mr.
Murdoch. I said: "No, sir." He told two sail-
ors to jump into the boat. We lowered awajr.
Kvcrylhing went very smooth until we touched
iho water. When wc pushed away from the ship's
side we had a slight difficulty in hoisting the after
Mock. Wc pulled away about 300 yards. We
rowed around to get close to the other boats.
There were about fifty-eight all told in No. 11.
It took all of its passengers from A Deck except
the two sailors. I think there were two boats left
on the starboard side when No. 1 1 was lowered.
The eight or nine men in the boat included a pas-
senger. A (luartermastcr (Humphreys) was in
charge. ■
C. D. MacKay, steward (Br. Inq.) : ^
No. 1 1 was lowered to A Deck. Murdoch or-
dered me to take charge. We collected all the
women (40) on the Boat Deck, and on A Deck
we collected a few more. The crew were fiveg
stewards, one lircman, two sailors, one forwan
and one aft. There was Wheclton, McMicket
I
WOMEN first; men NEXT 287
Thessenger, Wheate and myself. The others
were strangers to the ship. There were two sec-
ond-class ladies, one second-class gentleman, and
the rest were third-claas ladles. I found out that
they were all third-class passengers. We had
some difficulty in getting the after fall away. We
went away from the ship about a quarter of a
mile. No compass. The women complained that
they were crushed up so much and had to stand.
Complaints were made against the men because
they smoked.
' J, T. Wheate, Ass't. 2nd Steward (Br. Inq.) :
Witness went upstairs to the Boat Deck where
Mr. Murdoch ordered the boats to the A Deck
where the witness and seventy of his men helped
pass the women and children into boat No. 9, and
none but women and children were taken in. He
then filled up No. i r with fifty-nine women and
children, three male passengers and a crew of
seven stewards, two sailors and one fireman. He
could not say how the three male passengers got
there. The order was very good. There was
nobody on the Boat Deck, so the people were
taken off on the A Deck.
Philip E. Mock, first cabin passenger [letter] :
No. II carried the largest number of passen-
gers of any boat — about sixty-five. There were
f
288 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
only two first cabin passengers in the boat besides
my sister, Mrs. Schabert, and myself. The re-
mainder were second-class or stewards and stew-
ardesses. We were probably a mile away when
the Thank's lights went out. I last saw the ship
with her stern high in the air going down. After
the noise I saw a huge column of black smoke
slightly lighter than the sky rising high Into the
sky and then flattening out at the top like a mush- I
room. I
I at no time saw any panic and not much con- '
fusion. I can positively assert this as I was near
every boat lowered on the starboard side up to
the time No. 1 1 was lowered. With the exception
of some stokers who pushed their way into boat
No. 3 or No. 5, I saw no man or woman force
entry into a lifeboat. One of these was No. 13
going down, before we touched the water.
From address of the Attorney-General, Sir^
Rufus Isaacs, K. C, M. P.
"No. ri took seventy, and carried the largest I
number of any boat."
BOAT NO. 13 *
No disorder when this boat was loaded i
lowered.
1 starboard side, IJ5 (Br.
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 289
Passengers: Women: Second cabin, including
Mrs. Caldwell and her child Alden. AH the rest
second and third-class women.
Men: Dr. Dodge only first cabin passenger.
' Second cabin, Messrs. Beasley and Caldwell.
One Japanese.
Crew: Firemen: Barrett (in charge), Beau-
champ, Major and two others. Stewards: Ray,
Wright and another; also baker .
Total: 64.
INCIDENTS
Mr. Lawrence Beesley's book, already cited,
gives an excellent description of No. 13's history,
but for further details, see his book, The Loss of
ythe SS. Titanic, Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston.
F. Barrett, leading stoker (Br. Inq.) :
Witness then made his escape up the escape
ladder and walked aft on to Deck A on the star-
board side, where only two boats were left, Nos.
13 and 15. No. 13 was partly lowered when he
got there. Five-sixths in the boat were women.
No. 15 was lowered about thirty seconds later.
When No. 13 got down to the water he shouted:
"Let go the after fall," but, as no one took any
notice, he had to walk over women and cut the
fall himself. No. 15 came down nearly on top of
them, but they just got clear. He took charge of
b
I
290 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
the boat until he got so cold that he had to give
up to someone else. A woman put a cloak over
him, as he felt so freezing, and he could not re-
member anything after that. No men waiting on
the deck got into his boat. They all stood In one
line in perfect order waiting to be told to get into
the boat. There was no disorder whatever.
They picked up nobody from the sea.
F. D. Ray, steward (Am. Inq., 798) :
Witness assisted In the loading of boat No. 9
and saw it and No. 1 1 boat lowered, and went
to No. 13 on A Deck. He saw it about half filled
with women and children. A few men were or-
dered to get in; about nine to a dozen passengers
and crew. Dr. Washington Dodge was there and
was told that his wife and child had gone away in
one of the boats. Witness said to him: "You had
better get in here then," and got behind him and
pushed him and followed after him. A rather
large woman came along crying and saying: *'Do
not put me in the boat; I don't want to get in one.
I have never been In an open boat in my life."
He said: "You have got to go and you may as
well keep quiet." After that there was a small
child rolled in a blanket thrown into the boat to
him. The woman that brought it got into the
boat afterwards.
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
291
^e left about three or four men on the deck at
the rail and they went along to No. 15 boat. No.
13 was lowered away. When nearly to the water,
two or three of them noticed a very large dis-
charge of water coming from the ship's side
which he thought was the pumps working. The
hole was about two feet wide and about a foot
deep with a solid mass of water coming out.
They shouted for the boat to be stopped from be-
ing lowered and they responded promptly and
stopped lowering the boat. They pushed it off
from the side of the ship until they were free
from this discharge. He thinks there were no
sailors or quartermasters in the boat because they
apparently did not know how to get free from the
tackle. Knives were called for to cut loose. In
the meantime they were drifting a little aft and
boat No. 15 was being lowered immediately upon
them about two feet from their heads and they
all shouted again, and they again replied very
promptly and stopped lowering boat No. 15.
They elected a fireman (Barrett) to take charge.
Steward Wright was in the boat; two or three
children and a very young baby seven months old.
Besides Nos. 9, 11, and 13, No. 15 was lowered
to Deck A and filled from it. He saw no male
passengers or men of the crew whatever ordered
out or thrown out of these lifeboats on the stat;
I
I
■
I
391 THE TIMTTH ABOCT THE "mjUftd'
hmrd ude. Ewrybody wai vcrf ordecff and
Acre *rai no occasion ro tbrow anybody ont. Lt
No, 13 there were aboot four or live Srcmen. one
baker, three stewards: about nine of tbe crew.
Dr. Wathinglon Dodge was the Ofdr firsc-claas
pas-ienger and the rest were third-daas. There
waj one Japanese- There was no crowd wfaat-
crer on A Deck while he was loa(£ng tfae»c boats.
No. 13 W3» foIL I
Extracts from Dr. WashingMo Dodge's ad- 1
drcM ; "TTie Loss of the Titamu" a copy of which
be kindly sent me:
I heard one man say that the impact was due
to ice. Upon one of his listeners* questioning the
authority of this, he replied: "Go up forward and
look down on the fo'castle deck, and you can see
for yourself," I at once walked forward to the
end of the promenade deck, and looking down
could sec, just within the starboard rail, small
fragments of broken ice, amounting possibly to
leveral cartloads. As I stood there an incident
occurred which made me take a more serious view
of the situation, than I otherwise would.
Two stokers, who had slipped up onto the j
promenade deck unobserved, said to me: "Do j
you think there is any danger, sir?" I replied:
"If there is any danger it would be due to i
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
293
I
I
vessel's having sprung a leak, and you ought to
know more about it than I." They replied, in
what appeared to me to be an alarmed tone:
"Well, sir, the water was pouring Into the stoke
'old when we came up, sir." At this time I ob-
served quite a number of steerage passengers,
who were amusing themselves by walking over
the ice, and kicking It about the deck. No ice or
iceberg was to be seen in the ocean.
I watched the boats on the starboard side, as
they were successively filled and lowered away.
At no time during this period, was there any
panic, or evidence of fear, or unusual alarm. I
saw no women nor children weep, nor were there
any evidences of hysteria observed by me.
I watched all boats on the starboard side, com-
prising the odd numbers from one to thirteen, as
they were launched. Not a boat was launched
which would not have held from ten to twenty-
five more persons. Never were there enough
women or children present to fill any boat before
it was launched. In all cases, as soon as
those who responded to the of&cers' call were
in the boats, the order was given to "Lower
away."
What the conditions were on the port side of
the vessel I had no means of observing. We were
in semi-darkness on the Boat Deck, and owing to
294 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC '
the immense length and breadth of the vessel, and
the fact that between the port and the starboard
side of the Boat Deck, there were officers' cabins,
staterooms for passengers, a gymnasium, and in-
numerable immense ventilators, it would have
been impossible, even in daylight, to have ob-
tained a view of but a limited portion of this boat
deck. We only knew what was going on within
a radius of possibly forty feet.
Boats Nos. 13 and 15 were swung from the
davits at about the same moment. I heard the
officer In charge of No. 13 say: "We'll lower this
boat to Deck A." Observing a group of possibly
fifty or sixty about boat 15, a small proportion of
which number were women, I descended by means
of a stairway close at hand to the deck below,
Deck A. Here, as the boat was lowered even
with the deck, the women, about eight In num-
ber, were assisted by several of us over the rail
of the steamer into the boat. The officer in
charge then held the boat, and called repeatedly
for more women. None appearing, and there
being none visible on the deck, which was then
brightly Illuminated, the men were told to tumble
in. Along with those present I entered the boat.
Ray was my table steward and called to me to
get in.
The boat in which I embarked was rapidly
I
WOMEN first; men next
295
»
lowered, and as it approached the water I ob-
served, as I looked over the edge of the boat,
that the bow, near which I was seated, was being
lowered directly into an enormous stream of
water, three or four feet in diameter, which was
being thrown with great force from the side of
the vessel. This was the water thrown out by the
condenser pumps. Had our boat been lowered
into the same it would have been swamped In an
instant. The loud cries which were raised by the
occupants of the boat caused those who were
sixty or seventy feet above us to cease lowering
our boat. Securing an oar with considerable dif-
ficulty, as the oars had been firmly lashed to-
gether by means of heavy tarred twine, and as in
addition they were on the seat running parallel
with the side of the lifeboat, with no less than
eight or ten occupants of the boat sitting on them,
none of whom showed any tendency to disturb
themselves — we pushed the bow of the lifeboat,
by means of the oar, a sufficient distance away
from the side of the Titanic to clear this great
stream of water which was gushing forth. We
were then safely lowered to the water. During
the few moments occupied by these occurrences I
felt for the only time a sense of Impending dan-
ger.
We were directed to pull our lifeboat from the
296 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
steamer, and to follow a light which was carried
in one of the other lifeboats, which had been
launched prior to ours. Our lifeboat was found
to contain no lantern, as the regulations require;
nor was there a single sailor, or officer in the boat.
Those who undertook to handle the oars were
poor oarsmen, almost without exception, and our
progress was extremely slow. Together with two
or three other lifeboats which were in the vicinity,
we endeavored to overtake the lifeboat which
carried the light, in order that we might not drift
away and possibly become lost. This light ap-
peared to be a quarter of a mile distant, but, in
spite of our best endeavors, we were never en-
abled to approach any nearer to it, although we
must have rowed at least a mile.
BOAT NO,
No disorder In loading or lowering this boat.
Passengers: All third-class women and children
(S3) and
Men: Mr. Haven (first-class) and three others
(third-class) only. Total: 4.
Crew: Firemen: Diamond (in charge), Cavcll,
Tzyloi; Stewards: Rule, Hart. Total: 13.
Grand Total (Br. Rpt., p. 38) : 70.
I this next to lost lowered 00 star-
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
INCIDENTS
G, Cavell, trimmer (Br. Inq.) ■
The officer ordered five of us in the boat. We
took on all the women and children and the boat
was then lowered. We lowered to the first-class
(i. e. A) deck and took on a few more women
and children, about five, and then lowered to the
water. From the lower deck we took in about
sixty. There were men about but we did not take
them in. They were not kept back. They were
third-class passengers, 1 think — sixty women,
Irish. Fireman Diamond took charge. No other
seaman in this boat. There were none left on the
tbird-class decks after I had taken the women.
S. J. Rule, bathroom steward (Br. Inq.) :
Mr. Murdoch called to the men to get into the
boat. About six got in. "That will do," he said,
"lower away to Deck A." At this time the ves-
sel had a slight list to port. We sent scouts
around both to the starboard and port sides.
They came back and said there were no more
women and children. We filled up on A Deck —
sixty-eight all told — the last boat to leave the
starboard side. There were some left behind.
There was a bit of a rush after Mr. Murdoch
298 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
said we could fill the boat up with men standing
by. We very nearly came on top of No. 13 when
we lowered away. A man, Jack Stewart, a stew-
ard, took charge. Nearly everybody rowed. No J
lamp. One deckhand in the boat, and men, \
women and children. Just before it was
launched, no more could be found, and about
half a dozen men got in. There were sixty-
eight in the boat altogether. Seven members of
the crew. 1
J. E. Hart, third-class steward (Br. Inq., 75) :
Witness defines the duties and what was done
by the stewards, particularly those connected with
the steerage.
"Pass the women and children up to the Boat!
Deck," was the order soon after the collision, f
About three-quarters of an hour after the colli- I
sion he took women and children from the C Deck, I
to the first-class main companion. There were!
no barriers at that time. They were all opened. I
He took about thirty to boat No. 8 as It was be- I
Ing lowered. He left them and went back for ■
more, meeting third-class passengers on the way 1
to the boats. He brought back about twenty-five 1
more steerage women and children, having some
little trouble owing to the men passengers want-
ing to get to the Boat Deck. These were all
WOMEN first; men NEXT 299
third-class people whom we took to the only boat
left on the starboard side, viz., No. 15. There
were a large number already in the boat, which
was then lowered to A Deck, and five women,
three children and a man with a baby In his
arms taken in, making about seventy people
in all, Including thirteen or fourteen of the
crew and fireman Diamond in charge. Mr.
Murdoch ordered witness into the boat. Four
men passengers and fourteen crew was the
complement of men; the rest were women and
children.
When boat No. 15 left the boat deck there
were other women and children there — some first-
class women passengers and their husbands. Ab-
solute quietness existed. There were repeated
cries for women and children. If there had been
any more women there would have been found
places for them in the boat. He heard some of
the women on the A Deck say they would not
leave their husbands.
There Is no truth in the statement that any of
the seamen tried to keep back third-class passen-
gers from the Boat Deck. Witness saw masthead
light of a ship from the Boat Deck. He did his
very best, and so did all the other stewards, to
help get the steerage passengers on the Boat Deck
i soon as possible.
300 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
ENGELHARDT BOAT "C." *
No disorder in loading or lowering this boat.
Passengers: President Ismay, Mr. CarterJ
Balance women and children.
Crew: Quartermaster Rowe (in charge ).j
Steward Pearce. Barber Weikman. Firemcni
three.
Stowaways: Four Chinamen, or Filipinos.
Total: 39.
INCIDENTS
G. T. Rowe, Q. M. {Am. Inq., p. 519, and Bn
Inq.) :
To avoid repetition, the tesrimony of this wlfcj
ness before the two Courts of Inquiry is consolii
dated :
He assisted the ofEcer (Boxhall) to fire dis-'
tress signals until about five and twenty minutes
past one. At this time they were getting out the
starboard collapsible boats. Chief Officer Wilde J
wanted a sailor. Captain Smith told him to get I
into the boat "C" which was then partly filled.!
He found three women and children in there 1
* Br. Rpt., p. 38, makes this last boat lowered
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT 3OI
no more about. Two gentlemen got in, Mr. Is-
may and Mr. Carter. Nobody told them to get
in. No one else was there. In the boat there
were thirty-nine altogether. These two gentle-
men, five of the crew (including himself), three
firemen, a steward, and near daybreak they found
four Chinamen or Filipinos who had come up be-
tween the seats. All the rest were women and
children.
Before leaving the ship he saw a bright light
about five miles away about two points on the
port bow. He noticed it after he got into the
boat. When he left the ship there was a list to
port of six degrees. The order was given to
lower the boat, with witness In charge. The rub
strake kept on catching on the rivets down the
ship's side, and it was as much as we could do to
keep off. It took a good five minutes, on account
of this rubbing, to get down. When they reached
the water they steered for a light in sight, roughly
five miles. They seemed to get no nearer to it
and altered their course to a boat that was carry-
ing a green light. When day broke, the Car-
palhia was in sight.
In regard to Mr. Ismay's getting into the boat,
the witness's testimony before the American
Court of Inquiry is cited in full:
Senator Burton: Now, tell us the circumstances
302 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
under which Mr. Ismay and that other gentleman
got into the boat.
Mr. Rowc: When Chief Officer Wilde asked if
there were any more women and children, there
was no reply, so Mr. Ismay came into the boat.
Senator Burton : Mr. Wilde asked if there werea
any more women and children? Can you san
that there were none? ■
Mr. Rowe: I could not see, but there were
none forthcoming.
Senator Burton: You could see around there on
the deck, could you not?
Mr. Rowe: I could see the fireman and stew*!
ard that completed the boat's crew, but as re- 1
gards any families I could not see any.
Senator Burton: Were there any men passen-
gers besides Mr. Ismay and the other man?
Mr. Rowe: I did not see any, sir.
Senator Burton: Was it light enough so that !
you could see anyone near by?
Mr. Rowe: Yes, sir.
Senator Burton: Did you hear anyone ask Mr. i
Ismay and Mr. Carter to get in the boat?
Mr. Rowe: No, sir.
Senator Burton: If Chief Officer Wilde had '
spoken to them would you have known it?
Mr. Rowe: I think so, because they got in the
after part of the boat where I was.
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
303
I
Alfred Pearce, pantryman, third-class (Br.
Inq.) :
Picked up two babies in his arms and went into
a collapsible boat on the starboard side under
Officer Murdoch's order, in which were women
and children. There were altogether sixty-six
passengers and five of the crew, a quartermaster
in charge. The ship had a list on the port side,
her lights burning to the last. It was twenty min-
utes to two when they started to row away. He
remembers this because one of the passengers
gave the time.
J. B. Ismay, President International Mercan-
tile Marine Co. of America, New Jersey, U. S. A.
(Am. Inq., pp. 8, 960) :
There were four in the crew — one quartermas-
ter, a pantryman, a butcher and another. The
natural order would be women and children first.
It was followed as far as practicable. About
forty-five in the boat. He saw no struggling or
jostling or any attempts by men to get into the
boats. They simply picked the women out and
put them into the boat as fast as they could — the
first ones that were there. He put a great many
in — also children. He saw the first hfeboat low-
ered on the starboard side. As to the circum-
stances of his departure from the ship, the boat
304 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC I
was there. There was a certain number of men
in the boat and the officer called and asked if
there were any more women, but there was no
response. There were no passengers left on the
deck, and as the boat was in the act of being low-
ered away he got into it. The Titanic was sink-
ing at the time. He felt the ship going down. He
entered because there was room in it. Before he
boarded the lifeboat he saw no passengers jump
into the sea. The boat rubbed along the ship's
side when being lowered, the women helping to
shove the boat clear. This was when the ship
had quite a list to port. He sat with his back to
the ship, rowing all the time, pulling away. He
did not wish to see her go down. There were j
nine or ten men in the boat with him. Mr. Car-
ter, a passenger, was one. All the other people I
in the boat, so far as he could see, were third-
class passengers.
Examined before the British Court of Inquiry
by the Attorney-General, Sir Rufus Isaacs,
Mr. Ismay testified:
I was awakened by the impact; stayed in bed
a little time and then got up. I saw a steward
who could not say what had happened. I put a
coat on and went on deck. I saw Captain Smith.
I asked him what was the matter and he said we .
WOMEN first; men next 305
[ had struck ice. He said he thought it was seri-
. ous. I then went down and saw the chief engi-
neer, who said that the blow was serious. He
thought the pumps would keep the water under
control. I think I went back to my room and
then to the bridge and heard Captain Smith give
an order in connection with the boats. I went to
the boat deck, spoke to one of the officers, and
rendered all the assistance I could in putting the
women and children in. Stayed there until I left
the ship. There was no confusion; no attempts
by men to get into the boats. So far as I knew
all the women and children were put on board the
boats and I was not aware that any were left.
There was a list of the ship to port. I think I
remained an hour and a half on the Titanic after
the impact. I noticed her going down by the
head, sinking. Our boat was fairly full. After
all the women and children got in and there were
no others on that side of the deck, I got in while
the boat was being lowered. Before we got into
the boat 1 do not know that any attempt was made
to call up any of the passengers on the Boat Deck,
nor did I inquire.
L
And also examined by Mr. A. C. Edwards, M.
P., counsel for the Dock Workers' Union. Mr.
Ismay's testimony was taken as follows:
3o6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC"
Mr. Edwards: You were responsible for deter-
mining the number of boats?
Mr, Ismay: Yes, in conjunction with the ship-
builders.
Mr. Edwards: You knew when you got into the
boat that the ship was sinking?
Mr. Ismay: Yes.
Mr. Edwards: Had It occurred to you apart
perhaps from the captain, that you,, as the repre-
sentative managing director, deciding the number
of Ufeboats, owed your life to every other person
on the ship?
The President: That is not the sort of question
which should be put to this witness. You can
make comment on it when you come to your
speech If you like.
Mr, Edwards: You took an active part in di-
recting women and children into the boats?
Mr. Ismay: I did all I could.
Mr. Edwards : Why did you not go further and
send for other people to come on deck and fill the
boats?
Mr, Ismay: I put in everyone who was there
and I got in as the boat was being lowered away,
Mr. Edwards: Were you not giving directions
and getting women and children in?
Mr. Ismay: I was calling to them to come in.
Mr. Edwards: Why then did you not give in-
I
WOMEN first; men NEXT
307
:self eithei
I the other side
I
structions or
of the deck or below decks to get people up?
Mr. Ismay: I understood there were people
there sending them up.
Mr. Edwards: But you knew there were hun-
dreds who had not come up?
Lord Mersey: Your point, as I understand It
now, is that, having regard for his position, as
managing director, it was his duty to remain on
the ship until she went to the bottom?
Mr. Edwards: Frankly, that is so, and I do not
flinch from it; but I want to get it from the wit-
ness, inasmuch as he took it upon himself to give
certain directions at a certain time, why he did not
discharge his responsibility after in regard to
other persons or passengers.
Mr. Ismay: There were no more passengers
who would have got Into the boat. The boat was
being actually lowered away.
Examined by Sir Robert Finley for White Star
Line:
Mr. Finley: Have you crossed very often to
and from America?
Mr. Ismay: Very often.
Mr. Finley: Have you ever, on any occasion,
attempted to Interfere with the navigation of the
vessel on any of these occasions?
308 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "TITANIC" I
Mr. Ismay: No. '
Mr. Finley: When you left the deck just be-
fore getting into the collapsible boat, did you hear
the officer calling out for more women? ]
Mr, Ismay: I do not think I did; but I heard ]
them calling for women very often. 1
Mr. Edwards: When the last boat left the I
Titanic you must have known that a number of 1
passengers and crew were still on board?
Mr. Ismay: I did.
Mr. Edwards: And yet you did not see any
on the deck?
Mr. Ismay: No, I did not see any, and I
could only assume that the other passengers had
gone to the other end of the ship.
From an address (Br. Inq.) by Mr. A. Clement
Edwards, M. P., Counsel for Dock Workers*
Union :
What was Mr. Ismay's duty?
Coming to Mr. Ismay's conduct, Mr. Edwards
said it was clear that that gentleman had taken
upon himself to assist in getting women and
children into the boats. He had also admitted
that when he left the Titanic he knew she was
doomed, that there were hundreds of people in
the ship, that he didn't know whether or not
there were any women or children left, and that
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEJO' 3O9
he did not even go to the other side of the Boat
Deck to see whether there were any women and
children waiting to go. Counsel submitted that
a gentleman occupying the position of managing
director of the company owning the Titanic, and
who had taken upon himself the duty of assisting
at the boats, had certain special and further duties
beyond an ordinary passenger's duties, and that he
had no more right to save his life at the expense
of any single person on board that ship than the
captain would have had. He (Mr. Edwards)
said emphatically that Mr. Ismay did not dis-
charge his duty at that particular moment by
taking 3 careless glance around the starboard side
of the Boat Deck. He was one of the few persons
who at the time had been placed in a position of
positive knowledge that the vessel was doomed,
and it was his clear duty, under the circumstances,
to see that someone made a search for passengers
in other places than in the immediate vicinity of
the Boat Deck.
Lord Mersey: Moral duty do you mean?
Mr. Edwards: I agree; but I say that a
managing director going on board a liner, com-
mercially responsible for it and taking upon him-
self certain functions, had a special moral obliga-
tion and duty more than is possessed by one
passenger to another passenger.
310 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
Lord Mersey: But how is a moral duty rela-
tive to this inquiry? It might be argued that
there was a moral duty for every man on board
that every woman should take precedence, and I
might have to inquire whether every passenger
carried out his moral duty.
Mr. Edwards agreed that so far as the greater
questions involved in this case were concerned
this matter was one of trivial importance.
From address of Sir Robert Finlay, K. C, M.
P., Counsel for White Star Company (Br. Inq.) :
It has been said by Mr. Edwards that Mr.
Ismay had no right to save his life at the expense
of any other life. He did not save his life at
the expense of any other life. If Mr. Edwards
had taken the trouble to look at the evidence he
would have seen how unfounded this charge Is.
There Is not the slightest ground for suggesting
that any other life would have been saved if Mr.
Ismay had not got into the boat. He did not get
Into the boat until it was being lowered away.
Mr. Edwards has said that it was Mr. Ismay's
plain duty to go about the ship looking for pas-
sengers, but the fact Is that the boat was being
lowered. Was it the duty of Mr. Ismay to have
remained, though by doing so no other life could
have been saved? If he had been impelled to
4
4
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
3"
I
commit suicide of that kind, then it would have
been stated that he went to the bottom because
he dared not face this inquiry. There is no ob-
servation of an unfavorable nature to be made
from any point of view upon Mr. Ismay's con-
duct. There was no duty devolving upon him of
going to the bottom with his ship as the captain
did. He did all he could to help the women and
children. It was only when the boat was being
lowered that he got into it. He violated no point
of honor, and if he had thrown his life away in
the manner now suggested it would be said he did
it because he was conscious he could not face this
inquiry and so he had lost his life.
ENGELHARDT BOAT "A."
Floated off the ship.
Passengers: T. Beattle,* P. D. Daly.J G.
Rheims, R. N. Williams, Jr., first-class; O.
Abelseth,! W. J- Mellers, second-class; and Mrs.
Rosa Abbott,J Edward LIndley,t third-class.
Crew: Steward : E. Brown. Firemen : J.
Thompson, one unidentified body,* Seaman:
one unidentified body-*
'Body fcnui<i in boat by Oceacuc
tDied in boat.
f Pulled into boat out of ka.
312 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC" |
An extraordinary story pertains to this boat.
At the outset of my research it was called a "boat
of mystery," occasioned by the statements of the
Titanic's officers. In his conversations with me,
as well as in his testimony, Officer Lightoller stated
that he was unable to loosen this boat from the
ship in time and that he and his men were com-
pelled to abandon their efforts to get it away.
The statement in consequence was that this boat
"A" was not utilized but went down with the
ship. My recent research has disabused his mind
of this supposition. There were only four Engel-
hardt boats in all as we have already learned,
and we have fully accounted for "the upset boat
B," and "D," the last to leave the ship in the
tackles, and boat "C," containing Mr. Ismay,
which reached the Carpatkia's side and was
unloaded there. After all the mystery we have
reached the conclusion that boat "A" did not
go down with the ship, but was the one
whose occupants were rescued by Officer Lowe
in the early morning, and then abandoned
with three dead bodies in it. This also was
the boat picked up nearly one month later by the
Oceanic nearly 200 miles from the scene of the
wreck.
I have made an exhaustive research up to date
WOMEN first; men next
313
for the
of dis
' Boat A left
iiscovenri]
the ship. Information in regard thereto is ob-
tained from the testimony before the British
Court of Inquiry of Steward Edward Brown,
from first-class passenger R. N. Williams, Jr.,
and from an account of William J. Mellers, a
second cabin passenger as related by him to Dr.
Washington Dodge. Steward Brown, it will be
r observed, testified that he was washed out of the
©at and yet "did not know whether he went
Vdown in the water." As he could not swim, an
analysis of his testimony forces me to believe
that he held on to the boat and did not have
to swim and that boat "A" was the same one
that he was in when he left the ship. I am
forced to the same conclusion in young Williams'
case after an analysis of his statement that he
toolt off his big fur overcoat In the water and
cast It adrift while he swam twenty yards
to the boat, and In some unaccountable way
b'tiie fur coat swam after him and also got
pinto the boat. At any rate It was found in
the boat when it was recovered later as shown
in the evidence.
I also have a letter from Mr. George Rhelms,
of Paris, indicating his presence on this same boat
with Messrs. Williams and Mellers and Mrs.
Abbott and others.
314 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
INCIDENTS
Edward Brown, steward (Br. Inq.) :
Witness helped with boats ;, 3i i and C, and 1
then helped with another collapsible; tried to get |
it up to the davits when the ship gave a list to
port. The falls were slackened but the boat
could not be hauled away any further. There
were four or five women waiting to get into the
boat. The boat referred to was the collapsible
boat "A" which they got off the ofRcers' house.
They got it down by the planks, but witness does
not know where the planks came from. He I
thinks they were with the bars which came from '
the other boats; yet he had no difficulty In getting
the boat off the house. The ship was then up
to the bridge under water, well down by the head.
He jumped into the boat then and called out to
cut the falls. He cut them at the aft end, but
cannot say what happened to the forward fall.
He was washed out of the boat but does not know
whether he went down in the water.* He had
his lifebelt on and came to the top. People were
all around him. They tore his clothes away J
struggling in the water. He could not swim, but J
got into the collapsible boat "A." Only men were I
in it, but they picked up a woman and some meal
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
315
■
■
afterwards, consisting of passengers, stewards
and crew. There were sixteen men. Fifth
Officer Lowe in boat No. 14 picked them up.
O. Abeheth (Am. Inq.) :
Witness describes the period just before the
ship sank when an effort was made to get out
the collapsible boats on the roof of the officers'
house. The officer wanted help and called out:
"Are there any sailors here?" It was only about
five feet to the water when witness jumped off.
It was not much of a jump. Before that he could
see the people were jumping over. He went under
and swallowed some water. A rope was tangled
around him. He came on top again and tried
to swim. There were lots of men floating around.
One of them got him on the neck and pressed
him under the water and tried to get on top, but
he got loose from him. Then another man hung
on to him for a while and let go. Then he swam
for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Saw some-
thing dark ahead of him; swam towards it and
it was one of the Engelhardt boats ("A"). He
had a life-preserver on when he jumped from
the ship. There was no suction at all. "I will
try and see," he thought, "if I can float on the
lifebelt without help from swimming," and he
Qoated easily on the lifebelt. When he got on
3l6 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
boat "A" no one assisted him, but they said when
he got on: "Don't capsize the boat," so he hung'
on for a Httle while before he got on.
Some were trying to get on their feet who were
sitting or lying down; others fell Into the water
again. Some were frozen and there were two
dead thrown overboard. On the boat he raised
up and continuously moved his arms and swung
them around to keep warm. There was one lady
aboard this raft and she (Mrs. Abbott) was
saved. There were also two Swedes and a first-
class passenger. He said he had a wife and child.
There was a fireman also named Thompson who
had burned one of his hands; also a young boy
whose name sounded like "Volunteer." He and
Thompson were afterwards at St. Vincent's Hos-
pital. In the morning he saw a boat with a sail
up, and in unison they screamed together for help.
Boat A was not capsized and the canvas was not
raised up, and they could not get It up. They,
stood all night in about twelve or fourteen inches-
of water* — their feet in water all the time. Boat^
No. 14 sailed down and took them aboard am
transferred them to the Carpathia, he helping
row. There must have been ten or twelve save(
from boat A; one man was from New Jersevja
with whom he came in company from Londoi
" Italics are mine. — Author.
i
WOMEN first; men NEXT
317
At daybreak he seemed unconscious. He took
him by the shoulder and shook him. "Who are
you?" he said; "let me be; who are you?" About
half an hour or so later he died.
In a recent letter from Dr. Washington Dodge
he refers to a young man whom he met on the
Carpathia, very much exhausted, whom he took
to his stateroom and gave him medicine and
medical attention. This young man was a gende-
man's valet and a second cabin passenger. This
answers to the description of William J. Mellers,
to whom I have written, but as yet have received
no response. Dr. Dodge says he believes this
young man's story implicitly: He, Mellers, "was
standing by this boat when one of the crew was
endeavoring to cut the fastenings that bound it
to the vessel just as the onrush of waters came
up which tore it loose. It was by dinging to this
i.boat that he was saved."
^ R. N. Williams, Jr., in his letter writes me as
follows :
"I was not under water very long, and as soon
as I came to the top I threw off the big fur coat
I had on. I had put my lifebelt on under the coat,
I also threw off my shoes. About twenty yards
f. away I saw something floating. I swam to It and
3l8 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE "tITANIC"
found it to be a collapsible boat. I hung on to
it and after a while got aboard and stood up in
the middle of it. The water was up to my waist.*
About thirty of us clung to it. When Officer
Lowe's boat picked us up eleven of us were alive;
all the rest were dead from cold. My fur coat
was found attached to this Engelhardt boat 'A*
by the Oceanic, and also a cane marked 'C.
Williams' This gave rise to the story that my
father's body was in this boat, but this, as you
see, is not so. How the cane got there I do not
know."
Through the courtesy of Mr. Harold Wlngate
of the White Star Line in letters to me I have
the following information pertaining to boat "A" :
"One of the bodies found in this boat was that
of Mr. Thompson Beattie. We got his watch and
labels from his clothes showing his name and
that of the dealer, which we sent to the executor.
Two others were a fireman and a sailor, both
unidentified. The overcoat belonging to Mr.
Williams I sent to a furrier to be re-conditloned,
but nothing could be done with it except to dry
it out, so I sent it to him as it was. There was
no cane in the boat. The message from the
Oceanic and the words 'R. N. Williams, care of !
Italics are mine. — Author.
WOMEN first; men NEXT 319
Duane Williams' were twisted by the receiver of
the message to 'Richard N. Williams, cane of
Duane Williams,' * which got into the press, and
thus perpetuated the error.
"There was also a ring found in the boat whose
owner we eventually traced In Sweden and re-
stored the property to her. We cannot account
for its being in the boat, but we know that her
husband was a passenger on the Titanic — Edward
P. Lindell, a third-class passenger. The widow's .
address is, care of Nels Persson, Helsingborg,
Sweden."
Rescue of the occupants of boat "A" at day-
light Monday morning is recorded in the testi-
mony of Officer Lowe and members of the crew
of his boat No. 14 and the other boats 12, 10, 4
and "D" which were tied together. No. 14 we
recall was emptied of passengers and a crew
taken from all the boats referred to went back
to the wreck. The substance of the testimony
of all of them agrees and I need only cite that
of Quartennaster Bright, in charge of boat "D,"
as follows:
A. Bright, Q. M. (in charge) (Am. Inq., 834) :
Just at daylight witness saw from his place in
Italics are mine. — Author.
320 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
boat "D" one of the other collapsible boats, "A,"
that was awash just flush with the water. Officer
Lowe came and towed witness's boat to the other
collapsible one that was just awash and took from
it thirteen men and one woman who were in the
water up to their ankles. They had been singing
out in the dark. As soon as daylight came they
could be seen. They were rescued and the boat
turned adrift with two dead bodies in it, covered
with a lifebelt over their faces.
Admiral Mahan on Ismay's duty:
Rear Admiral A, T. Mahan, retired, in a
letter which the Evening Post publishes, has this
to say of J. Bruce Ismay's duty:
In the Evening Post of April 24 Admiral
Chadwick passes a distinct approval upon the
conduct of Mr. Ismay in the wreck of the Titanic
by characterizing the criticisms passed upon it as
the "acme of emotionalism."
Both censure and approval had best wait upon
the results of the investigations being made in
Great Britain. Tongues will wag, but If men like
Admiral Chadwick see fit to publish anticipatory _
opinions those opinions must receive anticipator]
comment.
Certain facts are so notorious that they 1
WOMEN first; men NEXT
321
no inquiry to ascertain. These are (t) that
before the collision the captain of the Titanic
was solely responsible for the management of the
ship; {2) after the collision there were not boats
enough to embark more than one-third of those
on board, and, (3) for that circumstance the
White Star Company is solely responsible, not
legally, for the legal requirements were met, but
morally. Of this company, Mr. Ismay is a prom-
inent if not the most prominent member.
For all the loss of life the company is re-
sponsible, individually and collectively: Mr,
Ismay personally, not only as one of the mem-
bers. He believed the Titanic unsinkable; the
belief relieves of moral guilt, but not of respon-
sibility. Men bear the consequences of their mis-
takes as well as of their faults. He — and Ad-
miral Chadwick — justify his leaving over fifteen
hundred persons, the death of each one of whom
lay on the company, on the ground that it was
the last boat half filled; and Mr. Ismay has said,
no one else to be seen.
No one to be seen; but was there none to be
reached? Mr. Ismay knew there must be many,
because he knew the boats could take only a third.
The Titanic was 882 feet long; 92 broad; say,
from Thirty-fourth street to a little north of
Thirty-seventh, Within this space were con-
K plet
322 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
gregated over 1,500 souls, on several decks.
True, to find any one person at such a moment
in the Intricacies of a vessel were a vain hope;
but to encounter some stragglers would not seem
to be. Read in the Suii and Times of April 25
Col. Grade's account of the "mass of humanity,
men and women" that suddenly appeared before
him after the boats were launched.
In an interview reported in the New York
Times April 25 Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, a
very distinguished officer, holds that Mr. Ismay
was but a passenger, as other passengers. True,
up to a certain point. He is in no sense responsi-
ble for the collision; but when the collision had
occurred he confronted a wholly new condition
for which he was responsible and not the captain,
viz., a sinking vessel without adequate provision
for saving life. Did no obligation to particularity
of conduct rest upon him under such a condition?
I hold that under the conditions, so long as
there was a soul that could be saved, the obliga-
tion lay upon Mr. Ismay that that one person and
not he should have been in the boat. More than
1,500 perished. Circumstances yet to be de-
veloped may justify Mr. Ismay's actions com-
pletely, but such justification is Imperatively re-
quired. If this be "the acme of emotionalism"
I must be content to bear the imputation.
I
I
WOMEN FIRST; MEN NEXT
323
Admiral Chadwick urges the "preserving a
life so valuable to the great organization to which
Mr. Ismay belongs." This bestows upon Mr.
Ismay's escape a kind of halo of self-sacrifice. No
man is indispensable. There are surely brains
enough and business capacity enough in the White
Star company to run without him. The reports
say that of the rescued women thirty-seven were
'widowed by the accident and the lack of boats.
Their husbands were quite as indispensable to
them as Mr. Ismay to the company. His duty
to the ship's company was clear and primary; that
to the White Star company so secondary as to
be at the moment inoperative.
We should be careful not to pervert standards.
Witness the talk that the result is due to the
system. What is a system, except that which
individuals have made it and keep it? Whatever
thus weakens the sense of individual responsibility
is harmful, and so likewise is all condonation of
failure of the individual to meet his responsibility.
' I"
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'11-
CONCLUDING NOTE
By Charles Vale
COLONEL GRACIE died on the fourth
of December, 1912. He had been in
feeble health all through the summer, but
had no definite physical complaint. He felt ill
and weak, and ascribed his condition to the ex-
posure and strain through which he went in the
Titanic disaster. Mrs. Gracie and his daughter
were with him up to the end, which he knew was
coming, for the day before he died he had the
minister of the Church of the Incarnation brought
to his bedside, and Holy Communion was admin-
istered. On the next day he was unconscious for
twelve hours ; but just before he died he
became conscious for about ten minutes, recogniz-
ing everyone and bidding them good-bye.
The funeral service was held at Calvary
Church, where he was married, and a large num-
ber of the members of the Seventh Regiment, to
which he belonged, were present. The church
was beautifully decorated. Mrs. Astor was there,
325,
326 THE TRUTH ABOtTT THE "tITANIC"
and many other Titanic survivors, several of
whom Colonel Grade had helped into the boats
at the dme of the disaster. The interment took
place at the Grade plot at Woodlawn.
And so his book finishes here. He had in-
tended to write a final chapter, reviewing the
tragedy of the Titanic in retrospect, and in the
light of all the later information that he had
gathered; drawing the lessons that seemed most
necessary in the present, and most serviceable for
the future; and rounding out his story with the
finishing touches.
But the actual Finis must be written by another
hand. Well, it does not greatly matter. The
real work has been completed, In its entirety.
The picture has been drawn, the details faithfully
gathered together and arranged in their due
order. The rest was merely an affair of reflection
and comment; and of such looking backward
there has been already sufficient.
I met Colonel Gracie, for the first — and last —
time, at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria, in
New York, when the world was still ringing with
echoes of the great catastrophe. The extraor-
dinary experiences through which he had passed,
and the terrible scenes that he had witnessed, were
CONCLUDING NOTE 327
9til! as vivid to him as if they had happened the
day before; but he talked very quietly, directly,
unaffectedly, neither obtruding nor avoiding the
personal element. There was something strangely
gracious In his attitude; I heard no harsh or con-
demnatory word from him : he seemed to have the
rare gift of comprehension of human nature, the
rare sense of proportion. He accused no man of
cowardice or inefficiency; but narrated the facts
as he saw them, volunteering no Inferences. And
gradually, In that atmosphere of careless, casual
security; with men and Women from every corner
of more than one continent scattered about the
room; with all the obvious, and more subtle, pre-
suppositions of civilization that a luxurious hotel
in a huge metropolis Illustrates; — there was
evolved the picture of the great ship, going to her
doom In the night, with her living cargo. I can-
not express fully the vividness of that image, —
carved, as it were, from the darkness of memory
and imposed on the sunlight of a summer's day.
It stands out for me, ineffaceable, unforgettable —
as it must stand out for all who passed through
those tragic hours and still live to recall how
near they were to death. One retraced the grow-
ing realization of the gravity of the situation; the
conviction that the ship must Inevitably sink be-
fore help could arrive; and, finally, the resolute
328 THE TXUTH ABOUT THE "tTTANTC"
facing of destiny. Good and bad deeds were done
that night and morning: but the good outvalue
the bad, immeasurably; and when the littlenesses
have been duly reckoned, and the few cowards
dismissed, and the uncouth or selfish weighed and
found wanting, there remains the grand total of
brave and steadfast men and women whose names
must be enrolled impcrishably in any record of
world-heroism.
In a note like this, closing a work which de-
pends so much on the intimate connection of the
author with the scenes that he describes, it is per-
missible to be personal. I had read, in a daily
paper, Colonel Gracie's first account of his ex-
periences; had been struck by the special quality
of the writing, by the pervading atmosphere of
true chivalry — no other word can suggest quite
adequately the impression conveyed by that nar-
rative, written under the stress of poignant
memories. I think that the effect produced by the
account was the same with all who read it: cer-
tainly I have met no one who did not recognize
the spirituality and fineness shining through the
written words — a spirituality not opposed to, but
entirely in consonance with, the unmistakable
virility of the author. And so, when I met him,
I was peculiarly interested in his personality: it
seenied to me that this man who was sitting at my
^
CONCLUDING NOTE 329
left hand, talking quietly, had descended as dis-
tinctly into hell as any human being would care
to acknowledge, and had risen again from the
dead — or, at least, from the sea of the dead — into
a world which could never again be quite the
same to him. I found myself looking from time
to time at his eyes; and I saw in them what I have
seen only once or twice in the eyes of living men —
the experience of death, the acceptance of death,
and the irrevocable impress of death. Andj
though he carried himself as a man accustomed
to adventures and unafraid of the big or little
ironies of destiny, he was conscious, I think, of a
certain isolation, a new aloofness from the ordi-
nary routine of daily life. He had been so near
to the end of dreams, had seen the years flash
past so suddenly into true perspective, that it was
difficult to resume the trivial round and recon-
stitute a mental world in which details should ac-
quire again their former pretence of importance.
Colonel Gracie survived for less than eight
months after the loss of the Titanic. Judged by
the imperfect reckoning of impulse, it would seem
almost unfair that he should have gone through
so much, winning his life In the face of such
deadly hazards, only to surrender It after a brief
interval. But he himself would have been the
I last to complain. His implicit faith in Providence
330 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITANIC
could not be shaken by any personal suffering.
He made a brave fight for life, as he had made
a brave fight for the lives of others while the
Titanic was sinking. When the end was inevi-
table, he accepted it with composure, though he
had foreseen it with sadness.
The thought of the tragedy with which his
name will always be associated, was constantly in
his mind. The writing of his book involved a
great deal of intimate correspondence, with the
perpetual revival of painful memories. He made
no effort to evade this strain: it was part of the
task that he had undertaken. He felt strongly
that the work he was doing was absolutely neces-
sary, and could not be neglected. It was both a
public service and a private duty. Simply and
sincerely, he dedicated himself to that service and
duty. And now, he has done his work, and lived
his life, and gone out into the light beyond the
darkness. His country has lost a very gallant
gentleman. The world has one more legend of
brave deeds.
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