THIRTY ON A RAFT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 94, 20 April 1912, Page 5

THIRTY ON A RAFT

COLONEL GRACE'S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. SUCKED DOWN~IN THE WHIRLPOOL. WAITING HOURS~TO BE PICKED UP. Colonel Gracie went down, but reached a raft, oa which were thirty people knee deep in water. Th^y were subsequently picked up. He alleges Major Butt was defending a boat against a rush, and killed twelve men. He then' shot himself. Colonel Gracie further states that ho was driven to the top-moet deck but saw no other survivor. After a wave had swept the liner ho grasped a brass railing and hung to it desperately, but was forced to release his hold. When the ship plunged he swirled round for what seemed- an interminable time, but eventually came to the surface and seized a wooden grating. When he recovered his breath he discovered a large canvas cork raft. He and another struggled on to the raft and both rescued others who were floundering in the &ea. At dawn there were thirty on the raft - kneedeep in water and afraid, to move lest the raft overturned. Long and terrible hours had to be endured before the Carpathia picked them up. APPALLING CRIES FOR HELP PASSENGER'S SENSATIONAL STORY FROM STRIKING TO SINKING. NO PANIC OR ALARM. (Received April 20, 8.50 a.m.) LONDON, 19th April. Professor Edward Spencer Beesley, science master of Dulwicn College, in his narrative of the disaster, says that there was fine weather and a*calm sea on Sunday, when a very slight jar was felt lasting ten 'to fifteen seconds. It became somewhat greater, but insufficient to create anxiety. The engines were stopped and it was thought that the Titanic had lost a propeller. He went on deck, but only few were about. Some card players in the smoking room noticed the jar. Looking out he saw an iceberg at the vessel's side giving a grazing glancing blow. Prsf«Bsor Beesley went to his cabin and returned to the deck later and found that the Titanic was unmistakably down at the head. "ALL PASSENGERS ON DECK." He then went below, and heard the cry "All passengers on deck with, lifebelts on." The passengers merely regarded this as a precaution. There was no panic or alarm and no visible signt> of disaster. The boats were swung out, and tte> passengers were awakened to the danger by the next order : "All men stand from boats ; women, retire to the deck below." WOMEN REFUSE TO LEAVE THEIR HUSBANDS. As the boat* reached the lower deck the women quietly entered, with the exceptioni of some, who refusing to leave their husbands were in some cases forcibly torn from them and pushed into the boats. As the 'boats touched the water they slipped away into the darkness. There was no hysterical sobbing, only an extraordinary calm. "NO ONE SEEMED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO." STOKER IN CHARGE OF A BOAT. The men were then ordered into the boats. He saw a boat half full of women on the port side, and a sailor asked if there were any more ladies on his deck. There were none. He was then invited to jump in. There were no officers in the boat, and no one seemed to know what to do. The boat swung under another descending boat, but with promptitude, a stoker cut a fall and prevented all being crushed. The 6toker then took charge of the boat. DOOMED VESSEL'S END. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OV FINAL SCENE. Professor Beesley continued : — "The leviathan loomed up ' against the sky, every porthole blazing. At 2 o'clock tho vessel settled rapidly by the bows, the bridge going under watfer. The lights flickered ; then were extinguished. Tho stern . tinted and all tho machinery roared' down through the ves&el with a noise audible for miles. About one hundred and fifty feet of Ihe stern protruded straight up for about five minutes ; the boat then made a slanting dive. This was followed by appalling cries lor help from hundreds of human being in the icy -water."-