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

Among That Gay Ship's Company Were Two Score Or More At

Least For Whom The Wedding Bells Had Sounded In Truth Not

Many Days Before. Some Were On Their Honeymoon Tours,

Others Were Returning To Their Motherland After Having Passed

The Weeks Of The Honeymoon,  Like Colonel John Jacob Astor

And His Young Bride,  Amid The Diversions Of Egypt Or Other

Old World Countries.

What Daring Flight Of Imagination Would Have Ventured

The Prediction That Within The Span Of Six Days That Stately

Ship,  Humbled,  Shattered And Torn Asunder,  Would Lie Two

Thousand Fathoms Deep At The Bottom Of The Atlantic,  That

The Benign Face That Peered From The Bridge Would Be Set In

The Rigor Of Death And That The Happy Bevy Of Voyaging Brides

Would Be Sorrowing Widows?

Almost In A Collision

The Big Vessel Had,  However,  A Touch Of Evil Fortune Before

She Cleared The Harbor Of Southampton. As She Passed Down

Stream Her Immense Bulk--She Displaced 66,000 Tons--Drew

The Waters After Her With An Irresistible Suction That Tore The

American Liner New York From Her Moorings; Seven Steel

Hawsers Were Snapped Like Twine. The New York Floated

Toward The White Star Ship,  And Would Have Rammed The New

Ship Had Not The Tugs Vulcan And Neptune Stopped Her And

Towed Her Back To The Quay.

When The Mammoth Ship Touched At Cherbourg And Later

At Queenstown She Was Again The Object Of A Port Ovation,  The

Smaller Craft Doing Obeisance While Thousands Gazed In Wonder

At Her Stupendous Proportions. After Taking Aboard Some

Additional Passengers At Each Port,  The Titanic Headed Her

Towering Bow Toward The Open Sea And The Race For A Record

On Her Maiden Voyage Was Begun.

New Burst Of Speed Each Day

The Titanic Made 484 Miles As Her First Day's Run,  Her Powerful

New Engines Turning Over At The Rate Of Seventy Revolutions.

On The Second Day Out The Speed Was Hit Up To Seventy-Three

Revolutions And The Run For The Day Was Bulletined As 519

Miles. Still Further Increasing The Speed,  The Rate Of Revolution

Of The Engines Was Raised To Seventy-Five And The Day's

Run Was 549 Miles,  The Best Yet Scheduled.

But The Ship Had Not Yet Been Speeded To Her Capacity

She Was Capable Of Turning Over About Seventy-Eight Revolutions.

Had The Weather Conditions Been Propitious,  It Was

Intended To Press The Great Racer To The Full Limit Of Her Speed

On Monday. But For The Titanic Monday Never Came.

Fire In The Coal Bunkers

Unknown To The Passengers,  The Titanic Was On Fire From The

Day She Sailed From Southampton. Her Officers And Crew

Knew It,  For They Had Fought The Fire For Days.

This Story,  Told For The First Time By The Survivors Of The

Crew,  Was Only One Of The Many Thrilling Tales Of The Fateful

First Voyage.

"The Titanic Sailed From Southampton On Wednesday,

April 10th,  At Noon," Said J. Dilley,  Fireman On The Titanic.

"I Was Assigned To The Titanic From The Oceanic,  Where I

Had Served As A Fireman. From The Day We Sailed The Titanic

Was On Fire,  And My Sole Duty,  Together With Eleven Other

Men,  Had Been To Fight That Fire. We Had Made No Headway

Against It."

Passengers In Ignorance

"Of Course," He Went On,  "The Passengers Knew Nothing

Of The Fire. Do You Think We'd Have Let Them Know About It?

No,  Sir.

"The Fire Started In Bunker No. 6. There Were Hundreds

Of Tons Of Coal Stored There. The Coal On Top Of The Bunker

Was Wet,  As All The Coal Should Have Been,  But Down At The

Bottom Of The Bunker The Coal Had Been Permitted To Get Dry.

"The Dry Coal At The Bottom Of The Pile Took Fire,  And

Smoldered For Days. The Wet Coal On Top Kept The Flames From

Coming Through,  But Down In The Bottom Of The Bunkers The

Flames Were Raging.

"Two Men From Each Watch Of Stokers Were Tolled Off,  To

Fight That Fire. The Stokers Worked Four Hours At A Time,

So Twelve Of Us Were Fighting Flames From The Day We Put Out

Of Southampton Until We Hit The Iceberg.

"No,  We Didn't Get That Fire Out,  And Among The Stokers

There Was Talk That We'd Have To Empty The Big Coal Bunkers

After We'd Put Our Passengers Off In New York,  And Then Call

On The Fire-Boats There To Help Us Put Out The Fire.

"The Stokers Were Alarmed Over It,  But The Officers Told

Us To Keep Our Mouths Shut--They Didn't Want To Alarm The

Passengers."

Usual Diversion

Until Sunday,  April 14th,  Then,  The Voyage Had Apparently

Been A Delightful But Uneventful One. The Passengers Had

Passed The Time In The Usual Diversions Of Ocean Travelers,

Amusing Themselves In The Luxurious Saloons,  Promenading

On The Boat Deck,  Lolling At Their Ease In Steamer Chairs And

Making Pools On The Daily Runs Of The Steamship. The

Smoking Rooms And Card Rooms Had Been As Well Patronized

As Usual,  And A Party Of Several Notorious Professional Gamblers

Had Begun Reaping Their Usual Easy Harvest.

As Early As Sunday Afternoon The Officers Of The Titanic

Must Have Known That They Were Approaching Dangerous

Ice Fields Of The Kind That Are A Perennial Menace To The Safety

Of Steamships Following The Regular Transatlantic Lanes Off

The Great Banks Of Newfoundland.

An Unheeded Warning

On Sunday Afternoon The Titanic's Wireless Operator

Forwarded To The Hydrographic Office In Washington,  Baltimore,

Philadelphia And Elsewhere The Following Dispatch:

"April 14.--The German Steamship Amerika (Hamburg-

American Line) Reports By Radio-Telegraph Passing Two Large

Icebergs In Latitude 41.27,  Longitude 50.08.--Titanic,  Br.

S. S."

Despite This Warning,  The Titanic Forged Ahead Sunday

Night At Her Usual Speed--From Twenty-One To Twenty-Five

Knots.

Some Of The Notable Passengers

Sketches Of Prominent Men And Women On Board,  Including

Major Archibald Butt,  John Jacob Astor,  Benjamin

Guggenheim,  Isidor Straws,  J. Bruce Ismay,  George D.

Widener,  Colonel Washington Roebling,  2d,  Charles

M. Hays,  W. T. Stead And Others

The Ship's Company Was Of A Character Befitting The

Greatest Of All Vessels And Worthy Of The Occasion

Of Her Maiden Voyage. Though The Major Part Of

Her Passengers Were Americans Returning From Abroad,  There

Were Enrolled Upon Her Cabin Lists Some Of The Most Distinguished

Names Of England,  As Well As Of The Younger Nation.

Many Of These Had Purposely Delayed Sailing,  Or Had Hastened

Their Departure,  That They Might Be Among The First Passengers

On The Great Vessel.

There Were Aboard Six Men Whose Fortunes Ran Into Tens

Of Millions,  Besides Many Other Persons Of International

Note. Among The Men Were Leaders In The World Of Commerce,

Finance,  Literature,  Art And The Learned Professions.

Many Of The Women Were Socially Prominent In Two Hemispheres.

Wealth And Fame,  Unfortunately,  Are Not Proof Against

Fate,  And Most Of These Notable Personages Perished As Pitiably

As The More Humble Steerage Passengers.

The List Of Notables Included Colonel John Jacob Astor,

Head Of The Astor Family,  Whose Fortune Is Estimated At

$150,000,000; Isidor Straus,  Merchant And Banker ($50,000,000);

J. Bruce Ismay,  Managing Director Of The International

Mercantile Marine ($40,000,000); Benjamin Guggenheim,

Head Of The Guggenheim Family ($95,000,000):

George D. Widener,  Son Of P. A. B. Widener,  Traction Magnate

And Financier ($5,000,000); Colonel Washington Roebling,

Builder Of The Great Brooklyn Bridge; Charles M.

Hays,  President Of The Grand Trunk Railway; W. T. Stead.

Famous Publicist; Jacques Futrelle,  Journalist; Henry S.

Harper,  Of The Firm Of Harper & Bros.; Henry B. Harris,

Theatrical Manager; Major Archibald Butt,  Military Aide To

President Taft; And Francis D. Millet,  One Of The Best-

Known American Painters.

Major Butt

Major Archibald Butt,  Whose Bravery On The Sinking Vessel

Will Not Soon Be Forgotten,  Was Military Aide To President

Taft And Was Known Wherever The President Traveled. His

Recent European Mission Was Apparently To Call On The Pope

In Behalf Of President Taft; For On March 21st He Was Received

At The Vatican,  And Presented To The Pope A Letter From Mr.

Taft Thanking The Pontiff For The Creation Of Three New American

Cardinals.

Major Butt Had A Reputation As A Horseman,  And It Is Said

He Was Able To Keep Up With President Roosevelt,  Be The Ride

Ever So Far Or Fast. He Was Promoted To The Rank Of Major

In 1911. He Sailed For The Mediterranean On March 2d With

His Friend Francis D. Millet,  The Artist,  Who Also Perished On

The Titanic.

Colonel Astor

John Jacob Astor Was Returning From A Trip To Egypt With

His Nineteen-Year-Old Bride,  Formerly Miss Madeline Force,  To

Whom He Was Married In Providence,  September 9,  1911. He

Was Head Of The Family Whose Name He Bore And One Of The

World's Wealthiest Men. He Was Not,  However,  One Of The

World's "Idle Rich," For His Life Of Forty-Seven Years Was A Well-

Filled One. He Had Managed The Family Estates Since 1891;

Built The Astor Hotel,  New York; Was Colonel On The Staff Of

Governor Levi P. Morton,  And In May,  1898,  Was Commissioned

Colonel Of The United States Volunteers. After Assisting Major-

General Breckinridge,  Inspector-General Of The United States

Army,  He Was Assigned To Duty On The Staff Of Major-General

Shafter And Served In Cuba During The Operations Ending In

The Surrender Of Santiago. He Was Also The Inventor Of A

Bicycle Brake,  A Pneumatic Road-Improver,  And An Improved

Turbine Engine.

Benjamin Guggenheim

Next To Colonel Astor In Financial Importance Was Benjamin

Guggenheim,  Whose Father Founded The Famous House

Of M. Guggenheim And Sons. When The Various Guggen-

Heim Interests Were Consolidated Into The American Smelting

And Refining Company He Retired From Active Business,

Although He Later Became Interested In The Power And Mining

Machinery Company Of Milwaukee. In 1894 He Married

Miss Floretta Seligman,  Daughter Of James Seligman,  The

New York Banker.

Isidor Straus

Isidor Straus,  Whose Wife Elected To Perish With Him In The

Ship,  Was A Brother Of Nathan And Oscar Straus,  A Partner