TITANIC WRECK

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 91, 17 April 1923, Page 7

TITANIC WRECK

ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

COMMEMORATION SERVICES

HONOUR FOR THE 1503 VICTIMS,

(UKITBD PBXES ASSOCIATION.—COPy'rMBT.) (AUSTRALIAN . NEW ZEALAND CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received 17th April, 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, 16th April. The coastguard cutter Modoc and all Ghm-ches, as well as all sea-going ships, held special services, and all radios remained silent for five minutes, in commemoration of the eleventh anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. To-day's tribute was paid when the Modpc took up a position over the spot where the Titanic sank and commemorated the tragedy with full military honours, while Churches near and far prayed for the repose of the souls of the victims.

At about half-past 10 o'clock on the night of 15th April, 1912, the White Star liner Titanic, of 45,300 tons, at that time the largest vessel in the world, struck an iceberg near Cape Race when on her maiden voyage from Queenstowu to New York. The shock was slight and caused little alarm at the time, as the vessel was believed to be unsinkable: but she was soon found to be filling, and all the passengers were ordered on deck with life-belts on. The boats were got out and the men were ordered to stand back while the women got in, but it afterwards appeared that many women passengers from the third-class had failed to reach the boat deck. In perfect order the boats, which, however, wero not filled to their capacity, and in any event were only capable of holding less than a third of those on board, were got away, and soon after the Titanic went down, carrying with her more than a thousand passengers and crew, very few of whom were picked up by the boats. By wireless telegraphy the Titanic had signalled for help immediately after the collision, and by 4 a.m. the following day the Carpathia arrived on the scene of the disaster and rescued the survivors, many of whom ' had suffered severely from cold and exposuve. The Titanic carried 1308 passengers and a craw of 398, making 2205 persons in all, of whom 703 were saved—493 passengers and 210 of the cvew. The master, Captain Smith, was drowned. Of the 815 passengers lost 661 were men, 101 women (81 being from the third-class), and 53 children (all from the third-class). The drowned included Mr. W. T. Stead, the famous publicist; Major Archibald Butt, aide-de-camp to President Taft; Mr. Thomas Andrews, jun., of Messrs. Harland and Wolff, the designer of the Titanic; Mr. Jaques Fubrelle, novelist; Mr. F. D. Millett, artist; several well-known American capitalists. *mohg them Colonel John Jacob Astor (who was on his honeymoon), Mr. George Widener, 'Mr.' Benjamin . Guggenheim, and Mr. Isodor Straus (whose wife refused to leave him and was drowned with him).

The British Court of Inquiry found, that the. collision with an iceberg was clue to the excessive speed at which the ship was navigated, but in visw ,ot the fact that Captain Smith was following an invariable practice, it absolved him from blame. . ■ ,