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

Not Slackened.

"That The Number Of Life-Boats On The Titanic Was Insufficient

To Accommodate More Than One-Third Of The Passengers,

To Say Nothing Of The Crew. Most Members Of The Crew Say

There Were Sixteen Life-Boats And Two Collapsibles; None Say

There Were More Than Twenty Boats In All. The 700 Escaped

Filled Most Of The Sixteen Life-Boats And The One Collapsible

Which Got Away,  To The Limit Of Their Capacity.

"Had The Ship Struck The Iceberg Head On At Whatever

{Illust. Caption = Mrs. George D. Widener

Mrs. Widener Was Saved,....}

{Illust. Caption = George D. Widener

Who With His Son....}

{Illust. Caption = Copyright By Underwood & Underwood,  N. Y.

William T. Stead

The Great English Writer,  Who Was A Passenger On Board The Ill-Fated

White Star Line Steamer Titanic.}

Speed And With Whatever Resulting Shock,  The Bulkhead System

Of Water-Tight Compartments Would Probably Have Saved The

Vessel. As One Man Expressed It,  It Was The Impossible That

Happened When,  With A Shock Unbelievably Mild,  The Ship's

Side Was Torn For A Length Which Made The Bulkhead System

Ineffective."

After Telling Of The Shock And The Lowering Of The Boats

The Account Continues:

"Some Of The Boats,  Crowded Too Full To Give Rowers A

Chance,  Drifted For A Time. Few Had Provisions Or Water,

There Was Lack Of Covering From The Icy Air,  And The Only

Lights Were The Still Undimmed Arcs And Incandescents Of The

Settling Ship,  Save For One Of The First Boats. There A Steward,

Who Explained To The Passengers That He Had Been Shipwrecked

Twice Before,  Appeared Carrying Three Oranges And

A Green Light.

"That Green Light,  Many Of The Survivors Say,  Was To The

Shipwrecked Hundreds As The Pillar Of Fire By Night. Long

After The Ship Had Disappeared,  And While Confusing False

Lights Danced About The Boats,  The Green Lantern Kept Them

Together On The Course Which Led Them To The Carpathia.

"As The End Of The Titanic Became Manifestly But A Matter

Of Moments,  The Oarsmen Pulled Their Boats Away,  And The

Chilling Waters Began To Echo Splash After Splash As Passengers

And Sailors In Life-Preservers Leaped Over And Started

Swimming Away To Escape The Expected Suction.

"Only The Hardiest Of Constitutions Could Endure For More

Than A Few Moments Such A Numbing Bath. The First Vigor-

Ous Strokes Gave Way To Heart-Breaking Cries Of `Help! Help!'

And Stiffened Forms Were Seen Floating On The Water All

Around Us.

"Led By The Green Light,  Under The Light Of The Stars,  The

Boats Drew Away,  And The Bow,  Then The Quarter,  Then The

Stacks And At Last The Stern Of The Marvel-Ship Of A Few Days

Before,  Passed Beneath The Waters. The Great Force Of The

Ship's Sinking Was Unaided By Any Violence Of The Elements,

And The Suction,  Not So Great As Had Been Feared,  Rocked But

Mildly The Group Of Boats Now A Quarter Of A Mile Distant

From It.

"Early Dawn Brought No Ship,  But Not Long After 5 A. M.

The Carpathia,  Far Out Of Her Path And Making Eighteen Knots,

Instead Of Her Wonted Fifteen,  Showed Her Single Red And Black

Smokestack Upon The Horizon. In The Joy Of That Moment,

The Heaviest Griefs Were Forgotten.

"Soon Afterward Captain Rostron And Chief Steward

Hughes Were Welcoming The Chilled And Bedraggled Arrivals

Over The Carpathia's Side.

"Terrible As Were The San Francisco,  Slocum And Iroquois

Disasters,  They Shrink To Local Events In Comparison With This

World-Catastrophe.

"True,  There Were Others Of Greater Qualifications And

Longer Experience Than I Nearer The Tragedy--But They,  By

Every Token Of Likelihood,  Have Become A Part Of The Tragedy.

The Honored--Must I Say The Lamented--Stead,  The Adroit

Jacques Futrelle,  What Might They Not Tell Were Their Hands

Able To Hold Pencil?

"The Silence Of The Carpathia's Engines,  The Piercing Cold,

The Clamor Of Many Voices In The Companionways,  Caused Me

To Dress Hurriedly And Awaken My Wife,  At 5.40 A. M. Monday.

Our Stewardess,  Meeting Me Outside,  Pointed To A

Wailing Host In The Rear Dining Room And Said. `From The

Titanic. She's At The Bottom Of The Ocean.'

"At The Ship's Side,  A Moment Later,  I Saw The Last Of The

Line Of Boats Discharge Their Loads,  And Saw Women,  Some

With Cheap Shawls About Their Heads,  Some With The Costliest

Of Fur Cloaks,  Ascending The Ship's Side. And Such Joy As The

First Sight Of Our Ship May Have Given Them Had Disappeared

From Their Faces,  And There Were Tears And Signs Of Faltering

As The Women Were Helped Up The Ladders Or Hoisted Aboard

In Swings. For Lack Of Room To Put Them,  Several Of The

Titanic's Boats,  After Unloading,  Were Set Adrift.

"At Our North Was A Broad Ice Field,  The Length Of Hundreds

Of Carpathias. Around Us On Other Sides Were Sharp And

Glistening Peaks. One Black Berg,  Seen About 10 A. M.,  Was

Said To Be That Which Sunk The Titanic."

Publication Date: 05-14-2014

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