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03 - Loss of the S. S. Titanic by Lawrence Beesley · Loss of the S. S. Titanic

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Speaker 1: Chapter three of the Loss of the S S. Titanic
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Speaker 1: by Lawrence Beasley. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
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Speaker 1: recorded by Alice and Hester, Chapter three, The Collision and
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Speaker 1: Embarkation in life Boats. I had been fortunate enough to
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Speaker 1: secure a two berth cabin to myself D fifty six,
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Speaker 1: quite close to the saloon and most convenient in every
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Speaker 1: way forgetting about the ship. And on a big ship
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Speaker 1: like the Titanic, it was quite a consideration to be
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Speaker 1: on D deck, only three decks below the top or
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Speaker 1: boat deck. Below D again were cabins E and F decks,
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Speaker 1: and to walk from a cabin on F up to
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Speaker 1: the top deck, climbing five flights of stairs on the
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Speaker 1: way was certainly a considerable task for those not able
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Speaker 1: to take much exercise. The Titanic management has been criticized,
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Speaker 1: among other things, for supplying the boat with lifts. It
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Speaker 1: has been said they were in expensive luxury and the
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Speaker 1: room they took up might have been utilized in some
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Speaker 1: way for more life saving appliances. Whatever else may have been.
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Speaker 1: Superfluous lifts certainly were not old ladies, for example, in
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Speaker 1: cabins on F deck would hardly have got to the
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Speaker 1: top deck during the whole voyage, had they not been
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Speaker 1: able to ring for the lift boy. Perhaps nothing gave
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Speaker 1: one a greater impression of the size of the ship
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Speaker 1: than to take the lift from the top and drop
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Speaker 1: slowly down past the different floors, discharging and taking in passengers,
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Speaker 1: just as in a large hotel. I wonder where the
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Speaker 1: lift boy was that night. I would have been glad
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Speaker 1: to find him in our boat or on the Carpathia
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Speaker 1: when we took count of the saved. He was quite young,
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Speaker 1: not more than sixteen, I think, a bright eyed, handsome boy,
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Speaker 1: with a love for this and the games on deck
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Speaker 1: and the view over the ocean, and he did not
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Speaker 1: get any of them. One day, as he put me
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Speaker 1: out of his lift and saw through the vestible windows
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Speaker 1: a game of deck quoits and progress, he said, in
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Speaker 1: a wistful tone, my I wish I could go out
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Speaker 1: there sometimes. I wished he could too, and made a
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Speaker 1: jesting offer to take charge of his lift for an
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Speaker 1: hour while he went out to watch the game. But
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Speaker 1: he smilingly shook his head and dropped down in answer
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Speaker 1: to an imperative ring from below. I think he was
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Speaker 1: not on duty with his lift after the collision, but
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Speaker 1: if he were, he would smile at his passengers all
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Speaker 1: the time as he took them up to the boats,
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Speaker 1: waiting to leave the sinking ship. After undressing and climbing
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Speaker 1: into the top berth, I read from about quarter past
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Speaker 1: eleven to the time we struck about quarter to twelve.
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Speaker 1: During this time I noticed particularly the increased vibration of
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Speaker 1: the ship, and I assumed that we were going at
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Speaker 1: a higher speed than at any other time since we
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Speaker 1: sailed from Queenstown. Now I am aware that this is
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Speaker 1: an important point and bear strongly on the question of
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Speaker 1: responsibility for the effects of the collision, But the impression
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Speaker 1: of increased vibration is fixed in my memories so strongly
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Speaker 1: that it seems important to record it. Two things led
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Speaker 1: me to this conclusion. First that as I sat on
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Speaker 1: the sofa undressing with bare feet on the floor, the
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Speaker 1: jar of the vibration came up from the engines below
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Speaker 1: very noticeably. And second that as I sat up in
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Speaker 1: the berth reading, the spring mattress supporting me was vibrating
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Speaker 1: more rapidly than usual. This cradle like motion was always
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Speaker 1: noticeable as one lay in bed, but that night there
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Speaker 1: was certainly a marked increase in the motion. Referring to
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Speaker 1: the plan, it will be seen that the vibration must
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Speaker 1: have come almost directly up from above when it is
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Speaker 1: mentioned that the saloon was immediately above the engines as
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Speaker 1: shown in the plan, and my cabin next to the saloon.
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Speaker 1: From these two data, on the assumption that greater vibration
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Speaker 1: is an indication of higher speed, and I suppose it
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Speaker 1: must be that I am sure we were going faster
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Speaker 1: that night at the time we struck the iceberg than
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Speaker 1: we had done before. I e. During the hours I
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Speaker 1: was awake and able to take note of anything. And
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Speaker 1: then as I read in the quietness of the night,
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Speaker 1: broken only by the muffled sound that came to me
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Speaker 1: through the ventilators of stewards talking and moving along the corridors,
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Speaker 1: when nearly all the passengers were in their cabins, saw
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Speaker 1: asleep in bed, others undressing, and others only just down
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Speaker 1: from the smoking room and still discussing many things, there
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Speaker 1: came what seemed to me nothing more than an extra
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Speaker 1: heave of the engines and a more than usually obvious
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Speaker 1: dancing motion of the mattress on which I sat. Nothing
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Speaker 1: more than that no sound of a crash or of
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Speaker 1: anything else, no sense of shock, no jar that felt
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Speaker 1: like one heavy body meeting another, and presently the same
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Speaker 1: thing repeated with about the same intensity. The thought came
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Speaker 1: to me that they must have still further increased the speed,
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Speaker 1: and all this time the Titanic was being cut open
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Speaker 1: by the iceberg, and water was pouring in her side,
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Speaker 1: and yet no evidence that would indicate such a disaster
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Speaker 1: had been presented to us. It fills me with astonishment
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Speaker 1: now to think of it. Consider the question of list alone.
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Speaker 1: Here was this enormous vessel running starboard side onto an iceberg,
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Speaker 1: and a passenger sitting quietly in bed reading felt no
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Speaker 1: motion or list to the opposite or port side. And
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Speaker 1: this must have been felt had it been more than
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Speaker 1: the usual roll of the ship, never very much in
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Speaker 1: the calm weather we had all the way Again, my
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Speaker 1: bunk was fixed to the wall on the starboard side,
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Speaker 1: and any list to port would have tended to fling
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Speaker 1: me out onto the floor. I am sure I should
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Speaker 1: have noted it had there been any. And yet the
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Speaker 1: explanation is simple enough. The Titanic struck the berg with
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Speaker 1: a force of impact of over a million foot tons.
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Speaker 1: Her plates were less than an inch thick, and they
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Speaker 1: must have been cut through as a knife cuts paper.
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Speaker 1: There would be no need to list. It would have
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Speaker 1: been better if she had listed and thrown us out
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Speaker 1: on the floor, for it would have been an indication
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Speaker 1: that our plates were strong enough to offer, at any
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Speaker 1: rate some resistance to the blow, and we might all
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Speaker 1: have been safe to day. And so, with no thought
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Speaker 1: of anything serious having happened to the ship, I continued
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Speaker 1: my reading, and still the murmur from the stewards and
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Speaker 1: from adjoining cabins, and no other sound, no cry in
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Speaker 1: the night, no alarm given, no one afraid. There was
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Speaker 1: then nothing which could cause fear to the most timid person.
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Speaker 1: But in a few moments I felt the engines slow
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Speaker 1: and stop, the dancing motion and the vibration ceased suddenly,
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Speaker 1: after being part of our very existence for four days,
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Speaker 1: And that was the first hint that anything out of
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Speaker 1: the ordinary happened. We have all heard a loud, ticking
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Speaker 1: clock stop suddenly in a quiet room, and then have
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Speaker 1: noticed the clock and the ticking noise of which we
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Speaker 1: seemed until then quite unconscious. So in the same way
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Speaker 1: the fact was suddenly brought home to all in the
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Speaker 1: ship that the engines, that part of the ship that
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Speaker 1: drove us through the sea, had stopped dead. But the
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Speaker 1: stopping of the engines gave us no information. We had
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Speaker 1: to make our own calculations as to why we had stopped.
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Speaker 1: Like a flash, it came to me, we have dropped
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Speaker 1: a propeller blade. When this happens, the engines always race
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Speaker 1: away until they are controlled, and this accounts for the
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Speaker 1: extra heave they gave. Not a very logical conclusion when
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Speaker 1: considered now, for the engines should have continued to heave
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Speaker 1: all the time until we stopped, but it was at
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Speaker 1: the time a sufficiently tenable hypothesis to hold acting on it.
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Speaker 1: I jumped out of bed, slipped on a dressing gown
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Speaker 1: over pajamas, put on shoes, and went out of my
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Speaker 1: cabin into the hall near the saloon. Here was a
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Speaker 1: steward leaning against the staircase, probably waiting until those in
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Speaker 1: the smoke room above had gone to bed and he
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Speaker 1: could put out the lights. I said, why have we stopped.
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Speaker 1: I don't know, sir, he replied, but I don't suppose
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Speaker 1: it is anything much. Well, I said, I am going
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Speaker 1: on deck to see what it is, and started towards
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Speaker 1: the stairs. He smiled indulgently at me as I passed him,
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Speaker 1: and said, all right, sir, but it is mighty cold
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Speaker 1: up there. I am sure at the time he thought
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Speaker 1: I was rather foolish to go up with so little reason,
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Speaker 1: and I must confess I felt rather absurd for not
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Speaker 1: remaining in the cabin. It seemed like making a needless
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Speaker 1: fuss to walk about the ship in a dressing gown.
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Speaker 1: But it was my first trip across the sea. I
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Speaker 1: had enjoyed every minute of it, and was keenly alive
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Speaker 1: to note every new experience, and certainly to stop in
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Speaker 1: the middle of the sea with a propeller dropped seemed
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Speaker 1: sufficient reason for going on deck. And yet the steward,
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Speaker 1: with his fatherly smile, and the fact that no one
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Speaker 1: else was about the passages or going upstairs to reconnoiter,
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Speaker 1: made me feel guilty in an undefined way, of breaking
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Speaker 1: some code of a ship's regime, an englishman's fear of
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Speaker 1: being thought unusual. Perhaps, I climbed three flights of stairs,
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Speaker 1: opened the vestibule door leading to the top deck, and
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Speaker 1: stepped out into an atmosphere that cut me clad As
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Speaker 1: I was like a knife. Walking to the starboard side,
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Speaker 1: I peered over and saw the sea many feet below,
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Speaker 1: calm and black forward, the deserted deck stretching away to
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Speaker 1: the first class quarters and the captain's bridge, and behind
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Speaker 1: the steerage quarters and the stern bridge. Nothing more no
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Speaker 1: iceberg on either side or astern as far as we
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Speaker 1: could see in the darkness. There were two or three
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Speaker 1: men on deck, and with one the Scotch engineer who
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Speaker 1: played hymns in the saloon, I compared notes of our experiences.
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Speaker 1: He had just begun to undress when the engines stopped,
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Speaker 1: and had come up at once, so that he was
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Speaker 1: fairly well clad. None of us could see anything, and
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Speaker 1: all being quiet and still, the scotchman and I went
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Speaker 1: down to the next deck. Through the windows of the
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Speaker 1: smoking room. We saw a game of cards going on
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Speaker 1: with several onlookers, and went in to inquire if they
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Speaker 1: knew more than we did. They had apparently felt rather
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Speaker 1: more of the heaving motion, but so far as I remember,
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Speaker 1: none of them had gone out on deck to make
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Speaker 1: any inquiries. Even when one of them had seen through
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Speaker 1: the window an iceberg go by towering above the decks.
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Speaker 1: He had called their attention to it, and they all
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Speaker 1: wanted it disappear, but then had at once resumed the game.
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Speaker 1: We asked them the height of the burg, and some
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Speaker 1: said one hundred feet, others sixty feet. One of the
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Speaker 1: onlookers a motor engineer traveling to America with a model carburetor.
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Speaker 1: He had filled in his declaration form near me in
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Speaker 1: the afternoon and had questioned the library steward how he
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Speaker 1: should declare his patent, said, well, I am accustomed to
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Speaker 1: estimating distances, and I put it at between eighty and
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Speaker 1: ninety feet. We accepted his estimate and made guesses as
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Speaker 1: to what had happened to the Titanic. The general impression
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Speaker 1: was that we had just scraped the iceberg with a
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Speaker 1: glancing blow on the starboard side, and they had stopped
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Speaker 1: as a wise precaution, to examine her thoroughly all over.
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Speaker 1: I expect the iceberg has scratched off some of her
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Speaker 1: new paint, said one, and the captain doesn't like to
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Speaker 1: go on until she is painted up again. We laughed
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Speaker 1: at his estimate of the captain's care for the ship.
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Speaker 1: Poor Captain Smith, he knew by this time only too
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Speaker 1: well what had happened. One of the players, pointing to
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Speaker 1: his glass of whiskey, standing at his elbow, and turning
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Speaker 1: to an onlooker, said, just run along the deck and
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Speaker 1: see if any ice has come aboard. I would like
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Speaker 1: some for this, amid the general laughter at what we
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Speaker 1: thought was his imagination only too realistic. Alas for when
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Speaker 1: he spoke, the forward deck was covered with ice that
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Speaker 1: had tumbled over. And seeing that no more information was forthcoming,
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Speaker 1: I left the smoking room and went down to my cabin,
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Speaker 1: where I sat for some time reading again. I am
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Speaker 1: filled with sorrow to think I never saw any of
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Speaker 1: the occupants of that smoking room again, nearly all young men,
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Speaker 1: full of hope for their prospects in a new world,
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Speaker 1: mostly unmarried, keen alert with the makings of good citizens.
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Speaker 1: Presently hearing people walking about the corridors, I looked out
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Speaker 1: and saw several standing in the hall talking to a steward,
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Speaker 1: most of them ladies in dressing gowns. Other people were
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Speaker 1: going upstairs, and I decided to go on deck again,
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Speaker 1: but as it was too cold to do so in
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Speaker 1: a dressing gown, I dressed in a Norfolk jacket and
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Speaker 1: trousers and walked up There were now more people looking
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Speaker 1: over the side and walking about, questioning each other as
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Speaker 1: to why we had stopped, but without obtaining any definite information.
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Speaker 1: I stayed on deck some minutes, walking about vigorously to
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Speaker 1: keep warm, and occasionally looking downwards to see the sea,
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Speaker 1: as if something there would indicate a reason for the delay.
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Speaker 1: The ship had now resumed her course, moving very slowly
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Speaker 1: through the water, with a little white line of foam
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Speaker 1: on each side. I think we were all glad to
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Speaker 1: see this. It seemed better than standing still. I soon
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Speaker 1: decided to go down again, and as I crossed from
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Speaker 1: the starboard to the port side to go down by
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Speaker 1: the vestibule door, I saw an officer climb on the
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Speaker 1: last lifeboat on the port side, number sixteen, and began
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Speaker 1: to throw off the cover. But I do not remember
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Speaker 1: that anyone paid any particular attention to him. Certainly no
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Speaker 1: one thought they were preparing to man the lifeboats and
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Speaker 1: embark from the ship. All this time there was no
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Speaker 1: apprehension of any danger in the minds of the passengers,
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Speaker 1: and no one was in any condition of panic or hysteria.
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Speaker 1: After all, it would have been strange if they had
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Speaker 1: been without any definite evidence of danger. As I passed
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Speaker 1: to the door to go down, I looked forward again
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Speaker 1: and saw, to my surprise an undoubted tilt downwards from
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Speaker 1: the stern to the bowels, only a slight slope, which
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Speaker 1: I don't think anyone had noticed. At any rate, they
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Speaker 1: had not remarked on it. As I went downstairs, a
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Speaker 1: confirmation of this tilting forward came in something unusual about
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Speaker 1: the stairs, A curious sense of something out of balance,
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Speaker 1: and of not being able to put one's foot down
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Speaker 1: in the right place. Naturally, being tilted forward, the stairs
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Speaker 1: would slope downwards at an angle intend to throw one forward.
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Speaker 1: I could not see any visible slope of the stairway.
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Speaker 1: It was perceptible only by the sense of balance. At
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Speaker 1: this time on d deck were three ladies. I think
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Speaker 1: they were all saved, and it is a good thing
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Speaker 1: at least to be able to chronicle meeting someone who
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Speaker 1: was saved after so much record of those who were
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Speaker 1: not standing in the passage near the cabin. Oh, why
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Speaker 1: have we stopped, they said. We did stop, I replied,
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Speaker 1: but we are now going on again. Oh, no, one replied.
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Speaker 1: I cannot feel the engines as I usually do, or
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Speaker 1: hear them. Listen. We listened, and there was no throb audible.
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Speaker 1: Having noticed that the vibration of the engines is most
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Speaker 1: noticeable lying in a bath, where the throb comes straight
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Speaker 1: from the floor through its metal sides, too much so
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Speaker 1: ordinarily for one to put one's head back with comfort
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Speaker 1: on the bath, I took them along the corridor to
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Speaker 1: a bathroom and made them put their hands on the
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Speaker 1: side of the bath. They were much reassured to fill
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Speaker 1: the engines throbbing down below, and to know we were
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Speaker 1: making some headway. I left them, and on the way
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Speaker 1: to my cabin passed some stewards standing unconcernedly against the
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Speaker 1: walls of the saloon. One of them, the library steward, again,
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Speaker 1: was leaning over a table, writing, it is no exaggeration
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Speaker 1: to say that they had neither any knowledge of the accident,
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Speaker 1: nor any feeling of alarm that we had stopped and
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Speaker 1: had not yet gone on again full speed. Their whole
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Speaker 1: attitude expressed perfect confidence in the ship and officers. Turning
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Speaker 1: into my gangway, my cabin being the first in the gangway,
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Speaker 1: I saw a man standing at the other end of it,
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Speaker 1: fastening his tie. Anything fresh, he said, not much? I replied,
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Speaker 1: We are going ahead slowly, and she is down a
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Speaker 1: little at the bowls. But I don't think it is
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Speaker 1: anything serious. Come in and look at this man, he laughed.
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Speaker 1: He won't get up. I looked in, and in the
18:47
Speaker 1: top bunk lay a man with his back to me,
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Speaker 1: closely wrapped in his bedclothes, and only the back of
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Speaker 1: his head visible. Why won't he get up? Is he asleep?
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Speaker 1: I asked? No, Oh, laughed the man. Dressing, he says,
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Speaker 1: But before he could finish the sentence, the man above grunted,
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Speaker 1: You don't catch me leaving a warm bed to go
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Speaker 1: up on that cold deck at midnight. I know better
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Speaker 1: than that. We both told him laughingly why he had
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Speaker 1: better get up, but he was certain he was just
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Speaker 1: as safe there, and all this dressing was quite unnecessary.
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Speaker 1: So I left them and went again to my cabin.
19:29
Speaker 1: I put on some underclothing, sat on the sofa, and
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Speaker 1: read for some ten minutes when I heard through the
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Speaker 1: open door above the noise of people passing up and down,
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Speaker 1: and a loud shout from above, all passengers on deck
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Speaker 1: with life belts on. I placed the two books I
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Speaker 1: was reading in the side pockets of my Norfolk jacket
19:51
Speaker 1: picked up my life belt. Curiously enough, I had taken
19:55
Speaker 1: it down for the first time that night from the
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Speaker 1: wardrobe when I first retired to my cab cabin and
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Speaker 1: my dressing gown, and walked up stairs, tying on the
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Speaker 1: life belt. As I came out of my cabin, I
20:08
Speaker 1: remember seeing the purser's assistant with his foot on the
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Speaker 1: stairs about to climb them, whispered to a steward and
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Speaker 1: jerk his head significantly behind them. Not that I thought
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Speaker 1: anything of it at the time, but I have no
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Speaker 1: doubt he was telling him what had happened up in
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Speaker 1: the bows, and was giving him orders to call all passengers.
20:29
Speaker 1: Going upstairs with other passengers, no one ran a step
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Speaker 1: or seemed alarmed. We met two ladies coming down. One
20:38
Speaker 1: seized me by the arm and said, oh, I have
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Speaker 1: no life belt. Will you come down to my cabin
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Speaker 1: and help me find it. I returned with them to
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Speaker 1: f deck, the lady who had addressed me holding my
20:51
Speaker 1: arm all the time in a vice like grip, much
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Speaker 1: to my amusement, and we found a steward in her
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Speaker 1: gangway who took them in and found their life belts.
21:02
Speaker 1: Coming upstairs again, I passed the purser's window on F
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Speaker 1: deck and noticed the light inside. When halfway up to
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Speaker 1: E deck, I heard the heavy metallic clang of the
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Speaker 1: safe door, followed by a hasty step retreating along the
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Speaker 1: corridor towards the first class quarters. I have little doubt
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Speaker 1: it was the purser who had taken all valuables from
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Speaker 1: his safe and was transferring them to the charge of
21:28
Speaker 1: the first class purser in the hope that they might
21:31
Speaker 1: all be saved in one package. That is why I
21:35
Speaker 1: said above that perhaps the envelope containing my money was
21:39
Speaker 1: not in the safe at the bottom of the sea.
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Speaker 1: It is probably in a bundle with many others like it,
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Speaker 1: water logged at the bottom. Reaching the top deck, we
21:49
Speaker 1: found many people assembled there, some fully dressed with coats
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Speaker 1: and wraps, well prepared for anything that might happen. Others
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Speaker 1: who had thrown apps hastily round them when they were
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Speaker 1: called or heard the summons to equip themselves with life belts,
22:06
Speaker 1: not in much condition to face the cold of that night. Fortunately,
22:12
Speaker 1: there was no wind to beat the cold air through
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Speaker 1: our clothing. Even the breeze caused by the ship's motion
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Speaker 1: had died entirely away. For the engines had stopped again,
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Speaker 1: and the Titanic lay peacefully on the surface of the sea, motionless, quiet,
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Speaker 1: not even rocking to the roll of the sea. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: as we were to discover presently, the sea was as
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Speaker 1: calm as an inland lake, save for the gentle swell,
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Speaker 1: which could impart no motion to a ship the size
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Speaker 1: of the Titanic. To stand on the deck, many feet
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Speaker 1: above the water lapping idly against her sides and looking
22:50
Speaker 1: much farther off than it really was because of the darkness,
22:54
Speaker 1: gave one a sense of wonderful security. To feel her
22:59
Speaker 1: so steady and still was like standing on a large
23:02
Speaker 1: rock in the middle of the ocean. But there were
23:05
Speaker 1: now more evidences of the coming catastrophe to the observer
23:10
Speaker 1: than had been apparent when on deck. Last one was
23:14
Speaker 1: the roar and hiss of escaping steam from the boilers,
23:18
Speaker 1: issuing out of a large steam pipe reaching high up
23:22
Speaker 1: one of the funnels, a harsh, deafening boom that made
23:26
Speaker 1: conversation difficult, and no doubt increased the apprehension of some
23:31
Speaker 1: people merely because of the volume of noise. If one
23:35
Speaker 1: imagines twenty locomotives blowing off steam in a low key.
23:39
Speaker 1: It would give some idea of the unpleasant sound that
23:43
Speaker 1: met us as we climbed out on the top deck.
23:46
Speaker 1: But after all, it was the kind of phenomena we
23:49
Speaker 1: ought to expect. Engines blow off steam when standing in
23:54
Speaker 1: a station, and why should not a ship's boilers do
23:57
Speaker 1: the same when the ship is not moving. I never
24:00
Speaker 1: heard anyone connect this noise with the danger of boiler
24:04
Speaker 1: explosion in the event of the ship sinking with her
24:07
Speaker 1: boilers under a high pressure of steam, which was, no
24:10
Speaker 1: doubt the true explanation of this precaution. But this is
24:15
Speaker 1: perhaps speculation. Some people may have known it quite well,
24:20
Speaker 1: for from the time we came on deck until boat
24:22
Speaker 1: thirteen got away, I heard very little conversation of any
24:26
Speaker 1: kind among the passengers. It is not the slightest exaggeration
24:31
Speaker 1: to say that no signs of alarm were exhibited by anyone.
24:35
Speaker 1: There was no indication of panic or hysteria, no cries
24:39
Speaker 1: of fear, and no running to and fro to discover
24:43
Speaker 1: what was the matter, why we had been summoned on
24:46
Speaker 1: deck with life belts, and what was to be done
24:48
Speaker 1: with us Now we were there. We stood there quietly,
24:52
Speaker 1: looking on at the work of the crew as they
24:55
Speaker 1: manned the lifeboats, and no one ventured to interfere with
24:59
Speaker 1: them or off to help them. It was plain we
25:02
Speaker 1: should be of no use, and the crowd of men
25:05
Speaker 1: and women stood quietly on the deck or paced slowly
25:10
Speaker 1: up and down, waiting for orders from the officers. Now,
25:15
Speaker 1: before we consider any further the events that followed, the
25:18
Speaker 1: state of mind of passengers at this juncture, and the
25:22
Speaker 1: motives which led each one to act as he or
25:25
Speaker 1: she did in the circumstances, it is important to keep
25:29
Speaker 1: in thought the amount of information at our disposal. Men
25:33
Speaker 1: and women act according to judgment, based on knowledge of
25:37
Speaker 1: the conditions around them, and the best way to understand
25:40
Speaker 1: some apparently inconceivable things that happened is for anyone to
25:45
Speaker 1: imagine himself or herself standing on deck that night. It
25:50
Speaker 1: seems a mystery to some people that women refused to
25:53
Speaker 1: leave the ship, that some persons retired to their cabins,
25:58
Speaker 1: and so on. But it is a matter of judgment,
26:01
Speaker 1: after all, so that if the reader will come and
26:05
Speaker 1: stand with the crowd on deck, he must first rid
26:08
Speaker 1: himself entirely of the knowledge that the Titanic has sunk
26:12
Speaker 1: an important necessity, for he cannot see conditions as they
26:16
Speaker 1: existed there through the mental haze arising from knowledge of
26:20
Speaker 1: the greatest maritime tragedy the world has known. He must
26:24
Speaker 1: get rid of any foreknowledge of disaster to appreciate why
26:28
Speaker 1: people acted as they did. Secondly, he had better get
26:32
Speaker 1: rid of any picture in thought painted, either by his
26:36
Speaker 1: own imagination or by some artists, whether pictorial or verbal,
26:41
Speaker 1: from information supplied. Some are most inaccurate these mostly word pictures,
26:48
Speaker 1: and where they er, they err on the highly dramatic side.
26:53
Speaker 1: They need not have done so. The whole conditions were
26:56
Speaker 1: dramatic enough in all their bare simplicity without the addition
27:00
Speaker 1: of any high coloring. Having made these mental erasures, he
27:06
Speaker 1: will find himself as one of the crowd, faced with
27:09
Speaker 1: the following conditions. A perfectly still atmosphere, a brilliantly beautiful
27:14
Speaker 1: starlight night, but no moon, and so with little light
27:19
Speaker 1: that was of any use. A ship that had come
27:22
Speaker 1: quietly to rest without any indication of disaster. No iceberg visible,
27:28
Speaker 1: no hole in the ship's side through which water was
27:31
Speaker 1: pouring in, nothing broken or out of place, no sound
27:35
Speaker 1: of alarm, no panic, no movement of anyone except at
27:40
Speaker 1: a walking pace, the absence of any knowledge of the
27:44
Speaker 1: nature of the accident, of the extent of damage, of
27:47
Speaker 1: the danger of the ship sinking in a few hours,
27:50
Speaker 1: of the numbers of boats, rafts, and other life saving
27:54
Speaker 1: appliances available, their capacity, what other ships were near or
27:59
Speaker 1: coming to help. In fact, an almost complete absence of
28:04
Speaker 1: any positive knowledge on any point. I think this was
28:08
Speaker 1: the result of deliberate judgment on the part of the officers,
28:12
Speaker 1: and perhaps it was the best thing that could be done.
28:15
Speaker 1: In particular, he must remember that the ship was a
28:19
Speaker 1: sixth of a mile long, with passengers on three decks
28:22
Speaker 1: open to the sea, and port and starboard sides to
28:26
Speaker 1: each deck. He will then get some idea of the
28:29
Speaker 1: difficulty presented to the officers of keeping control over such
28:33
Speaker 1: a large area, and the impossibility of anyone knowing what
28:37
Speaker 1: was happening except in his own immediate vicinity. Perhaps the
28:42
Speaker 1: whole thing can be summed up best by saying that
28:46
Speaker 1: after we had embarked in the lifeboats and rowed away
28:49
Speaker 1: from the Titanic, it would not have surprised us to
28:52
Speaker 1: hear that all passengers would be saved. The cries of
28:55
Speaker 1: drowning people after the Titanic gave the final plunge were
28:59
Speaker 1: a underbolt to us. I am aware that the experiences
29:04
Speaker 1: of many of those saved differed in some respects from above.
29:09
Speaker 1: Some had knowledge of certain things, Some were experienced travelers
29:13
Speaker 1: and sailors, and therefore deduced more rapidly what was likely
29:17
Speaker 1: to happen. But I think the above gives a fairly
29:20
Speaker 1: accurate representation of the state of mind of most of
29:24
Speaker 1: those on deck that night. All this time people were
29:28
Speaker 1: pouring up from the stairs and adding to the crowd.
29:32
Speaker 1: I remember at that moment thinking it would be well
29:35
Speaker 1: to return to my cabin and rescue some money and
29:38
Speaker 1: warmer clothing if we were to embark in boats. But
29:41
Speaker 1: looking through the vestible windows and seeing people still coming upstairs,
29:46
Speaker 1: I decided it would only cause confusion passing them on
29:49
Speaker 1: the stairs, so remained on deck. I was now on
29:54
Speaker 1: the starboard side of the top boat deck. The time
29:57
Speaker 1: about twelve twenty we walked the crew at work on
30:01
Speaker 1: the lifeboats numbers nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, some inside arranging
30:07
Speaker 1: the oars, some coiling ropes on the deck, the ropes
30:11
Speaker 1: which ran through the pulleys to lower to the sea.
30:14
Speaker 1: Others with cranks fitted to the rocking arms of the davits.
30:19
Speaker 1: As we watched, the cranks were turned, the davits swung
30:23
Speaker 1: outwards until the boats hung clear of the edge of
30:26
Speaker 1: the deck. Just then, an officer came along from the
30:29
Speaker 1: first class deck and shouted, above the noise of the
30:33
Speaker 1: escaping steam, all women and children get down to deck below,
30:38
Speaker 1: and all men stand back from the boats. He had
30:42
Speaker 1: apparently been off duty when the ship struck, and was
30:45
Speaker 1: lightly dressed, with a white muffler twisted hastily round his neck.
30:51
Speaker 1: The men fell back, and the women retired below to
30:54
Speaker 1: get into the boats. From the next deck. Two women
30:57
Speaker 1: refused at first to leave their husband, but partly by
31:01
Speaker 1: persuasion and partly by force, they were separated from them
31:05
Speaker 1: and sent down to the next deck. I think that
31:09
Speaker 1: by this time the work on the lifeboats and the
31:12
Speaker 1: separation of men and women impressed on us slowly the
31:15
Speaker 1: presence of imminent danger, But it made no difference in
31:19
Speaker 1: the attitude of the crowd. They were just as prepared
31:23
Speaker 1: to obey orders and to do what came next as
31:26
Speaker 1: when they first came on deck. I do not mean
31:29
Speaker 1: that they actually reasoned it out. They were the average
31:32
Speaker 1: Teutonic crowd, with an inborn respect for law and order
31:37
Speaker 1: and for traditions bequeathed to them by generations of ancestors.
31:41
Speaker 1: The reasons that made them act as they did were impersonal, instinctive, hereditary.
31:48
Speaker 1: But if there were anyone who had not by now
31:50
Speaker 1: realized that the ship was in danger, all doubt on
31:54
Speaker 1: this point was to be set at rest in a
31:56
Speaker 1: dramatic manner. Suddenly a bush of light from the forward deck,
32:02
Speaker 1: a hissing roar that made us all turn from watching
32:05
Speaker 1: the boats, and a rocket leaped upwards to where the
32:09
Speaker 1: stars blinked and twinkled above us. Up it went higher
32:14
Speaker 1: and higher, with a sea of faces upturned to watch it,
32:18
Speaker 1: and then an explosion that seemed to split the silent
32:22
Speaker 1: night in two, and a shower of stars sank slowly
32:26
Speaker 1: down and went out, one by one, and with a
32:29
Speaker 1: gasping sigh, one word escaped the lips of the crowd. Rockets.
32:36
Speaker 1: Anybody knows what rockets at sea mean. And presently another,
32:41
Speaker 1: and then a third. It is no use denying the
32:45
Speaker 1: dramatic intensity of the scene. Separate it, if you can,
32:50
Speaker 1: from all the terrible events that followed, and picture the
32:53
Speaker 1: calmness of the night, the sudden light on the decks
32:57
Speaker 1: crowded with people in different stages of direct and undress,
33:01
Speaker 1: the background of huge funnels and tapering masts, revealed by
33:06
Speaker 1: the soaring rocket, whose flash illumined at the same time
33:10
Speaker 1: the faces and mines of the obedient crowd, the one
33:14
Speaker 1: with mere physical light, the other with a sudden revelation
33:19
Speaker 1: of what its message was. Everyone knew, without being told
33:23
Speaker 1: that we were calling for help from anyone who was
33:26
Speaker 1: near enough to see. The crew were now in the boats.
33:31
Speaker 1: The sailors standing by the pulley ropes let them slip
33:35
Speaker 1: through the cleats and jerks, and down the boats went
33:38
Speaker 1: till level with b deck. Women and children climbed over
33:42
Speaker 1: the rail into the boats and filled them. When full,
33:46
Speaker 1: they were lowered one by one, beginning with number nine,
33:50
Speaker 1: the first on the second class deck, and working backwards
33:53
Speaker 1: towards fifteen. All this we could see by peering over
33:57
Speaker 1: the edge of the boat deck, which was now quite
34:00
Speaker 1: open to the sea, the four boats, which formed a
34:03
Speaker 1: natural barrier, being lowered from the deck and leaving it exposed.
34:07
Speaker 1: About this time, while walking the deck, I saw two
34:11
Speaker 1: ladies come over from the port side and walk towards
34:14
Speaker 1: the rail separating the second class from the first class deck.
34:18
Speaker 1: There stood an officer barring the way. May we pass
34:22
Speaker 1: to the boats? They said, no, madam, he replied politely,
34:27
Speaker 1: your boats are down on your own deck, pointing to
34:30
Speaker 1: where they swung below. The ladies turned and went towards
34:34
Speaker 1: the stairway, and no doubt were able to enter one
34:37
Speaker 1: of the boats. They had ample time. I mentioned this
34:41
Speaker 1: to show that there was at any rate some arrangement,
34:45
Speaker 1: whether official or not, for separating the classes and embarking boats.
34:50
Speaker 1: How far it was carried out I do not know.
34:53
Speaker 1: But if the second class ladies were not expected to
34:56
Speaker 1: enter a boat from the first class deck, while steerage
34:59
Speaker 1: passengers were allowed to access the second class deck, it
35:02
Speaker 1: would seem to press rather hardly on the second class men,
35:06
Speaker 1: and this is rather supported by the low percentage saved.
35:11
Speaker 1: Almost immediately after this incident, a report went round among
35:16
Speaker 1: men on the top deck the starboard side that men
35:19
Speaker 1: were to be taken off on the port side. How
35:22
Speaker 1: it originated I am quite unable to say, but can
35:25
Speaker 1: only suppose that as the port boats numbers ten to
35:29
Speaker 1: sixteen were not lowered from the top deck quite so
35:33
Speaker 1: soon as the starboard boats they could still be seen
35:35
Speaker 1: on deck. It might be assumed that women were being
35:39
Speaker 1: taken off on one side and men on the other.
35:42
Speaker 1: But in whatever way the report started, it was acted
35:45
Speaker 1: on at once by almost all the men who crowded
35:49
Speaker 1: across to the port side and watched the preparation for
35:52
Speaker 1: lowering the boats, leaving the starboard side almost deserted. Two
35:57
Speaker 1: or three men remained, however, not for any reason that
36:01
Speaker 1: we were consciously aware of. I can personally think of
36:04
Speaker 1: no decision arising from reasoned thought that induced me to
36:08
Speaker 1: remain rather than to cross over. But while there was
36:12
Speaker 1: no process of conscious reason at work, I am convinced
36:16
Speaker 1: that what was my salvation was a recognition of the
36:20
Speaker 1: necessity of being quiet and waiting in patience for some
36:24
Speaker 1: opportunity of safety to present itself. Soon after the men
36:28
Speaker 1: had left the starboard side, I saw a bandsman the cellist,
36:33
Speaker 1: come round the vestibule corner from the staircase entrance, and
36:37
Speaker 1: run down the now deserted starboard deck, his cello trailing
36:41
Speaker 1: behind him, the spike dragging along the floor. This must
36:45
Speaker 1: have been about twelve forty am. I suppose The band
36:50
Speaker 1: must have begun to play soon after this, and gone
36:53
Speaker 1: on until after two am. Many brave things were done
36:57
Speaker 1: that night, but none more brave than by those few men,
37:01
Speaker 1: playing minute after minute, as the ship settled quietly lower
37:06
Speaker 1: and lower in the sea, and the sea rose higher
37:10
Speaker 1: and higher to where they stood. The music they played,
37:14
Speaker 1: serving alike as their immortal requiem and their right to
37:18
Speaker 1: be recorded on the rolls of undying fame. Looking forward
37:23
Speaker 1: and downward, we could see several of the boats now
37:26
Speaker 1: in the water, moving slowly, one by one from the side,
37:30
Speaker 1: without confusion or noise, and stealing away in the darkness
37:34
Speaker 1: which swallowed them in turn. As the crew bent to
37:37
Speaker 1: the oars, an officer, I think First Officer Murdoch, came
37:42
Speaker 1: striding along the deck, clad in a long coat. From
37:46
Speaker 1: his manner and face, evidently in great agitation, but determined
37:51
Speaker 1: and resolute. He looked over the side and shouted to
37:55
Speaker 1: the boats being lowered lower away and when afloat, row
38:00
Speaker 1: around to the gangway and wait for orders. Ay ay sir,
38:05
Speaker 1: was the reply, and the officer passed by and went
38:08
Speaker 1: across the ship to the port side. Almost immediately after
38:13
Speaker 1: this I heard a cry from below of any more ladies,
38:17
Speaker 1: and looking over the edge of the deck saw boat
38:20
Speaker 1: thirteen swinging level with the rail of B deck, with
38:24
Speaker 1: the crew, some stokers, a few men passengers, and the
38:28
Speaker 1: rest ladies, the latter being about half the total number.
38:33
Speaker 1: The boat was almost full and just about to be lowered.
38:37
Speaker 1: The call for ladies was repeated twice again, but apparently
38:41
Speaker 1: there were none to be found. Just then one of
38:44
Speaker 1: the crew looked up and saw me looking over. Any
38:47
Speaker 1: ladies on your deck? He said no, I replied, then
38:52
Speaker 1: you had better jump. I sat on the edge of
38:55
Speaker 1: the deck with my feet over through the dressing gown
38:58
Speaker 1: which I had carried on my arm all of the
39:01
Speaker 1: time into the boat, dropped and fell in the boat
39:04
Speaker 1: near the stern. As I picked myself up, I heard
39:08
Speaker 1: a shout, Wait a moment, Here are two more ladies,
39:12
Speaker 1: and they were pushed hurriedly over the side and tumbled
39:15
Speaker 1: into the boat, one into the middle and one next
39:19
Speaker 1: to me in the stern. They told me afterwards that
39:22
Speaker 1: they had been assembled on a lower deck with other
39:25
Speaker 1: ladies and had come up to B deck not by
39:28
Speaker 1: the usual stairway inside, but by one of the vertically
39:31
Speaker 1: upright iron ladders that connect each deck with the one below.
39:35
Speaker 1: It meant for the use of sailors passing about the ship.
39:39
Speaker 1: Other ladies had been in front of them and got
39:41
Speaker 1: up quickly, but these two were delayed a long time
39:45
Speaker 1: by the fact that one of them, the one that
39:47
Speaker 1: was helped first over the side into boat thirteen near
39:51
Speaker 1: the middle, was not at all active. It seemed almost
39:55
Speaker 1: impossible for her to climb up a vertical ladder. We
39:59
Speaker 1: saw her trying to climbed the swinging rope ladder up
40:01
Speaker 1: to the Carpathias side a few hours later, and she
40:04
Speaker 1: had the same difficulty. As they tumbled in, the crew
40:08
Speaker 1: shouted lower away, but before the order was obeyed, a
40:13
Speaker 1: man with his wife and a baby came quickly to
40:16
Speaker 1: the side. The baby was handed to the lady in
40:19
Speaker 1: the stern, the mother got in near the middle, and
40:22
Speaker 1: the father at the last moment dropped in as the
40:25
Speaker 1: boat began its journey down to the sea many feet below.
40:31
Speaker 1: End of chapter three