THE TITANIC WRECK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10440, 20 April 1912, Page 6

THE TITANIC WRECK.

ACCOUNTS BY SURVIVORS. WEATHER FINE-SEA CALM. A GRAPHIC STORY. LIFE-SAVBWG APPLIANCES INADEQUATE. TRAGEDY AND HEROISM. LACK OF CONTROLLING OFFICERS. RESCUE WORK PROCEEDED QUIETLY.

STATEMENT OF SURVIVORS' COMMITTEE. LACK OF LIFEBOATS AND RAFTS. GRAVE CRITICISMS. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received April 20, 9.10 a.m.), LONDON, April 19. The statement prepared by the committee set up by the survivors of the Titanic wreck has been published. It criticises the life-saving arrangements at length, and declares that these were seriously inadequate. The statement Bays that there was an insufficiency of lifeboats and rafts and a lack of trained seamen to man the boats. There were not enough officers to carry out the emergency orders when the vessel struck, to be pn the bridge and at the same time to superintend the launching of the boats and to control them. The officers were so busy with duties about the ship that the supervision of the life-saring was neglected. Comment is made on the fact that no searchlights were available to facilitate rescue work. It was necessary to place the passengers in the boats before they were lowered, and for this reason it was impossible to place the maximum number of passengers in the boats. THE CAPTAIN'S DEATH. The official report states that the captain jumped overboard when the Titanio's decks were awash. Revolver shots were heard before the vessel sank. The evening papers in New York publish rumours that several officers committed suicide, but members of the crew deny these stories. Mr Braden, a passenger, said that the captain was standing alone. Once a wave upset him. Then aa the ship sank another wave knocked him down and he disappoarcd.

their husbands and pushed into th« boats.

As the boats touched the water they slipped away into the darkness. Thera was no hysterical sobbing. Indeed, an extraordinary calm obtained on boa.rd. The mon -were then ordered to th« boats. He saw a boat half full of women on the port side. A sailor asked if there were any more ladies on hU deck, and, being told there were none, he invited the men to jump in., There were no officers on the boat, and no one seemed to know what to do. This boat was swung under another descending boat, and only the promptitude of a stoker in cutting the fall prevented all from being crushed. The stoker then took charge of the boat.

Mr Beesley continued that as they pushed off the leviathan loomed up against the sky, every porthole glaring with lights.

At two o'clock eh© settled, rapidly bj; the bows. The bridge was under wateis, and then the lights flickered and went out. The stern lifted into the air, and the machinery roared down through the vessel with a rattle audible for miles. About a hundred and fifty feet of the stem protruded straight up for about five minutes, and then a slanting dive followed.

Appalling cries for help came from hundreds of men in the icy water. OTHER STORIES. MANIACAL STRUGGLE FOR BOATS. Other accounts allege that there waawild disorder and a maniacal struggle for the boats. Hysterical passengers, who would not give their names, declare- that the captain and engineer committed Buicide. These stories, owing to the confusion of the landing from the Carpathia,' could not be confirmed. ICE RIPPED VESSEL'S SIDE. SHIP BROKE IN HALVES. HUNDREDS CARRIED TO DEATH. Another account, obtained from at passenger, states that a huge mass bf ice ripped the side of the Titanic lik« a gigantic can-opener from the stem to the engine-room. Shortly before the Titanio sank she broke in twain abaft the engine-room, carrying down hundreds of passengers, who were grouped on the decks. Their cries were pitiable. COMPANY COURTS FULL INQUIRY,

RELIEF FOR SUFFERERS. (Received April 20, 9.10 a.m.) NEW YORK, April 19. Memberu of the New York Stock Exchange met the Carpathia on her arrival. They had with them twenty thousand dollars in cash for distribution among those of the Titanic's survivora who were in immediate need of help. AMERICAN SENATE'S INVESTIGATION. COMMITTEE MISSED CARPATHIA. Owing to the unexpectedly early arrival of the Carpathia, the Special Committee of the United States Senate, which had intended to board the vessel on her arrival, was not able to carry out its intention. The chairman of the committee states that he was informed that the surviving officers and crew of the Titanio contemplated going on board the White Star liner Cedrio and proceeding immediately to England, thus placing themselves beyond the committee jurisdiction. The chairman states that he intends to inform Mr Bruce Ismay, of the Whito Star Company, that in order to avoid trouble the company and ita officers should assist the inquiry. AN EXTRAORDINARY ALLEGATION. WAS THE NEWS SUPPRESSED. A telegram from Washington contains an extraordinary allegation. It states that the Department of Justice believes that erroneous messages concerning the fate of the Titanio were deliberately sent out with the idea of attempting to postpone publication of the true facts, and so give time for reinsuring tho cargo.

MR IBSTAY POSTPONES STATEMENT. Mr Bruce Ismay declares that he will welcome the fullest inquiry. He left *he Titanio in the last boat. He has deferred making a statement. ITEMS OF TRAGIC NEWS. MR ASTOR'S PART. SPEED OP LOST SHIP. FIFTH OFFICER'S HEROISM. The survivors, from a safe distance* witnessed the final plunge. They heard the band playing. Colonel Graoie emphatically denies the story that he shot twelve passenger* with a revolver. He says he once fired to intimidate some steerage passengers. Mr Astor, after placing bis wife in a boat, asked permission to accompany her. The second officer said i " No, sir I No man ehall enter the boats till tlio women are off." Mr Astor then assisted In clearing away the other boats H© reassured the nervous women. Several survivors state that the Titanio was travelling at the rata ,of twenty-three knots an hour. All steamers ready to start westward have been ordered to travel by the 'safer southern route. President Taft is informed that Mr Butt shot twelve men and wta then himself shot. Among tho most affecting soenes at the landing was the right of the women steerage passengers, thinly clad and shivering, with eyes red from constant weeping. The charitable organisations speedily gave them the help they needed. When the Titanic plunged many men jumped overboard. Some were resoued by the boats. A number of passengers embarked in the collapsible boats, and these were subsequently picked up. A passenger describes the fifth officer, Mi - Lowe, as caving many lives by warning people not to jump in when his collapsible boat was launched and so swamp it. He hoisted a mast and sail and collected other collapsible boats, arranged for an adequate crew for each of them, and connected them by lines, all moving off together. Later lie returned to the wreck and saved a collapsible boat containing thirty scantily clad passengers, which waa on tho point of sinking. Some of those in the boats died from exposure whilst being transferred to the Carpathia.

A PASSENGER'S NARRATIVE. WEATHER FINE AND CALM, ONLY SLIGHT JAR FELT. NO ANXIETY OR PANIC ON BOARD. WOMEN CLING TO HUSBANDS. Mr Beesley, science master at Bulwinch College, in a narrative of the wreck, says that there was fine weather and a calm sea on Sunday, when the weather, however, was very cold. A slight jar was felt on board, and ten to fifteen seconds later tho passengers experienced a shock somewhat greater than the first, but still insufficient to create anxiety. The engines stopped. It was thought that the ship had lost a propeller, and Mr Beesley went on deck. There were only a few people about. Card-players in the snioking-room noticed the jar, and, looking out of the portholes, they saw an iceberg at the vessel's side, which gave the ship a grazing blow. "ALL ON DECK." He went to his cabin, and returned on deck later. Then he found that the Titanic was unmistakably down at the head. He again went below, and heard the cry: " All passengers on deck with lifebelts on."

COLONEL GRAOIE'S STORY. Colonel Grade states that he was driven to the topmost deck. He saw no other survivor after a wave swept this deck. He grasped a brass railing desperately, but was forced to release his hold when the ship plunged. He was swirled round for what seemed an, interminable time, and eventually cards to the surface and seized a wooden grating. When he recovered breath hj» discovered a large canvas and cork rafSL Another man struggled on to the raf£ and they rescued others wno n floundering in the sea. At dawn them wer© thirty men on the raft, knee-deep in. water. They were afraid to move lest the craft should be overturned. In this position they spent the long and

. The passengers merely regarded this order as a precaution. There was no panio or alarnij and there were no visible signs of disaster. When the boats were swung out they awakened to the danger. The next order was: " All men stand from boats! Women retire to deck below 1" As the boats reached the lower deck, the women quickly entered them, with the. exception that sonic refused to leave iheir husbands. In some cases the wives had to bo forcibly, turn from

, twrible hours before the Carpathia picked them up. , PATHETIC PERSONAL TOUCHES. ' BRIEF NOTES OBTAINED FROM sntv IVORS. TRAGIC SIDELIGHTS Ol\ DISASTER. (Received April 20, 10 a.m.) NEW YORK, April IP. "?.<» " Wr.-*rd " publishes many details from passengers' accounts. I The iceberg, eighty feet hi>;h, »'iw sightVl n quarter of a mile away. When tho I Titanic crashed into it the engines were Stopped and the bulkheads were closed / almost simultaneously by lovers on the

bridge. Captain Smith was on the bridge. He ordered all'the passengers to take to the lifeboats. The boats lowered first contained more men than women, as they were

' the first to reach the deck. When the women and children appeared, the rule, , "women first" was strictly observed. Tho officers drew revolvers, but did not have to use them. Tho impact made a hole in the starboard sido admitting ice water, which caused an explosion of the boilers. This broke the ship in two. \ Mrs Astor says she hazily remembers that when, amidst the confusion, she 1 was about to be placed in a boat, her husband stood ab her side. She had no knowledge of how he died. Mrs Edgar J. Meyer, of New York, daughter of Mr Andrew Sayes, a prominent New York resident, lost her husband. She pleaded with her husband to allow her to remain with him, but , ha threw her into a lifeboat, remind- ' ing her of her nine-year-old child at . home. ! Mrs Marvin, who was on her honey--1 moon, was prostrated when she learned i that her husband was drowned. As he I placed her in a lifeboat he exclaimed, I " It's all right, little girl. You go; I I will stay." When the boat shoved off \ he threw her a kiss. That was the last \ she saw of him. x MR W'. T. STEAD'S FATE. i Mr W. T. Stead, the famous journalist, was last seen on deck near the ( smoke-room. Another account states that he jump- \ «d overboard after the boats left. SAVED AND MISSING. Mr J. F. Thayer, railway official, Mr fsidor Straus, millionaire and Mrs / Straus are among the missing. Mrs I Dodge was saved. Mrs Lucing Smith, \ daughter of Congressman Hughes, was ( rescued. Her husband is miesing. WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY. • The American Government is receiving messages of world-wide sympathy. A message of condolence has been rei ceiyed by President Taft from the Pope. I THE WITHHOLDING OP NEWS.

J The extreme secfecy and the with- [ holding of details are severely comment- | ed upon. The Carpathia refused to take I wireless messages from cruisers or to ■upply information. THE TITANIC'S SPEED. | Commenting on the fact that the TiItanic had wireless information of the proximity of ice, the "New York Times" says that she did not avoid J the dangerous region, but steamed on I at a high speed which was not merely ( imprudent and reckless but even crimI inal. THE REPORTED SUICIDES. It is now stated that the report that Captain Smith and the chief engineer committed suicide emanated from a demented passenger. MR 0. M. HAYS.

Mr C. M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway and of several subordinate railroads, was among those lost. He was last seen bidding farewell to the passengers in the boats. THE CARPATHIAN SILENCE.

A LESS SINISTER EXPLANATION. WIRELESS OPERATOR EX- . HAUSTED. , The refusal of the Carpathia to answer inquiries from the warships is now attributed to the' physical exhaustion of the wireless operator.

| THE MEMORIAL SERVICES. GREAT GATHERING AT ST ( PAUL'S. ' (Received April 20, 2.10 p.m ) | LONDON, April 19. *« • Mayor of L °adon, Cabinet Ministers, representatives of the great shipping companies, and five thousand others attended the special memorial ■ervioe at Bt Paul's Cathedral. Sir W. Hall-Jones represented New Zealand. A Raman Catholio memorial service was held in Westminster Cathedral. IN MEMORY OF MR STEAD. (Received April 20, 2.10 p.m ) ' u NEW YORK, April 19. Many hundreds of people attended a •pecial service at the Carnegie Hall in memory of tho late Mr W. T. Stead who was a life-long worker in the cause of peace. THE RUSH FOR THE BOATS. THE REVOLVER IN USE. Lady Cosmo Gordon states that she ™Z T B,lot dead - The body fell into the boat in which she was. Several men were felled when attempting a mad rush for the boats. Many of fell into the 6ea died very quickly, for the water was ice-cold