Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters Part 31

turned life-boat. I looked up and saw some men on the top and asked them to give me a hand. One of them, who was a stoker, helped me up. In a short time the bottom was covered with about twenty-five or thirty men.

When I got on this I was facing the s.h.i.+p.

{ill.u.s.t. caption = SKETCHES OF THE t.i.tANIC BY "JACK" THAYER

These sketches were outlined by John B. Thayer, Jr., on the day of the disaster, and afterwards filled in by L. D. Skidmon, of Brooklyn.}

"The stern then seemed to rise in the air and stopped at about an angle of 60 degrees. It seemed to hold there for a time and then with a hissing sound it shot right down out of sight with people jumping from the stern. The stern either pivoted around towards our boat, or we were sucked towards it, and as we only had one oar we could not keep away.

There did not seem to be very much suction and most of us managed to stay on the bottom of our boat.

"We were then right in the midst of fairly large wreckage, with people swimming all around us. The sea was very calm and we kept the boat pretty steady, but every now and then a wave would wash over it.

SAID THE LORD'S PRAYER

"The a.s.sistant wireless operator was right next to me, holding on to me and kneeling in the water. We all sang a hymn and said the Lord's Prayer, and then waited for dawn to come. As often as we saw the other boats in a distance we would yell, 's.h.i.+p ahoy!' But they could not distinguish our cries from any of the others, so we all gave it up, thinking it useless. It was very cold and none of us were able to move around to keep warm, the water was.h.i.+ng over her almost all the time.

"Toward dawn the wind sprang up, roughening up the water and making it difficult to keep the boat balanced. The wireless man raised our hopes a great deal by telling us that the Carpathia would be up in about three hours. About 3.30 or 4 o'clock some men on our boat on the bow sighted her mast lights. I could not see them, as I was sitting down with a man kneeling on my leg. He finally got up and I stood up. We had the second officer, Mr. Lightoller, on board. We had an officer's whistle and whistled for the boats in the distance to come up and take us off.

"It took about an hour and a half for the boats to draw near. Two boats came up. The first took half and the other took the balance, including myself. We had great difficulty about this time in balancing the boat, as the men would lean too far, but we were all taken aboard the already crowded boat, and in about a half or three-quarters of an hour later we were picked up by the Carpathia.

"I have noticed Second Officer Lightoller's statement that 'J. B. Thayer was on our overturned boat,' which would give the impression that it was father, when he really meant it was I, as he only learned my name in a subsequent conversation on the Carpathia, and did not know I was 'junior'."

CHAPTER XVI. INCIDENTS RELATED BY JAMES McGOUGH

WOMEN FORCED INTO THE LIFE-BOATS--WHY SOME MEN WERE SAVED BEFORE WOMEN--ASKED TO MAN LIFE-BOATS

SURROUNDED by his wife and members of his family, James McGough, of Philadelphia, a buyer for the Gimbel Brothers, whose fate had been in doubt, recited a most thrilling and graphic picture of the disaster.

As the Carpathia docked, Mrs. McGough, a brother and several friends of the buyer, met him, and after the touching reunion had taken place the party proceeded to Philadelphia.

Vivid in detail, Mr. McGough's story differs essentially from one the imagination would paint. He declared that the boat was driving at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident, and seemed impressed by the calmness and apathy displayed by the survivors as they tossed on the frozen seas in the little life-boats until the Carpathia picked them up.

The t.i.tanic did not plunge into the water suddenly, he declared, but settled slowly into the deep with its hundreds of pa.s.sengers.

"The collision occurred at 20 minutes of 12," said Mr. McGough. "I was sleeping in my cabin when I felt a wrench, not severe or terrifying.

"It seemed to me to be nothing more serious than the racing of the screw, which often occurs when a s.h.i.+p plunges her bow deep into a heavy swell, raising the stern out of water. We dressed hurriedly and ran to the upper deck. There was little noise or tumult at the time.

"The promenade decks being higher from the base of the s.h.i.+p and thus more insecure, strained and creaked; so we went to the lower decks.

By this time the engines had been reversed, and I could feel the s.h.i.+p backing off. Officers and stewards ran through the corridors, shouting for all to be calm, that there was no danger. We were warned, however, to dress and put life-preservers on us. I had on what clothing I could find and had stuffed some money in my pocket.

PARTING OF ASTOR AND BRIDE

"As I pa.s.sed the gymnasium I saw Colonel Astor and his young wife together. She was clinging to him, piteously pleading that he go into the life-boat with her. He refused almost gruffly and was attempting to calm her by saying that all her fears were groundless, that the accident she feared would prove a farce. It proved different, however.

"None, I believe, knew that the s.h.i.+p was about to sink. I did not realize it just then. When I reached the upper deck and saw tons of ice piled upon our crushed bow the full realization came to me.

"Officers stood with drawn guns ordering the women into the boats. All feared to leave the comparative safety of a broad and firm deck for the precarious smaller boats. Women clung to their husbands, crying that they would never leave without them, and had to be torn away.

"On one point all the women were firm. They would not enter a Life-boat until men were in it first. They feared to trust themselves to the seas in them. It required courage to step into the frail crafts as they swung from the creaking davits. Few men were willing to take the chance. An officer rushed behind me and shouted:

"'You're big enough to pull an oar. Jump into this boat or we'll never be able to get the women off.' I was forced to do so, though I admit that the s.h.i.+p looked a great deal safer to me than any small boat.

"Our boat was the second off. Forty or more persons were crowded into it, and with myself and members of the crew at the oars, were pulled slowly away. Huge icebergs, larger than the Pennsylvania depot at New York, surrounded us. As we pulled away we could see boat after boat filled and lowered to the waves. Despite the fact that they were new and supposedly in excellent working order, the blocks jammed in many instances, tilting the boats, loaded with people, at varying angles before they reached the water.

BAND CONTINUED PLAYING

"As the life-boats pulled away the officers ordered the bands to play, and their music did much to quell panic. It was a heart-breaking sight to us tossing in an eggsh.e.l.l three-fourths of a mile away, to see the great s.h.i.+p go down. First she listed to the starboard, on which side the collision had occurred, then she settled slowly but steadily, without hope of remaining afloat.

"The t.i.tanic was all aglow with lights as if for a function. First we saw the lights of the lower deck snuffed out. A while later and the second deck illumination was extinguished in a similar manner. Then the third and upper decks were darkened, and without plunging or rocking the great s.h.i.+p disappeared slowly from the surface of the sea.

"People were crowded on each deck as it lowered into the water, hoping in vain that aid would come in time. Some of the life-boats caught in the merciless suction were swallowed with her.

"The sea was calm--calm as the water in a tumbler. But it was freezing cold. None had dressed heavily, and all, therefore, suffered intensely.

The women did not shriek or grow hysterical while we waited through the awful night for help. We men stood at the oars, stood because there was no room for us to sit, and kept the boat headed into the swell to prevent her capsizing. Another boat was at our side, but all the others were scattered around the water.

"Finally, shortly before 6 o'clock, we saw the lights of the Carpathia approaching. Gradually she picked up the survivors in the other boats and then approached us. When we were lifted to the deck the women fell helpless. They were carried to whatever quarters offered themselves, while the men were a.s.signed to the smoking room.

"Of the misery and suffering which was witnessed on the rescue s.h.i.+p I know nothing. With the other men survivors I was glad to remain in the smoking room until New York was reached, trying to forget the awful experience.

"To us aboard the Carpathia came rumors of misstatements which were being made to the public. The details of the wreck were wofully misunderstood.

"Let me emphasize that the night was not foggy or cloudy. There was just the beginning of the new moon, but every star in the sky was s.h.i.+ning brightly, unmarred by clouds. The boats were lowered from both sides of the t.i.tanic in time to escape, but there was not enough for all.

CHAPTER XVII. WIRELESS OPERATOR PRAISES HEROIC WORK

STORY OF HAROLD BRIDE, THE SURVIVING WIRELESS OPERATOR OF THE t.i.tANIC, WHO WAS WASHED OVERBOARD AND RESCUED BY LIFE-BOAT--BAND PLAYED RAG-TIME AND "AUTUMN"

ONE of the most connected and detailed accounts of the horrible disaster was that told by Harold Bride, the wireless operator. Mr. Bride said:

"I was standing by Phillips, the chief operator, telling him to go to bed, when the captain put his head in the cabin.

"'We've struck an iceberg,' the captain said, 'and I'm having an inspection made to tell what it has done for us. You better get ready to send out a call for a.s.sistance. But don't send it until I tell you.'

"The captain went away and in ten minutes, I should estimate the time, he came back. We could hear a terrific confusion outside, but there was not the least thing to indicate that there was any trouble. The wireless was working perfectly.

"'Send the call for a.s.sistance,' ordered the captain, barely putting his head in the door.