Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗
- Author: Logan Marshall
Book online «Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗». Author Logan Marshall
Left To Their Fate
Coolness And Heroism Of Those Left To Perish--Suicide
Of Murdock--Captain Smith's End--The Ship's Band
Plays A Noble Hymn As The Vessel Goes Down
The General Feeling Aboard The Ship After The Boats
Had Left Her Sides Was That She Would Not Survive
Her Wound, But The Passengers Who Remained Aboard
Displayed The Utmost Heroism.
Chapter 7 Pg 44William T. Stead, The Famous English Journalist, Was So
Litt{L}E Alarmed That He Calmly Discussed With One Of The Passengers
The Probable Height Of The Iceberg After The Titanic
Had Shot Into It.
Confidence In The Ability Of The Titanic To Remain Afloat
Doubtlessly Led Many Of The Passengers To Death. The Theory
That The Great Ship Was Unsinkable Remained With Hundreds
Who Had Entrusted Themselves To The Gigantic Hulk, Long
After The Officers Knew That The Vessel Could Not Survive.
The Captain And Officers Behaved With Superb Gallantry,
And There Was Perfect Order And Discipline Among Those Who
Were Aboard, Even After All Hope Had Been Abandoned For The
Salvation Of The Ship.
Many Women Went Down, Steerage Women Who Were Unable
To Get To The Upper Decks Where The Boats Were Launched,
Maids Who Were Overlooked In The Confusion, Cabin Passengers
Who Refused To Desert Their Husbands Or Who Reached The Decks
After The Last Of The Life-Boats Was Gone And The Ship Was
Settling For Her Final Plunge To The Bottom Of The Atlantic.
Narratives Of Survivors Do Not Bear Out The Supposition
That The Final Hours Upon The Vessel's Decks Were Passed In
Darkness. They Say The Electric Lighting Plant Held Out
Until The Last, And That Even As They Watched The Ship Sink,
From Their Places In The Floating Life-Boats, Her Lights Were
Gleaming In Long Rows As She Plunged Under By The Head.
Just Before She Sank, Some Of The Refugees Say, The Ship Broke
In Two Abaft The Engine Room After The Bulkhead Explosions
Had Occurred.
Colonel Astor's Death
To Colonel Astor's Death Philip Mock Bears This Testimony.
"Many Men Were Hanging On To Rafts In The Sea. William
T. Stead And Colonel Astor Were Among Them. Their
Feet And Hands Froze And They Had To Let Go. Both Were
Drowned."
The Last Man Among The Survivors To Speak To Colonel
Astor Was K. Whiteman, The Ship's Barber.
"I Shaved Colonel Astor Sunday Afternoon," Said Whiteman.
"He Was A Pleasant, Affable Man, And That Awful
Night When I Found Myself Standing Beside Him On The Passenger
Deck, Helping To Put The Women Into The Boats, I
Spoke To Him.
Chapter 7 Pg 45" `Where Is Your Life-Belt?' I Asked Him.
" `I Didn't Think There Would Be Any Need Of It,' He Said.
" `Get One While There Is Time,' I Told Him. `The Last Boat
Is Gone, And We Are Done For.'
" `No,' He Said, `I Think There Are Some Life-Boats To Be
Launched, And We May Get On One Of Them.'
" `There Are No Life-Rafts,' I Told Him, `And The Ship Is Going
To Sink. I Am Going To Jump Overboard And Take A Chance
On Swimming Out And Being Picked Up By One Of The Boats.
Better Come Along.'
" `No, Thank You,' He Said, Calmly, `I Think I'll Have To
Stick.'
"I Asked Him If He Would Mind Shaking Hands With Me.
He Said, `With Pleasure,' Gave Me A Hearty Grip, And Then I
Climbed Up On The Rail And Jumped Overboard. I Was In The
Water Nearly Four Hours Before One Of The Boats Picked Me Up."
Captain Washed Overboard
Murdock's Last Orders Were To Quartermaster Moody And
A Few Other Petty Officers Who Had Taken Their Places In The
Rigid Discipline Of The Ship And Were Lowering The Boats.
Captain Smith Came Up To Him On The Bridge Several Times
And Then Rushed Down Again. They Spoke To One Another
Only In Monosyllables.
There Were Stories That Captain Smith, When He Saw The
Ship Actually Going Down, Had Committed Suicide. There Is
No Basis For Such Tales. The Captain, According To The Testimony
Of Those Who Were Near Him Almost Until The Last, Was
Admirably Cool. He Carried A Revolver In His Hand, Ready
To Use It On Anyone Who Disobeyed Orders.
"I Want Every Man To Act Like A Man For Manhood's Sake,"
He Said, "And If They Don't, A Bullet Awaits The Coward."
With The Revolver In His Hand--A Fact That Undoubtedly
Gave Rise To The Suicide Theory--The Captain Moved Up And
Down The Deck. He Gave The Order For Each Life-Boat To Make
Off And He Remained Until Every Boat Was Gone. Standing
On The Bridge He Finally Called Out The Order: "Each Man
Save Himself." At That Moment All Discipline Fled. It Was
The Last Call Of Death. If There Had Been Any Hope Among
Chapter 7 Pg 46Those On Board Before, The Hope Now Had Fled.
The Bearded Admiral Of The White Star Line Fleet, With
Every Life-Saving Device Launched From The Decks, Was Returning
To The Deck To Perform The Sacred Office Of Going Down
With His Ship When A Wave Dashed Over The Side And Tore
Him From The Ladder.
The Titanic Was Sinking Rapidly By The Head, With The
Twisting Sidelong Motion That Was Soon To Aim Her On Her
Course Two Miles Down. Murdock Saw The Skipper Swept Out;
But Did Not Move. Captain Smith Was But One Of A Multitude
Of Lost At That Moment. Murdock May Have Known That The
Last Desperate Thought Of The Gray Mariner Was To Get Upon
His Bridge And Die In Command. That The Old Man Could Not
Have Done This May Have Had Something To Do With Murdock's
Suicidal Inspiration. Of That No Man May Say Or Safely Guess.
The Wave That Swept The Skipper Out Bore Him Almost To The
Thwart Of A Crowded Life-Boat. Hands Reached Out, But He
Wrenched Himself Away, Turned And Swam Back Toward The
Ship.
Some Say That He Said, "Good-Bye, I'm Going Back To The
Ship."
He Disappeared For A Moment, Then Reappeared Where A
Rail Was Slipping Under Water. Cool And Courageous To The
End, Loyal To His Duty Under The Most Difficult Circumstances,
He Showed Himself A Noble Captain, And He Died A Noble
Death.
Saw Both Officers Perish
Quartermaster Moody Saw All This, Watched The Skipper
Scramble Aboard Again Onto The Submerged Decks, And Then
Vanish Altogether In A Great Billow.
As Moody's Eye Lost Sight Of The Skipper In This Confusion
Of Waters It Again Shifted To The Bridge, And Just In Time To See
Murdock Take His Life. The Man's Face Was Turned Toward
Him, Moody Said, And He Could Not Mistake It. There Were
Still Many Gleaming Lights On The Ship, Flickering Out Like
Little Groups Of Vanishing Stars, And With The Clear Starshine
On The Waters There Was Nothing To Cloud Or Break The Quartermaster's
Vision.
"I Saw Murdock Die By His Own Hand," Said Moody, "Saw
The Flash From His Gun, Heard The Crack That Followed The
Flash And Then Saw Him Plunge Over On His Face."
Chapter 7 Pg 47Others Report Hearing Several Pistol Shots On The Decks
Below The Bridge, But Amid The Groans And Shrieks And Cries,
Shouted Orders And All That Vast Orchestra Of Sounds That Broke
Upon The Air They Must Have Been Faint Periods Of Punctuation
Band Played Its Own Dirge
The Band Had Broken Out In The Strains Of "Nearer, My
God, To Thee," Some Minutes Before Murdock Lifted The
Revolver To His Head, Fired And Toppled Over On His Face.
Moody Saw All This In A Vision That Filled His Brain, While His
Ears Drank In The Tragic Strain Of The Beautiful Hymn That
The Band Played As Their Own Dirge, Even To The Moment When
The Waters Sucked Them Down.
Wherever Murdock's Eye Swept The Water In That Instant,
Before He Drew His Revolver, It Looked Upon Veritable Seas Of
Drowning Men And Women. From The Decks There Came To
Him The Shrieks And Groans Of The Caged And Drowning, For
Whom All Hope Of Escape Was Utterly Vanished. He Evidently
Never Gave A Thought To The Possibility Of Saving Himself, His
Mind Freezing With The Horrors He Beheld And Having Room
For Just One Central Idea--Swift Extinction.
The Strains Of The Hymn And The Frantic Cries Of The Dying
Blended In A Symphony Of Sorrow.
Led By The Green Light, Under The Light Of Stars, The Boats
Drew Away, And The Bow, Then The Quarter, Then The Stacks
And Last The Stern Of The Marvel Ship Of A Few Days Before
Passed Beneath The Waters. The Great Force Of The Ship's
Sinking Was Unaided By Any Violence Of The Elements, And The
Suction, Not So Great As Had Been Feared, Rocked But Mildly
The Group Of Boats Now A Quarter Of A Mile Distant From It.
Just Before The Titanic Disappeared From View Men And
Women Leaped From The Stern. More Than A Hundred Men,
According To Colonel Gracie, Jumped At The Last. Gracie
Was Among The Number And He And The Second Officer Were
Of The Very Few Who Were Saved.
As The Vessel Disappeared, The Waves Drowned The Majestic
{Illust. Caption = Depth Of Ocean Where The Titanic Went Down
The Above Etching Shows A Diagram Of The Ocean Depths Between The
Shore Of Newfoundland (Shown At The Top To The Left, By The Heavily Shaded
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