THE TITANIC DISASTER.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 95, 22 April 1912, Page 5

THE TITANIC DISASTER.

FURTHER DETAILS OF THE HORRIBLE FEATURES OF THE CALAMITY.

THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TAKES STEPS TO SECURE

SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.

MULTIPLICATION OF STORIES OF HEROISM.

LOST: 1635. SLAVED; 705. IH HOSPITAL; 104.

(By Electric Telegraph. --Copyright—United Press Association.)

Now York, April 20. Congress has adjourned as a token of respect to the survivors. It is stated that the Titanic was steaming at 21 knots when she struck, according to instructions to keep UP| speed in order to break the first voy-| age record. Captain’s Heroism Commanded. All commend the captain’s heroism, He was literally washed from his post When the boats were clear of tinship the captain said, “Men, you have done your duty fully. Yon / can do no more. It’s every man for him self.” Before the vessel sank, the captain megaphoned to the mass on the deck. “Be British!” Later, the captain was soon helping those struggling in the water. Ho refused an opportunity to save "himself. imperturbable Passengers. Many passengers retired to bed, convinced the ship would not sink. Others stood on the rail ridiculing as landlubbers those taking to the boats. Plucky Wireless Operator. Phillips, the wireless operator,, stuck to Ids post till the dynamo ceased ami the water invaded his room % With Bride, his assistant, ho was washed overboard. Bride was saved. The survivors think that Mr Actor and Mr Stead reached n raft, hut succumbed from cold and dropp'd off. Mom Rush Woman's 'Boat. Lady Gordon states that a fe\\ men rushed her boat., . An officer drove them off, hut, one- man persisting was shot dead, ' His body remained on the boat till the Carpathia picked her up. - J •• : jh!-5‘ 1 Six Chinese hid under the seats of the lifeboats prior to launching,, and. \ - ■; I j • , < - 1 > ) J • ? • i A : •!' J ' • •' • were, undetected. j t f { .., ; y - y Nameless Infants Saved, p, Seven nameless infants were rcs■cued. One is suffering from scarlet fever, and another from menigitis. Several survivors are suffering from pneumonia. A year-old child named Allison, sou of a'Montreal banker, is the sole) suiv ■vivorffif a-family of: four;. ■>:: ivi a Among-'the lost are Mr Julian (the. 'well-known metallurgical engineer, and managing director of the Vacuum, Oil Company), the Rev. Mr Carter and his wife' (of St. Julius’ Church, Whitechapel). Helping His Friend. Bride, the wireless assistant, had both his feet injured. He bare testimony to Phillips’s courage. Bride strapped a lifebelt on Phillips while the latter was informing the Olympic of the sinking of the vessel. Water then entered the wireless room. A stoker attempted to remove Phillips’s belt, but Bride knocked him down. Phillips went aft to the bridge and clung to it, but was washed overboard. The sea was dotted with people depending upon lifebelts. Another witness saw Phillips die on a raft from exposure. A Pathetic Last Message. Comion, operator on the Carpathia, states" that Phillips’s hist message was, “Come quickly; cngincroom filling to the boilers.” Crew of Woman Rowers. | The Countess Rothes, an expert; oarswoman, practically commanded her I boat. When she found that the men could not row properly, several women took the places of the weak and unskilled stewards. Philanthropic persons provided 210 of the crew with outfits. Mr Ismay was rescued in his slippers, pyjamas and overcoat, dazed with cold. Several narratives testify to his active assistance in filling and lowering the boats. Charles Williams, the racquet champion, is among those rescued. Steamer Route Shifted South. The American Hydrographic Office has ordered the lanes for Atlantic lines to bo moved 180 miles to the southward of the Titanic s track. Mr Grade declares that when he reached the surface lie found the second officer and Theyer, a junior, swimming near him. One of the funnels, fell, scattering bodies in the water. The explosion blew the ship’s barber off the deck. When the rafts wore full several piteously begged for help, > but the crew, for self-preservation, re-1 fused to permit more aboard. All on the raft prayed throughout the weary night. The Fate of tho Officers. Mrs Widen er, whose husband and son wore drowned, states that she i saw Contain Smith jump oh" the bridge| into tho sea. A moment previously she saw another officer commit suinMo by putting a bullet through his brain. Valour and Discipline of the Crow. The American newspapers pay an unanimous tribute to (lie valour and discipline of the crew. They complain of tho inadequate boat accotnmo-

elation and of the Titanic being driven at twenty-one knots an hour in a region of icebergs. One hundred and forty survivors nl the wreck are in tho hospital. Senate’s Enquiry Opera!. The Senate’s enquiry has opened. Mr Ismay stated that he was aslo- p at the time the Titanic struck. The Titanic was not pushed To' the speedlimit, and averaged about; 21.' knois. He was only once consulted 1 by the! captain about the vessel when it was arranged ‘ iiht “to at-i tempt to reach New York before five) o’clock on Wednesday irtorriilig. He| only entered the boat when, there was) no response to the calk for women.. He left about an hour after, the, collision. Ho believed that tho vessel; struck between the how, and the bridge. A Startling Experience. Mr Ligbtoller, second officer, maintained that his boat was- well filled. Preference was given to the women. Ho accounted for the saving of tho crew by stating that five out of every six picked up in the water were firemen and stewards. There was no demonstration ou board, not even lamentation among those left behind. He dived as the vessel sank, and wjis sucked under. He was held fast against a blower, when a’tttf fifitf’gtfflfi through tiie blower, due probably to a boiler explosion, blew flip mica)'. He reached the surface near a boat. A SiiorMivod Pardo. Three French", survivors’ ( that they wore playing cards when they heard a violent noise like tho propellers racing. They saw jeo rubbing the -' vessel’S* sided' and hR-i’iiAt/nd'ohs list followed. There was a r niomeut-ai-y .piiniQ, f’ confidence ,-\y/yg f, : , )( e) c.e caj>tain sgid: “Lot everyone don a lifebelt. It is more prudent.” Shrieks cf Anguish. The hand played popular airs to reassure the passengers. None wanted to go into the boats, believing that there Hence soiho Ws lurd Their boat, halt a-£jUe. Tlic spectacle was fairyjlke,‘ the Titanic illuminated and stationary, resembling a fantastic stage picture? if! Sudf^en ly the lights wereU’extinguished. An immense, clamper, followed,, . gud t,.e. air: resounded .with a supreme Very for help and shrieks of anguish, i ■ , ; The Titanic sank quietly. The suction was imperceptible, hut there was a great backwash. -, Colispsiblos Swamped. After the boats left, a group of passengers was seen with difficully launching the collapsihles, Tiicy got in, but the boats gradually filled, and the majority of those on board were drowned nr perished from cold. Crew’s Sublime Sacrifice, The crew showed sublime sacrifice. Much useless sacrifice would have been avoided but for a blind faith in the vessel’s unsinkablencss. The sea was strewn with dead bodies. There are rumours of atrocities by frenzied members of tho crew, including the shooting of passengers in.the boats and tho braining of swimmers trying to enter the boats, but the majority of witnesses do not confirm these. a-i; '■■' ,' Agonising Array of Merrors. The last scenes presented an agonising array of horrors. As. the sli p split, her stern rose precipitously, and scores of people leaped overboard. Others scrambled madly upwards on the stern. As the incline steepened, hundreds lost their footing and tohoggoned downwards amidst pitiable shrieking. Hundreds who escaped the vortex clung to the wreckage and the rafts. Deaths from Shook by Ice-Cold Water. It is believed that eight hundred people jumped as the vessel sank. Only the hardiest could stand the icy water. A few vigorous strokes and ffoned forms floated away. Foolish Women. H . The boat commanded by the purser was capsized by three women rushing to the side to say farewell to thoii relatives. It is believed that none or the thirty women on board survived. Ugly Rush by Foreigners. A number of foreigners made an ugly rush, but Mr Murdoch, the first officer, revolver in hand, said, “I’ll kill the first man that rushes.” Three rushed forward, and one dropped, shot through the head. Another had his jaw blown away, and the quartermaster felled the third. Icebergs to be Shelled, The House of Representatives have adopted a measure to provide for the shelling of ieehc-rgs by warship as target practice, as well an to .'bar dangers Horn the navigator’s patn.

The Relief Fgncis. London, April 20. The women’s fund in aid of the wreck survivors amounts to £7OOO. The Mansion House Fund bar; reached £-10,000, and the Southampton fund £6200. Death Roll; 1635. The White Star officials state that 1G35 persons perished, and 705 w< re saved. Eighty-five of the latter are in hospital. Lucky Superstition. (Received 22, 8.5 a.in. New" York, April 21. Superstition saved the lire of Mrs Fisoa, a resident of Vancouver who was visiting England. Reading in an almanac that a great sea disaster was likely to occur in the middle of April, she refused to return, although her husband urged her to come aboard the Titanic. A Drastic Order. Mr Ismay has instructed that the liners of the International Mercantile Marine Company shall be equipped with lifeboats and rafts sufficient loi all aboard. Southernmost Course Taken. The committee re-examined Mr Is may. The Titanic’s officers gave evidence that they followed strictly tne southernmost track for west-bound ships. They encountered no ice previously. They were proceeding with vigilant lookouts at full speed, but they, jeduced the speed probably to twenty-one or twenty-two knots. Lowering tlis Boats. Ligbtoller stated that when the first boat was lowered, the deck was twenty feet above the water, and when the last was launched only a few feet. Making Surs of Evidence. The committee at first refused to allow Mr Ismay or any of tho officers or crow to return to England. Afterwards they decided that Mr Ismay. four officers and twelve of the crew should remain. Mr Ismay Indignant. Mr Ismay, interviewed, said: “The committee is brutally unfair. My conscience is clear. 1 took tho op portunity to escape when it came. : did not seek it.” LADY DUFF GORDON’S STORY. (Received 22, 9.5 a.in.) London,, April 21., ~, Lady Duff Gordon’s narrative of the Titanic disaster as it-'appears in. hue Daily News is as follows: —“I was "asleep when the crash occurred hut had been previously watching ;the fields of ;ice. A Long Grinding Cfasli. h (R( An officer pointed out one apparently a hundred' feet' high> rind several miles long. I, was awakened by a long," grinding crash 1 'aAd ■drbdsed Cosmo (her husband) and he ran to investigate. He returned and said we had hit a lug berg. We adjusted preservers and went on deck. There was no excitement. No Alarm Created. ! The sliip : 'listfkl '‘slightl.V ' hut nobody Idreamed she could sink. There was lit- ■ tie alarm, even - when the officer:icame.running and announcing that the : wohien And ''children 4nnsL ? go to t in boats, tins being thought an ordinary i precaution. , ~ , ~ , f , The Twelfth Boat. Our boat was the twelfth or thirteenth launched and contained fivestokers, two Americans named Solomon and Steengel, two sailors, Cosmo, myself and Miss Frank, who is an English girl. Good-Natured Chaff. Numbers of men standing near joked with us because we were going cut on the ocean, saying: “You’ll get your death of cold.” A Curious Shiver. Out amid the icc wo cruised around for -two hours and suddenly saw the Titanic give a curious shiver. There were no lights on the ship except a few lanterns. We heard several pistol shots and great screaming from the docks. Two Tremendous Explosions. Tho Titanic’s stern was lifted in the air with a tremendous explosion. Then another explosion followed and the whole forward part went under and the stern rose a hundred feet like an enormous black finger against the sky. Little figures hung to the point of the finger and then dropped into the" water. “Chorus of Utter Agony.” The screaming was agonising. I never heard such a continued chorus of utter agony. A minute or two later the Titanic’s stern slowly disappeared as though a great hand was gently pushing it under the waves. As she sank the screaming of the pomsouls aboard seemed to grow louder. Almost Peaceful Sinking. Wo were two hundred yards away and watched her go down slowly—almost peacefully. For a moment there was an awful silence. Bedlam of Shrieks. Then from tho water from where the Titanic had been arose a bedlam j of shrieks and cries of men and women clinging to wreckage in the iceyj water. It was at least an hour he-i fore the awful chorus of shrieks ceased, gradually dying into a moan of j despair. The Very Last Cry. I The very last cry was a man’s 1 “My God! My God!” cried monoton-j ously in a full hopeless way. There! was one iceberg, possibly the one the' Titanic struck, which seemed to pur-j sue us. The rowers made frantic of-1 forts to get past. Among tho Floes and Bergs. At last morning came. On one; side of ns were ice floes and big bergs. | while on the other side wo uere horrified to sec shoals of tremendous i whales. The Cr.rpMhffi Arriving. "\Ve then caught sight of the Car- '■

patkia looming in the distance and | heading straight for ns. Wo were | too numb with cold and horror to I utter a sound. There were more than j fifty women who lost their husbands, j including fifteen newly-red Inodes. Ghs'diy Gloom, j The gloom on the Carpathia was j ghastly. J buried myself in a cabin and did not come on deck till .New York was reached. “A Feu! Insult.” (Received 22, 9.10 a.in.) London, April 21. Ben Tillet,' on behalf of the Dock and Wharf Labourers’ Union, has issued a manifesto protesting that the vicious class antagonism shown in the refusal to permit third-class passengers to be saved was a disgrace to common civilisation. Correspondents protest that Tillet’s foul insult was made in order to gain cheap notoriety. increased Lifeboats. Hamburg-American and Canadian Pacific lines have decided to provide lifeboats for all the passengers and crew. Subscriptions Mounting. Subscriptions in Britain total a hundred thousand and in New York twenty thousand. Impressive Religious Services. In numerous churches and chapels reference were made to the disaster, the dead march played, and dumb peals rung. Steerage' passengers included 120 from Marseilles. Extra Look-cut Not .Necessary. Mr Lightholler, the second officer, states that though ice was reported be did not think that an additional lookout was necessary. He heard the captain’s last command to put the women and children in the boats and lower away. Mr Lightholler says: “Whenever I saw women 1 put them aboard, except the stewardesses.” The Oerg Hard to See. Mr. Alfred White, an oiler, said if was so black that the iceberg was difficult to see. They made coffee after the vessel struck. Dying Like Gentlemen. James Etches, steward, assisted Mr Guggenheim and his secretary to get dressed, and put their lifebelts and sweaters on. He afterwards found them in evening l dress helping the women. Mr Guggerheim said: “We will go down like gentlemen. Toil my wife I tried to do my duty.” . . iiO Conscientious Postal Clerks. i i ' '<■ i /..i New York; April 21. | Survivors state that five postal •clerks continued carrying two hundred .sacks of registered mail to the higher ‘deck until the last. None were saved. No Boat Drill. The Titanic’s crew, except those 'who were subpoenaed, sailed in the Lapland. On being interviewed, they state that they had not boat drill dur- ; ing the voyage and that when the •boats wore being launched they be- ; lieved that they saw the lights of 1 fishing smacks live miles away. Some ■boats rowed desperately in that di- : rectipn, .. but failed , to find thejn. . : PY Y 11 i' - ,r~r- ,Y Only Half Necessary Boats Available. Auckland, S a t u r d a y. Mr 11. F, Bell, organiser of Hip British Sailors’ and Firemen’s Union. ; when interviewed by a reporter,-sai l he was well acquainted w:th the builds and methods of working steamers of the Titanic class., and he maintained that no matter if she carried sufficient boats to accommodate every passenger on board, it would bo impossible to utilise them in a ease of a collision or a wreck ashore. “These vessels do not sink on an even keel,” said Mr Bell, “and therefore it' would only be possible in such a ease to use the boats on one side of the ship. 'Then the boatdecks do not afford sufficient space to accommodate anything like the full complement of passengers at once As for third-class passengers and members of the crew, they would nc-vei find their way to the boat-decks. Te.es.' mammoth vessels are less like steamers than floating hotels, and they would he probably lost on route.” Asked as to what remeiy he would suggest, Mr Bel! said that Hio on A tiling to bo done was io < marge -T'e passenger space on deck, and reduce the number of people earn :cl Regarding the cause of the disaster, Mi IJ< ii said that at this time of tlm y>-ai ii was regarded as safe to go furtatv north than later in the season, when the icebergs would have commenced to break up and float south. The visitors also mentioned that ii was possible for a man on the lookout to smell bergs jimmy miles before they wore encountered. He thought the Titanic must have struck a very solid one.AM UNDSKN’S Vi EWS. Auckland,. April 22. Captain Amundsen, interviewed in regard to the Titanic disaster, remarked that one account which said that a berg was met with which was one mile in length was surely exaggerated. More probably a line of bergs was encountered that was a mile or so in length. Nor did it seem to him probable that very litile of the berg could have been showing. If one could depend upon the cablegrams tons of ice had fallen on the deck of the sinking liner which was itself particularly high out of t;.c- water. It was exceptionally early in the year to meet icebergs off the coast: of Newfoundland. He could only account for their presence if there had been ;m abnormally heavy wind :n the north several weeks previous to tae disaster. Question* d as to facihticr for ascertaining that icebergs are in I a given locality, Captain Amuydren ’ declined to ray much on i!e pr..i,v - One method was to take the tempera-

ture regularly. One thing was ccri tain, when the inquiry concluded it would he found that the captain and his officers had done their duty.