LOSS OF AN ATLANTIC LINER.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143772, 22 April 1912, Page 4

LOSS OF AN ATLANTIC LINER.

IMAGINARY WRECK DESCRIBED.

(By W. T. Stead.)

Among those who are believed to have perished in the appalling wreck of the Titanic is Mr. W. T. Stead, the well-known English journalist, and founder and editor of the Review of Reviews. Twenty-soven years ago Mr. Stead, who was then editor of the Rail Mali Gazette, published a graphic account of an imaginary shipping disaster in mid-Atlantic, in order to rouse public opinion on the danger of the practice which then existed of sending liners to sea short of boats. The account, which it is believed was written by Mr. Stead himself, has a melancholy interest at the present moment. Here are some extracts from it:

FIRST DAYS OUT. We took in 158 mail-bags and 342 passengers at Queenstown, and there was a good deal of confusion as the steamer he/ided away to the west, for we bad shipped 560 passengers in all at Liverpool, and it was a pretty tight fit in the steerage, I stayed on deck till after 11 at night. “She’s going it,” I said, by way of opening a conversation. “Yes, by the hokey, she’s doing sixteens now, and if the wind only comes round she’ll score eighteens like winking.” “It’s rather thick to drive her, isn’t it?” “Thick be blowed. W e ain’t got to inind that much. We shall slow her down a bit if we blunder into a regular fog, but she can’t spare a yard. Reckon we shall average soventeens right across.” Our talk went on till the curtain of midnight was fairly folded round us, and then I went aft to lend' a hand with the log. Sure enough we were going “sixteens,” and our progress was rather like that of a mackerel than a ship. The enormous pulse of the engines sent great tremors from stem to stern, and at every wheeling lash of the propeller the boat thrust her way through the black mountains that came down on her, tossing their savage white crests. In the morning the gale.blew harder, and the decks were almost deserted save by the few seasoned hands who came up to smoke in the alloys. It was not till the fourth day we had a'fine spell of sunshine, and from the fore hatch to the spare wheel the deck was crammed with jostling lines of pale but cheerful people. I did not much like the appearance of our Liverpool lot. There was no sign of discipline among the 560 steerage passengers, though it is fair to say that the foreigners behaved admirably. When a vessel hove up there was a nasty' rush to the side where she could be seen, and the women had to got out of the way as best they could. The officers’ uniforms cowed the most offensive of the rowdies, but I don’k think the terror was very deep-seated. The after-cabin passengers were a nice lot, and I particularly admired some of. the ladies who came out in their sea rig, and made the deck' gay. One Englishman of distinction attracted me strangely. He had his wife and family with him, and a more beautiful group I never saw. The eldest girl was a dark beauty about 18 years of age, and it was a pretty sight to see the 1 father beau-ing her about. The time went by pleasantly enough with us all, but I did wish that some, sort of discipline could have been established among the more blackguardly males, for their, games wore senseless and offensive.

On the fifth night out the moon shone beautifully, and we were surrounded by a fretwork of silver. I could not sleep for the very delight: of living, and I walked up and down crooning over old rhymes under the glad mystery of the night. A sudden freak prompted me to hoist myself up from the alley, and I had a look at four of the boats. The thole-pins were laid ready, wator casks made fast forward, oars lashed handily, plugs out. I counted and it struck me that the other four boats must be pretty big, for the four amidships were certainly small enough. At the finish I calculated that, by loading all the eight boats down to the water’s edge and packing the children along tho bottom boards, we might acrommodate 390 people. We were carrying 916 altogether. , COLLISION AT SEA. The next morning at three o’clock I felt restless; so I came up, and found that we were lungeing over a long, true sea, that moved in grey hillocks under a thick haze.' It was not exactly a fog, but it was puzzling. The look-out man sang shrilly, “Vessel awav on the starboard, bow, sir.” ‘'All right.” We steamed on, and I watched the looming ship. . “Shows her green, sir!” “All right.” A minute after the boatswain ran swiftly aft, and said softly to the officer on the bridge: “He’s going about, sir. D—d if I know what he wants to do.”_ We lost sight of the vessel's green just as we cleared the big bank of haze, and then I saw that a big barque was standing right across our bows. I glanced at tho mate, and saw him compress his lips; then i saw that wc were edging away to port, and I knew that our man was’going to shoot across the barque’s bows. Distances arc so deceptive that I still had no thought of nervousness till the barque suddenly shook out her square mainsail and came surging away lUI we saw the red light. What could one make of this? The officer yelled of a sudden, with an oath, “Starboard, for Christ’s sake, starboard I” and then, as if by magic, the cloud of canvas seemed to overtop ns. I saw the officer hanging to the rail, and as I jumped on the hatches I noticed, with forlorn curiosity, that his knuckles were white. I heart! a long scraunch, and then the barque bounded back a few' yards, while the steamer trailed on; she came slowly into us again, and I heard her bows crashing, for she had dashed clean against the baulks of the stokehole. One shrill scream caine shuddering up from the cabin—orily one—then a murmur, then a hoarse burst of yelling; then a man came up and cried, “Oh, my God!” and then, in a wild, remorseless, ferocious crowd, the steerage men trampled up, struggling, tearing each other’s clothes, cursing, praying. Some of the women battered and screamed as they tried to force the bolts of their .door; then the whole crowd broke clear, and soon they were clinging to the men, praying, jabbering with notes of horrible pathos all kinds of incoherences. I ran aft, and saw the barque waver, lurch, and then sink. . I remember now observing how her masts quivered, and 1 heard a report like that of a heavy cannon as her hatches were thrust up by the air. A green -and .white aeuabaiß gleamed

I in the grey of the dawn, and then the ship was no more seen. The ladies from the cabin were mostly in their nightdresses, and the men also had taken no time to dress. I saw white, drawn faces, and I noticed particularly my English gentleman and his daughter. She was hanging to his arm, and I thought she was shaking convulsively, but she kept her lips tight, and only the deadly stare of her eyes flashing from the pallor of her writhing face told of her trouble. The captain rushed forward, hnekling his belt as he came. He was in his shirt sleeves, and I saw the butt of a Deringer E coping from his Yankee pocket beind him. From below there came a queer sucking sound, with an occasional long gurgle, and I saw that the vessel seemed to “hang” as the seas met her. The second officer, who was a smart man, had passed a spare sail over the side, and I knew he wanted to reeve it under her, but he might just as well have tried to stop the middle arch of London Bridge. The engines were still kept going, but the deck slanted,.slanted steadily, and the list to _ starboard reached an agio that made it difficult to stand at all, especially as the uneasy, staggering lunges of the steamer were taking her anyhow. A loud crack, followed by a wallowing noise like thunder, rendered all other sounds insignificant, and a captain who was going out to New York said: “The bulkhead’s gone. We must take our chance now.” The ship stopped nearly dead and began to tremble curiously, but that was only tho river of water pouring aft, and we soon saw the firemen driven up like rats from a burrow. “STAND BY THE BOATS!” The order was given, and the boatswain’s call rose in a long, tremulous screech. The sailors tried to get to their quarters, and I observed that their oc/-' casional drills had done them good. But ' then the drills had been carried on while the passengers stood aloof, so that the sailors were used to having their own way. At this juncture there was a maddened host of cowardly men and hysterical women to be dealt with. I forced ray way forward toward ono of the starboard boats, aud as I thrust my way through the crush, an Irishwoman clung to me with one arm, while she held up a shivering baby with tho other. The woman was nearly naked, but she never heedejl the cold. “Mother of God,” she Cried, “take my little one, and make sure of him.” I shook her ofr and pushed on. A terrified navvy sought to keep me back, and ho scratched at my face like a cat; but I reached the davits. The men had the boat swung round, and the carpenter was about to let her run, when a milled mob of English and foreigners took possession, and in an instant the little craft was packed with a weltering heap of men who had quite lost their senses. I saw the captain leave the bridge with a flying spring, and I saw also the gleam of tho pistol barrels; then I heard on the starboard side the rapid “smash, smash” of a revolver-shot, and tho captain shouted: “You hear what they’re getting on the other Bide!, Qut of it, or 1 take you ono after the other. The sailors were fighting hard, but the men in the boat fought also with the oars and boathooks; one seaman had his head split; another received a wound from a boathook, which took his cheek away in ono nasty flap. “WOMEN FIRST HEBE!” Still tho ruffians did not know how to lower away, and one of them began to lash’at tho forward fall with an axe. “Come down, you, sir.” “Y T ou be d—d.” Crack! The man flung up his arms, dropped his axe, and fell headlong into the sea. “Now, down with you,” said the captain, livid and halfblind with fury. But no. A furious fool succeeded in letting the boat go by the head, and the whole crowd of poltroons were emptied into the swashing sea, where they gasped and struggled till tho last two men throttled each other and rolled under. One of the starhoard boats was successfully launched, and the chief officer stood, revolver in hand. “Women first here. Thompson, you will steer her. Take tour men, and no more.” The young English lady was lowered down, although she clung hard to her father and begged him to let her stay. “No, darling, good-bye. Be happy 1” he said, and then stood composedly, amid the hurly-burly. A pretty actress and two Irish women were next sent down; then four children were put in. and then the sailors sprang over the side and prepared to help others. _ A man shouted: “Now, boys!” His voice seemed to send an impulse through the crowd, and tho roughs tore themselves away from the women and flung themselves recklessly—some into the boat, some into the water. The officer fired two barrels, and missed each time; a sailor shoved off, and we saw an overladen boat lumber heavily away astern. AN AGONISED MULTITUDE. All this .scene of horror took place in less than'two minutes, and tho ship settled more and more every second. A prizefighter and his gang were not successful in their attempt to steal tho boat forward; The purser and the steward armed themselves with firemen’s rods and boat the fellows down; then the baker—a quick young lad, who had learned his business as a seaman in addition to his trade—lot the boat slip, and four gallant men withstood tho ferocious rowdies until 18 women had been pitched over tho side and carelessly lowered. A seaman took the tiller, four stokers, tho purser, and the baker jumped in at tho last minute, and this second boat went adrift. Meanwhile the captain had reloaded—alas I what a pity he only had two barrels—and a third and fourth boat went over with half their proper complement. Another boat load might have escaped, but six men sprang from the port side, and actually stove the cutter in. At last, only ono light boat remained, and still there were .over 700 of us jammed in the narrow space left by the awful list. The captain had dropped his hands; he could do no more. The third mate took a handspike and went smashing among tho men who were wrestling around our last hope. One sailor said: '“We’ve stood it long enough, Tom. Let’s have our turn.” Aud he, with three sturdy Swedes, managed to get at the davits. They were just in time, for the steamer began to sway as they floated, and they were all but swamped by tho charge of a crowd who flung themselves into the water. Then I was left with a great multitude, whose agonised clamour stunned mo. I felt a mighty, convulsive movement; then the sea seemed to flash down on me in one mass, as if the wall of water fell from a high crag. Then I hoard a humming noise in my ears, and with a gasp I was up amid a blackened, wriggling sheet of drowning creatures. A boat

came past me, and I struck out lustily. I raised. myself to the gumvhale. “Shall I hit his fingers?” said a man. “No, let, him come, and then I was laid, sick and dizzy, on the bottom boards of a crowded boat. You know that we were picked up after a nasty time, and I am at home minus my kit.