 Chapter 7 of Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters. Edited by Logan Marshall. Chapter 7. Left to their fate. Coolness and heroism of those left to perish. Suicide of Murdoch. Captain Smith's end. The ship's band plays a noble hymn as the vessel goes down. The general feeling aboard the ship after the boats had left her sides was that she would not survive her wound, but the passengers who remained aboard displayed the utmost heroism. William T. Steed, the famous English journalist, was so little alarmed that he calmly discussed with one of the passengers the probable height of the iceberg after the Titanic had shot into it. Confidence in the ability of the Titanic to remain afloat doubtlessly led many of the passengers to death. The theory that the great ship was unsinkable remained with hundreds who had entrusted themselves to the gigantic hulk, long after the officers knew that the vessel could not survive. The captain and officers behaved with superb gallantry and there was perfect order and discipline among those who were aboard, even after all hope had been abandoned for the salvation of the ship. Many women went down, steerage women who were unable to get to the upper decks where the boats were launched, maids who were overlooked in the confusion, cabin passengers who refused to desert their husbands or who had reached the decks after the last of the life boats was gone and the ship was settling for her final plunge to the bottom of the Atlantic. Narratives of survivors do not bear out the supposition that the final hours upon the vessel's decks were past in darkness. They say the electric lighting plant held out until the last and that even as they watched the ship sink from their places in the floating life boats, her lights were gleaming in long rows as she plunged under by the head. Just before she sank, some of the refugees say, the ship broke into about the engine room after the bulkhead explosions had occurred. Colonel Laster's death. To Colonel Laster's death, Phillip Mock bears this testimony. Many men were hanging on to rafts in the sea. William T. Steed and Colonel Laster were among them. Their feet and hands froze and they had to let go. Both were drowned. The last man among the survivors to speak to Colonel Laster was Kay Whiteman, the ship's barber. I shaved Colonel Laster Sunday afternoon, said Whiteman. He was a pleasant, affable man and that awful night when I found myself standing beside him on the passenger deck, helping him to put the women into boats, I spoke to him. Where is your life belt? I asked him. I didn't think there would be any need of it. He said, get one while there is time. I told him, the last boat is gone and we are done for. No, he said, I think there are some life boats to be launched and we may get on one of them. There are no life rafts, I told him, and the ship is going to sink. I am going to jump overboard and take a chance on swimming out and being picked up by one of the boats. Better come along. No, thank you, he said calmly. I think I'll have to stick. I asked him if he would mind shaking hands with me. He said, with pleasure. Gave me a hearty grip and then I climbed up on the rail and jumped overboard. I was in the water for nearly four hours before one of the boats picked me up. Captain washed overboard. Murdoch's last orders were to quartermaster Moody and a few other petty officers who had taken their places in the rigid discipline of the ship and were lowering the boats. Captain Smith came up to him on the bridge several times and then rushed down again. They spoke to one another only in monosyllables. There were stories that Captain Smith, when he saw the ship actually going down, had committed suicide. There is no basis for such tales. The captain, according to the testimony of those who were near him almost until the last, was admirably cool. He carried a revolver in his hand ready to use it on anyone who disobeyed orders. I want every man to act like a man for manhood's sake, he said, and if they don't, a bullet awaits the coward. With the revolver in his hand, a fact that undoubtedly gave rise to the suicide theory, the captain moved up and down the deck. He gave the order for each lifeboat to make off and he remained until every boat was gone. Standing on the bridge, he finally called out the order, each man save himself. At that moment, all discipline fled. It was the last call of death. If there had been any hope among those on board before, the hope had now fled. The bearded admiral of the White Star Line fleet with every life-saving device launched from the decks was returning to the deck to perform the sacred office of going down with his ship when a wave dashed over the side and tore him from the ladder. The Titanic was sinking rapidly by the head with the twisting, side-long motion that was soon to aim her on her course two miles down. Murdoch saw the skipper swept out but did not move. Captain Smith was but one of a multitude of lost at that moment. Murdoch may have known that the last desperate thought of the gray mirror was to get up upon his bridge and die in command. That the old man could not have done this may have had something to do with Murdoch's suicidal inspiration. Of that, no man may say or safely guess. The wave that swept the skipper out bore him almost to the thwart of a crowded lifeboat. Hands reached out but he wrenched himself away, turned and swam back toward the ship. Some say that he said, Goodbye, I'm going back to the ship. He disappeared for a moment, then reappeared for a rail with slipping underwater. Cool and courageous to the end, loyal to his duty under the most difficult circumstances. He showed himself a noble captain and he died a noble death. Saw both officers perish. Quartermaster Moody saw all this, watched the skipper scramble aboard onto his submerged deck and then vanish altogether in a great billow. As Moody's eye lost sight of the skipper in this confusion of waters, it again shifted to the bridge and just in time to see Murdoch take his life. The man's face was turned toward him, Moody said, and he could not mistake it. There were still many gleaming lights on the ship, flickering out like little groups of vanishing stars and with the clear star shine on the waters, there was nothing to cloud or break the quartermaster's vision. I saw Murdoch die by his own hand, said Moody, saw the flash from his gun, heard the crack that followed the flash and then saw him plunge over on his face. Others report hearing several pistol shots on the decks below the bridge but amid the groans and shrieks and cries, shouted orders and all that vast orchestra of sounds that broke upon the air, they must have been faint periods of punctuation. Band played its own dirge. The band had broken out in the strains of, nearer my God to thee, some minutes before Murdoch lifted the revolver to his head, fired and toppled over on his face. Moody saw all this in a vision that filled his brain while his ears drank in the tragic strain of the beautiful hymn that the band played as their own dirge even to the moment when the waters sucked them down. Wherever Murdoch's eye swept the water in that instant before he drew his revolver it looked upon veritable seas of drowning men and women. From the decks there came to him the shrieks and groans of the caged and drowning for whom all hope of escape was utterly vanished. He evidently never gave a thought to the possibility of saving himself his mind freezing with the horrors he beheld and having room for just one central idea, swift extinction. The strains of the hymn and the frantic cries of the dying blended in a symphony of sorrow led by the green light under the light of the stars the boat drew away and the bow, then the quarter, then the stacks and last the stern of the marvel ship of a few days before passed beneath the waters. The great force of the ship's sinking was unaided by any violence of the elements and the suction, not so great as had been feared, rocked but mildly the group of boats now a quarter of a mile distant from it. Just before the Titanic disappeared from view, men and women leaped from the stern more than a hundred men, according to Colonel Gracie, jumped at the last. Gracie was among the number and he and the second officer were of the very few who were saved. As the vessel disappeared, the waves drowned the majestic hymn which the musicians played as they went to their watery grave. The most authentic accounts agree that this hymn was not nearer my God to thee which it seems had been played shortly before but autumn which is found in the Episcopal hymnal and which fits appropriately the situation on the Titanic in the last moments of pain and darkness there. One line, hold me up in mighty waters, particularly may have suggested the hymn to some minister aboard the doomed vessel who it has been thought thereupon asked the remaining passengers to join in singing the hymn and a last service aboard the sinking ship soon to be ended by death itself. Following is the hymn. God of mercy and compassion, look with pity on my spain. Hear a mournful broken spirit, prostrate at thy feet, complain. Many are my foes in mighty, strength to conquer I have none. Nothing can uphold my goings but thy blessed self alone. Save your look on thy beloved, triumph over all my foes. Turn to heavenly joy my mourning, turn to gladness all my woes, live or die or work or suffer, let my weary soul abide and all changes whatsoever sure and steadfast by thy side. When temptations fierce assault me, when my enemies I find, sin and guilt and death and Satan all against my soul combined, hold me up in mighty waters, keep my eyes on things above, righteousness, divine atonement, peace and everlasting love. It was a little lame schoolmaster, tortious, who aroused the Spartans by his poetry and led them to victory against the foe. It was the musicians of the band of the Titanic, poor men, paid a few dollars a week, who played the music to keep up the courage of the souls aboard the sinking ship. The way the band kept playing was a noble thing, says the wireless operator. I heard it first while we were working the wireless, when there was a ragtime tune for us. And the last I saw of the band when I was floating, struggling in the icy water, it was still on deck, playing autumn. How those brave fellows ever did it, I cannot imagine. Perhaps that music, made in the face of death, would not have satisfied the exacting critical sense. It may be that the chilled fingers faltered on the pistons of the cornet, or at the valves of the French horn, that the time was irregular, and that by an organ in a church, with a decorous congregation, the hymns they chose would have been better played and sung. But surely that music went up to God from the souls of drowning men, and was not less acceptable than the song of songs no mortal ear may hear, the harps of the seraphs, and the choiring cherubim. Under the sea the music-makers lie, still in their fingers clutching the broken and battered means of melody. But over the strident voice of wiring winds, and the sound of many waters, there rises their chant eternally. And though the musicians lie hushed and cold at the sea's heart, their music is heard forevermore. Last moments. That great ship, which started out as proudly, went down to her death like some grime silent juggernaut, drunk with carnage and anxious to stop the throbbing of her own heart at the bottom of the sea. Charles H. Lytolar, second officer of the Titanic, tells the story this way. I stuck to the ship until the water came up to my ankles. There had been no lamentations, no demonstrations, either from the men passengers, as they saw the last lifeboat go, and there was no wailing or crying, no outburst from the men who lined the ship's rail as the Titanic disappeared from sight. The men stood quietly as if they were in church. They knew that they were in the sight of God, that in a moment judgment would be passed upon them. Finally the ship took a dive, reeling for a moment, then plunging. I was sucked to the side of the ship against the grating over the blower for the exhaust. There was an explosion. It blew me to the surface again, only to be sucked back again by the water rushing into the ship. This time I landed against the grating over the pipes, which furnished a draught for the funnels, and stuck there. Then there was another explosion, and I came to the surface. The ship seemed to be heaving tremendous size as she went down. I found myself not many feet from the ship, but on the other side of it. The ship had turned around while I was under the water. I came up near a collapsible lifeboat and grabbed it. Many men were in the water with me. They had jumped at the last minute. A funnel fell within four inches of me and killed one of the swimmers. Thirty clung to the capsized boat, and a lifeboat with forty survivors in it already finally took them off. George D. Weidner and Harry Elkins Weidner were among those who jumped at the last minute. So did Robert Williams Daniel. The three of them went down together. Daniel struck out, lashing the water with his arms until he had made a point far distant from the sinking monster of the sea. Later he was picked up by one of the passing lifeboats. The Weidners were not seen again, nor was John B. Thayer, who went down on the boat. Jack Thayer, who was literally thrown off the Titanic by an explosion after he had refused to leave the men to go with his mother, floated around on a raft for an hour before he was picked up. A Float with Jack Thayer Graphic accounts of the final plunge of the Titanic were related by two Englishmen, survivors by the merest chance. One of them struggled for hours to hold himself afloat on an overturned collapsible lifeboat to one end of which John B. Thayer Jr. of Philadelphia, whose father perished, hung until rescued. The men gave their names as A. H. Markworth, Justice of the Peace of Eastriding, Yorkshire, England, and W. J. Mellers of Christ Church Terrace, Chelsea, London. The latter, a young man, had started for this country with his savings to seek his fortune and had lost all but his life. Mellers, like quartermaster Moody, said Captain Smith did not commit suicide. The captain jumped from the bridge, Mellers declares, and he heard him say to his officers and crew, you have done your duty boys, now every man for himself. Mellers and Markworth, who say their names have been spelled incorrectly in most of the lists of survivors, both declare that there were three distinct explosions before the Titanic broke into and bow section first and stern part last, settled with her human cargo into the sea. Her four whistles kept up a deafening blast until the explosions, declare the men. The death cries from the shrill throats of the blatant steam screechers beside the smokestacks so rent the air that conversation among the passengers was possible only when one yelled into the ear of a fellow unfortunate. I did not know the Thayer family well, declared Mr. Markworth, but I met young Thayer, a clear cut chap and his father on the trip. The lad and I struggled in the water for several hours endeavoring to hold afloat by grabbing to the sides and end of an overturned lifeboat. Now and again, we lost our grip and fell back into the water. I did not recognize young Thayer in the darkness as we struggled for our lives, but I did recall having met him before when we were picked up by a lifeboat. We were saved by the merest chance because the survivors on a lifeboat that rescued us hesitated in doing so. It seemed, fearing perhaps that additional burdens would swamp the frail craft. I considered my fur overcoat helped to keep me afloat. I had a life preserver over it under my arms, but it would not have held me up so well out of the water but for the coat. The fur of the coat seemed not to get wet through and retained a certain amount of air that added to buoyance. I shall never part with it. The testimony of J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line that he had not heard explosions before the Titanic settled indicates that he must have gotten some distance from her in his lifeboat. There were three distinct explosions and the ship broke in the center. The bow settled headlong first and the stern last. I was looking toward her from the raft to which young Thayer and I had clung. How? Captain Smith died. Barkworth jumped just before the Titanic went down. He said there were enough life preservers for all the passengers, but in the confusion many may not have known where to look for them. Mellors, who had dawned a life preserver, was hurled into the air from the bow of the ship by the force of the explosion, which he believed caused the Titanic to part in the center. I was not far from where Captain Smith stood on the bridge, giving full orders to his men, said Mellors. The brave old seaman was crying, but he had stuck heroically to the last. He did not shoot himself. He jumped from the bridge when he had done all he could. I heard his final instructions to his crew and recall that his last words were you have done your duty boys now every man for himself. I thought I was doomed to go down with the rest. I stood on the deck, awaiting my fate, fearing to jump from the ship. Then came a grinding noise, followed by two others, and I was hurled into the deep. Great waves engulfed me, but I was not drawn toward the ship so that I believed there was little suction. I swam about for more than an hour before I was picked up by a boat. A fateful officer. Charles Herbert Leitola previously mentioned stood by the ship until the last, working to get the passengers away. And when it appeared he had made his last trip, he went up high on the officer's quarters and made the best dive he knew how to make, just as the ship plunged down to the depths. This is an excerpt from his testimony before the Senate Investigating Committee. What time did you leave the ship? I didn't leave it. Did it leave you? Yes, sir. Children shall hear that episode sung again after years, and his own descendants shall recite it to their barns. Mr. Leitola acted as an officer and a gentleman should, and he was not the only one. A message from a notorious gambler. That Jay Yates, gambler, confidence man and fugitive from justice, known to the police and in sporting circles as J.H. Rogers, went down with the Titanic after assisting many women aboard lifeboats, became known when a note, written on a blank page torn from a diary, was delivered to his sister. Here is a facsimile of the note. This note was given by Rogers to a woman he was helping into a lifeboat. The woman, who signed herself survivor, enclosed the note with the following letter. You will find note that was handed to me as I was leaving the Titanic. I am stranger to this man, but I think he was a card player. He helped me aboard a lifeboat, and I saw him help others. Before we were lowered, I saw him jump into the sea. If picked up, I did not recognize him on the carpathia. I don't think he was registered on the ship under his right name. Rogers' mother, Mrs. Mary A. Yates, an old woman, walked down when she learned her son had perished. Thank God I know where he is now, she thought. I have not heard from him in two years. The last news I had from him, he was in London. Fifty lads met death. Among the many hundreds of heroic souls who went bravely and quietly to their end were fifty happy-go-lucky youngsters shipped as bellboys or messengers to serve the first cabin passengers. James Humphries, a quartermaster who commanded lifeboat number eleven, told a little story that shows how these fifty lads met death. Humphries said the boys were called to their regular posts in the main cabin entry and taken in charge by their captain, a steward. They were ordered to remain in the cabin and not to get in the way. Throughout the first hour of confusion and terror, these lads sat quietly on their benches in various parts of the first cabin. Then just toward the end when the order was passed round that the ship was going down and every man was free to save himself. If he kept away from the lifeboats in which the women were being taken, the bellboys scattered to all parts of the ship. Humphries said he saw numbers of them smoking cigarettes and joking with the passengers. They seemed to think that their violation of the rule against smoking while on duty was the advantage of discipline. Not one of them attempted to enter a lifeboat. Not one of them was saved. The heroes who remained, the women who left the ship, the men who remained, there is little to choose between them for heroism. Many of the women compelled to take to the boats would have stayed, had it been possible, to share the fate of their nearest and dearest without whom their lives are crippled, broken and disconsolate. The heroes who remained would have said with Greenville, we have only done our duty as a man is bound to do. They sought no palms or crowns of martyrdom. They also serve who only stand and wait. And their first action was merely to step aside and give places in the boats to women and children, some of whom were too young to comprehend or to remember. There was no debate as to whether the life of a financier, a master of business, was rated higher in the scale of values than that of an ignorant peasant mother. A woman was a woman, whether she were rags or pearls. A life was given for a life with no assertion that one was priceless and the other comparatively valueless. Many of those who elected to remain might have escaped. Chivalry is a mild appellation for their conduct. Some of the vaunted knights of old were desperate cowards by comparison. A fight in the open field or jousting in the tournament did not call out the manhood in a man as did the waiting till the great ship took the final plunge in the knowledge that the seas round were covered with loving and yearning witnesses whose own salvation was not assured. When the role is called hereafter of those who are purged of pride because they died who know the worth of their days. Let the names of the men who went down with the Titanic be found written there in the sight of God and men. The Obvious Lesson And whatever view of the accident be taken whether the moralist shall use it to point the text of a solemn or denunciatory warning or whether the materialist swinging to the other extreme scouts any other theory than that of the fortuitous concurrence of Adams there is scarcely a thinking mortal who has heard of what happened who has not been deeply stirred in the sense of personal bereavement to a profound humility and a conviction of his own insignificance in the greater universal scheme. Many there are whom the influences of religion do not move and upon whose hearts or most generous sentiments knock in vain who still are overalled and bowed by the magnitude of this catastrophe no matter what they believe about it the effect is the same the effect is to reduce a man from the swaggering braggart the vain glorious lord of what he sees the self-made master of his fate of nature, of time, of space, of everything to his true microscopic stature in the cosmos he goes in tears to put together again the fragments of the few small pitiful things that belong to him though love may pine and reason shape there came a voice without reply the only comfort all that can bring surcease of sorrow is that men fashioned in the image of their maker rose to the emergency like heroes and went to their grave as bravely as any who have given their lives at any time in war the hearts of those who waited on the land and agonized were impotent to save have been laid upon the same altars of sacrifice the morning of those who will not be comforted rises from alien lands together with our own in a common broken intercession how little is the 882 feet of the monster that we have launched compared with the arc of the rainbow we can see even in our grief spanning the frozen boreal mist the best of what we do and are just God forgave the ancient sacrifice and still our work must go on it is the business of men and women neither to give way to unavailing grief nor to yield to the crushing incubus of despair but to find hope that is at the bottom of everything even at the bottom of the sea where that glorious virgin of the ocean is dying and when she took it unto herself a mate she must espouse the everlasting sea even so for any progress of the race there must be the ancient sacrifice of man's own stubborn heart and all his pride he must forever lay in dust life's glory dead he cannot rise to the height it was intended he should reach till he has plumbed the depths till he has devoured the bread of the bitterest affliction till he has known the ache of hopes deferred of anxious expectation disappointed of dreams that are not to be fulfilled this side of the river that waters the meads of paradise there still must be a reason why it is not an unhappy thing to be taken from the world we know to want a wonder still and so that we go bravely what does it matter the motive are going it was not only those who stood back who let the women and children go to the boats that died there died among us on the shore something of the fierce greed of bitterness something of the sharp hatred of passion something of the mad lust of revenge and of knife edge competition though we are not aware of it perhaps we are not quite the people that we were before out of the mystery an awful hand was laid upon us all and what we had thought the colossal power of wealth was in a twinkling shown to be no more than the strength of an infant's little finger or the twining tendril of a plant lest we forget lest we forget the agony and despair which possessed the occupants of these boats as they were carried away from the doomed giant leaving husbands and brothers behind is almost beyond description it is little wonder that the strain of these moments with the physical and mental suffering which followed during the early morning hours left many of the women still hysterical when they reached new york where manhood perished knot where cross the lines of 40 north and 50 14 west their roles of wild and greedy sea with death upon its crest no stone or wreath from human hands will ever mark the spot where 1500 men went down but manhood perished knot old ocean takes but little heed of human tears or woe no shafts adorn the ocean grains nor weeping willows grow nor is there need of marble slab to keep in mind the spot where noble men went down to death but manhood perished knot those men who looked on death and smiled and tried the crumbling deck have saved much more than precious lives from out that awful wreck though countless joys and hopes and fears were shattered at a breath to something that the name of man did not go down to death to is not an easy thing to die even in the open air 1200 miles from home and friends in a shroud of black despair a wreath to crown the brow of man and hide a former blot will ever blossom or the waves where manhood perished knot Harvey P. View End of Chapter 7 of The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters Chapters 8 and 9 of The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters edited by Logan Marshall Chapter 8 The Call for Help Heard The value of the wireless other ships alter their course rescuers on the way We have struck an iceberg badly damaged, rush aid Stuart and Lenward, J.G. Phillips the Titanic's wireless man had hurled the appeal for help By fits and starts for the wireless was working unevenly and blurringly Phillips reached out to the world crying the Titanic's peril A word or two, scattered phrases now and then a connected sentence made up the message that sent a thrill of apprehension for a thousand miles east, west and south of the doomed liner The early dispatches from St. John's Cape Race in Montreal told graphic tales of the race to reach the Titanic the wireless appeals for help the interruption of the calls then what appeared to be a successful conclusion of the race when the Virginian was reported as having reached the giant liner Many lines hear the call Other rushing liners besides the Virginian heard the call and became on the instant something more than cargo carriers and passenger greyhounds The big Baltic, 200 miles to the eastward and westbound turned again to save life as she did when her sister of the White Star fleet was cut down in a fog in January 1909 The Titanic's mate, the Olympic the mightiest of the seagoers saved the Titanic herself turned in her tracks All along the northern lane the miracle of the wireless worked for the distressed and sinking White Star ship Maddie, the Parisian from Glasgow the North German Lloyd Prince Friedrich Wilhelm the Hamburg American liners, Prince Albert and America all heard the CQD and the rapid condensed explanation of what had happened Virginian in desperate haste But the Virginian was nearest barely 170 miles away and was the first to know of the Titanic's danger She went about and headed under forced drop for the spot indicated in one of the last of Phillip's messages latitude 41.46 north and longitude 50.14 west She is a fast ship the Allen liner and her wireless has told the story of how she stretched through the night to get up to the Titanic in time There was need for all the power of her engines and her captain The final fluttering marconograms that were released from the Titanic made it certain that the great ship with 2,340 souls aboard was filling in a desperate peril Further out at sea was the Cunarder Carpathia which left New York for the Mediterranean on April 13 round she went and plunged back westward to take a hand in saving life and the third steamship in short sailing of the Titanic was the Allen liner Parisian a way to the eastward on her way from Glasgow to Halifax While they sped in the night with all the drive that steam could give them the Titanic's call reached to Cape Race and startled the operator there heard at midnight a message which quickly reached New York Have struck an iceberg, we are badly damaged Titanic latitude 41.46 north 50.14 west Cape Race through the appeal broadcast wherever his apparatus could carry then for hours while the world waited for a crumb of news as to the safety of the great ship's people not one thing more was known save that she was drifting broke us and helpless and alone in the midst of a waste of ice and it was not until 17 hours after the Titanic had sunk that the words came out of the air as to her fate confusion and tangle of messages a jumble of rumors good tidings were tried to pun by evil and no man knew clearly what was taking place in that stretch of waters where the giant icebergs were making a mock of all that the world knew best in shipbuilding Titanic sent out no more news it was at 12.17 a.m. while the Virginian was still plunging eastward that all communication from the Titanic ceased the Virginian's operator with the Virginian's captain at his elbow fed the air with blue flashes in a desperate effort to know what was happening to the crippled liner but no message came back the last word from the Titanic was that she was sinking then the sparking became fainter the call was dying to nothing the Virginian's operator labored over a blur of signals it was hopeless on fearing that the worst had happened it was this ominous silence that so alarmed the other vessels hurrying to the Titanic and that caused so much suspense here end of chapter 8 chapter 9 in the drifting lifeboats sorrow and suffering the survivors see the Titanic go down with their loved ones on board a night of agonizing suspense women help to row help arrives picking up the lifeboats 16 boats were in the procession which entered on the terrible hours of rowing, drifting and suspense women wept for lost husbands and sons sailors sobbed for the ship which had been their pride men choked back tears and sought to comfort the widowed perhaps they said off in another direction they strove though none too sure themselves to convince the women of the certainty that a rescue ship would appear in the distance the Titanic looked an enormous length her great bulk outlined in black against the starry sky every porthole and saloon blazing with light it was impossible to think anything could be wrong with such a leviathan were it not for the ominous tilt downward in the bowels now up to the lowest row of portholes presently about 2 a.m. as nearest can be determined those in the lifeboats observed her settling very rapidly with the bowels and the bridge completely under water and concluded it was now only a question of minutes before she went so it proved she slowly tilted straight on end with the stern vertically upwards and as she did the lights and the cabins and saloons which until then had not flickered for a moment died out came on again for a single flash and finally went all together at the same time the machinery roared down through the vessel with a rattle and a groaning that could be heard for miles the weirdest sound surely that could be heard in the middle of the ocean a thousand miles away from land but this was not yet quite the end Titanic stood upright to the amazement of the awed watchers in the lifeboats the doomed vessel remained in that upright position for a time estimated at 5 minutes some in the boat say less but it was certainly some minutes that at least 150 feet of the Titanic towered up above the level of the sea and loomed black against the sky saw last of big ship then with a quiet slanting dive she disappeared beneath the waters and the eyes of the helpless spectators had looked for the last time upon the gigantic vessel on which they had set out from south Hampton and there was left to the survivors only the gently heaving sea the lifeboats filled with men and women in every conceivable condition of dress and undress above the perfect sky of brilliant stars with not a cloud all tempered with a bitter cold that made each man and woman long to be one of the crew who toiled away with the oars and kept themselves warm thereby a curious steadening bitter cold unlike anything they had felt before one long moan and then with all these there fell on the ear the most appalling noise that a human being has ever listened to cries of hundreds of fellow beings struggling in the icy cold water crying out for help with a cry that could not be answered third officer Herbert John Pittman in charge of one of the boats described this cry of agony in his testimony before the senatorial investigating committee under the questioning of Senator Smith I heard no cries of distress until after the ship went down he said how far away were the cries from your life boat several hundred yards probably some of them described the screams don't sir please I'd rather not talk about it I'm sorry to press it but what was it like were the screams spasmodic it was one long continuous moan the witness said the moans and cries continued an hour those in the life boats longed to return and pick up some of the poor drowning souls but they feared this would mean swamping the boats and a further loss of life some of the men tried to sing to keep the women from hearing the cries and rode hard to get away from the scene of the wreck but the memory of those sounds will be one of the things the rescue will find it hard to forget the waiting sufferers kept a lookout for lights and several times it was shouted that steamers lights were seen but they turned out to either be a light from another boat a star low down on the horizon it was hard to keep up hope women tried to commit suicide let me go back I want to go back to my husband I'll jump from the boat if you don't cried an agonized voice in one life boat you can do no good by going back other lives will be lost if you try it try to calm yourself for the sake of the living it may be that your husband will be picked up somewhere by one of the fishing boats the woman who pleaded to go back according to Mrs. Vera Dick of Calgary Canada later tried to throw herself from the life boat Mrs. Dick describing the scenes in the life boats said there were half a dozen women in that one boat who tried to commit suicide when they realized that the Titanic had gone down even in Canada where we have such clear nights said Mrs. Dick I have never seen such a clear sky the waters were very bright and we could see the Titanic plainly like a great hotel on the water floor after floor of the lights went out as we watched it was horrible, horrible I can't bear to think about it from the distance as we rode away we could hear the band playing nearer my god to thee how long the life boats themselves however there were scenes just as terrible perhaps but to me nothing could outdo the magic grandeur with which the Titanic went to its death to realize it you would have to see the Titanic as I saw it the day we set sail with the flags flying in the band playing everybody on board was laughing and talking about the Titanic being the biggest and most luxurious boat on the ocean and being unsinkable to think of it then and to think of it standing out there in the night wounded to death and gasping for life is almost too big for the imagination scantily clad women and life boats the women on our boat were in nightcowns and bare feet some of them and the wealthiest women mingled with the poorest immigrants one immigrant woman kept shouting my god my poor father he put me in this boat and would not say himself oh why didn't I die why didn't I die why can't I die now we had to restrain her else she would have jumped overboard it was simply awful some of the men apparently had said they could row just to get into the boats we paid no attention to cowardice however we were all busy with our own troubles my heart simply bled for the women who were separated from their husbands the night was frightfully cold although clear we had to huddle together to keep warm everybody drank sparingly of the water and ate sparingly of the bread we did not know when we would be saved everybody tried to remain cool except the poor creatures who could think of nothing but their own great loss those with the most brains seemed to control themselves best Philadelphia women heroines Howl Mrs. George D. Widener whose husband and son perished after kissing her goodbye and helping her into one of the boats rode when exhausted seamen were on the verge of collapse was told by Emily Geiger maid of Mrs. Widener who was saved with her the girls said Mrs. Widener bravely toiled throughout the night and consoled other women who had broken down under the strain Mrs. William E. Carter and Mrs. John B. Thayer were in the same life boat and worked heroically to keep it free from the icy menace although Mrs. Thayer's husband remained aboard the Titanic and sank with it and although she had no knowledge of the safety of her son until they met hours later aboard the Carpathia Mrs. Thayer bravely labored at the oars throughout the night in telling of her experience Mrs. Carter said when I went over the side with my children and got in the boat there were no seamen in it then came a few men but there were oars with no one to use them the boat had been filled with passengers and there was nothing else for me to do but take an oar we could see now that the time of the ship had come she was sinking and we were warned by cries from the men above to pull away from the ship quickly Mrs. Thayer wife of the vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad was in my boat and she too took an oar it was cold and we had no time to clothe ourselves with warm overcoats the rowing warmed me we started to pull away from the ship we could see the dim outlines of the decks above but we could not recognize anybody many women rowing Mrs. William R. Bucknell's account of the part women played in the rowing is as follows there were 35 persons in the boat in which the captain placed me three of these were ordinary seamen supposed to manage the boat and a steward one of these men seemed to think that we should not start away from the sinking ship until it could be learned whether the other boats would accommodate the rest of the women he seemed to think that more could be crowded into hours if necessary I would rather go back and go down with the ship than leave under these circumstances he cried the captain shouted to him to obey orders and pull for a little light that could just be discerned miles in the distance I do not know what this little light was it may have been a passing fishing vessel which of course could not know our predicament anyway we never reached it we rode all night I took an ore and sat beside the countess they wrote her maid had an ore and so did mine the air was freezing cold and it was not long before the only man that appeared to know anything about rowing commenced to complain that his hands were freezing a woman back of him handed him a shawl from about her shoulders as we rode we looked back at the lights of the Titanic there was not a sound from her only the lights began to get lower and lower and finally she sank then we heard a muffled explosion and a dull roar caused by the great suction of water there was not a drop of water on our boat the last minute before our boat was launched captain smith threw a board a bag of bread I took the precaution of taking a good drink of water before we started so I suffered no inconvenience from thirst Mrs. Lucian Smith whose husband perished was another heroine it is related by survivors that she took turns at the oars and then when the boat was in danger of sinking stood ready to plug the hole with her finger if the cork stopper became loose in another boat Mrs. Cornell and her sister with slight knowledge of rowing took turns at the oar as did other women the boat in which Mrs. J. J. Brown of Denver, Colorado was saved contained only three men in all and only one rode he was a half frozen semen who was tumbled into the boat at the last minute the woman wrapped him in blankets and set him at an oar to start his blood the second man was too old to be of any use the third was a coward strange to say there was room in this boat for ten other people ten brave men would have received the warmest welcome of their lives if they had been there the coward being a quarter master and the assigned head of the boat sat in the stern and steered he was terrified and the women had to fight against his pessimism while they tugged at the oars the women sat two at each oar one held the oar in place Mrs. J. Brown coached them and cheered them on she told them that the exercise would keep the chill out of their veins and she spoke hopefully of the likelihood that some vessel would answer the wireless calls over the frightful danger of the situation the spirit of this woman soared the pessimist and the coward sat in his stern seat terrified his tongue loosened with fright with no chance in the world he had had 14 years experience and he knew first they would have to row one and a half miles at least to get out of the spirit of suction if they did not want to go down they would be lost and nobody would ever find them oh we shall be picked up sooner or later said some of the braver ones no said the man there was no bread in the boat no water they would all starve wandering the high seas with nothing to eat perhaps for days don't cried Mrs. Brown keep that to yourself if you feel that way for the sake of these women and children be a man we have a smooth sea and a fighting chance be a man but the coward only knew that there was no compass and no chart aboard they cited what they thought was a fishing smack on the horizon showing dimly in the early dawn the man at the rudder steered toward it and the women bent to their oars again they covered several miles in this way but the smack faded into the distance they could not see it any longer and the coward said that everything was over they rowed back nine weary miles then the coward thought they must stop rowing and lie in the trough of the waves until the Carpathias should appear the women tried it for a few moments they were cold creeping into their bodies though exhausted from the hard physical labor they thought work was better than freezing row again commanded Mrs. Brown no no don't said the coward we shall freeze cried several of the women together we must row we have rowed all this time we must keep on or freeze when the coward still demurred they told him plainly and once for all that if he persisted in wanting them to stop rowing they were going to throw him overboard and be done with him for good something about the look in the eye of that Mississippi bread oars woman who seemed such a force among her fellows told him that he had better capitulate and he did Countess Rhodes an expert oarsman Miss Alice Farnham Leeder a New York physician escaped from the Titanic on the boat which carried the Countess Rhodes the Countess is an expert oarswoman said Dr. Leeder and thoroughly at home on the water she practically took command of our boat when it was found that the seamen who had been placed at the oars could not row skillfully several of the women took their place with the Countess at the oars and rowed in turns while the weak and unskilled stewards sat quietly in one end of the boat with nothing on but a nightgown I helped row one of the boats for three hours said Miss Florence Ware of Bristol, England in our boats there were a lot of women a steward and a fireman none of the men knew anything about managing a small boat so some of the women who were used to boats took charge it was cold and I worked as hard as I could in an oar until we were picked up there was nothing to eat or drink on our boat depth on the life boats the temperature must have been below freezing testified another survivor and neither men nor women in my boat were warmly clothed several of them died the officer in charge of the life boat decided it was better to bury the bodies soon they were waited so they would sink and were put overboard we could also see similar burials taking place from other life boats that were all around us gamblers were polite in one boat were two card sharps with the same cleverness that enabled them to win money on board they obtained places in the boats with the women in the boat with the gamblers were women in their nightgowns and women in evening dress none of the boats were properly equipped with food but all had enough bread and water to keep the rescued from starving until the expected arrival of help to the credit of the gamblers who managed to escape it should be said that they were polite and showed the women every courtesy all they wanted was to be sure of getting in a boat that, once accomplished they reverted to their habitual practice of politeness and suavity they were even willing to do a little manual labor refusing to let women do any rowing the people on that particular boat were a sad group fathers had kissed their daughters goodbye and husbands had parted from their wives the card sharps, however philosophized wonderfully about the will of the Almighty and how strange his ways they said that one must be prepared for anything that good always comes from evil and that every cloud has a silver lining who knows said one it may be that everybody on board will be saved another added to the living you women owe it to your relatives and friends not to allow this thing to wreck your reason or undermine your health and they took pains to see that all the women who were on the lifeboat had plenty of covering to keep them from the icy blasts of the night help in sight these survivors were in the lifeboats until about 5 30 a.m about 3 a.m faint lights appeared in the sky and all rejoiced to see what was supposed to be the coming dawn but after watching for a half an hour and seeing no change in the intensity of light the disappointed sufferers realized it was the northern lights presently low down on the horizon they saw a light which slowly resolved itself into a double light and they watched eagerly to see if the two lights would separate and so proved to be only two of the boats or whether these lights would remain together in which case they should expect them to be the lights of a rescuing steamer to the inexpressible joy of all they moved as one immediately the boats were swung around and headed for the lights someone shouted now boys sing and everyone not too weak broke into song with row for the shore boys tears came to the eyes of all as they realized that safety was at hand the song was song but it was a very poor imitation of the real thing for quavering voices make poor songs a cheer was given next and that was better you can keep in tune for a cheer the lucky 13 our rescuer showed up rapidly and as she swung round we saw her cabins all alight and we knew she must be a large steamer she was now motionless and we had to row to her just then day broke a beautiful quiet dawn with faint pink clouds just above the horizon and a new moon who's crescent just touched the horizon turn your money over boys said our cheery steersman that is if you have any with you he added we laughed at him for his superstition at such a time but he countered very neatly by adding well I shall never say again that 13 is an unlucky number boat 13 has been the best friend we ever had certainly the 13 superstition is killed forever in the minds of those who escaped from the titanic in boat 13 as we neared the carpathia we saw in the dawning light what we thought was a full rigged schooner standing up near her and presently behind her another all sales set and we said they are fisher boats from the newfoundland bank to and are standing by to help but in another five minutes the light shone pink on them and we saw they were icebergs towering many feet in the air huge glistening masses deadly white steel and peaked in a way that had easily suggested a schooner we glanced around the horizon and there were others wherever the eye could reach the steamer we had to reach was surrounded by them and we had to make a detour to reach her for between her and us lay another huge berg a wonderful dawn speaking of the moment when the carpathia was sited mrs. j j brown who had cowed the driveling quartermaster said then knowing that we were safe at last I looked about me the most wonderful dawn I have ever seen came upon us I have just returned from Egypt I have been all over the world but I have never seen anything like this first the gray and then the flood of light then the sun came up in a ball of red fire for the first time we saw where we were near us was open water but on every side was ice ice ten feet high was everywhere into the right and left and back and front were icebergs some of them were mountain high this sea of ice was 40 miles wide they told me we did not wait for the carpathia to come to us we rode to it we were lifted up in a sort of nice little sling that was lowered to us after that it was all over the passengers of the carpathia were so afraid that we would not have enough room that they gave us practically the whole ship to ourselves it had been learned that some of the passengers in fact all of the women passengers of the titanic who are rescued refer to lady margaret as they call mrs. brown as the strength of them all transferring the rescued officers of the carpathia report that when they reached the scene of the titanic's wreck there were 50 bodies or more floating in the sea only one mishap attended the transfer of the rescued from the life boats one large collapsible life boat in which 13 persons were seated turned turtle just as they were about to save it and all in it were lost the dog hero not the least among the heroes of the titanic disaster was wrigel a big black newfoundland dog belonging to the first officer who went down with the ship but for wrigel the fourth boat picked up might have been run down by the carpathia for three hours he swam in the icy water where the titanic went down evidently looking for his master and was instrumental in guiding the boat load of survivors to the gangway of the carpathia Jonas Briggs a seaman aboard the carpathia now has wrigel and told the story of the dog's heroism the carpathia was moving slowly about looking for boats rafts or anything which might be a float exhausted with their efforts weak from lack of food and exposure to the cutting wind and terror stricken the men and women in the fourth boat had drifted under the carpathia's starboard bow they were dangerously close to the steamship but too weak to shout a warning loud enough to reach the bridge the boat might not have been seen were it not for the sharp barking of wrigel who was swimming ahead of the craft and valiantly announced his position the barks attracted the attention of captain rostrin and he went to the starboard end of the bridge to see where they came from and saw the boat he immediately ordered the engine stopped and the boat came alongside the starboard gangway care was taken to get wrigel aboard but he appeared little affected by his long trip through the ice cold water he stood by the rail and barked until captain rostrin called rigs and had him take the dog below a thrilling account of rescue Mr. Wallace Bradford of san francisco a passenger aboard the carpathia gave the following thrilling account of the rescue of the titanic's passengers since half past four this morning i have experienced one of those never to be forgotten circumstances that weighs heavy on my soul and which shows most awfully what poor things we mortals are long before this reaches you the news will be flashed that the titanic has gone down and that our steamer the carpathia caught the wireless message when 75 miles away and so far we have picked up 20 boats estimated to contain about 750 people one of us can tell just how many as they have been hustled to various state rooms into the dining saloons to be warmed up i was awakened by unusual noises and imagined that i smelt smoke i jumped up and looked out of my porthole and saw a huge iceberg looming up like a rock offshore it was not white and i was positive that it was a rock and the thought flashed through my mind how in the world can we be near a rock when we are four days out from new york in a fully direction and in mid ocean when i got on deck the first man i encountered told me that the titanic had gone down and we were rescuing the passengers the first two boats from the doomed vessel were in sight making toward us neither of them was crowded this was accounted for later by the fact that it was impossible to get many to leave the steamer as they would not believe that she was going down it was a glorious clear morning and a quiet sea and the first man i encountered was a white area of ice plain from whose even surface rose mammoth forts castles and pyramids of solid ice almost as real as though they had been placed there by the hand of man our steamer was about two and a half miles from the edge of this huge iceberg the titanic struck about 11 20 p.m. and did not go down until 2 o'clock many of the passengers were in evening dress when they came they were in a most bedraggled condition near me as a right is a girl about 18 years old in a fancy dress costume of bright colors while in another seat nearby is a woman in a white dress trimmed with lace and covered with jaunty blue flowers as the boats came alongside after the first two all of them contained a very large proportion of women in fact one of the boats had women at the oars one in particular containing as near as I could estimate about 45 women and only about six men in this boat two women were handling one of the oars all of the engineers went down with the steamer four bodies had been brought aboard one is that of a fireman who is said to have been shot by one of the officers because he refused to obey orders soon after I got on deck I could with the aid of my glasses count and they continued to come up to half past eight o'clock some were in sight for a long time and moved very slowly showing plainly that the oars were being handled by amateurs or by women no baggage of any kind was brought by the survivors in fact the only piece of baggage that reached the Carpathia is from the Titanic is a small closed trunk about 24 inches square evidently the property of an Irish female immigrant while some seemed fully dressed many of the men having their overcoats and the women's seal skin and other coats others came just as they had jumped from their births closed in their pajamas and bathrobes the sorrow of the living of the survivors in general it may be said that they escaped death and gained life life is probably sweet to them as it is to everyone but what physical and mental torture has been the price of life to those who were brought back to land on the Carpathia the hours and life boats amid the crashing of ice the days of anguish that have succeeded the horrors of body and mind still experienced and never to be entirely absent until death affords them its relief the thought of the nation today is for the living they need our sympathy our consolation more than do the dead and perhaps in the majority of the cases they need our protecting care as well end of chapter 9 chapter 10 of The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters edited by Logan Marshall chapter 10 on board the Carpathia aid for the suffering and hysterical burying the dead vote of thanks to Captain Rostrin of the Carpathia identifying those saved communicating with land the passage to New York if the scenes in the life boats were tear bringing very less so was the arrival of the boats at the Carpathia with their bands of terror stricken grief ridden survivors many of them too exhausted to know that safety was at hand watchers on the Carpathia were moved to tears the first life boat reached the Carpathia about half past five o'clock in the morning recorded one of the passengers on the Carpathia and the last of the sixteen boats was unloaded before nine o'clock some of the life boats were only half filled the first one having but two men and eleven women when it had accommodations for at least forty there were few men in the boats the women were the gamest lot I had ever seen some of the men and women were in evening clothes and others among those saved had nothing on but night clothes and raincoats after the Carpathia had made certain that there was no more passengers of the Titanic to be picked up out of the ice fields for fifty miles it was dangerous work but it was managed without trouble aid for the suffering and hysterical the shrieks and cries of the women and men picked up in the life boats by the Carpathia were horrible the women were clothed only in night robes and wrappers the men were in their night garments one was lifted on board entirely nude all the passengers who could bear were taken into the dining rooms and cabins by Captain Rostrin and given food and stimulants passengers of the Carpathia gave up their births and state rooms to the survivors as soon as they were landed on the Carpathia many of the women became hysterical but on the whole they behaved splendidly men and women appeared to be stunned all day Monday the full force of the disaster not reaching them until Tuesday night after being wrapped up in blankets and filled with brandy and hot coffee the first thoughts were for their husbands and those at home most of them imagined that their husbands had been picked up by other vessels and they began flooding the wireless rooms with messages it was almost certain that those who were not on board the Carpathia had gone down to death one of the most seriously injured was a woman who had lost both her children her limbs had been severely torn but she was very patient in the first cabin library women of wealth and refinement mingled their grief and asked eagerly for news of the possible arrival of a belated boat or a message from other steamers telling the safety of their husbands Mrs. Henry B. Harris wife of a New York theatrical manager checked her tears long enough to beg that some message of hope was given to her husband and her daughter Ruth Mrs. Martin Rothschild Mrs. William Augustus Spencer Mrs. J. Stuart White and Mrs. Walter M. Clark were a few of those who lay back exhausted on the leather cushions and told in shuddering sentences of their experiences Mrs. John Jacob Astor and a countess of Rhodes had been taken to state rooms soon after their arrival on shipboard before noon at the captain's request the first cabin passengers of the Titanic gathered in the saloon and the passengers of other classes in corresponding places on the rescue ship then the collecting of the names was begun by the purser and the stewards a second table was served in both cabins for the new guests and the carpathia second cabin being better filled than its first the second class arrival had to be sent to steerage tears their only relief Mrs. Jax Frutrell wife of the novelist herself a writer of note sat dried eyed in the saloon telling her friends that she had given up hope for her husband she joined with the rest in inquiries as to the chances of rescue by another ship and no one told her what soon came to be the fixed opinion of the man that all those saved were on the carpathia I feel better Mrs. Frutrell said hours afterward for now I can cry among the men conversations centered on the accident and the responsibility for it many expressed the belief that the Titanic in common with other vessels had had warning of the ice packs but that in the effort to establish a record on the maiden run sufficient heat had not been paid to the warnings God knows I am not proud to be here said a rich New York man I got on a boat when they were about to lower it and when from delays below there was no woman to take the vacant place I don't think any man who was saved is deserving of sin short but I realize that in contrast with those who went down we may be viewed unfavorably he showed a picture of his baby boy as he spoke pitiful scenes of grief as the day passed the four part of the ship assumed some degree of order and comfort but the crowded second cabin and rear decks gave forth the incessant sound of lamentation hey bride of two months sat on the floor and moaned her widowhood an Italian mother shrieked the name of her lost son a girl of seven wept over the loss of her teddy bear and two dolls while her mother with her streaming eyes dared not tell the child that her father was lost too and that the money for which their home in England had been sold had gone down with him other children clung to the necks of the fathers who because carrying them had been permitted to take the boats in the hospital and public rooms lay in blankets several others who had been benumbed by the water Mrs. Rosa Abbott was restored during the day Kay Whiteman, the Titanic's barber who declared he was blown off the ship by the second of the two explosions after the crash was treated for bruises a passenger who was thoroughly ducked before being picked up caused much amusement on this ship soon after the doctors were through with him by demanding a bath survivors aid the destitute Storekeeper Prentis the last man off the Titanic to reach the ship was also soon over the effects of his long swim in the icy waters into which he leaped from the poop deck the physicians of the Carpathia were praised as was Chief Stuart Hughes for work done in making the arrivals comfortable and averting serious illness Monday night on the Carpathia was one of rest the wailing and sobbing of the day were hushed as widows and orphans slept Tuesday saved for the crowded condition of the ship matters took somewhat their normal appearance the second cabin dining room had been turned into a hospital to care for the injured and the first, second and third class dining rooms were used for sleeping rooms at night for women while the smoking rooms were set aside for men all available space was used some sleeping in chairs and some on the floor while a few found rest in the bathrooms every cabin had been filled and women and children were sleeping on the floors in the dining saloon library and smoking rooms the passengers of the Carpathia had divided their clothes with the shipwrecked ones until they had at least kept warm it is true that many women had to appear on deck in comanas and some in under clothes with a coat thrown over them but their lives had been spared and they were not thought of dress some children in the second cabin were entirely without clothes and they had joined together with needles and thread they could pick up from passenger to passenger and had made warm clothes out of the blankets belonging to the Carpathia women befriended one another the women aboard the Carpathia did what they could by word and act to relieve the sufferings of the rescued most of the survivors were in great need of clothing and this the women of the Carpathia supplied to them as long as their surplus stock held out Mr. Shuddleworth of Louisville, Kentucky befriended Mrs. Lucian Smith whose husband went down with the Titanic Mrs. Smith was formerly Ms. Eloise Hughes daughter of representative and Mrs. James A. Hughes of Huntington, West Virginia and was on her wedding trip Mr. Shuddleworth asked her if there wasn't something he could do for her she said that all the money she had was lost on the Titanic so Mr. Shuddleworth gave her $500 dollars deaths on the Carpathia two of the rescued from the Titanic died from shock and exposure before they reached the Carpathia and another died a few minutes after being taken on board the dead were W. H. Hoyt, First Cabin Abraham Hormer, Third Class and S. C. Syrobert Steward and they were buried at sea the morning of April 15 latitude 41.14 north longitude 51.24 west P. Lyon Abel Seaman died and was buried at sea the following morning an assistant Steward lost his mind upon seeing one of the Titanic's rescued firemen expire after being lifted to the deck of the Carpathia an Episcopal Bishop and a Catholic priest from Montreal read services of their respective churches over the dead were sewed up in sacks heavily weighted at the feet and taken to an opening in the side of the ship on the lower deck, not far above the waterline a long plank tilted at one end served as the incline down which the weighted sacks slid into the sea after we got the Titanic's passengers on board our ship said one of the Carpathia's officers it was a question as to where we should take them some said the Olympic would come out and meet us but others said they would die if they had to be lowered again into small boats to be taken up by another so we finally turned toward New York delaying the Carpathia's passengers eight days in reaching the Gibraltar survivors watched new boats there were several children on board who had lost their parents one baby of 11 months with a nurse who, coming on board the Carpathia with the first boat, watched with eagerness and sorrow for each incoming boat but to no avail the parents had gone down there was a woman in the second cabin who lost seven children out of ten and there were many other losses quite as horrible Mr. Ismay pitiable sight among the rescued ones who came on board the Carpathia was the president of the White Star Line Mr. Ismay reached the Carpathia in about the 10th lifeboat said an officer I didn't know who he was but afterward heard the others of the crew discussing his desire to get something to eat the minute he put his foot on deck the steward who waited on him, McGuire from London says Mr. Ismay came dashing into the dining room and throwing himself into a chair said hurry for God's sake and get me something to eat I'm stopped I don't care what it costs or what it is bring it to me McGuire brought Mr. Ismay a load of stuff and when he had finished it he handed McGuire a $2 bill your money is no good on this ship McGuire told him take it insisted Mr. Ismay shoving the bill in McGuire's hand I am well able to afford it I will see to it that the boys of the Carpathia are well rewarded for this night's work this promise started McGuire making inquiries as to the identity of the man he had waited on then we learned he was Mr. Ismay I did not see Mr. Ismay after the first few hours he must have kept to his cabin a passenger on the Carpathias said there was no wonder that none of the wireless telegrams addressed to Mr. Ismay were answered until the one that he sent yesterday afternoon to his line the white star Mr. Ismay was beside himself said this woman passenger and on most of the voyage after we had picked him up he was being quieted with opiates on orders of the ship's doctor five dogs and one pig saved five women saved their pet dogs carrying them in their arms another woman saved a little pig which she said was her mascot though her husband is an Englishman and she lives in England she is an American and was on her way to visit her folks here how she cared for the pig aboard ship I do not know but she carried it up the side of the ship in a big bag I did not mind the dog so much but it seemed to me to be too much when a pig was saved and human beings went to death it was not until noon on Monday that we cleared the last of the ice and Monday night a dense fog came up and continued until the following morning then a strong wind a heavy sea a thunderstorm and a dense fog Tuesday night caused some of the uneasiness among the more unnerved the fog continuing all of Tuesday a number of whales were sighted as the Carpathia was clearing the last of the ice one large one being close by and all were spouting like geysers vote of thanks to the Carpathia on Tuesday afternoon a meeting of the uninjured survivors was called in the main saloon for the purpose of devising means of assisting the more unfortunate whom had lost relatives and all their personal belongings and thanking divine providence for their deliverance the meeting was called to order and Mr. Samuel Goldenberg was elected chairman resolutions were then passed thanking the officers, surgeons passengers and crew of the Carpathia for their splendid services in aiding the rescued and light resolutions for the admirable work done by the officers surgeons and crew of the Titanic a committee was then appointed to raise funds on more the Carpathia to relieve the immediate wants of the destitute and assist them in reaching their destinations and also to present a loving cup to the officers of the Carpathia and also a loving cup to the surviving officers of the Titanic Mr. T. J. Fraunfahl of New York was made chairman of the committee of subscriptions a committee consisting of Mrs. J. J. Brown, Mrs. William Bucknell and Mrs. George Stone was appointed to look after the destitute there was a subscription taken up and up to Wednesday the amount contributed total $15,000 the work of the crew on board the Carpathia in rescuing the most noble and remarkable and these four days that the ship has been overcrowded with the 710 extra passengers could not have been better handled the stewards have worked with undying strength although one was overcome with so much work and died and was put to his grave at sea I have never seen or felt the benefits of such royal treatment I have heard the captain criticize because he did not answer telegrams but all that I can say is that he showed us every possible courtesy and if we had been on our own boats having paid our fares there we could not have had better food or better accommodations men who had paid for the best state rooms on the Carpathia left their rooms so that we might have them they fixed up beds in the smoking rooms and mattresses everywhere all the women who were rescued were given the best state rooms which were surrendered by the regular passengers none of the regular passengers grumbled because their trip to Europe was interrupted nor did they complain that they were put to the inconvenience of receiving hundreds of strangers the women on board the Carpathia were particularly kind it shows that for every cruelty of nature there is a kindness for every misfortune there is some goodness the men and women took up collections on board for the rescued steerage passengers Mrs. Astor, I believe contributed $2,000 her check being cashed by the Carpathia altogether something like $15,000 was collected and all the women were provided with sufficient money to reach their destination after they were landed in New York under any other circumstances the suffering would have been intolerable but the good Samaritans on the Carpathia gave many women hearts ease the spectacle on board the Carpathia on the return trip to New York at times was heart-rending while at other times those on board were quite cheerful and of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of The Sinking of the Titanic in Great Sea Disasters this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia The Sinking of the Titanic in Great Sea Disasters edited by Logan Marshall Chapter 11 preparations on land to receive the sufferers police arrangements donations of money and supplies hospitals and ambulances made ready private houses thrown open waiting for the Carpathia to arrive the ship sighted New York City touched to the heart by the great ocean calamity and desiring to do what it could to lighten the woes and relieve the sufferings of the pitiful little band of men and women rescued from the Titanic opened both its heart and its purse the most careful and systematic plans were made for the reception and transfer to homes, hotels or institutions of the Titanic survivors Mayor Gaynor with Police Commissioner Waldo arranged to go down the bay on the police boat patrol to come up with the Carpathia and take charge of the police arrangements at the pier in anticipation of the enormous number that would for a variety of reasons credible or otherwise surge about the Cunard Pier at the coming of the Carpathia Mayor Gaynor and the Police Commissioner had seen to it that the streets should be rigidly sentinel by continuous lines of policemen under Inspector George McCluskey the man of most experience perhaps in handling large crowds there were 200 men including 12 mounted men with a number in citizens' clothes for two blocks to the north south and east of the dock lines were established through which none saved those bearing passes from the government and the Cunard Line could penetrate with all arrangements made that experience or information could suggest the authorities settled down to await the docking of the Carpathia no word had come to either the White Star Line or the Cunard Line they said that any of the Titanic's people had died on that ship or that bodies had been recovered from the sea but in the afternoon Mayor Gaynor sent word to the Board of Coroners that it might be well for some of that body to meet the incoming ship Coroners Feinberg and Holzhouser with Coroner's physician Weston arranged to go down the bay on the patrol while Coroner Hallenstein waited at the pier and undertaker was notified to be ready if needed fortunately there was no such need every possible measure thought of every possible measure of relief for the survivors that could be thought of by officials of the city of the federal government by the heads of hospitals and the Red Cross and Relief Societies was arranged for the Municipal Lodging House which has accommodations for 700 persons to throw open its doors and furnish lodging and food to any of the survivors as long as they should need it Commissioner of Charities Drummond did not know, of course just how great the call would be for the services of his department he went to the Cunard Pier to direct his part of the work in person meanwhile he had 20 ambulances ready for instant movement on the city's pier at the foot of East 26th Street they were ready to take patients of the reception hospital connected with Bellevue or the Metropolitan Hospital on Blackwells Island ambulances from the Kings County Hospital and Brooklyn were also there to do their share all the other hospitals in that city stood ready to take the Titanic's people and those that had ambulances promised to send them the Charities Sperry Boat Thomas S. Brennan equipped as a hospital craft for the ultimate pier with nurses and physicians ready to be called to the Cunard Pier on the other side of the city St. Vincent's Hospital had 120 beds ready New York Hospital 12 Bellevue and the reception hospital 120 and Flower Hospital 12 the House of Shelter maintained by the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society announced that it was able to care for at least 50 persons as long as might be necessary the German Society of New York the Irish Immigrant Society the Italian Society the Swedish Immigrant Society and the Young Men's Christian Association were among the organizations that also offered to see that no needy survivor would go without Shelter Mrs. W.A. Bastide whose husband is a member of the staff of St. Luke's Hospital offered to the White Star Line the use of the newly opened ward at St. Luke's which will accommodate from 30 to 60 persons she said the hospital would send 4 ambulances with nurses and doctors and that she had collected clothing enough for 50 persons the line accepted her offer and said that the hospital would be kept in form as to what was needed a trustee of Bellevue also called at the White Star offices to offer ambulances he said that 5 or 6 with 2 or 3 doctors and nurses on each would be sent to the pier if required many other hospitals as well as individuals called at the Mayor's office expressing willingness to take in anybody that should be sent to them a woman living in 50th Street just off Fifth Avenue wished to put her home at the disposal of the survivors DH Nutt of 102 Waverly Place told the Mayor of 100 and give them both food and lodging at the Arlington Holly & Earl Hotels Commissioner Drummond visited the City Hall and arranged with the Mayor the plans for the relief to be extended directly by the City Mr. Drummond said that the omnibuses would be provided to transfer passengers from the ship to the municipal lodging house Mrs. Vanderbilt's efforts Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt Jr. spent the day telephoning to her friends asking them to let their automobiles be used to meet the Carpathia and take away those who needed surgical care it was announced that as a result of Mrs. Vanderbilt's efforts 100 limousine automobiles and all the Fifth Avenue and Riverside Drive automobile buses would be at the Cunard Pier Immigration Commissioner Williams said that he would be at the pier when the Carpathia came in there was to be no inspection of immigrants at Ellis Island instead the Commissioner sent seven or eight inspectors to the pier to do their work there and he asked them to do it with the greatest possible speed and the least possible bother to the shipwrecked aliens the immigrants who had no friends to meet them were to be provided for until their cases could be disposed of Mr. Williams thought might have to be sent back to their homes those who were to be admitted to the United States were to be cared for by the Women's Relief Committee Red Cross Relief Robert W. D. Forrest Chairman of the Red Cross Relief Committee of the Charity Organization Society after conferring with Mayor Gaynor said that in addition to an arrangement that all funds received by the mayor should be paid to Jacob H. Schiff the New York Treasurer of the American Red Cross the committee had decided that it could turn over all the immediate relief work to the Women's Relief Committee the Red Cross Committee announced that careful plans had been made to provide for every possible emergency the Emergency Committee received a telegram that earnest P. Bicknell Director of the American Red Cross was coming from Washington the Red Cross Emergency Relief Committee was to have several representatives at the pier to look out for the passengers on the Carpathia Mr. Persons and Dr. Divine were to be there and it was planned to have others the Salvation Army offered through the mayor's office accommodation for 30 single men at the industrial home 533 West 48th Street and for 20 others at its hotel 18 Chatham Square the Army's Training School at 124 West 14th Street was ready to take 20 or 30 survivors R. H. Farley head of the White Star Line's third class department said that the line would give all the steering passengers railroad tickets to their destination Mayor Gaynor estimated that more than 5000 persons could be accommodated in quarters offered through his orders most of these offers, of course were granted the mayor also said that Colonel Conley of the 69th Regiment offered to turn out his regiment to police the pier but it was thought that such service would be unnecessary crowds at the docks long before dark on Thursday night a few people passed the police lines and with a yellow card were allowed to go on the dock but reports had been published that the Carpathia would not be in by 8 o'clock there were not more than 200 people on the pier in the next hour the crowd with passes tripled in number by 9 o'clock the pier held half as many as it could comfortably contain the early crowd did not contain many women relatives of the survivors few nervous people could be seen but here and there was a woman usually supported by two male escorts weeping softly to herself on the whole it was a dramatic grief crazed crowd laborers rubbed shoulders with millionaires the relatives of the rich had taxi cabs waiting outside the docks the relatives of the poor went there on foot in the rain ready to take their loved ones a special train was awaiting Mrs. Charles M. Hayes widow of the president of the Grand Trunk Railroad a private car also waited Mrs. George D. Widener early arrivals at the pier among the first to arrive at the pier was a committee from the stock exchange headed by R. H. Thomas and composed of Charles Noble B. M. W. Baruch Charles Holsdorver and J. Carlisle Mr. Thomas carried a long black box which contained $5,000 in small bills which was to be handed out to the needy steered survivors of the Titanic who was to be embarked with the early arrivals at the pier were the relatives of Frederick White who was not reported among the survivors though Mrs. White was Harry Mock who came to look for a brother and sister and Vincent Astor who arrived in a limousine with William A. Dobbin Colonel Astor's secretary and two doctors the limousine was kept waiting outside to take Mrs. Astor to the Astor home eight limousine cars the Waldorf Astoria had sent over eight limousine cars to convey to the hotel these survivors Mrs. Mark Fortune and Three Daughters Mrs. Lucienne P. Smith Mrs. J. Stewart White Mrs. Thornton Davidson Mrs. George C. Douglas Mrs. George D. Widener and Maid Mrs. George Wick Mrs. Bonnell Mrs. E. Ryerson Mrs. Arthur Ryerson Mrs. Mary Wick Mrs. Howell Mrs. John P. Snyder and Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Bishop 35 ambulances at the pier at one time there were 35 ambulances drawn up outside the Cunard pier every hospital in Manhattan Brooklyn and the Bronx was represented several loving ambulances came from North as the Lebanon hospital in the Bronx and the Brooklyn hospital in Brooklyn accompanying them were 70 interns and surgeons from the staff of hospitals and more than 125 male and female nurses St. Vincent's sent the greatest number of ambulances at one time eight of them from this hospital being in line at the pier Ms. Eva Booth direct head of the Salvation Army was at the pier accompanied by Ms. Elizabeth Nye and a corps of her officers ready to aid as much as possible the sheltering society and various other similar organizations also were represented all ready to take care of those who needed them an officer of the 69th regiment NGNY offered the white starline officials the use of the regiment's armory for any of the survivors Mrs. Thomas Hughes Mrs. August Belmont and Monsieurs Lavelle and MacMahon of St. Patrick's Cathedral together with a score of black-robed sisters of charity representing the association of Catholic churches were on the pier long before the Carpathia was made fast and worked industriously in aiding the injured and the ill the reverend Dr. William Carter pastor of the Madison Avenue Reformed Church one of those at the pier with a private ambulance awaiting Ms. Sylvia Caldwell one of the survivors who is known in church circles as a mission worker in foreign fields free railroad transportation the Pennsylvania Railroad sent representatives to the pier who said that the railroad had a special train of nine cars in which it would carry free any passenger who wanted to go immediately to Philadelphia or points west and also had eight taxi cabs at the pier for conveyance of the rescue to the Pennsylvania Station in 33rd Street among those who later arrived at the pier before the Carpathia docked were P. A. B. Widener of Philadelphia two women relatives of J. B. Thayer William Harris Jr. the theatrical man who was accompanied by Dr. Dinkinsville and Henry Arthur Jones the playwright relatives of saved and lost Commander Booth of the Salvation Army was there especially to meet Mrs. Elizabeth Nye and Mrs. Rogers Abbott both Titanic survivors Mrs. Abbott's two sons were supposed to be among the lost Ms. Booth had received a cable-gram from London saying that other Salvation Army people were on the Titanic she was eager to get news of them also on the pier was Major Blanton, USA stationed at Washington who was waiting for tidings of Major Abbott supposedly at the insistence of President Taft Senator William A. Clark and Mrs. Clark were also in the company Dr. John R. McKinty was waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Harper Bernard W. Roebling and Carl G. Roebling Cousins of Washington A. Roebling Jr. went to the pier to see what they could learn of his fate J. P. Morgan Jr. arrived at the pier about half an hour before the Carpathia docked he said he had many friends on the Titanic and was eagerly awaiting news of them all Fire Commissioner Johnson was there with John Peale of Atlanta, Georgia a brother of Mrs. Jock's Foutrelle Mrs. Foutrelle has a son 12 years old in Atlanta and a daughter Virginia who has been in school in the North and is at present with friends in this city ignorant of her father's death A. Man in Hysterics There was one man in that sad waiting company who startled those near him about nine o'clock by dancing across the peering back he seemed to be laughing but when he was stopped it was found that he was sobbing he said that he had a relative on the Titanic and had lost control of his nerves H. H. Brunt of Chicago was at the gang plank waiting for A. Salafield head of the wholesale drug firm of Sparks Whiten Company of London who was coming to this country on the Titanic on a business trip and whose life was saved waiting for the Carpathia during the afternoon and evening tugboats motorboats and even sailing craft had been waiting off the Ambrose light for the appearance of the Carpathia some of the waiting craft contained friends and anxious relatives of their survivors and those reported as missing the sea was rough and choppy and a strong east wind was blowing there was a light fog so that it was possible to see at a distance of only a few hundred yards this lifted later in the evening first to discover the incoming liner with her pitiful cargo was one of the tugboats from out of the mist they're loomed far out at the sea incoming steamer rescue boat sided liner ahead cried the look out on the tug to the captain she must be the Carpathia said the captain and then he turned the nose of his boat toward the spot on the horizon then the huge black hole in one smoke stack could be distinguished it is the Carpathia said the captain I can tell her by the stack the announcement sent a thrill through those who had heard it here at the gate of New York was a ship whose record for bravery and heroic work would be a familiar name in history End of Chapter 11