Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters Part 29

{ill.u.s.t. caption = MRS. GEORGE D. WIDENER

Mrs. Widener was saved,....}

{ill.u.s.t. caption = George D. WIDENER

Who with his son....}

{ill.u.s.t. caption = Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. WILLIAM T.

STEAD

The great English writer, who was a pa.s.senger on board the ill-fated White Star Line Steamer t.i.tanic.}

speed and with whatever resulting shock, the bulkhead system of water-tight compartments would probably have saved the vessel. As one man expressed it, it was the impossible that happened when, with a shock unbelievably mild, the s.h.i.+p's side was torn for a length which made the bulkhead system ineffective."

After telling of the shock and the lowering of the boats the account continues:

"Some of the boats, crowded too full to give rowers a chance, drifted for a time. Few had provisions or water, there was lack of covering from the icy air, and the only lights were the still undimmed arcs and incandescents of the settling s.h.i.+p, save for one of the first boats.

There a steward, who explained to the pa.s.sengers that he had been s.h.i.+pwrecked twice before, appeared carrying three oranges and a green light.

"That green light, many of the survivors say, was to the s.h.i.+pwrecked hundreds as the pillar of fire by night. Long after the s.h.i.+p had disappeared, and while confusing false lights danced about the boats, the green lantern kept them together on the course which led them to the Carpathia.

"As the end of the t.i.tanic became manifestly but a matter of moments, the oarsmen pulled their boats away, and the chilling waters began to echo splash after splash as pa.s.sengers and sailors in life-preservers leaped over and started swimming away to escape the expected suction.

"Only the hardiest of const.i.tutions could endure for more than a few moments such a numbing bath. The first vigorous strokes gave way to heart-breaking cries of 'Help! Help!' and stiffened forms were seen floating on the water all around us.

"Led by the green light, under the light of the stars, the boats drew away, and the bow, then the quarter, then the stacks and at last the stern of the marvel-s.h.i.+p of a few days before, pa.s.sed beneath the waters. The great force of the s.h.i.+p'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.

"Early dawn brought no s.h.i.+p, but not long after 5 A. M. the Carpathia, far out of her path and making eighteen knots, instead of her wonted fifteen, showed her single red and black smokestack upon the horizon. In the joy of that moment, the heaviest griefs were forgotten.

"Soon afterward Captain Rostron and Chief Steward Hughes were welcoming the chilled and bedraggled arrivals over the Carpathia's side.

"Terrible as were the San Francisco, Sloc.u.m and Iroquois disasters, they shrink to local events in comparison with this world-catastrophe.

"True, there were others of greater qualifications and longer experience than I nearer the tragedy--but they, by every token of likelihood, have become a part of the tragedy. The honored--must I say the lamented--Stead, the adroit Jacques Futrelle, what might they not tell were their hands able to hold pencil?

"The silence of the Carpathia's engines, the piercing cold, the clamor of many voices in the companionways, caused me to dress hurriedly and awaken my wife, at 5.40 A. M. Monday. Our stewardess, meeting me outside, pointed to a wailing host in the rear dining room and said.

'From the t.i.tanic. She's at the bottom of the ocean.'

"At the s.h.i.+p's side, a moment later, I saw the last of the line of boats discharge their loads, and saw women, some with cheap shawls about their heads, some with the costliest of fur cloaks, ascending the s.h.i.+p's side.

And such joy as the first sight of our s.h.i.+p may have given them had disappeared from their faces, and there were tears and signs of faltering as the women were helped up the ladders or hoisted aboard in swings. For lack of room to put them, several of the t.i.tanic's boats, after unloading, were set adrift.

"At our north was a broad ice field, the length of hundreds of Carpathias. Around us on other sides were sharp and glistening peaks.

One black berg, seen about 10 A. M., was said to be that which sunk the t.i.tanic."

CHAPTER XIV. THRILLING ACCOUNT BY L. BEASLEY

COLLISION ONLY A SLIGHT JAR--Pa.s.sENGERS COULD NOT BELIEVE THE VESSEL DOOMED--NARROW ESCAPE OF LIFE-BOATS--PICKED UP BY THE CARPATHIA

AMONG the most connected and interesting stories related by the survivors was the one told by L. Beasley, of Cambridge, England. He said:

"The voyage from Queenstown had been quite uneventful; very fine weather was experienced, and the sea was quite calm. The wind had been westerly to southwesterly the whole way, but very cold, particularly the last day; in fact after dinner on Sat.u.r.day evening it was almost too cold to be out on deck at all.

ONLY A SLIGHT JAR

"I had been in my berth for about ten minutes, when, at about 11.15 P. M., I felt a slight jar, and then soon after a second one, but not sufficiently violent to cause any anxiety to anyone, however nervous they may have been. However, the engines stopped immediately afterward, and my first, thought was, 'She has lost a propeller.'

"I went up on the top (boat) deck in a dressing gown, and found only a few persons there, who had come up similarly to inquire why we had stopped, but there was no sort of anxiety in the minds of anyone.

"We saw through the smoking room window a game of cards going on, and went in to inquire if they knew anything; it seems they felt more of the jar, and, looking through the window, had seen a huge iceberg go by close to the side of the boat. They thought we had just grazed it with a glancing blow, and that the engines had been stopped to see if any damage had been done. No one, of course, had any conception that the vessel had been pierced below by part of the submerged iceberg.

"The game went on without any thought of disaster and I retired to my cabin, to read until we went on again. I never saw any of the players or the onlookers again.

SOME WERE AWAKENED

"A little later, hearing people going upstairs, I went out again and found everyone wanting to know why the engines had stopped. No doubt many were awakened from sleep by the sudden stopping of a vibration to which they had become accustomed during the four days we had been on board. Naturally, with such powerful engines as the t.i.tanic carried, the vibration was very noticeable all the time, and the sudden stopping had something the same effect as the stopping of a loud-ticking grandfather's clock in a room.

"On going on deck again I saw that there was an undoubted list downward from stern to bows, but, knowing nothing of what had happened, concluded some of the front compartments had filled and weighed her down. I went down again to put on warmer clothing, and as I dressed heard an order shouted, 'All pa.s.sengers on deck with life-belts on.'

"We all walked slowly up, with the belts tied on over our clothing, but even then presumed this was only a wise precaution the captain was taking, and that we should return in a short time and retire to bed.

"There was a total absence of any panic or any expressions of alarm, and I suppose this can be accounted for by the exceedingly calm night and the absence of any signs of the accident.

"The s.h.i.+p was absolutely still, and except for a gentle tilt downward, which I don't think one person in ten would have noticed at that time, no signs of the approaching disaster were visible. She lay just as if she were waiting the order to go on again when some trifling matter had been adjusted.

"But in a few moments we saw the covers lifted from the boats and the crews allotted to them standing by and coiling up the ropes which were to lower them by the pulley blocks into the water.

"We then began to realize it was more serious than had been supposed, and my first thought was to go down and get some more clothing and some money, but, seeing people pouring up the stairs, decided it was better to cause no confusion to people coming up. Presently we heard the order:

"'All men stand back away from the boats, and all ladies retire to next deck below'--the smoking-room deck or B deck.

MEN STOOD BACK

"The men all stood away and remained in absolute silence leaning against the end railings of the deck or pacing slowly up and down.

"The boats were swung out and lowered from A deck. When they were to the level of B deck, where all the women were collected, they got in quietly, with the exception of some who refused to leave their husbands.

"In some cases they were torn from them and pushed into the boats, but in many instances they were allowed to remain because there was no one to insist they should go.

"Looking over the side, one saw boats from aft already in the water, slipping quietly away into the darkness, and presently the boats near me were lowered, and with much creaking as the new ropes slipped through the pulley blocks down the ninety feet which separated them from the water. An officer in uniform came up as one boat went down and shouted, "When you are afloat row round to the companion ladder and stand by with the other boats for orders.'

"'Aye, aye, sir,' came up the reply; but I don't think any boat was able to obey the order. When they were afloat and had the oars at work, the condition of the rapidly settling boat was so much more a sight for alarm for those in the boats than those on board, that in common prudence the sailors saw they could do nothing but row from the sinking s.h.i.+p to save at any rate some lives. They no doubt antic.i.p.ated that suction from such an enormous vessel would be more dangerous than usual to a crowded boat mostly filled with women.