Voices from the Titanic (6 page)
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Authors: Geoff Tibballs
The statement was made this week that the
Titanic
was a thousand tons larger than the
Olympic
. This is not so. She is a triple screw steamer of 45,000. She differs from the
Olympic
in regard to some features of her accommodation. We have previously referred to the arrangements which will reserve a private promenade for passengers in certain suites of rooms; another innovation is a reception room attached to the restaurant room. The restaurant will be under the management of Mr L. Gatti, late of Oddenino's Imperial Restaurant, London, whilst the squash racquet court, under a professional player, has been adopted, the experience of the
Olympic
having fully justified the experiment. Captain E. J.
Smith, of the
Olympic
, which arrives today, will be transferred to the
Titanic
.
(
Southampton Times and Hampshire Express
,
30 March 1912)
TITANIC
The White Star liner
Titanic
, which has just been completed by Messrs Harland & Wolff Ltd, left the fitting-out jetty at half-past nine o'clock this morning, and in charge of four tugs proceeded down the Victoria Channel to Belfast Lough, where her trials took place. The stately proportions of the mammoth vessel were greatly admired by the large crowds of people who had congregated in the vicinity of the Twin Islands. The compasses having been adjusted, the speed trials took place over the measured mile. The
Titanic
will leave later in the day for Southampton, from which port she is due to sail for New York on the tenth inst.
(
Ulster Echo
, 2 April 1912)
In a port where the magnificence of the appointments of the
Olympic
are so well known, it seems scarcely necessary to say much about the
Titanic
. The privileged few who have had the pleasure of visiting the ship since her arrival at Southampton on Thursday morning have been at a loss to express their admiration. One person said that the
Olympic
was all that could be desired, and the
Titanic
was something even beyond that! And if his hearers smiled at his method of putting it, they were to agree that the White Star Line had taken every possible opportunity of effecting improvements, their experience with the
Olympic
having been brought to bear. The
Titanic
had a delightful trip from Belfast to Southampton, and among those on board were Mr Morgan (Morgan, Grenfell and Co.), and representatives of the London and Southampton offices of Café Parisien.
These gentlemen were quick to notice that several changes had been made in the
Titanic,
and particularly was it noticed that increased state room accommodation had been provided. The two private promenade decks were inspected with interest, and they have been instituted in connection with the parlour suite rooms. Then a delightful addition is the Café Parisien which has been arranged in connection with the restaurant. The deck space outside the restaurant has been utilized for it and it represents an entirely new feature on steamers.
The Café Parisien has the appearance of a charming sunlit verandah tastefully arranged with trellis work, and chairs in small groups surrounding convenient tables. It will also form a further addition to the restaurant, as lunches and dinners can be served with the same excellent service and all the advantages of the restaurant itself.
In the first class dining room over 550 passengers can dine at the same time, and a feature of the room is the arrangement of the recessed bays where family and other parties can dine together in semi privacy. The second class passengers have been very generously provided for. The dining saloon extends the full breadth of the vessel, and will seat 400. The state rooms are of very superior character, and the promenades are unusually spacious, a unique feature being the enclosed promenade. The accommodation for third class is also very good, and the vessel will accommodate in all about 3,500 passengers and crew.
(
Southampton Times and Hampshire Express
, 6 April 1912)
TITANIC
The completion of the
Titanic
marks a further stage in the progress of British shipping and shipbuilding, and in the development of the White Star Line. The
Olympic
and the
Titanic
are essentially similar in design and construction, and yet, so rapidly are we moving in these days of progress, that already the experience gained with the
Olympic
is being taken advantage of in the
Titanic
.
Consequently we find that there are several changes carried out in the second ship with a view to meeting even more completely than before the requirements of the service, and the large number of passengers with whom this type of ship is proving so popular.
Beginning with the top deck (the boat deck) increased first-class state room accommodation has been provided. The same applies to the upper promenade deck (A deck) and on this deck ship's side windows are fitted for half the length of the deck from the forward end, this arrangement giving the sheltered promenade, with, at the same time, full view of the sea, so much appreciated by passengers.
On the promenade deck (B deck) there is also increased accommodation, the deckhouse being extended to the ship's side, and two private promenade decks having been instituted in connection with the parlour suite rooms. On the same deck a Café Parisien has been arranged in connection with the restaurant, the deck space being utilized for this, which is an entirely new feature on board ship. A reception room has also been provided in connection with the restaurant, in view of the reception room connected with the first class dining saloon having proved so satisfactory to passengers. The restaurant itself has also been increased in size.
The private promenades are decorated in a style of half timbered walls of Elizabethan period. The Café Parisien is decorated in French trellis work with ivy creepers, and looks extremely attractive.
On the upper deck (C deck), which is the deck immediately below the promenade deck, the first-class accommodation has been increased also; and on the saloon deck (D deck) the reception room in connection with the dining saloon has been enlarged, and additional seating accommodation provided in the saloon.
On the main deck (E deck) increased accommodation has been provided, and generally throughout the first-class accommodation as a large number of wardrobe rooms have been added, also the number of suites of rooms increased, and more state rooms with wardrobe rooms attached provided.
(
Cork Free Press
, 9 April 1912)
NEW YORK BOUND
Harry Fairall
, a thirty-two-year-old married man with three daughters, worked as a saloon steward on board the
Titanic
. He was planning to start a new life in America, and was going to send for his family when he was settled there. Before joining up with a skeleton crew in Belfast, he sent a postcard of the
Titanic
from Southampton, posted on 26 March 1912.
Dear N. We leave the Dock Station at 2pm today. I will write from Belfast and tell you everything. Yours in haste. H.
Mr Fairall's wife was pregnant at the time and gave birth prematurely after the
Titanic
went down. The baby died six months later.
Joseph Scarrott
was born in Portsmouth in 1878. He had worked on a number of other White Star Line vessels, but when he signed on as an able seaman on the
Titanic
on 6 April 1912 (at wages of £5 per month), for the first time in his life he experienced a strange foreboding.
The signing on seemed like a dream to me, and I could not believe I had done so, but the absence of my discharge book from my pocket convinced me. When I went to the docks that morning I had as much intention of applying for a job on the Big âUn, as we called her, as I had of going for a trip to the moon. I was assured
of a job as a Q.M. on a Union Castle liner, also I was not in low water for âBees and honey'. When I went home (36 Albert Road, Southampton) and told my sister what I had done, she called me a fool. Now this was the first and only time that she had shown disapproval of any ship I was going on. In fact she would not believe me until she found I was minus my discharge book.
I was under orders to join the ship at 7am, Wednesday April 10, the time of sailing being 12.00 that morning. The trip was to be a âspeed up' trip, meaning that we were to go from Southampton to New York, unload, load and back again in sixteen days. Although it was unnecessary to take all my kit for this short trip, I did not seem to have the inclination to sort any of it out, and I pondered a lot in my mind whether I should join her or give it a miss. Now in the whole of my twenty-nine years of going to sea I have never had that feeling of hesitation that I experienced then, and I had worked aboard the
Titanic
when she came to Southampton from the builders, and I had the opportunity to inspect her from stem to stern. This I did, especially the crew quarters, and I must say that she was the finest ship I had ever seen.
Wednesday 10. I decide I will go, but not with a good heart. Before leaving home I kissed my sister and said, âGoodbye', and as I was leaving she called me back and asked why I had said, âGoodbye' instead of my usual, âSo long, see you again soon'. I told her I had not noticed saying it, neither had I. On my way to join the ship you can imagine how this incident stuck in my mind. On joining a ship all sailors have much the same routine. You go to your quarters, choose your bunk, and get the gear you require from your bag. Then you change into your uniform, and by that time you are called to muster by the Chief Officer. I took my bag but did not open it, nor did I get into uniform, and I went to muster and Fire and Boat Drill without my uniform. 11.45 a.m. Hands to stations for casting off. I am in the starboard watch, my station is aft, and I am still not in uniform. My actions and manners are the reverse of what they should be.
(
Southend Pier Review, Number 8,
1932)
Mr and Mrs Edward W. Bill
of Philadelphia were staying at London's Hotel Cecil with the intention of travelling to Southampton to sail on the
Titanic
. But at the last minute Mrs Bill had a premonition of impending doom and the couple decided to sail on the
Mauretania
instead. On reaching New York safely, Mr Bill revealed:
I had our rooms all picked out on the
Titanic
, and I told my wife that it would be interesting to be on the greatest ship in the world on her maiden trip. Mrs Bill was not very enthusiastic, and when I started for the White Star office to get the tickets, she begged me not to go. She said that she couldn't tell why, but said she didn't want to go on the
Titanic
. I had never known her to object to any plan of travel I suggested before, but this time she was immovably firm, and I yielded to her wishes reluctantly.
Another who was afraid of sailing aboard the
Titanic
was Esther Hart, mother of seven-year-old
Eva Hart
.
We went on the day on the boat train ⦠I was seven, I had never seen a ship before. It looked very big ⦠Everybody was very excited, we went down to the cabin and that's when my mother said to my father that she had made up her mind quite firmly that she would not go to bed in that ship, she would sit up at night ⦠she decided that she wouldn't go to bed at night, and she didn't.
Cornish steward
Harry Bristow
wrote to his wife Ethel from Southampton on the day before sailing:
Dearest Et, I have earned my first day's pay on the
Titanic
and been paid and I may say spent it do you know dearie. I forgot about towels, also cloth brush so I've to buy two. My uniform will cost £117s 6d, coat plus waistcoat and cap and Star regulation collars and paper front (don't laugh dearie it's quite true) two white jackets etc, so it won't leave me very much to take up. My
pay is £3 15s plus tips. I'm in the first-class saloon so I may pick up a bit. I've been scrubbing the floor today in saloon, about a dozen of us. I lost myself a time or two, she is such an enormous size I expect it will take me a couple of trips before I begin to know my way about here. I believe we're due back here again about the 4th next month. I am not sure though. I've to be aboard tomorrow morning 6 o'clock sharp, means turning out at 5am. You might send a letter to me addressed as envelope enclosed a day before we're expected in so that I could have it directly I come ashore, now dearie with fondest love to boy and self and be brave as you always are, your ever loving Harry.
Harry Bristow died in the sinking. His body was never identified.
Southampton-born
John Podesta
, twenty-four, signed on as a fireman on the
Titanic
on monthly wages of £6. The morning of 10 April 1912 â sailing day â saw Podesta enjoy a last-minute drink in a Southampton public house with watch-mate William Nutbean and fellow firemen Alfred, Bertram and Thomas Slade.
I got up on the morning of April 10th and made off down to the ship for eight o'clock muster, as is the case on all sailing days, which takes about an hour. As the ship is about to sail at about 12 o'clock noon, most of us firemen and trimmers go ashore again until sailing time. So off we went with several others I knew on my watch, which was 4 to 8. My watch-mate, whose name was William Nutbean, and I went off to our local public house for a drink in the Newcastle Hotel. We left about 11.15 making our way towards the docks. Having plenty of time we dropped into another pub called the Grapes, meeting several more ship-mates inside. So having another drink about six of us left about ten minutes to 12 and got well into the docks and towards the vessel. With me and my mate were three brothers named Slade.
We were at the top of the main road and a passenger train was approaching from another part of the docks. I heard the Slades
say, âOh, let the train go by.' But me and Nutbean crossed over and managed to board the liner. Being a long train, by the time it passed, the Slades were too late, and the gangway was down leaving them behind.
