Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters Part 6

LAST WORDS OF MAJOR b.u.t.t

Miss Marie Young, who was a music instructor to President Roosevelt's children and had known Major b.u.t.t during the Roosevelt occupancy of the White House, told this story of his heroism.

"Archie himself put me into the boat, wrapped blankets about me and tucked me in as carefully as if we were starting on a motor ride. He, himself, entered the boat with me, performing the little courtesies as calmly and with as smiling a face as if death were far away, instead of being but a few moments removed from him.

"When he had carefully wrapped me up he stepped upon the gunwale of the boat, and lifting his hat, smiled down at me. 'Good-bye, Miss Young,'

he said. 'Good luck to you, and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home.' Then he stepped back and waved his hand to me as the boat was lowered. I think I was the last woman he had a chance to help, for the boat went down shortly after we cleared the suction zone."

COLONEL ASTOR ANOTHER HERO

Colonel Astor was another of the heroes of the awful night. Effort was made to persuade him to take a place in one of the life-boats, but he emphatically refused to do so until every woman and child on board had been provided for, not excepting the women members of the s.h.i.+p's company.

One of the pa.s.sengers describing the consummate courage of Colonel Astor said:

"He led Mrs. Astor to the side of the s.h.i.+p and helped her to the life-boat to which she had been a.s.signed. I saw that she was prostrated and said she would remain and take her chances with him, but Colonel Astor quietly insisted and tried to rea.s.sure her in a few words. As she took her place in the boat her eyes were fixed upon him. Colonel Astor smiled, touched his cap, and when the boat moved safely away from the s.h.i.+p's side he turned back to his place among the men."

Mrs. Ida S. Hippach and her daughter Jean, survivors of the t.i.tanic, said they were saved by Colonel John Jacob Astor, who forced the crew of the last life-boat to wait for them.

"We saw Colonel Astor place Mrs. Astor in a boat and a.s.sure her that he would follow later," said Mrs. Hippach.

"He turned to us with a smile and said, 'Ladies, you are next.' The officer in charge of the boat protested that the craft was full, and the seamen started to lower it.

"Colonel Astor exclaimed, 'Hold that boat,' in the voice of a man accustomed to be obeyed, and they did as he ordered. The boat had been lowered past the upper deck and the colonel took us to the deck below and put us in the boat, one after the other, through a port-hole."

{ill.u.s.t. caption = LOADING THE LIFE-BOATS

Here occurred the heart-rending separation of husbands and wives, as the women were given precedence in the boats.}

HEART-BREAKING SCENES

There were some terrible scenes. Fathers were parting from their children and giving them an encouraging pat on the shoulders; men were kissing their wives and telling them that they would be with them shortly. One man said there was absolutely no danger, that the boat was the finest ever built, with water-tight compartments, and that it could not sink. That seemed to be the general impression.

A few of the men, however, were panic-stricken even when the first of the fifty-six foot life-boats was being filled. Fully ten men threw themselves into the boats already crowded with women and children. These men were dragged back and hurled sprawling across the deck. Six of them, screamed with fear, struggled to their feet and made a second attempt to rush to the boats.

About ten shots sounded in quick succession. The six cowardly men were stopped in their tracks, staggered and collapsed one after another. At least two of them vainly attempted to creep toward the boats again. The others lay quite still. This scene of bloodshed served its purpose.

In that particular section of the deck there was no further attempt to violate the rule of "women and children first."

"I helped fill the boats with women," said Thomas Whiteley, who was a waiter on the t.i.tanic. "Collapsible boat No. 2 on the starboard jammed.

The second officer was hacking at the ropes with a knife and I was being dragged around the deck by that rope when I looked up and saw the boat, with all aboard, turn turtle. In some way I got overboard myself and clung to an oak dresser. I wasn't more than sixty feet from the t.i.tanic when she went down. Her big stern rose up in the air and she went down bow first. I saw all the machinery drop out of her."

HENRY B. HARRIS

Henry B. Harris, of New York, a theatrical manager, was one of the men who showed superb courage in the crisis. When the life-boats were first being filled, and before there was any panic, Mr. Harris went to the side of his wife before the boat was lowered away.

"Women first," shouted one of the s.h.i.+p's officers. Mr. Harris glanced up and saw that the remark was addressed to him.

"All right," he replied coolly. "Good-bye, my dear," he said, as he kissed his wife, pressed her a moment to his breast, and then climbed back to the t.i.tanic's deck.

THREE EXPLOSIONS

Up to this time there had been no panic; but about one hour before the s.h.i.+p plunged to the bottom there were three separate explosions of bulkheads as the vessel filled. These were at intervals of about fifteen minutes. From that time there was a different scene. The rush for the remaining boats became a stampede.

The stokers rushed up from below and tried to beat a path through the steerage men and women and through the sailors and officers, to get into the boats. They had their iron bars and shovels, and they struck down all who stood in their way.

The first to come up from the depths of the s.h.i.+p was an engineer. From what he is reported to have said it is probable that the steam fittings were broken and many were scalded to death when the t.i.tanic lifted. He said he had to dash through a narrow place beside a broken pipe and his back was frightfully scalded.

Right at his heels came the stokers. The officers had pistols, but they could not use them at first for fear of killing the women and children.

The sailors fought with their fists and many of them took the stoke bars and shovels from the stokers and used them to beat back the others.

Many of the coal-pa.s.sers and stokers who had been driven back from the boats went to the rail, and whenever a boat was filled and lowered several of them jumped overboard and swam toward it trying to climb aboard. Several of the survivors said that men who swam to the sides of their boats were pulled in or climbed in.

Dozens of the cabin pa.s.sengers were witnesses of some of the frightful scenes on the steerage deck. The steerage survivors said that ten women from the upper decks were the only cool pa.s.sengers in the life-boat, and they tried to quiet the steerage women, who were nearly all crazed with fear and grief.

OTHER HEROES

Among the chivalrous young heroes of the t.i.tanic disaster were Was.h.i.+ngton A. Roebling, 2d, and Howard Case, London representative of the Vacuum Oil Company. Both were urged repeatedly to take places in life-boats, but scorned the opportunity, while working against time to save the women aboard the ill-fated s.h.i.+p. They went to their death, it is said by survivors, with smiles on their faces.

Both of these young men aided in the saving of Mrs. William T. Graham, wife of the president of the American Can Company, and Mrs. Graham's nineteen-year-old daughter, Margaret.

Afterwards relating some of her experiences Mrs. Graham said:

"There was a rap at the door. It was a pa.s.senger whom we had met shortly after the s.h.i.+p left Liverpool, and his name was Roebling--Was.h.i.+ngton A.

Roebling, 2d. He was a gentleman and a brave man. He warned us of the danger and told us that it would be best to be prepared for an emergency. We heeded his warning, and I looked out of my window and saw a great big iceberg facing us. Immediately I knew what had happened and we lost no time after that to get out into the saloon.

"In one of the gangways I met an officer of the s.h.i.+p.

"'What is the matter?' I asked him.

"'We've only burst two pipes,' he said. 'Everything is all right, don't worry.'

"'But what makes the s.h.i.+p list so?' I asked.

"'Oh, that's nothing,' he replied, and walked away.

"Mr. Case advised us to get into a boat.

"'And what are you going to do?' we asked him.

"'Oh,' he replied, 'I'll take a chance and stay here.'

"Just at that time they were filling up the third life-boat on the port side of the s.h.i.+p. I thought at the time that it was the third boat which had been lowered, but I found out later that they had lowered other boats on the other side, where the people were more excited because they were sinking on that side.