Voices from the Titanic (42 page)
Read Voices from the Titanic Online
Authors: Geoff Tibballs
Women and children, some of the former naturally hysterical, having been rapidly separated from husbands, brothers, and fathers, were quickly placed in boats by the sailors who, like their officers, it was stated, were heard by some survivors to threaten that they would shoot if male passengers attempted to get into the boats ahead of the women.
Mr Stengel added that a number of men threw themselves into the sea when they saw that there was no chance of their reaching the boats. He himself dropped overboard, caught hold of the gunwale of a boat, and was pulled in because there were not enough sailors to handle her. In some of the boats women were shrieking for their husbands, others were weeping, but many bravely took a turn with the oars.
Mrs Dickinson Bishop, of Detroit, Michigan, said: âI was in my bed when the crash came. I got up and dressed quickly, but being assured that there was no danger I went back to bed. There were few people on deck when I got there, and there was little or no panic.'
Mr Robert Daniel, of Richmond, Virginia, said: âI jumped overboard, and I reckon that over a thousand did likewise. I swam about in the icy water for an hour before being picked up by a boat. At that moment I saw the
Titanic
take her final plunge. It was awful.
âColonel Astor has gone down. So has Major Butt and Mr W. T. Stead. I believe they jumped into the sea. I was in a state of collapse when picked up, and there are scores of survivors seriously ill. Captain Smith stuck to the bridge and behaved like a hero.'
William Jones, a fireman, of Southampton, who was making his first trip, said that when the
Titanic
sank four of her lifeboats were swamped. He also declared that her boilers exploded, and that ice from the berg falling on her decks killed many people.
(
Daily Graphic,
20 April 1912)
An extremely pathetic instance of the disaster is the separation of families and fathers and mothers from their children. Seven babies, who may never be identified and whose parents, or mothers at least, perished in the
Titanic
horror, were brought ashore last night from the
Carpathia
by the nurses sent aboard from hospitals.
They are now being tenderly cared for in one of the New York foundling asylums. No one has claimed them, nor can it yet be ascertained to whom they belong. These babies were thrown into the lifeboats by their parents.
No one knows their names, and their clothing gives no clue to identity. They are all under the age of two years.
In addition to these seven infants, who are well and supremely contented under the tender ministrations of Roman Catholic nuns, are two other children, respectively five and four years of age.
They are nameless as far as the other survivors know. The poor children are both insane. One has scarlet fever, and the other has cerebral meningitis. The doctors do not believe that either will live.
In the frenzy of the departure from the sinking
Titanic
nobody remembers what parents hurled their beloved babies into the water, hoping that they might be saved, and all efforts by the authorities to have the survivors on the
Carpathia
identify them have failed.
A little one-year-old baby boy, Travers Allison, cried himself to sleep at the Manhattan Hotel in the early hours of this morning. He was attended by his nursemaid, who is ill herself.
This little lad is the sole survivor of a family of four, Mr H. J. Allison, a banker of Montreal, his wife and their three-year-old daughter, Lorraine.
This family of four, with Mrs Allison's maid and Travers's nursemaid, embarked on the fated liner, and when the time came to get into the lifeboats, there being no room for Mr Allison, his wife refused to leave him, and the little daughter, Lorraine, clung to her mother.
The three were left to go to their death in the icy sea when the women and children were sent off, but Mr Allison sent the servant with the baby boy in one of the first of the boats to get away. Relatives are coming on from Montreal to claim the child, who is the heir to a large fortune.
(
Daily Chronicle
, 20 April 1912)
Three French-speaking survivors, M. Pierre Maréchal, aviator;
M. Omont, a Havre manufacturer; and M. Chevré, the Canadian sculptor, have sent
Le Matin
a graphic description of their experiences.
We were quietly playing auction bridge with a Mr Smith of Philadelphia, they say, when we heard a violent noise similar to that produced by the screw racing. Through the portholes we saw ice rubbing against the ship's sides. We rushed on deck, and saw that the
Titanic
had a tremendous list. There was everywhere a momentary panic, but it speedily subsided, all being convinced that the
Titanic
could not founder.
Captain Smith nevertheless appeared nervous; he came down on deck chewing a toothpick. âLet everyone,' he said, âput on a lifebelt, it is more prudent.' He then ordered the boats to be put out. The band continued. Nobody wanted to go into the boats, everyone saying âWhat's the use?' and firmly believing there was no risk in remaining on board. Then some of the boats went away with very few passengers; we saw boats with only about fifteen persons in them. Disregarding the advice of the officers, many passengers continued to cling to the ship.
A particularly painful episode occurred on board the
Titanic
after all the boats had left. Some of the passengers who had remained on the ship, realizing too late that she was lost, tried to launch a collapsible boat which they had great difficulty in getting into shape. They succeeded in lowering it, and some fifty got in. It was soon half full of water and many occupants were drowned or perished with cold, the bodies of those who died being thrown out. Of the original fifty, only fifteen were picked up by the
Carpathia
.
Much useless sacrifice of life, they add, would have been avoided but for the blind faith in the unsinkableness of the ship and if all the places in the boats had been taken in time.
(
Daily News
, 20 April 1912)
Criticisms and Recommendations
A committee of passengers on the
Titanic
rescued on the
Carpathia
, gave out, on the arrival of that vessel at New York on Thursday evening, the following narrative, which had been prepared for the Press:
We, the undersigned surviving passengers of the
Titanic
, in order to forestall any sensational and exaggerated statements, deem it our duty to give the Press a statement of the facts which have come to our knowledge and which we believe to be true.
On Sunday, 14 April 1912, at about 11.40 on a cold, starlit night, the ship struck an iceberg which had been reported to the bridge by the lookout, but not early enough to avoid collision. Steps were taken to ascertain the damage and save the passengers and the ship. Orders were given to put on lifebelts. The boats were lowered, and the usual distress signals were sent out by wireless telegraphy, and rockets were fired at intervals. Fortunately a wireless message was received by the
Carpathia
about midnight. She arrived on the scene of the disaster about 4 a.m. on Monday.
The officers and crew of the
Carpathia
had been preparing all night for the rescue work and for the comfort of the survivors. They were received on board with the most touching care and kindness. Every attention was given to all, irrespective of class. Passengers, officers, and crew gladly gave up their state rooms, clothing, and comforts for our benefit. All honour to them.
The English Board of Trade passengers' certificate on board the
Titanic
allowed for a total of approximately 3,500. The same certificate called for lifeboat accommodation for approximately 950 in the following boats: â 14 large lifeboats, two smaller boats, four collapsible boats. Life preservers were accessible in apparently sufficient number for all on board. The approximate number of passengers carried at the time of the collision was: first-class, 330; second-class, 320; third-class, 750; total, 1,400. Officers and crew, 940; total 2,340. Of the foregoing about the following number were rescued by the
Carpathia
: first-class, 210; second, 125; third, 200; officers, 4; seamen, 39; stewards, 96; firemen, 71; total of crew, 210; passengers and crew (about), 775; total of missing (about) 1,565. The number saved was about eighty per cent of the maximum capacity of the lifeboats.
We feel it our duty to call the attention of the public to what we consider the inadequate supply of life-saving appliances provided for modern passenger steamships, and recommend that immediate steps be taken to compel passenger steamers to carry sufficient boats to accommodate the maximum number of people carried on board. The following facts were observed and should be considered in this connection. In addition to the insufficiency of the lifeboats, rafts, etc. there was a lack of trained seamen to man the same. Stokers, stewards, etc., are not efficient boat-handlers. There were not enough officers to carry out the emergency orders on the bridge and to superintend the launching and control of the lifeboats, and there was an absence of searchlights. The Board of Trade rules allow for entirely too many people in each boat to permit that to be properly handled. On the
Titanic
the boat deck was about 75ft above water; and subsequently the passengers were required to embark before the lowering of the boats, thus endangering the operation and preventing the taking on of the maximum number that the boats would hold. The boats at all times to be properly equipped with provisions, water lamps, compasses, light, etc. Life-saving boat drills should be more frequent and thoroughly carried out, and officers should be armed at boat drill. A great reduction in speed in fog and ice â as the damage if a collision actually occurs is liable to be less.
In conclusion we suggest that an international conference should be called, and we recommend the passage of identical laws providing for the safety of all at sea. We urge the United States Government to take the initiative as soon as possible.
This statement was signed by Mr Samuel Goldenburg, chairman of the Passengers' Committee, and 25 others.
(
Southampton Times and Hampshire Express
, 20 April 1912)
Some Heart-rending Stories
That there will very soon be urgent necessity for bringing into operation the fund for the relief of sufferers by the disaster is evident from the result of inquiries which have been made in parts of the town from which members of the
Titanic
's crew were drawn in a conspicuous measure. To take St Mary's Parish, for instance. The Rev. Arthur Cuming, called upon on Thursday evening as being likely to be informed of the amount of distress to be relieved among a class typical of the seafaring population of the town, said that cases of dire necessity called for immediate assistance. An indication of the extent to which the clergy of St Mary's systemacize their work, though no show was made of it, was found in the fact that the rev. gentleman had by him a list of 61 âcases' in the parish arising out of the disaster. Commenting upon the particulars of these which had already been obtained, Mr Cuming said that the majority of the 61 were young men who had been wholly or partially supporting their parents. The disaster had intensified the distress which had been felt most acutely in the poorest districts as the effect of the coal strike and consequent lack of employment, and many of the St Mary's men had sailed on the
Titanic
after having been out of work for weeks.
The worst case that Mr Cuming had yet heard of was that of Mrs Wardner, of Endle Street, and her eight children (referred to below). This he recommended, and he next mentioned the case of Mr and Mrs Perry, of Ryde Street, who had two sons on board, upon whom they were dependent. As particularly good examples of sons who helped their mothers, he named young Evans, of Deal Street, and Binstead, of Endle Street, without, of course, wishing to detract from any other similar cases. (The list of saved includes the names of Perry, Evans and Binstead). Mrs Hurst, of Chapel Road, had been left a widow with three quite young children, and two or three orphans had been left by Mrs Wallis, a stewardess on the vessel, who was a widow.
The Rev E. G. Wells, another of St Mary's curates, was also seen, and he said that several sad cases had come under his notice. In Coleman Street a fireman had left a widow and four children, and in the same thoroughfare at least two other family circles had been broken. In another case where the breadwinner had been taken away, the mother had recently had her family increased by the arrival of a twin.
In the course of some personal inquiries at the homes of men whose names were to be found in the list of the crew, our reporters ascertained that College Street seems to have been hit somewhat heavily, eight men from this thoroughfare having joined the ship. One or two of them were single, but others had been the sole support of families. A young fireman named Blackman had been the mainstay of his mother, who was left a widow some years ago with nine children. The landlady of a young man named Jewell said her lodger had looked after his old father down in Cornwall, from whom she had received pitiful messages appealing to her to send news of his son.
(Yesterday she was able to send glad news to the aged parent.)
In Richmond Street there was a widow of a steward named Whitford at 33, and next door was given as the address of another steward named Brookman who had, in fact, been living there with his aunt, but had set up a home of his own at the Polygon having been married on the Sunday previous to his sailing on the
Titanic
. At No. 10 a third steward had been the sole support of his mother, and on the opposite side of the road had lived Frederick Dall, who shipped on the ill-fated liner as fireman.
(His name appears among the saved.)
A curious incident was related at 38, Anderson's Road. In one list of the crew which had been published, the name of A. Burrows was given in connection with that address, while in another list Oliver was printed. It turned out that neither a Burrows nor an Oliver had shipped from that address. Mrs Burrows was to be seen there, however, and she said: âMy son Harry goes to sea, and he had stayed home for a month on the expectation of getting engaged on the
Titanic
. He went down to the Docks to sign on, but at the last moment changed his mind and came away, for which we are very thankful. I can't explain why he changed his mind; some sort of feeling came over him, he told me.'
