Voices from the Titanic (17 page)

When I got on deck, after the boat seemed to tremble from stem to stern, there was some excitement, but it was among the officers and not among the passengers. The officers were running about the deck insisting that persons get into the lifeboats. I didn't want to get into a boat, but when the third one [sic] was launched I simply was made to get in. I much preferred staying on the
Titanic
. In fact, when the officers of the ship insisted on the boats being filled many of the persons drew back and positively refused to obey.

We were some distance from the
Titanic
when we discovered in the bright night that she was sinking. Then there was evidently a panic on board. I saw one of the petty officers draw his revolver and fire three shots. It is my impression that he did this to attract attention and also to get the passengers from their state rooms.

The discipline on the lifeboats and rafts was as good as could be expected. I was off the
Titanic
before there was any real panic. I will take off my hat to the English seamen who went down with their ship and to the men who manned the lifeboats. Every man of them was a man.

(
New York World
, 19 April 1912)

We were told to get into a boat and we did, although at the time I much preferred staying on the
Titanic
. It looked safe on the
Titanic
and far from safe in the lifeboat. Before we knew what was being done with us we were swung from the
Titanic
into the sea and then the boat was so crowded that the women lay on the bottom to give the crew a chance to row.

We went about 200 yards from the
Titanic
. We could see nothing wrong except that the big boat seemed to be settling at the bow. Still we could not make ourselves believe that the
Titanic
would sink. But the
Titanic
continued to settle, and we could see the passengers plunging about the decks and hear their cries. We moved farther away. Suddenly there came two sharp explosions as the water rushed into the boiler room and the boilers exploded. The explosions counteracted the effect of the suction made when the big boat went to the bottom and it is more than probable that this saved some of the lifeboats from being drawn to the bottom. Following the explosion we could see persons hanging to the side railings of the sinking boat. It is my opinion that many persons were killed by these explosions and not drowned.

Other passengers were tossed into the water. For an hour after the explosions we could see them swimming about in the water or floating on the lifebelts. We could hear their groans and their cries for help, but we did not go to them. To have done this would have swamped our own boat and everybody would have been lost. Several persons did float up to our boat and we took them on board.

After we had got aboard the
Carpathia
, we did not see J. Bruce Ismay until today, when he came on deck for a short time. He seemed badly broken up. You would hardly have known him.

(US press, 19 April 1912)

The men took to the oars. The sea was absolutely calm and the stars were out. We kept rowing and suddenly someone cried out, ‘I feel water on my feet!' We checked and found that the drainage plug was not in. It was quickly put back. I asked, ‘Are there any provisions aboard?' The men looked and could find none whatsoever.

After rowing for a quarter of a mile, we stood off and watched the mammoth ship. About fifteen minutes after we left the
Titanic
, we were drifting in water filled with cakes of floating ice with our eyes on the great vessel we had deserted. Within a short time, we saw the
Titanic
begin to settle and then we knew that we had been wise to take to the small boats.

On the
Titanic
, the crew kept sending up the distress signals. The rockets would roar upward and light the water for miles around. The orchestra kept playing and their music helped to calm us.

I kept my eyes on the liner and could see six rows of portholes. I looked again and there were five rows, then only four and then I knew she was going down. We who were watching knew that many persons were going to their death when the upper deck neared the level of the water. It was the most tragic sight anyone will ever witness. Scores of men were standing on the decks. All the lights on the
Titanic
suddenly went out, and she slowly began to disappear from sight. Then came the screams, too horrible for words.

They called for the women and children to board the boats first. Both women and men, however, hesitated, and did not feel inclined to get into the small boats, thinking the larger boat was the safer. I had my back turned looking in the opposite direction at that time and was caught by the shoulder by one of the officers who gave me a push, saying: ‘Here, you are a big fellow. Get into the boat.'

Our boat was launched with twenty-eight people. We, however, transferred five from one of the other boats after we were out in the ocean, which was some time after the ship went down.

When our lifeboats left the vessel, we were directed to row away a short distance from the large boat, feeling it would be but a short time until we would be taken back on the
Titanic
. We then rested our oars. But after realizing that the
Titanic
was really sinking, we rowed away for about half a mile, being afraid that the suction would draw us down.

Although there were several of us wanting drinking water, it was unknown to us that there was a tank of water and also some crackers in our boat. Having no light on our boat, we did not discover this fact until after reaching the
Carpathia
.

(US Inquiry, 1 May 1912)

I stood by No. 5 boat. They would not allow the sailors to get anything, as they thought we should get it again in the morning. In the act of clearing away this boat a man dressed in a dressing gown with slippers on said to me very quietly: ‘There is no time to waste.' I thought he did not know anything about it at all, so we carried on our work in the usual way.

It struck me at the time the easy way the boat went out, the great improvement the modern davits were on the old-fashioned davits. I had about five or six men there, and the boat was out in about two minutes.

I got her overboard, and lowered level with the rail of the boat deck. Then this man in the dressing gown said we had better
get her loaded with women and children. So I said, ‘I await the commander's orders,' to which he replied, ‘Very well,' or something like that.

It then dawned on me that it might be Mr Ismay, judging by the description I had had given me. So I went along to the bridge and saw Captain Smith, and I told him that I thought it was Mr Ismay that wished me to get the boat away with women and children on it. So he said: ‘Go ahead. Carry on.'

I came along and brought in my boat. I stood on it and said: ‘Come along, ladies.' There was a big crowd. Mr Ismay helped to get them along, assisted in every way. We got the boat nearly full, and I shouted for any more ladies. None were to be seen, so I allowed a few men to get into it.

Mr Murdoch said: ‘You go in charge of this boat and hang around the after gangway.' I did not like the idea of going away at all because I thought I was better off on the ship.

(US Inquiry, 23 April 1912)

We got into the lifeboat that was hanging over the rail alongside the deck. Men and women, with their families, got in the boat with us. There was no discrimination between men and women. About thirty-six persons got in the boat with us. There were only two officers in the boat, the rest were all first-class passengers. My husband did not come back again after he left me, and I don't know what became of him except that his body was found and brought to Milwaukee and buried.

There were absolutely no lights in the lifeboats, and they did not even know whether the plug was in the bottom of the boat to prevent the boat from sinking. There were no lanterns, no provisions, no lights, nothing at all in these boats but the oars. One of the officers asked one of the passengers for a watch with which to light up the bottom of the boat to see if the plug was in place. The officers rowed the boat a short distance from the
Titanic
, and
I was unable to see the lowering of any other boats. We must have rowed quite a distance, but could see the steamer very plainly. I saw them firing rockets, and heard a gun fired as distress signals to indicate that the steamer was in danger.

We continued a safe distance away from the steamer, probably a quarter of a mile at least, and finally saw the steamer go down very distinctly. I heard the terrible cries of the people that were on board when the boat went down, and heard repeated explosions, as though the boilers had exploded.

Our boat drifted around in that vicinity until about daybreak when the
Carpathia
was sighted and we were taken on board. We had to row quite a long time and quite a distance before we were taken on board the
Carpathia
. I was suffering from the cold while I was drifting around, and one of the officers put a sail around me and over my head to keep me warm.

We received very good treatment on the
Carpathia
. It was reported on the
Carpathia
by passengers that the lookout who was on duty at the time the
Titanic
struck the iceberg had said: ‘I know they will blame me for it because I was on duty, but it was not my fault. I had warned the officers three or four times before striking the iceberg that we were in the vicinity of icebergs, but the officer on the bridge paid no attention to my signals.' I can not give the name of any passenger who made that statement, but it was common talk on the
Carpathia
that that is what the lookout said.

(US Inquiry, 17 May 1912)

As I stepped into the boat an officer 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 doctor – 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 later transferred to boat No. 7, to 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 badly dislocated.

The lifeboats were lowered. My wife and two women entered one of the first boats. Twelve men, including myself, were standing near. As there were no other women passengers waiting to get into the boats at that time, we were asked to accompany the women.

While we got into the boats for safety's sake, all of us thought we would be able to return to the
Titanic
. The sea was calm. We were rowed by four members of the crew about 300 yards from the steamer.

The steamer's lights were still burning brightly and the picture, with the iceberg as a background, was most beautiful. The steamer slowly sank, the bow sinking first. The water was covered with small boats and rafts. Then there was a loud crash. The lights went out. Other people who left the boat later say that she broke in two.

After the boat had sunk, we began to search for food or other provisions. There was nothing edible on the lifeboats. We could not even find fresh water. Fortunately one man had some stimulants with him, which were given to the women.

After drifting around for what seemed weeks, the
Carpathia
was sighted coming towards us. We had no matches or lanterns, and were not put aboard the rescuing ship until daylight.

(
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
, 19 April 1912)

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 feared that we would swamp as soon as we struck the water.

After the lifeboat was safely afloat, great difficulty was experienced in finding a knife with which to cut the lashings. When we reached the water the ship had settled so that my impression was that I was looking through the portholes into state rooms on deck D, which we had formerly occupied, and as we pulled away we could see that the
Titanic
was settling by the head with a heavy list to starboard.

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 terrible 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 our sight. We had no light in our boat and were left in intense darkness save for an occasional glimmer of light from other lifeboats and one steady green light on one of the ship's boats which the officers on the
Carpathia
afterwards said was of material assistance in aiding them to come direct to the spot.

Later in the night we thought we saw lights in the distance, indicating a vessel, and these afterwards proved to be the
Carpathia
, but at the time we had not expected to be picked up until the arrival of the
Olympic
, which we knew would be on hand some time in the afternoon and was the only ship of which we had any knowledge.

With daylight, the wind increased and the sea became choppy, and we saw icebergs in every direction, some lying low in the water and others tall, like ships, and some of us thought they
were. Our boat was picked up about 4.10 a.m. by the
Carpathia
and too much cannot be said of the courtesy, kindness and unceasing care of the officers, crew and passengers of this vessel, who worked from morning until night and almost from night until morning in the relief of the survivors.

I was in the second boat picked up. Others were adrift many hours longer and consequently suffered more. The captain of the
Carpathia
stayed until there were no more boats to pick up and he felt he must get out of the ice before sundown. We left the scene of the disaster about noon with the
Californian
still standing by, and as we turned back, as far as I could see in all directions, was a continuous floe of ice, marked by detached icebergs.

(
Portland Oregonian
, 27 April 1912)