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

" `And What Are You Going To Do?' We Asked Him.

" `Oh,' He Replied,  `I'll Take A Chance And Stay Here.'

"Just At That Time They Were Filling Up The Third Life-Boat

On The Port Side Of The Ship. I Thought At The Time That It

Was The Third Boat Which Had Been Lowered,  But I Found Out

Later That They Had Lowered Other Boats On The Other Side,

Where The People Were More Excited Because They Were Sinking

On That Side.

"Just Then Mr. Roebling Came Up,  Too,  And Told Us To

Hurry And Get Into The Third Boat. Mr. Roebling And Mr.

Case Bustled Our Party Of Three Into That Boat In Less Time Than

It Takes To Tell It. They Were Both Working Hard To Help The

Women And Children. The Boat Was Fairly Crowded When We

Three Were Pushed Into It,  And A Few Men Jumped In At The Last

Moment,  But Mr. Roebling And Mr. Case Stood At The Rail

And Made No Attempt To Get Into The Boat.

"They Shouted Good-Bye To Us. What Do You Think Mr.

Case Did Then? He Just Calmly Lighted A Cigarette And Waved

Us Good-Bye With His Hand. Mr. Roebling Stood There,  Too--

I Can See Him Now. I Am Sure That He Knew That The Ship

Would Go To The Bottom. But Both Just Stood There."

In The Face Of Death

Scenes On The Sinking Vessel Grew More Tragic As The Remaining

Passengers Faced The Awful Certainty That Death Must Be The

Portion Of The Majority,  Death In The Darkness Of A Wintry Sea

Studded With Its Ice Monuments Like The Marble Shafts In

Some Vast Cemetery.

In That Hour,  When Cherished Illusions Of Possible Safety

Had All But Vanished,  Manhood And Womanhood Aboard The

Titanic Rose To Their Sublimest Heights. It Was In That Crisis

Of The Direst Extremity That Many Brave Women Deliberately

Rejected Life And Chose Rather To Remain And Die With The Men

Whom They Loved.

Death Fails To Part Mr. And Mrs. Straus

"I Will Not Leave My Husband," Said Mrs. Isidor Straus.

"We Are Old; We Can Best Die Together," And She Turned From

Those Who Would Have Forced Her Into One Of The Boats And

Clung To The Man Who Had Been The Partner Of Her Joys And

Sorrows. Thus They Stood Hand In Hand And Heart To Heart,

Comforting Each Other Until The Sea Claimed Them,  United In

Death As They Had Been Through A Long Life.

"Greater Love Hath No Man Than This,  That A Man Lay Down His

Life For His Friends."

Miss Elizabeth Evans Fulfilled This Final Test Of Affection

Laid Down By The Divine Master. The Girl Was The Niece Of

The Wife Of Magistrate Cornell,  Of New York. She Was Placed

In The Same Boat With Many Other Women. As It Was About

To Be Lowered Away It Was Found That The Craft Contained One

More Than Its Full Quota Of Passengers.

The Grim Question Arose As To Which Of Them Should Surrender

Her Place And Her Chance Of Safety. Beside Miss

Evans Sat Mrs. J. J. Brown,  Of Denver,  The Mother Of Several

Children. Miss Evans Was The First To Volunteer To Yield To

Another.

Girl Steps Back To Doom

"Your Need Is Greater Than Mine," Said She To Mrs. Brown.

"You Have Children Who Need You,  And I Have None."

So Saying She Arose From The Boat And Stepped Back Upon

The Deck. The Girl Found No Later Refuge And Was One Of Those

Who Went Down With The Ship. She Was Twenty-Five Years

Old And Was Beloved By All Who Knew Her.

Mrs. Brown Thereafter Showed The Spirit Which Had Made

Her Also Volunteer To Leave The Boat. There Were Only Three

Men In The Boat And But One Of Them Rowed. Mrs. Brown,

Who Was Raised On The Water,  Immediately Picked Up One

Of The Heavy Sweeps And Began To Pull.

In The Boat Which Carried Mrs. Cornell And Mrs. Appleton

There Were Places For Seventeen More Than Were Carried.

This Too Was Undermanned And The Two Women At Once Took

Their Places At The Oars.

The Countess Of Rothes Was Pulling At The Oars Of Her

Boat,  Likewise Undermanned Because The Crew Preferred To

Stay Behind.

Miss Bentham,  Of Rochester,  Showed Splendid Courage.

She Happened To Be In A Life-Boat Which Was Very Much

Crowded--So Much So That One Sailor Had To Sit With His Feet

Dangling In The Icy Cold Water,  And As Time Went On The Sufferings

Of The Man From The Cold Were Apparent. Miss Bentham

Arose From Her Place And Had The Man Turn Around While

She Took Her Place With Her Feet In The Water.

Scarcely Any Of The Life-Boats Were Properly Manned.

Two,  Filled With Women And Children,  Capsized Immediately,

While The Collapsible Boats Were Only Temporarily Useful.

They Soon Filled With Water. In One Boat Eighteen Or

Twenty Persons Sat In Water Above Their Knees For Six Hours.

{Illust. Caption =

In The Darkness And

Confusion,  Punctuated

By Screams,  Sobs And

Curses,  The Boats Were

Lowered After Being Filled

With Women,  Children

And A Few Men. The

Sketch,  Drawn From Description

Of Eye-Witnesses,

Shows The Lofty Side Of

The Stricken Vessel And

The Laden Boats Descending.

The

Life-Boats

Being

Lowered}

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

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

Life-Boats,  As Seen From The Carpathia

Photographs Taken From The Rescue Ship As She Reached The First Boats

Carrying The Titanic's Sufferers.}

Heard It,  But Have Forgotten It. But I Saw An Order For Five

Pounds Which This Man Gave To Each Of The Crew Of His Boat

After They Got Aboard The Carpathia. It Was On A Piece Of

Ordinary Paper Addressed To The Coutts Bank Of England.

"We Called That Boat The `Money Boat.' It Was Lowered

From The Starboard Side And Was One Of The First Off. Our

Orders Were To Load The Life-Boats Beginning Forward On The

Port Side,  Working Aft And Then Back On The Starboard.

This Man Paid The Firemen To Lower A Starboard Boat Before

The Officers Had Given The Order."

Whiteley's Own Experience Was A Hard One. When The

Uncoiling Rope,  Which Entangled His Feet,  Threw Him Into The

Sea,  It Furrowed The Flesh Of His Leg,  But He Did Not Feel The

Pain Until He Was Safe Aboard The Carpathia.

"I Floated On My Life-Preserver For Several Hours," He Said,

"Then I Came Across A Big Oak Dresser With Two Men Clinging

To It. I Hung On To This Till Daybreak And The Two Men

Dropped Off. When The Sun Came Up I Saw The Collapsible

Raft In The Distance,  Just Black With Men. They Were All

Standing Up,  And I Swam To It--Almost A Mile,  It Seemed To Me

--And They Would Not Let Me Aboard. Mr. Lightoller,  The

Second Officer,  Was One Of Them.

" `It's Thirty-One Lives Against Yours,,  He Said,  `You Can't

Come Aboard. There's Not Room.' "

"I Pleaded With Him In Vain,  And Then I Confess I Prayed

That Somebody Might Die,  So I Could Take His Place. It Was

Only Human. And Then Some One Did Die,  And They Let Me

Aboard.

"By And By,  We Saw Seven Life-Boats Lashed Together,  And

We Were Taken Into Them."

Men Shot Down

The Officers Had To Assert Their Authority By Force,  And Three

Foreigners From The Steerage Who Tried To Force Their Way In

Among The Women And Children Were Shot Down Without

Mercy.

Robert Daniel,  A Philadelphia Passenger,  Told Of Terrible

Scenes At This Period Of The Disaster. He Said Men Fought

And Bit And Struck One Another Like Madmen,  And Exhibited

Wounds Upon His Face To Prove The Assertion. Mr. Daniel

Said That He Was Picked Up Naked From The Ice-Cold Water

And Almost Perished From Exposure Before He Was Rescued.

He And Others Told How The Titanic's Bow Was Completely

Torn Away By The Impact With The Berg.

K. Whiteman,  Of Palmyra,  N. J.,  The Titanic's Barber,

Was Lowering Boats On Deck After The Collision,  And Declared

The Officers On The Bridge,  One Of Them First Officer Murdock,

Promptly Worked The Electrical Apparatus For Closing The Water-

Tight Compartments. He Believed The Machinery Was In Some

Way So Damaged By The Crash That The Front Compartments

Failed To Close Tightly,  Although The Rear Ones Were Secure.

Whiteman's Manner Of Escape Was Unique. He Was Blown

Off The Deck By The Second Of The Two Explosions Of The Boilers,

And Was In The Water More Than Two Hours Before He Was

Picked Up By A Raft.

"The Explosions," Whiteman Said; "Were Caused By The

Rushing In Of The Icy Water On The Boilers. A Bundle Of Deck

Chairs,  Roped Together,  Was Blown Off The Deck With Me,  And I

Struck My Back,  Injuring My Spine,  But It Served As A Temporary

Raft.

"The Crew And Passengers Had Faith In The Bulkhead System

To Save The Ship And We Were Lowering A Collapsible Boat,

All Confident The Ship Would Get Through,  When She Took A

Terrific Dip Forward And The Water Swept Over The Deck And

Into The Engine Rooms.

"The Bow Went Clean Down,  And I Caught The Pile Of Chairs

As I Was Washed Up Against The Rim. Then Came The Explosions

Which Blew Me Fifteen Feet.

"After The Water Had Filled The Forward Compartments,

The Ones At The Stern Could Not Save Her,  Although They Did

Delay The Ship's Going Down. If