Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters by Logan Marshall (best reads of all time txt) 📕

The Spectacle On Board The Carpathia On The Return Trip

To New York At Times Was Heartrending,  While At Other Times

Those On Board Were Quite Cheerful.

Preparations On Land To Receive The Sufferers

Police Arrangements--Donations Of Money And Supplies

--Hospitals And Ambulances Made Ready--Private

Houses Thrown Open--Waiting For The Carpathia To

Arrive--The Ship Sighted!

New York City,  Touched To The Heart By The Great

Ocean Calamity And Desiring To Do What It Could

To Lighten The Woes And Relieve The Sufferings Of

The Pitiful Little Band Of Men And Women Rescued From The

Titanic,  Opened Both Its Heart And Its Purse.

The Most Careful And Systematic Plans Were Made For The

Reception And Transfer To Homes,  Hotels Or Institutions Of The

Titanic's Survivors. Mayor Gaynor,  With Police Commissioner

Waldo,  Arranged To Go Down The Bay On The Police Boat

Patrol,  To Come Up With The Carpathia And Take Charge Of

The Police Arrangements At The Pier.

In Anticipation Of The Enormous Number That Would,  For

A Variety Of Reasons,  Creditable Or Otherwise,  Surge About The

Cunard Pier At The Coming Of The Carpathia,  Mayor Gaynor

And The Police Commissioner Had Seen To It That The Streets

Should Be Rigidly Sentineled By Continuous Lines Of Policemen

Under Inspector George Mcclusky,  The Man Of Most Experience,

Perhaps,  In Handling Large Crowds,  There Were 200 Men,

Including Twelve Mounted Men And A Number In Citizens'

Clothes. For Two Blocks To The North,  South And East Of The

Docks Lines Were Established Through Which None Save Those

Bearing Passes From The Government And The Cunard Line

Could Penetrate.

With All Arrangements Made That Experience Or Information

Could Suggest,  The Authorities Settled Down To Await The Docking

Of The Carpathia. No Word Had Come To Either The White

Star Line Or The Cunard Line,  They Said,  That Any Of The Titanic's

People Had Died On That Ship Or That Bodies Had Been

Recovered From The Sea,  But In The Afternoon Mayor Gaynor

Sent Word To The Board Of Coroners That It Might Be Well For

Some Of That Body To Meet The Incoming Ship. Coroners

Feinberg And Holtzhauser With Coroner's Physician Weston

Arranged To Go Down The Bay On The Patrol,  While Coroner

Hellenstein Waited At The Pier. An Undertaker Was Notified

To Be Ready If Needed. Fortunately There Was No Such Need.

Every Possible Measure Thought Of

Every Possible Measure Of Relief For The Survivors That

Could Be Thought Of By Officials Of The City,  Of The Federal

Government,  By The Heads Of Hospitals And The Red Cross

And Relief Societies Was Arranged For. The Municipal Lodging

House,  Which Has Accommodations For 700 Persons,  Agreed

To Throw Open Its Doors And Furnish Lodging And Food To Any

Of The Survivors As Long As They Should Need It. Commis-

Sioner Of Charities Drummond Did Not Know,  Of Course,

Just How Great The Call Would Be For The Services Of His

Department. He Went To The Cunard Pier To Direct His Part

Of The Work In Person. Meanwhile He Had Twenty Ambulances

Ready For Instant Movement On The City's Pier At The

Foot Of East Twenty-Sixth Street. They Were Ready To Take

Patients To The Reception Hospital Connected With Bellevue

Or The Metropolitan Hospital On Blackwell's Island.

Ambulances From The Kings County Hospital In Brooklyn Were

Also There To Do Their Share. All The Other Hospitals In The

City Stood Ready To Take The Titanic's People And Those That

Had Ambulances Promised To Send Them. The Charities

Ferryboat,  Thomas S. Brennan,  Equipped As A Hospital Craft,

Lay Off The Department Pier With Nurses And Physicians Ready

To Be Called To The Cunard Pier On The Other Side Of The City.

St. Vincent's Hospital Had 120 Beds Ready,  New York Hospital

Twelve,  Bellevue And The Reception Hospital 120 And Flower

Hospital Twelve.

The House Of Shelter Maintained By The Hebrew Sheltering

And Immigrant Aid Society Announced That It Was Able To

Care For At Least Fifty Persons As Long As Might Be Necessary.

The German Society Of New York,  The Irish Immigrant

Society,  The Italian Society,  The Swedish Immigrant Society

And The Young Men's Christian Association Were Among The

Organizations That Also Offered To See That No Needy Survivor

Would Go Without Shelter.

Mrs. W. A. Bastede,  Whose Husband Is A Member Of The

Staff Of St. Luke's Hospital,  Offered To The White Star Line

The Use Of The Newly Opened Ward At St. Luke's,

Which Will Accommodate From Thirty To Sixty Persons. She

Said The Hospital Would Send Four Ambulances With Nurses

And Doctors And That She Had Collected Clothing Enough For

Fifty Persons. The Line Accepted Her Offer And Said That The

Hospital Would Be Kept Informed As To What Was Needed.

A Trustee Of Bellevue Also Called At The White Star Offices To

Offer Ambulances. He Said That Five Or Six,  With Two Or Three

Doctors And Nurses On Each,  Would Be Sent To The Pier If Required.

Many Other Hospitals As Well As Individuals Called At The

Mayor's Office,  Expressing Willingness To Take In Anybody

That Should Be Sent To Them. A Woman Living In Fiftieth

Street Just Off Fifth Avenue Wished To Put Her Home At

The Disposal Of The Survivors. D. H. Knott,  Of 102 Waverley

Place,  Told The Mayor That He Could Take Care Of 100 And Give

Them Both Food And Lodging At The Arlington,  Holly And Earl

Hotels. Commissioner Drummond Visited The City Hall

And Arranged With The Mayor The Plans For The Relief To Be

Extended Directly By The City. Mr. Drummond Said That

Omnibuses Would Be Provided To Transfer Passengers From The

Ship To The Municipal Lodging House.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's Efforts

Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt,  Jr.,  Spent The Day Telephoning To

Her Friends,  Asking Them To Let Their Automobiles Be Used To

Meet The Carpathia And Take Away Those Who Needed Surgical

Care. It Was Announced That As A Result Of Mrs.

Vanderbilt's Efforts 100 Limousine Automobiles And All The Fifth

Avenue And Riverside Drive Automobile Buses Would Be At

The Cunard Pier.

Immigration Commissioner Williams Said That He

Would Be At The Pier When The Carpathia Came In. There

Was To Be No Inspection Of Immigrants At Ellis Island. Instead,

The Commissioner Sent Seven Or Eight Inspectors To

The Pier To Do Their Work There And He Asked Them To Do It

With The Greatest Possible Speed And The Least Possible Bother

To The Shipwrecked Aliens. The Immigrants Who Had No

Friends To Meet Them Were To Be Provided For Until Their Cases

Could Be Disposed Of. Mr. Williams Thought That Some Of

Them Who Had Lost Everything Might Have To Be Sent Back

To Their Homes. Those Who Were To Be Admitted To The United

States Were To Be Cared For By The Women's Relief Committee.

Red Cross Relief

Robert W. De Forest,  Chairman Of The Red Cross Relief

Committee Of The Charity Organization Society,  After

Conferring With Mayor Gaynor,  Said That In Addition To An

Arrangement That All Funds Received By The Mayor Should

Be Paid To Jacob H. Schiff,  The New York Treasurer Of

The American Red Cross,  The Committee Had Decided

That It Could Turn Over All The Immediate Relief Work To The

Women's Relief Committee.

The Red Cross Committee Announced That Careful Plans

Had Been Made To Provide For Every Possible Emergency.

The Emergency Committee Received A Telegram That Ernest

P. Bicknell,  Director Of The American Red Cross,  Was Coming

From Washington. The Red Cross Emergency Relief Committee

Was To Have Several Representatives At The Pier To Look

Out For The Passengers On The Carpathia. Mr. Persons And Dr.

Devine Were To Be There And It Was Planned To Have Others.

The Salvation Army Offered,  Through The Mayor's Office,

Accommodation For Thirty Single Men At The Industrial Home,

533 West Forty-Eighth Street,  And For Twenty Others At Its

Hotel,  18 Chatham Square. The Army's Training School At

124 West Fourteenth Street Was Ready To Take Twenty Or

Thirty Survivors. R. H. Farley,  Head Of The White Star

Line's Third Class Department,  Said That The Line Would Give All

The Steerage Passengers Railroad Tickets To Their Destination.

Mayor Gaynor Estimated That More Than 5000 Persons

Could Be Accommodated In Quarters Offered Through His Orders.

Most Of These Offers Of Course Would Have To Be Rejected.

The Mayor Also Said That Colonel Conley Of The Sixty-Ninth

Regiment Offered To Turn Out His Regiment To Police The Pier,

But It Was Thought That Such Service Would Be Unnecessary.

Crowds At The Docks

Long Before Dark On Thursday Night A Few People Passed

The Police Lines And With A Yellow Card Were Allowed To Go On

The Dock; But Reports Had Been Published That The Carpathia

Would Not Be In Till Midnight,  And By 8 O'clock There Were

Not More Than Two Hundred People On The Pier. In The Next

Hour The Crowd With Passes Trebled In Number. By 9 O'clock

The Pier Held Half As Many As It Could Comfortably Contain.

The Early Crowd Did Not Contain Many Women Relatives Of The

Survivors. Few Nervous People Could Be Seen,  But Here