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

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Speaker 1: Chapter six of the Loss of the SS Titanic by
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Speaker 1: Lawrence Beasley. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
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Speaker 1: recorded by Alison Hester Chapter six, The Sinking of the
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Speaker 1: Titanic Seen from her Deck. The two preceding chapters have been,
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Speaker 1: to a large extent the narrative of a single eye
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Speaker 1: witness and an account of the escape of one boat
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Speaker 1: only from the Titanic side. It will be well now
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Speaker 1: to return to the Titanic and reconstruct a more general
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Speaker 1: and complete account from the experiences of many people in
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Speaker 1: different parts of the ship. A considerable part of these
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Speaker 1: experiences was related to the writer first hand by survivors
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Speaker 1: both on board the Carpathia and at other times, but
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Speaker 1: some are derived from other sources which are probably as
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Speaker 1: accurate as first hand information. Other reports, which seemed at
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Speaker 1: first sight have been founded on the testimony of eyewitnesses,
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Speaker 1: have been found on examination to have passed through several hands,
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Speaker 1: and have therefore been rejected. The testimony even of eyewitnesses,
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Speaker 1: has in some cases been excluded when it seemed not
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Speaker 1: to agree with direct evidence of a number of other witnesses,
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Speaker 1: or with what reasoned judgment considered probable in the circumstances
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Speaker 1: in this category are the reports of explosions before the
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Speaker 1: Titanic sank, the breaking of the ship in two parts,
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Speaker 1: the suicide of officers. It would be well to notice
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Speaker 1: here that the Titanic was in her correct course, the
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Speaker 1: southerly one, and in the position which prudence dictates as
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Speaker 1: a safe one under the ordinary conditions at that time
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Speaker 1: of the year. To be strictly accurate, she was sixteen
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Speaker 1: miles south of the regular summer route which all companies
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Speaker 1: followed from January to August. Perhaps the real history of
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Speaker 1: the disaster should commence with the afternoon of Sunday, when
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Speaker 1: marconograms were received by the Titanic from the ships ahead
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Speaker 1: of her, warning her of the existence of icebergs. In
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Speaker 1: connection with this must be taken the marked fall of
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Speaker 1: temperature observed by everyone in the afternoon and evening of
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Speaker 1: this day, as well as the very low temperature of
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Speaker 1: the water. These have generally been taken to indicate that,
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Speaker 1: without any possibility of doubt, we were near an iceberg region,
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Speaker 1: and the severest condemnation has been poured on the heads
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Speaker 1: of the officers and captain for not having regard to
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Speaker 1: these climatic conditions, but here caution is necessary. There can
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Speaker 1: be little doubt now that the low temperature observed can
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Speaker 1: be traced to the icebergs and ice field subsequently encountered,
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Speaker 1: but experienced sailors are aware that it might have been
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Speaker 1: observed without any iceberg's being near. The cold Labrador Current
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Speaker 1: it sweeps down by Newfoundland across the track of Atlantic liners,
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Speaker 1: but does not necessarily carry icebergs with it. Cold winds
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Speaker 1: blow from Greenland to Labrador, and not always from icebergs
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Speaker 1: and ice fields, so that falls in temperature of sea
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Speaker 1: and air are not prima facie evidence of the close
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Speaker 1: proximity of icebergs. On the other hand, a single iceberg
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Speaker 1: separated by many miles from its fellows might sink a ship,
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Speaker 1: but certainly would not cause a drop in temperature either
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Speaker 1: of the air or water. Then, as the Labrador Current
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Speaker 1: meets the warm Gulf stream flowing from the Gulf of
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Speaker 1: Mexico across to Europe, they do not necessarily intermingle, nor
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Speaker 1: do they always run side by side or one on
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Speaker 1: top of the other, but often interlaced like the fingers
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Speaker 1: of two hands. As a ship sails across this region,
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Speaker 1: the thermometer will record within a few miles temperatures of
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Speaker 1: thirty four degrees, fifty eight degrees, thirty five degrees, fifty
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Speaker 1: nine degrees, and so on. It is little wonder, then,
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Speaker 1: that sailors become accustomed to place little reliance on temperature
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Speaker 1: conditions as a means of estimating the probabilities of encountering
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Speaker 1: ice in their track. An experienced sailor has told me
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Speaker 1: that nothing is more difficult to diagnose than the presence
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Speaker 1: of icebergs, and a strong confirmation of this is found
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Speaker 1: in the official sailing directions issued by the Hydrographic Department
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Speaker 1: of the British Admiralty. No reliance can be placed on
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Speaker 1: any warning being conveyed to the mariner by a fall
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Speaker 1: and temperature, either of sea or air of approaching ice.
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Speaker 1: Some decrease in temperature has occasionally been recorded, but more
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Speaker 1: often none has been observed. But notification by marconogram of
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Speaker 1: the exact location of icebergs is a vastly different matter.
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Speaker 1: I remember with deep feeling the effect this information had
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Speaker 1: on us when it first became generally known on board
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Speaker 1: the Carpathia. Rumors of it went round on Wednesday morning,
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Speaker 1: grew to definite statements in the afternoon, and were confirmed
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Speaker 1: when one of the Titanic officers admitted the truth of
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Speaker 1: it in reply to a direct question. I shall never
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Speaker 1: forget the overwhelming sense of hopelessness that came over some
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Speaker 1: of us as we obtained definite knowledge of the warning messages.
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Speaker 1: It was not then the unavoidable accident that we had
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Speaker 1: hitherto supposed, the sudden plunging into a region crowded with icebergs,
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Speaker 1: which no seaman, however skilled a navigator he might be,
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Speaker 1: could have avoided, the beautiful Titanic wounded too deeply to recover,
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Speaker 1: the cries of the drowning still ringing in our ears,
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Speaker 1: and the thousands of homes that mourned all these calamities.
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Speaker 1: None of these things need ever have been. It is
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Speaker 1: no exaggeration to say that men who went through all
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Speaker 1: the experiences of the collision and the rescue, and the
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Speaker 1: subsequent scenes on the key at New York with hardly
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Speaker 1: a tremor, were quite overcome by this knowledge and turned
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Speaker 1: away unable to speak. I for one, did so, and
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Speaker 1: I know others who told me they were similarly affected.
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Speaker 1: I think we all came to modify our opinions on
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Speaker 1: this matter. However, when we learned more of the general
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Speaker 1: conditions attending transatlantic steamship services, the discussion as to who
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Speaker 1: was responsible for these warnings being disregarded had perhaps better
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Speaker 1: be postponed to a later chapter. One of these warnings
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Speaker 1: was handed to mister Ismay by Captain Smith at five
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Speaker 1: o'clock PM, and returned at the latter's request at seven
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Speaker 1: p M that it might be posted for the information
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Speaker 1: of officers. As a result of the messages, they were
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Speaker 1: instructed to keep a special lookout for ice. This second
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Speaker 1: Officer Lytoller did until he was relieved at ten p
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Speaker 1: m by First Officer Murdoch, to whom he handed on
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Speaker 1: the instructions. During mister Ltoler's watch, about nine p m,
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Speaker 1: the Captain had joined him on the bridge and discussed
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Speaker 1: the time we should be getting up towards the vicinity
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Speaker 1: of ice, and how we should recognize it if we
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Speaker 1: should see it, and refreshing our minds on the indications
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Speaker 1: that ice gives when it is in the vicinity. Apparently, too,
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Speaker 1: the officers had discussed among themselves the proximity of ice,
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Speaker 1: and mister Lytoller had remarked that they would be approaching
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Speaker 1: the position where ice had been reported during his watch.
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Speaker 1: The lookouts were cautioned similarly, but no ice was sighted
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Speaker 1: until a few minutes before the collision, when the lookout
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Speaker 1: man saw the iceberg and rang the bell three times,
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Speaker 1: the usual signal from the crow's nest when anything is
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Speaker 1: seen dead ahead. By telephone, he reported to the bridge
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Speaker 1: the presence of an iceberg, but mister Murdoch had already
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Speaker 1: ordered Quartermaster Hitchens at the will to starboard the helm,
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Speaker 1: and the vessel began to swing away from the burg,
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Speaker 1: but it was far too late at the speed she
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Speaker 1: was going to hope to steer the huge Titanic over
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Speaker 1: a sixth of a mile long, out of reach of danger.
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Speaker 1: Even if the iceberg had been visible half a mile away,
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Speaker 1: it is doubtful whether some portion of her tremendous length
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Speaker 1: would not have been touched, and it is in the
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Speaker 1: highest degree unlikely that the lookout could have seen the
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Speaker 1: berg half a mile away in the conditions that existed
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Speaker 1: that night. Even with glasses, The very smoothness of the
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Speaker 1: water made the presence of ice a more difficult matter
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Speaker 1: to detect. In ordinary conditions, the dash of the waves
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Speaker 1: against the foot of an iceberg surrounds it, with a
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Speaker 1: circle of white foam visible for some distance long before
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Speaker 1: the iceberg itself. But here was an oily sea sweeping
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Speaker 1: smoothly round the deadly monster, and causing no indication of
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Speaker 1: its presence. There is little doubt moreover, that the crow's
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Speaker 1: nest is not a good place from which to detect icebergs.
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Speaker 1: It is proverbial that they adopt to a large extent
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Speaker 1: the color of their surroundings, and seen from above at
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Speaker 1: a high angle, with the black, bone free sea behind,
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Speaker 1: the iceberg, must have been almost invisible until the Titanic
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Speaker 1: was close upon it. I was much struck by a
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Speaker 1: remark of Sir Ernest Shackleton on his method of detecting icebergs,
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Speaker 1: to place a lookout man as low down near the
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Speaker 1: waterline as he could get him, remembering how we had
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Speaker 1: watched the Titanic with all her lights out standing upright
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Speaker 1: like an enormous black finger, as one observer stated, and
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Speaker 1: had only seen her thus because she loomed black against
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Speaker 1: the sky behind her. I saw at once how much
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Speaker 1: better the sky was than the black sea to show
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Speaker 1: up an iceberg's bulk, And so in a few moments,
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Speaker 1: the Titanic had run obliquely on the berg, and with
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Speaker 1: a shock that was astonishingly slight, so slight that many
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Speaker 1: passengers never noticed it, the submerged portion of the burg
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Speaker 1: had cut her open on the starboard side, in the
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Speaker 1: most vulnerable portion of her anatomy, the bilge. The most
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Speaker 1: authentic accounts say that the wound began at about the
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Speaker 1: location of the foremast and extended far back to the stern,
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Speaker 1: the brunt of the blow being taken by the forward plates,
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Speaker 1: which were either punctured through both bottoms directly by the blow,
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Speaker 1: or through one's skin only, and as this was torn
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Speaker 1: away it ripped out some of the inner plates. The
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Speaker 1: fact that she went down by the head shows that
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Speaker 1: probably only the forward plates were doubly punctured, the stern
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Speaker 1: ones being cut open through the outer skin only after
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Speaker 1: the collision, Murdoch had at once reversed the engines and
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Speaker 1: brought the ship to a sand still, but the iceberg
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Speaker 1: had floated away astern. The shock, though little felt by
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Speaker 1: the enormous mass of the ship, was sufficient to dislodge
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Speaker 1: a large quantity of ice from the berg. The forecastle
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Speaker 1: deck was found to be covered with pieces of ice.
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Speaker 1: Feeling the shock, Captain Smith rushed out of his cabin
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Speaker 1: to the bridge, and, in reply to his anxious inquiry,
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Speaker 1: was told by Murdoch that ice had been struck, and
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Speaker 1: the emergency doors instantly closed. The officers, roused by the collision,
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Speaker 1: went on deck, some to the bridge, others, while hearing
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Speaker 1: nothing of the extent of the damage, saw no necessity
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Speaker 1: for doing so. Captain Smith at once sent the carpenter
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Speaker 1: below to sound the ship, and fourth Officer Boxhall to
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Speaker 1: the steerage to report damage. The latter found there a
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Speaker 1: very dangerous condition of things, and reported to Captain Smith,
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Speaker 1: who then sent him to the mail room. And here
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Speaker 1: again it was easy to see matters looked very serious,
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Speaker 1: mail bags were floating about, and the water rising rapidly.
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Speaker 1: All this was reported to the Captain, who ordered the
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Speaker 1: life boats to be got ready at once. Mister Boxhall
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Speaker 1: went to the chart room to work out the ship's position,
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Speaker 1: which he then handed to the Marconi operators for transmission
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Speaker 1: to any ship near enough to help in the work
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Speaker 1: of rescue. Reports of the damage done were by this
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Speaker 1: time coming to the Captain from many quarters, from the
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Speaker 1: chief engineer, from the designer mister Ana and in a
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Speaker 1: dramatic way, from the sudden appearance on deck of a
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Speaker 1: swarm of stokers who had rushed up from below as
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Speaker 1: the water poured into the boiler rooms and the coal bunkers.
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Speaker 1: They were immediately ordered down below to duty. Again realizing
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Speaker 1: the urgent need of help, he went personally to the
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Speaker 1: Marconi room and gave orders to the operators to get
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Speaker 1: in touch with all the ships they could, and to
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Speaker 1: tell them to come quickly. The assistant operator Bride had
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Speaker 1: been asleep and knew of the damage only when Phillips,
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Speaker 1: in charge of the Marconi room, told him ice had
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Speaker 1: been encountered. They started to send out the well known
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Speaker 1: c q D message, which interpreted means c q all
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Speaker 1: stations attend and D distress the position of the vessel
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Speaker 1: in latitude and longitude. Following later they sent out SOS,
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Speaker 1: an arbitrary message agreed upon as an international code signal.
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Speaker 1: Soon after the vessel struck, mister Ismay had learned of
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Speaker 1: the nature of the accident from the captain and chief engineer,
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Speaker 1: and after dressing and going on deck, had spoken to
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Speaker 1: some of the officers not yet thoroughly acquainted with the
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Speaker 1: grave injury done to the vessel. By this time, all
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Speaker 1: those in any way connected with the management and navigation
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Speaker 1: must have known the importance of making use of all
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Speaker 1: the ways of safety known to them, and that without
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Speaker 1: any delay that they thought at first that the Titanic
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Speaker 1: would sink as soon as she did as doubtful, but
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Speaker 1: probably as the reports came in they knew that her
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Speaker 1: ultimate loss in a few hours was a likely contingency.
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Speaker 1: On the other hand, there is evidence that some of
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Speaker 1: the officers in charge of boats quite expected the embarkation
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Speaker 1: was a precautionary measure and they would all return after daylight. Certainly,
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Speaker 1: the first information that ice had been struck conveyed to
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Speaker 1: those in charge no sense of the gravity of the circumstances.
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Speaker 1: One officer even retired to his cabin, and another advised
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Speaker 1: a steward to go back to his birth as there
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Speaker 1: was no danger. And so the order was sent round
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Speaker 1: all passengers on deck with life belts on, and in
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Speaker 1: obedience to this, a crowd of hastily dressed or partially
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Speaker 1: dressed people began to assemble on the decks, belonging to
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Speaker 1: their respective classes, except the steerage passengers, who were allowed
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Speaker 1: access to other decks, tying on life belts over their clothing.
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Speaker 1: In some part of the ship, women were separated from
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Speaker 1: the men and assembled together near the boats, and others
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Speaker 1: men and women mingled freely together, husbands helping their own
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Speaker 1: wives and families, and then other women and children into
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Speaker 1: the boats. The officers spread themselves about the decks, superintending
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Speaker 1: the work of lowering and loading the boats, and in
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Speaker 1: three cases were ordered by their superior officers to take
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Speaker 1: charge of them. At this stage, great difficulty was experienced
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Speaker 1: in getting women to leave the ship, especially where the
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Speaker 1: order was so rigorously enforced women and children only. Women
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Speaker 1: in many cases refused to leave their husbands and were
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Speaker 1: actually forcibly lifted up and dropped in the boats. They
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Speaker 1: argued with the officers, demanding reasons, and in some cases,
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Speaker 1: even when induced to get in, were disposed to think
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Speaker 1: the whole thing a joke or a precaution, which it
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Speaker 1: seemed to them rather foolish to take. In this, they
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Speaker 1: were encouraged by the men left behind, who, in the
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Speaker 1: same condition of ignorance, said goodbye to their friends as
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Speaker 1: they went down, adding that they would see them again
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Speaker 1: at breakfast time. To illustrate Further, how little danger was
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Speaker 1: apprehended when it was discovered on the first class deck
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Speaker 1: that the forward lower deck was covered with small ice.
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Speaker 1: Snowballing matches were arranged for the following morning, and some
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Speaker 1: passengers even went down to the deck and brought back
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Speaker 1: small pieces of ice, which were handed round below decks. Too,
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Speaker 1: was additional evidence that no one thought of immediate danger.
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Speaker 1: Two ladies walking along one of the corridors came across
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Speaker 1: a group of people gathered round a door which they
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Speaker 1: were trying vainly to open, and on the other side
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Speaker 1: of which a man was demanding in loud terms to
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Speaker 1: be let out. Either his door was locked and the
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Speaker 1: key not to be found, or the collision had jammed
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Speaker 1: the lock and prevented the key from turning. The ladies
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Speaker 1: thought he must be afflicted in some way to make
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Speaker 1: such a noise, but one of the men was assuring
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Speaker 1: him that in no circumstances should he be left, and
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Speaker 1: that his the bystander's son, would be along soon and
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Speaker 1: would smash down his door if it was not opened.
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Speaker 1: In the meantime. He has a stronger arm than I have,
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Speaker 1: he added. The sun arrived presently and proceeded to make
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Speaker 1: short work of the door. It was smashed in, and
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Speaker 1: the inmate released, to his great satisfaction and with many
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Speaker 1: expressions of gratitude to his rescuer. But one of the
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Speaker 1: head stewards who came up at this juncture was so
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Speaker 1: incensed that the damage done to the property of his company,
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Speaker 1: and so little aware of the infinitely greater damage done
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Speaker 1: the ship, that he warned the man who had released
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Speaker 1: the prisoner that he would be arrested on arrival in
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Speaker 1: New York. It must be borne in mind that no
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Speaker 1: general warning had been issued to passengers here, and there
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Speaker 1: were experienced travelers to whom collision with an iceberg was
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Speaker 1: sufficient to cause them to make every preparation for leaving
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Speaker 1: the ship. But the great majority were never enlightened as
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Speaker 1: to the amount of damage done, or even as to
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Speaker 1: what had happened. We knew in a vague way that
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Speaker 1: we had collided with an iceberg, but there our knowledge ended,
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Speaker 1: and most of us drew no deductions from that fact alone.
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Speaker 1: Another factor that prevented some from taking to the boats
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Speaker 1: was the drop to the water below and the journey
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Speaker 1: into the unknown sea. Certainly, it looked like a tremendous
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Speaker 1: way down in the darkness, and the sea and the
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Speaker 1: night both seemed very cold and lonely, And here was
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Speaker 1: the ship so firm and well lighted and warm. But
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Speaker 1: perhaps what made so many people declared their decision to
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Speaker 1: remain was their strong belief in the theory of the
19:49
Speaker 1: Titanic's unsinkable construction. Again and again it was repeated, this
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Speaker 1: ship cannot sink. It is only a question of waiting
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Speaker 1: until another ship comes up and takes us off. Husbands
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Speaker 1: expected to follow their wives and join them, either in
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Speaker 1: New York or by transfer in mid ocean from steamer
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Speaker 1: to steamer. Many passengers relate that they were told by
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Speaker 1: officers that the ship was a life boat and could
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Speaker 1: not go down. One lady affirms that the captain told
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Speaker 1: her the Titanic could not sink for two or three days.
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Speaker 1: No doubt, this was immediately after the collision. It is
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Speaker 1: not any wonder, then, that many elected to remain, deliberately
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Speaker 1: choosing the deck of the Titanic to a place in
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Speaker 1: a lifeboat. And yet the boats had to go down,
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Speaker 1: and so at first they went half full. This is
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Speaker 1: the real explanation of why they were not as fully
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Speaker 1: loaded as the later ones. It is important then, to
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Speaker 1: consider the question how far the captain was justified in
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Speaker 1: withholding all the knowledge he had from every passenger. From
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Speaker 1: one point of view, he should have said to them,
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Speaker 1: this ship will sink in a few hours. There are
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Speaker 1: the boats, and only women and children can go to them.
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Speaker 1: But had he the authority to enforce such an order,
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Speaker 1: there are such things as panics and rushes, which get
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Speaker 1: beyond the control of a handful of officers, even if armed,
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Speaker 1: and where even the bravest of men get swept off
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Speaker 1: their feet mentally as well as physically. On the other hand,
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Speaker 1: if he decided to withhold all definite knowledge of danger
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Speaker 1: from all passengers and at the same time persuade, and
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Speaker 1: if it was not sufficient compel women and children to
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Speaker 1: take to the boats, it might result in their all
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Speaker 1: being saved. He could not foresee the tenacity of their
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Speaker 1: faith in the boat. There is ample evidence that he
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Speaker 1: left the bridge when the ship had come to rest,
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Speaker 1: and went among the passengers, urging them to get into
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Speaker 1: the boat, and rigorously excluding all but women and children.
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Speaker 1: Some would not go. Officer Low testified that he shouted
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Speaker 1: who's next for the boat and could get no replies.
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Speaker 1: The boats even were sent away half loaded, although the
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Speaker 1: fear of their buckling in the middle was responsible as
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Speaker 1: well for this. But the captain, with the few boats
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Speaker 1: at his disposal, could hardly do more than persuade and
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Speaker 1: advise in the terrible circumstances in which he was placed.
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Speaker 1: How appalling to think that with a few more boats,
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Speaker 1: and the ship was provided with that particular kind of
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Speaker 1: davit that would launch more boats, there would have been
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Speaker 1: no decision of that kind to make. It could have
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Speaker 1: been stated plainly, this ship will sink in a few hours.
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Speaker 1: There is room in the boats for all passengers, beginning
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Speaker 1: with women and children. Poor Captain Smith, I care not
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Speaker 1: whether the responsibility for such speed in an iceberg region
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Speaker 1: will rest on his shoulders or not. No man ever
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Speaker 1: had to make such a choice as he had that night,
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Speaker 1: and it seems difficult to see how he can be
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Speaker 1: blamed for withholding from passengers such information as he had
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Speaker 1: of the danger that was imminent. When one reads in
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Speaker 1: the press that lifeboats arrived at the Carpathia half full,
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Speaker 1: it seems at first sight a dreadful thing that this
23:23
Speaker 1: should have been allowed to happen. But it is so
23:26
Speaker 1: easy to make these criticisms afterwards so easy to say
23:30
Speaker 1: that Captain Smith should have told every one of the
23:33
Speaker 1: condition of the vessel. He was faced with many conditions
23:37
Speaker 1: that night which such criticism overlooks. Let any fear minded
23:42
Speaker 1: person consider some few of the problems presented to him.
23:46
Speaker 1: The ship was bound to sink in a few hours.
23:50
Speaker 1: There was lifeboat accommodation for all women and children, and
23:53
Speaker 1: some men. There was no way of getting some women
23:57
Speaker 1: to go, except by telling them the ship was doomed,
24:00
Speaker 1: a course he deemed it best not to take, and
24:04
Speaker 1: he knew the danger of boats buckling when loaded full.
24:08
Speaker 1: His solution of these problems was apparently the following, to
24:12
Speaker 1: send the boats down half full with such women as
24:15
Speaker 1: would go, and to tell the boat to stand by
24:18
Speaker 1: to pick up more passengers passed down from the cargo ports.
24:23
Speaker 1: There is good evidence that this was part of the plan.
24:26
Speaker 1: I heard an officer give the order to four boats,
24:29
Speaker 1: and a lady in number four boat on the port
24:32
Speaker 1: side tells me the sailors were so long looking for
24:35
Speaker 1: the port where the captain personally had told them to wait,
24:39
Speaker 1: that they were in danger of being sucked under by
24:41
Speaker 1: the vessel. How far any systematic attempt was made to
24:46
Speaker 1: stand by the ports, I do not know. I never
24:49
Speaker 1: saw one open or any boat standing near on the
24:53
Speaker 1: starboard side. But then boats nine to fifteen went down full,
24:58
Speaker 1: and on reaching the sea, rowed away at once. There
25:02
Speaker 1: is good evidence then that Captain Smith fully intended to
25:06
Speaker 1: load the boats full in this way. The failure to
25:10
Speaker 1: carry out the intention is one of the things the
25:12
Speaker 1: whole world regrets. But consider again the great size of
25:17
Speaker 1: the ship and the short time to make decisions, and
25:21
Speaker 1: the omission is more easily understood. The fact is that
25:26
Speaker 1: such a contingency as lowering away boats was not even
25:30
Speaker 1: considered beforehand, and there is much calls for gratitude that
25:34
Speaker 1: as many as seven hundred and five people were rescued.
25:38
Speaker 1: The whole question of a captain's duties seems to require revision.
25:44
Speaker 1: It was totally impossible for any one man to attempt
25:47
Speaker 1: to control the ship that night, and the weather conditions
25:51
Speaker 1: could not well have been more favorable for doing so.
25:55
Speaker 1: One of the reforms that seems inevitable is that one
25:58
Speaker 1: man shall be responded for the boats their manning, loading
26:03
Speaker 1: and lowering, leaving the captain free to be on the bridge.
26:07
Speaker 1: To the last moment, but to return for a time
26:10
Speaker 1: to the means taken to attract the notice of other ships.
26:14
Speaker 1: The wireless operators were now in touch with several ships
26:18
Speaker 1: and calling to them to come quickly, for the water
26:21
Speaker 1: was pouring in and the Titanic beginning to go down
26:24
Speaker 1: by the head Bride testified that the first reply received
26:29
Speaker 1: was from a German boat, the Frankfort, which was all
26:33
Speaker 1: right stand by, but not giving her position. From comparison
26:38
Speaker 1: of the strength of signals received from the Frankfort and
26:41
Speaker 1: from other boats, the operators estimated that Frankfort was the nearest,
26:46
Speaker 1: but subsequent events proved that this was not so. She
26:50
Speaker 1: was in fact one hundred and forty miles away, and
26:54
Speaker 1: arrived at ten fifty a m. Next morning, when the
26:57
Speaker 1: Carpathia had left with the rescued. The next reply was
27:01
Speaker 1: from the Carpathia, fifty eight miles away on the outbound
27:05
Speaker 1: route to the Mediterranean, and it was a prompt and
27:09
Speaker 1: welcome one coming hard followed by the position. Then followed
27:14
Speaker 1: the Olympic, and with her they talked for some time,
27:18
Speaker 1: but she was five hundred and sixty miles away on
27:21
Speaker 1: the southern route, too far to be of any immediate help.
27:25
Speaker 1: At the speed of twenty three knots, she would expect
27:28
Speaker 1: to be about one p m next day, and this
27:32
Speaker 1: was about the time that those in Boat thirteen had calculated.
27:36
Speaker 1: We had always assumed in the boat that the stokers
27:39
Speaker 1: who gave this information had it from one of the
27:42
Speaker 1: officers before they left, But in the absence of any
27:45
Speaker 1: knowledge of the much nearer ship, the Carpathia, it is
27:49
Speaker 1: more probable that they knew in a general way where
27:52
Speaker 1: the sister ship, the Olympic, should be, and had made
27:55
Speaker 1: a rough calculation. Other ships in touch by wireless worthy
28:00
Speaker 1: Mount Temple fifty miles, the Burma one hundred miles, the
28:05
Speaker 1: Parisian one hundred and fifty miles, the Virginian one hundred
28:10
Speaker 1: and fifty miles, and the Baltic three hundred miles. But
28:15
Speaker 1: closer than any of these, closer even than the Carpathia,
28:19
Speaker 1: were two ships, the Californian, less than twenty miles away,
28:24
Speaker 1: with the wireless operator off duty and unable to catch
28:28
Speaker 1: the c QD signal, which was now making the air
28:31
Speaker 1: for many miles around Quiver. In its appeal for help, immediate,
28:36
Speaker 1: urgent help for the hundreds of people who stood on
28:39
Speaker 1: the Titanic's deck. The second vessel was a small steamer
28:43
Speaker 1: some few miles ahead on the port side, without any
28:47
Speaker 1: wireless apparatus. Her name and destination still unknown, and yet
28:52
Speaker 1: the evidence for her presence that night seems too strong
28:55
Speaker 1: to be disregarded. Mister Boxhall states that he and Captain
29:00
Speaker 1: Smith saw her quite plainly some five miles away, and
29:04
Speaker 1: could distinguish the mast, head lights and a red port light.
29:08
Speaker 1: They at once held her with rockets and morse electric signals,
29:13
Speaker 1: to which Boxhall saw no reply, but Captain Smith and
29:17
Speaker 1: Stewarts affirmed they did. The second and third officers saw
29:22
Speaker 1: the signal sent and her lights, the latter from the
29:25
Speaker 1: lifeboat of which he was in charge. Seamen Hopkins testified
29:30
Speaker 1: that he was told by the captain to row for
29:32
Speaker 1: the light, and we and Vote thirteen certainly saw it
29:36
Speaker 1: in the same position and rowed towards it for some time,
29:40
Speaker 1: But notwithstanding all the efforts made to attract its attention,
29:45
Speaker 1: it drew slowly away and the lights sank below the horizon.
29:50
Speaker 1: Deep pity of it so near and so many people
29:55
Speaker 1: waiting for the shelter its decks could have given so easily,
29:59
Speaker 1: it seems possible to think that this ship ever replied
30:02
Speaker 1: to the signals. Those who said so must have been mistaken.
30:07
Speaker 1: The United States Senate Committee, in its report does not
30:11
Speaker 1: hesitate to say that this unknown steamer and the Californian
30:15
Speaker 1: are identical, and that the failure on the part of
30:18
Speaker 1: the latter to come to help of the Titanic is
30:21
Speaker 1: culpable negligence. There is undoubted evidence that some of the
30:25
Speaker 1: crew on the Californian saw our rockets, but it seems
30:29
Speaker 1: impossible to believe that the captain and officers knew of
30:33
Speaker 1: our distress and deliberately ignored it. Judgment on the matter
30:38
Speaker 1: had better be suspended until further information is forthcoming. An
30:42
Speaker 1: engineer who has served in the Transatlantic service tells me
30:47
Speaker 1: that it is a common practice for small boats to
30:49
Speaker 1: leave the fishing smacks to which they belong and row
30:53
Speaker 1: away for miles, sometimes even being lost and wandering about
30:58
Speaker 1: among icebergs, and even not being found again. In these circumstances,
31:03
Speaker 1: rockets are part of a fishing smacks equipment and are
31:07
Speaker 1: set up to indicate to the small boats how to return.
31:13
Speaker 1: Is it conceivable that the Californian thought our rockets were
31:17
Speaker 1: such signals, and therefore paid no attention to them. Incidentally,
31:21
Speaker 1: this engineer did not hesitate to add that it is
31:24
Speaker 1: doubtful if a big liner would stop to help a
31:27
Speaker 1: small fishing boat sending off distress signals, or even would
31:31
Speaker 1: turn about to help one which she herself had cut
31:34
Speaker 1: down as it lay in her path without a light.
31:37
Speaker 1: He was strong in his affirmation that such things were
31:40
Speaker 1: commonly known to all officers in the Transatlantic Service. With
31:45
Speaker 1: regard to the other vessels in wireless communication, the Mount
31:49
Speaker 1: Temple was the only one near enough from the point
31:52
Speaker 1: of distance to have arrived in time to be of help.
31:56
Speaker 1: But between her and the Titanic lay the enormous ice
31:59
Speaker 1: flow and icebergs were near her. In addition, the seven
32:04
Speaker 1: ships which caught the message started at once to help,
32:07
Speaker 1: but were all stopped on the way, except the Burma
32:11
Speaker 1: by the Carpathias wireless announcing the fate of the Titanic
32:15
Speaker 1: and the people aboard her, The message must have effected
32:18
Speaker 1: the captains of these ships very deeply. They would understand
32:23
Speaker 1: far better than the traveling public what it meant to
32:26
Speaker 1: lose such a beautiful ship on her first voyage. The
32:30
Speaker 1: only thing now left to be done was to get
32:33
Speaker 1: the lifeboats away as quickly as possible, and to this
32:36
Speaker 1: task the other officers were, in the meantime devoting all
32:39
Speaker 1: their endeavors. Mister Leetoler sent away boat after boat. In
32:44
Speaker 1: one he had put twenty four women and children in
32:47
Speaker 1: another thirty and another thirty five, and then running short
32:52
Speaker 1: of seamen to man the boats, he sent Major Puchin,
32:56
Speaker 1: an expert yachtsman, in the next to help with its navigation.
33:00
Speaker 1: By the time these had been filled, he had difficulty
33:04
Speaker 1: in finding women for the fifth and sixth boats, for
33:07
Speaker 1: the reasons already stated. All this time the passengers remained
33:11
Speaker 1: to use his own expression as quiet as if in church.
33:16
Speaker 1: To man and supervise the loading of six boats must
33:19
Speaker 1: have taken him nearly up to the time of the
33:21
Speaker 1: Titanic sinking, taking an average of some twenty minutes to
33:25
Speaker 1: a boat still at work. To the end, he remained
33:29
Speaker 1: on the ship till she sank, and went down with her.
33:33
Speaker 1: His evidence before the United States Committee was as follows,
33:37
Speaker 1: did you leave the ship, no, sir, Did the ship
33:41
Speaker 1: leave you, yes, sir. It was a piece of work,
33:46
Speaker 1: well and cleanly done. And his escape from the ship,
33:49
Speaker 1: one of the most wonderful of all, seems almost a
33:52
Speaker 1: reward for his devotion to duty. Captain Smith, officers Wilde,
33:57
Speaker 1: and Murdock were similarly engaged in other parts of the ship,
34:01
Speaker 1: urging women to get in the boats, in some cases
34:05
Speaker 1: directing junior officers to go down in some of them.
34:08
Speaker 1: Officers Pittman, box Hall, and Low were sent in this way,
34:13
Speaker 1: and others placing members of the crew in charge. As
34:17
Speaker 1: the boats were lowered, orders were shouted to them where
34:20
Speaker 1: to make for. Some were told to stand by and
34:24
Speaker 1: wait for further instructions, others to row for the light
34:27
Speaker 1: of the disappearing steamer. It is a pitiful thing to
34:31
Speaker 1: recall the effects of sending down the first boats half full.
34:35
Speaker 1: In some cases, men and the company of their wives
34:39
Speaker 1: had actually taken seats in the boats. Young men married
34:43
Speaker 1: only a few weeks and on their wedding trip, and
34:46
Speaker 1: had done so only because no more women could then
34:49
Speaker 1: be found. But the strict interpretation by the particular officer
34:54
Speaker 1: in charge there of the rule of women and children
34:57
Speaker 1: only compelled them to get out again. Some of these
35:01
Speaker 1: boats were lowered and reached the Carpathia with many vacant seats.
35:06
Speaker 1: The anguish of the young wives in such circumstances can
35:09
Speaker 1: only be imagined. In other parts of the ship, however,
35:13
Speaker 1: a different interpretation was placed on the rule, and men
35:17
Speaker 1: were allowed and even invited by officers to get in,
35:21
Speaker 1: not only to form part of the crew, but even
35:24
Speaker 1: as passengers. This of course in the first boats and
35:28
Speaker 1: when no more women could be found. The varied understanding
35:32
Speaker 1: of this rule was a frequent subject of discussion on
35:35
Speaker 1: the Carpathia. In fact, the rule itself was debated with
35:39
Speaker 1: much heart searching. There were not wanting, many who doubted
35:44
Speaker 1: the justice of its rigid enforcement, who could not think
35:47
Speaker 1: it well that a husband should be separated from his
35:50
Speaker 1: wife and family, leaving them penniless, or a young bridegroom
35:54
Speaker 1: from his wife of a few short weeks, while ladies
35:58
Speaker 1: with few relatives, with no one dependent upon them, and
36:01
Speaker 1: few responsibilities of any kind were saved. It was mostly
36:06
Speaker 1: these ladies who pressed this view, and even men seemed
36:09
Speaker 1: to think there was a good deal to be said
36:11
Speaker 1: for it. Perhaps there is theoretically, but it would be impossible,
36:16
Speaker 1: i think, in practice. To quote mister Leetolder again in
36:20
Speaker 1: his evidence before the United States Senate Committee. When asked
36:24
Speaker 1: if it was a rule of the sea that women
36:26
Speaker 1: and children be saved first, he replied, no, it is
36:31
Speaker 1: a rule of human nature. That is, no doubt the
36:34
Speaker 1: real reason for its existence. But the selective process of
36:39
Speaker 1: circumstances brought about results that were very bitter to some.
36:44
Speaker 1: It was heartrending for ladies who had lost all they
36:47
Speaker 1: held dearest in the world to hear that in one
36:50
Speaker 1: boat was a stoker picked up out of the sea,
36:53
Speaker 1: so drunk that he stood up and brandished his arms about,
36:57
Speaker 1: and had to be thrown down by ladies and sat
36:59
Speaker 1: upon to keep him quiet. If comparisons can be drawn,
37:03
Speaker 1: it did seem better that an educated, refined man should
37:07
Speaker 1: be saved than one who had flown to drink as
37:10
Speaker 1: his refuge in time of danger. These discussions turned sometimes
37:15
Speaker 1: to the old inquiry, what is the purpose of all this?
37:19
Speaker 1: Why the disaster? Why this man saved and that man lost?
37:24
Speaker 1: Who has arranged that my husband should live a few
37:27
Speaker 1: short happy years in the world, and the happiest days
37:30
Speaker 1: in those years with me these last few weeks, and
37:33
Speaker 1: then be taken from me. I heard no one attribute
37:37
Speaker 1: all this to a divine power who ordains and arranges
37:41
Speaker 1: the lives of men, and as part of a definite scheme,
37:45
Speaker 1: sends such calamity and misery in order to purify, to teach,
37:50
Speaker 1: to spiritualize. I do not say there were not people
37:53
Speaker 1: who thought and said they saw divine wisdom in it,
37:56
Speaker 1: all so inscrutable that we, in our ignorance saw it not.
38:00
Speaker 1: But I did not hear it expressed. And this book
38:03
Speaker 1: is intended to be no more than a partial chronicle
38:06
Speaker 1: of the many different experiences and convictions. There were those,
38:10
Speaker 1: on the other hand, who did not fail to say
38:13
Speaker 1: emphatically that indifference to the rights and feelings of others,
38:17
Speaker 1: blindness to duty towards our fellow men and women, was,
38:21
Speaker 1: in the last analysis, the cause of most of the
38:24
Speaker 1: human misery in the world. And it should undoubtedly appeal
38:28
Speaker 1: more to our sense of justice to attribute these things
38:32
Speaker 1: to our own lack of consideration for others, than to
38:35
Speaker 1: shift the responsibility onto a power whom we first postulate
38:39
Speaker 1: as being all wise and all loving. All the boats
38:44
Speaker 1: were lowered and sent away by two a m. And
38:47
Speaker 1: by this time the ship was very low in the water,
38:50
Speaker 1: the forecastle deck completely submerged, and the sea creeping steadily
38:55
Speaker 1: up to the bridge, and probably only a few yards away.
39:00
Speaker 1: No one on the ship can have had any doubt
39:03
Speaker 1: now as to her ultimate fate. And yet the fifteen
39:07
Speaker 1: hundred passengers and crew on board made no demonstration, and
39:12
Speaker 1: not a sound came from them as they stood quietly
39:15
Speaker 1: on the decks or went about their duties below. It
39:19
Speaker 1: seems incredible. And yet, if it was a continuation of
39:23
Speaker 1: the same feeling that existed on deck before the boats left,
39:27
Speaker 1: and I have no doubt that it was, the explanation
39:30
Speaker 1: is straightforward and reasonable in its simplicity. An attempt is
39:34
Speaker 1: made in the last chapter to show why the attitude
39:37
Speaker 1: of the crowd was so quietly courageous. There are accounts
39:41
Speaker 1: which picture excited crowds running about the deck in terror,
39:45
Speaker 1: fighting and struggling, but two of the most accurate observers,
39:50
Speaker 1: Colonel Gracie and mister Leetoller, affirmed that this was not so.
39:55
Speaker 1: That absolute order and quietness prevailed. The band still played
40:00
Speaker 1: to cheer the hearts of all near the engineers and
40:04
Speaker 1: their crew. I have never heard anyone speak of a
40:07
Speaker 1: single engineer being seen on deck still worked at the
40:11
Speaker 1: electric light engines far away below. Keeping them going until
40:16
Speaker 1: no human being could do so a second longer, right
40:20
Speaker 1: until the ship tilted on end and the engines broke
40:23
Speaker 1: loose and fell down. The light failed then only because
40:28
Speaker 1: the engines were no longer there to produce light, not
40:31
Speaker 1: because the men who worked them were not standing by
40:34
Speaker 1: them to do their duty. To be down in the
40:37
Speaker 1: bowels of the ship, far away from the deck, where
40:40
Speaker 1: at any rate there was a chance of a dive
40:43
Speaker 1: and a swim and a possible rescue. To know that
40:46
Speaker 1: when the ship went as they knew it must soon
40:50
Speaker 1: there could be no possible hope of climbing up in
40:53
Speaker 1: time to reach the sea. To know all these things
40:57
Speaker 1: and yet keep the engines going that the decks might
41:00
Speaker 1: be lighted to the last moment required sublime courage. But
41:05
Speaker 1: this courage is required of every engineer, and it is
41:08
Speaker 1: not called by that name. It is called duty. To
41:12
Speaker 1: stand by his engines to the last possible moment is
41:16
Speaker 1: his duty. There could be no better example of the
41:20
Speaker 1: supremest courage being but duty well done than to remember
41:24
Speaker 1: the engineers of the Titanic still at work as she
41:27
Speaker 1: heeled over and flung them with their engines down the
41:31
Speaker 1: length of the ship. The simple statement that the lights
41:36
Speaker 1: kept on to the last is really their epithaph, but
41:39
Speaker 1: Lowell's words would seem to apply to them with peculiar force. Quote.
41:45
Speaker 1: The longer on this earth we live and weigh the
41:48
Speaker 1: various qualities of men, the more we feel the high,
41:52
Speaker 1: stern featured beauty of plain devotedness to duty, steadfast and
41:57
Speaker 1: still nor paid with mortal praise, but finding amplest recompense
42:03
Speaker 1: for life's ungarlanded expense, and work done squarely and unwated days.
42:12
Speaker 1: For some time before she sank, the Titanic had a
42:15
Speaker 1: considerable list to port, so much so that one boat
42:19
Speaker 1: at any rate swung so far away from the side
42:23
Speaker 1: that difficulty was experienced in getting passengers in. This list
42:28
Speaker 1: was increased towards the end, and Colonel Gracie relates that
42:32
Speaker 1: mister Leetoler, who has a deep, powerful voice, ordered all
42:36
Speaker 1: passengers to the starboard side. This was close before the end.
42:41
Speaker 1: They crossed over, and as they did so, a crowd
42:45
Speaker 1: of steerage passengers rushed up and filled the decks so
42:48
Speaker 1: full that there was barely room to move. Soon afterwards,
42:53
Speaker 1: the great vessel swung slowly stern in the air, the
42:57
Speaker 1: lights went out, and while some were flung into the
43:00
Speaker 1: water and others dived off, the great majority still clung
43:05
Speaker 1: to the rails, to the sides and roofs of the
43:08
Speaker 1: deck structures, lying prone on the deck, and in this
43:12
Speaker 1: position they were when a few minutes later the enormous
43:17
Speaker 1: vessel dived obliquely downwards. As she went, No doubt many
43:23
Speaker 1: still clung to the rails, but most would do their
43:26
Speaker 1: best to get away from her and jump as she
43:29
Speaker 1: slid forwards and downwards. Whatever they did, there can be
43:33
Speaker 1: little question that most of them would be taken down
43:36
Speaker 1: by suction, to come up again a few moments later,
43:39
Speaker 1: and to feel the air with those heartrending cries which
43:43
Speaker 1: fell on the ears of those in the lifeboats with
43:46
Speaker 1: such amazement. Another survivor, on the other hand, relates that
43:51
Speaker 1: he had dived from the stern before she healed over,
43:54
Speaker 1: and swam round under her enormous triple screws lifted by
43:59
Speaker 1: now high water as she stood on end. Fascinated by
44:03
Speaker 1: the extraordinary sight, he watched them up above his head,
44:08
Speaker 1: but presently realizing the necessity of getting away as quickly
44:12
Speaker 1: as possible, he started to swim from the ship, but
44:15
Speaker 1: as he did, she dived forward, the screws passing near
44:19
Speaker 1: his head. His experience is that not only was no
44:23
Speaker 1: suction present, but even a wave was created which washed
44:27
Speaker 1: him away from the place where she had gone down.
44:31
Speaker 1: Of all those fifteen hundred people flung into the sea
44:35
Speaker 1: as the Titanic went down, innocent victims of thoughtlessness and
44:39
Speaker 1: apathy of those responsible for their safety, only a very
44:43
Speaker 1: few found their way to the Carpathia. It will serve
44:47
Speaker 1: no good purpose to dwell any longer on the scene
44:50
Speaker 1: of helpless men and women struggling in the water. The
44:53
Speaker 1: heart of everyone who has read of their helplessness has
44:57
Speaker 1: gone out to them in deepest love and sympathy, and
45:00
Speaker 1: the knowledge that their struggle in the water was in
45:03
Speaker 1: most cases short and not physically painful because of the
45:08
Speaker 1: low temperature. The evidence seems to show that few lost
45:12
Speaker 1: their lives by drowning. Is some consolation If every one
45:17
Speaker 1: sees to it that his sympathy with them is so
45:19
Speaker 1: practical as to force him to follow up the question
45:22
Speaker 1: of reforms personally, not leaving it to the experts alone,
45:26
Speaker 1: then he will have at any rate done something to
45:29
Speaker 1: atone for the loss of so many valuable lives we
45:34
Speaker 1: had now better follow the adventures of those who were
45:36
Speaker 1: rescued from the final event in the disaster. Two accounts,
45:41
Speaker 1: those of Colonel Gracie and mister Lytoller, agree very closely.
45:46
Speaker 1: The former went down clinging to a rail. The latter
45:50
Speaker 1: dived before the ship went right under, but was sucked
45:53
Speaker 1: down and held against one of the blowers. They were
45:56
Speaker 1: both carried down for what seemed like a long distance,
46:00
Speaker 1: but mister Lytoler was finally blown up again by a
46:04
Speaker 1: terrific gust that came up the blower and forced him clear.
46:08
Speaker 1: Colonel Gracie came to the surface after holding his breath
46:12
Speaker 1: for what seemed like an eternity, and they both swam about,
46:16
Speaker 1: holding on to any wreckage they could find. Finally they
46:19
Speaker 1: saw an upturned collapsible boat and climbed on it in
46:23
Speaker 1: company with twenty other men, among them Bride the Marconi operator.
46:29
Speaker 1: After remaining thus for some hours, with the sea washing
46:33
Speaker 1: over them to the waist, they stood up as day
46:36
Speaker 1: broke in two rows back to back, balancing themselves as
46:40
Speaker 1: well as they could and afraid to turn lest the
46:44
Speaker 1: boat should roll over. Finally, a lifeboat saw them and
46:48
Speaker 1: took them off, an operation attended with the greatest difficulty,
46:53
Speaker 1: and they reached the Carpathia in the early dawn. Not
46:57
Speaker 1: many people have gone through such an experience, as though
47:00
Speaker 1: as men did, lying all night on an overturned, ill
47:04
Speaker 1: balanced boat, and praying together as they did all the
47:08
Speaker 1: time for the day, and a ship to take them off.
47:12
Speaker 1: Some account must now be attempted of the journey of
47:15
Speaker 1: the fleet of boats to the Carpathia, but it must
47:19
Speaker 1: necessarily be very brief. Experiences differed considerably. Some had no
47:25
Speaker 1: encounters at all with icebergs, no lack of men to row,
47:29
Speaker 1: discovered lights and food and water, were picked up after
47:34
Speaker 1: only a few hours exposure, and suffered very little discomfort.
47:39
Speaker 1: Others seemed to see icebergs round them all night long,
47:43
Speaker 1: and to be always rowing round them. Others had so
47:46
Speaker 1: few men aboard, in some cases only two or three,
47:50
Speaker 1: that ladies had to row and in one case to steer,
47:53
Speaker 1: found no lights, food or water, and were adrift many hours,
47:58
Speaker 1: in some cases nearly eight. The first boat to be
48:02
Speaker 1: picked up by the Carpathia was one in charge of
48:05
Speaker 1: mister Boxhall. There was only one other man rowing, and
48:09
Speaker 1: ladies working at the oars. A green light burning in
48:13
Speaker 1: this boat all night was the greatest comfort to the
48:16
Speaker 1: rest of us, who had nothing to steer by. Although
48:19
Speaker 1: it meant little in the way of safety itself, it
48:22
Speaker 1: was a point to which we could look. The green
48:25
Speaker 1: light was the first intimation Captain Rostron had of our position,
48:29
Speaker 1: and he steered for it and picked up its passengers first.
48:33
Speaker 1: Mister Pittman was sent by First Officer Murdoch in charge
48:37
Speaker 1: of Boat five, with forty passengers and five of the crew.
48:41
Speaker 1: It would have held more, but no women could be
48:44
Speaker 1: found at the time it was lowered. Mister Pittman says
48:48
Speaker 1: that after leaving the ship he felt confident she would
48:51
Speaker 1: float and they would all return. A passenger in this
48:55
Speaker 1: boat relates that men could not be induced to embark
48:58
Speaker 1: when she went down and made appointments for the next
49:01
Speaker 1: morning with them. Tied to Boat five was Boat seven,
49:06
Speaker 1: one of those that contained few people. A few were
49:09
Speaker 1: transferred from number five, but it would have held many more.
49:14
Speaker 1: Fifth Officer Low was in charge of Boat fourteen, with
49:17
Speaker 1: fifty five women and children and some of the crew.
49:21
Speaker 1: So full was the boat that as she went down,
49:24
Speaker 1: mister Low had to fire his revolver along the ship's
49:28
Speaker 1: side to prevent any more climbing in and causing her
49:31
Speaker 1: to buckle. This boat, like Boat thirteen, was difficult to
49:36
Speaker 1: release from the lowering tackle and had to be cut away.
49:39
Speaker 1: After reaching the sea, mister Low took in charge four
49:44
Speaker 1: other boats, tied them together with lines, found some of
49:48
Speaker 1: them not full, and transferred all his passengers to these,
49:52
Speaker 1: distributing them in the darkness as well as he could. Then,
49:56
Speaker 1: returning to the place where the Titanic had sunk, he
49:59
Speaker 1: picked up some some of those swimming in the water
50:01
Speaker 1: and went back to the four boats. On the way
50:05
Speaker 1: to the Carpathia, he encountered one of the collapsible boats
50:08
Speaker 1: and took aboard all those in her as she seemed
50:11
Speaker 1: to be sinking. Boat twelve was one of the four
50:15
Speaker 1: tied together, and the seamen in charge testified that he
50:19
Speaker 1: tried to row to the drowning, but with forty women
50:22
Speaker 1: and children and only one other man to row, it
50:25
Speaker 1: was not possible to pull such a heavy boat to
50:28
Speaker 1: the scene of the wreck. Boat two was a small
50:32
Speaker 1: ship's boat and had four or five passengers and seven
50:35
Speaker 1: of the crew. Boat four was one of the last
50:38
Speaker 1: to leave on the port side, and by this time
50:41
Speaker 1: there was such a list that deck chairs had to
50:44
Speaker 1: bridge the gap between the boat and the deck. When lowered.
50:48
Speaker 1: It remained for some time still attached to the ropes,
50:52
Speaker 1: and as the Titanic was rapidly sinking, it seemed she
50:55
Speaker 1: would be pulled under. The boat was full of women
50:59
Speaker 1: who besought thee to leave the ship, but in obedience
51:02
Speaker 1: to orders from the captain to stand by the cargo port,
51:06
Speaker 1: they remained near, so near, in fact, that they heard
51:10
Speaker 1: china falling and smashing as the ship went down by
51:13
Speaker 1: the head, and were nearly hit by wreckage, thrown overboard
51:16
Speaker 1: by some of the officers and crew, and intended to
51:19
Speaker 1: serve as rafts. They got clear finally and were only
51:24
Speaker 1: a short distance away when the ship sank, so that
51:27
Speaker 1: they were able to pull some men aboard as they
51:30
Speaker 1: came to the surface. This boat had an unpleasant experience
51:34
Speaker 1: in the night, with icebergs. Many were seen and avoided
51:38
Speaker 1: with difficulty. Quartermaster Hickins was in charge of Boat six,
51:43
Speaker 1: and in the absence of sailors, Major Peuchin was sent
51:46
Speaker 1: to help man her. They were told to make for
51:49
Speaker 1: the light of the steamer seen on the port side
51:52
Speaker 1: and followed it until it disappeared. There were forty women
51:56
Speaker 1: and children here. Boat eight had only one seas and
52:00
Speaker 1: as Captain Smith had enforced the rule of women and
52:03
Speaker 1: children only, ladies had to row. Later in the night,
52:07
Speaker 1: when little progress had been made, the seamen took an
52:10
Speaker 1: oar and put a lady in charge of the tiller.
52:13
Speaker 1: This boat again was in the midst of icebergs. Of
52:17
Speaker 1: the four collapsible boats, although collapsible is not really the
52:21
Speaker 1: correct term, for only a small portion collapses the canvas
52:26
Speaker 1: edge surf boats is really their name. One was launched
52:30
Speaker 1: at the last moment by being pushed over as the
52:33
Speaker 1: sea rose to the edge of the deck and was
52:35
Speaker 1: never righted. This is the one twenty men climbed on.
52:40
Speaker 1: Another was caught up by mister Lowe and the passengers transferred,
52:44
Speaker 1: with the exception of three men who had perished from
52:47
Speaker 1: the effects of immersion. The boat was allowed to drift
52:51
Speaker 1: away and was found more than a month later by
52:53
Speaker 1: the Celtic in just the same condition. It is interesting
52:57
Speaker 1: to note how long this boat had remained fat after
53:01
Speaker 1: she was supposed to be no longer seaworthy. A curious
53:04
Speaker 1: coincidence arose from the fact that one of my brothers
53:08
Speaker 1: happened to be traveling on the Celtic, and looking over
53:11
Speaker 1: the side, saw adrift on the sea a boat belonging
53:15
Speaker 1: to the Titanic in which I had been wrecked. The
53:18
Speaker 1: two other collapsible boats came to the Carpathia, carrying full
53:22
Speaker 1: loads of passengers in one the forward starboard boat, and
53:27
Speaker 1: one of the last to leave was mister Ismay. Here
53:31
Speaker 1: four chinamen were concealed under the feet of the passengers.
53:35
Speaker 1: How they got there no one knew, or indeed how
53:38
Speaker 1: they happened to be on the Titanic, for by emigration
53:41
Speaker 1: laws of the United States, they are not allowed to
53:44
Speaker 1: enter her ports. It must be said in conclusion that
53:48
Speaker 1: there is the greatest cause for gratitude that all the
53:51
Speaker 1: boats launched carried their passengers safely to the rescue ship.
53:56
Speaker 1: It would not be right to accept this fact without
53:59
Speaker 1: calling at tend to it. It would be easy to
54:02
Speaker 1: enumerate many things which might have been present as elements
54:06
Speaker 1: of danger. End of Chapter six