Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗
- Author: Logan Marshall
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Part) To 800 Miles Out, Where The Titanic Struck An Iceberg And Sank. Over
The Great Bank Of Newfoundland The Greatest Depth Is About 35 Fathoms, Or
210 Feet. Then There Is A Sudden Drop To 105 Fathoms, Or 630 Feet, And Then
There Is A Falling Away To 1650 Fathoms Or 9900 Feet, Then 2000 Fathoms Or
12,000 Feet, And About Where The Titanic Sank 2760 Fathoms Or 16,560 Feet.}
Hymn Which The Musicians Played As They Went To Their Watery
Grave. The Most Authentic Accounts Agree That This Hymn
Was Not "Nearer, My God, To Thee," Which It Seems Had Been
{Illust. Caption = Carpathia
The Cunard Liner Which Brought The Survivors Of The Titanic To New York.}
{Illust. Caption = The Hero Wireless Operator Of The Titanic
Photograph Of Harold ...}
Played Shortly Before, But "Autumn," Which Is Found In
The Episcopal Hymnal And Which Fits Appropriately The
Situation On The Titanic In The Last Moments Of Pain And
Darkness There. One Line, "Hold Me Up In Mighty Waters,"
Particularly May Have Suggested The Hymn To Some Minister
Aboard The Doomed Vessel, Who, It Has Been Thought, Thereupon
Asked The Remaining Passengers To Join In Singing The
Hymn, In A Last Service Aboard The Sinking Ship, Soon To Be
Ended By Death Itself.
Following Is The Hymn:
God Of Mercy And Compassion!
Look With Pity On My Pain:
Hear A Mournful, Broken Spirit
Prostrate At Thy Feet Complain;
Many Are My Foes, And Mighty;
Strength To Conquer I Have None;
Chapter 7 Pg 49Nothing Can Uphold My Goings
But Thy Blessed Self Alone.
Saviour, Look On Thy Beloved;
Triumph Over All My Foes;
Turn To Heavenly Joy My Mourning,
Turn To Gladness All My Woes;
Live Or Die, Or Work Or Suffer,
Let My Weary Soul Abide,
In All Changes Whatsoever
Sure And Steadfast By Thy Side.
When Temptations Fierce Assault Me,
When My Enemies I Find,
Sin And Guilt, And Death And Satan,
All Against My Soul Combined,
Hold Me Up In Mighty Waters,
Keep My Eyes On Things Above,
Righteousness, Divine Atonement,
Peace, And Everlasting Love.
It Was A Little Lame Schoolmaster, Tyrtaeus, Who Aroused The
Spartans By His Poetry And Led Them To Victory Against The
Foe.
It Was The Musicians Of The Band Of The Titanic--Poor Men,
Paid A Few Dollars A Week--Who Played The Music To Keep Up
The Courage Of The Souls Aboard The Sinking Ship.
"The Way The Band Kept Playing Was A Noble Thing," Says
The Wireless Operator. "I Heard It First While We Were Working
The Wireless, When There Was A Rag-Time Tune For Us, And The
Last I Saw Of The Band, When I Was Floating, Struggling In The
Icy Water, It Was Still On Deck, Playing `Autumn.' How Those
Brave Fellows Ever Did It I Cannot Imagine."
Perhaps That Music, Made In The Face Of Death, Would Not
Have Satisfied The Exacting Critical Sense. It May Be That The
Chilled Fingers Faltered On The Pistons Of The Cornet Or At The
Valves Of The French Horn, That The Time Was Irregular And
That By An Organ In A Church, With A Decorous Congregation,
The Hymns They Chose Would Have Been Better Played And
Sung. But Surely That Music Went Up To God From The Souls
Of Drowning Men, And Was Not Less Acceptable Than The Song
Of Songs No Mortal Ear May Hear, The Harps Of The Seraphs
And The Choiring Cherubim. Under The Sea The Music-Makers
Lie, Still In Their Fingers Clutching The Broken And Battered
Means Of Melody; But Over The Strident Voice Of Warring
Winds And The Sound Of Many Waters There Rises Their Chant
Eternally; And Though The Musicians Lie Hushed And Cold At
The Sea's Heart, Their Music Is Heard Forevermore.
Chapter 7 Pg 50
Last Moments
That Great Ship, Which Started Out As Proudly, Went Down
To Her Death Like Some Grime Silent Juggernaut, Drunk With
Carnage And Anxious To Stop The Throbbing Of Her Own Heart
At The Bottom Of The Sea. Charles H. Lightoller, Second
Officer Of The Titanic, Tells The Story This Way:
"I Stuck To The Ship Until The Water Came Up To My Ankles.
There Had Been No Lamentations, No Demonstrations Either
From The Men Passengers As They Saw The Last Life-Boat Go,
And There Was No Wailing Or Crying, No Outburst From The Men
Who Lined The Ship's Rail As The Titanic Disappeared From Sight.
"The Men Stood Quietly As If They Were In Church. They
Knew That They Were In The Sight Of God; That In A Moment
Judgment Would Be Passed Upon Them. Finally, The Ship
Took A Dive, Reeling For A Moment, Then Plunging. I Was
Sucked To The Side Of The Ship Against The Grating Over The
Blower For The Exhaust. There Was An Explosion. It Blew
Me To The Surface Again, Only To Be Sucked Back Again By The
Water Rushing Into The Ship
"This Time I Landed Against The Grating Over The Pipes,
Which Furnish A Draught For The Funnels, And Stuck There.
There Was Another Explosion, And I Came To The Surface. The
Ship Seemed To Be Heaving Tremendous Sighs As She Went Down.
I Found Myself Not Many Feet From The Ship, But On The Other
Side Of It. The Ship Had Turned Around While I Was Under
The Water.
"I Came Up Near A Collapsible Life-Boat And Grabbed It.
Many Men Were In The Water Near Me. They Had Jumped
At The Last Minute. A Funnel Fell Within Four Inches Of Me
And Killed One Of The Swimmers. Thirty Clung To The Capsized
Boat, And A Life-Boat, With Forty Survivors In It Already,
Finally Took Them Off.
"George D. Widener And Harry Elkins Widener Were Among
Those Who Jumped At The Last Minute. So Did Robert Williams
Daniel. The Three Of Them Went Down Together. Daniel
Struck Out, Lashing The Water With His Arms Until He Had Made
A Point Far Distant From The Sinking Monster Of The Sea. Later
He Was Picked Up By One Of The Passing Life-Boats.
"The Wideners Were Not Seen Again, Nor Was John B. Thayer,
Who Went Down On The Boat. `Jack' Thayer, Who Was Literally
Thrown Off The Titanic By An Explosion, After He Had
Refused To Leave The Men To Go With His Mother, Floated Around
Chapter 7 Pg 51On A Raft For An Hour Before He Was Picked Up."
Afloat With Jack Thayer
Graphic Accounts Of The Final Plunge Of The Titanic Were
Related By Two Englishmen, Survivors By The Merest Chance.
One Of Them Struggled For Hours To Hold Himself Afloat On An
Overturned Collapsible Life-Boat, To One End Of Which John B.
Thayer, Jr., Of Philadelphia, Whose Father Perished, Hung
Until Rescued.
The Men Gave Their Names As A. H. Barkworth, Justice Of
The Peace Of East Riding, Yorkshire, England, And W. J.
Mellers, Of Christ Church Terrace, Chelsea, London. The
Latter, A Young Man, Had Started For This Country With His
Savings To Seek His Fortune, And Lost All But His Life.
Mellers, Like Quartermaster Moody, Said Captain Smith
Did Not Commit Suicide. The Captain Jumped From The Bridge,
Mellers Declares, And He Heard Him Say To His Officers And Crew:
"You Have Done Your Duty, Boys. Now Every Man For Himself."
Mellers And Barkworth, Who Say Their Names Have
Been Spelled Incorrectly In Most Of The Lists Of Survivors, Both
Declare There Were Three Distinct Explosions Before The Titanic
Broke In Two, And Bow Section First, And Stern Part Last, Settled
With Her Human Cargo Into The Sea.
Her Four Whistles Kept Up A Deafening Blast Until The Explosions,
Declare The Men. The Death Cries From The Shrill Throats
Of The Blatant Steam Screechers Beside The Smokestacks So
Rent The Air That Conversation Among The Passengers Was Possible
Only When One Yelled Into The Ear Of A Fellow-Unfortunate.
"I Did Not Know The Thayer Family Well," Declared Mr.
Barkworth, "But I Had Met Young Thayer, A Clear-Cut Chap,
And His Father On The Trip. The Lad And I Struggled In The
Water For Several Hours Endeavoring To Hold Afloat By Grabbing
To The Sides And End Of An Overturned Life-Boat. Now And
Again We Lost Our Grip And Fell Back Into The Water. I Did
Not Recognize Young Thayer In The Darkness, As We Struggled
For Our Lives, But I Did Recall Having Met Him Before When
We Were Picked Up By A Life-Boat. We Were Saved By The
Merest Chance, Because The Survivors On A Life-Boat That
Rescued Us Hesitated In Doing So, It Seemed, Fearing Perhaps
That Additional Burdens Would Swamp The Frail Craft.
"I Considered My Fur Overcoat Helped To Keep Me Afloat.
I Had A Life Preserver Over It, Under My Arms, But It Would
Not Have Held Me Up So Well Out Of The Water But For The
Coat. The Fur Of The Coat Seemed Not To Get Wet Through,
Chapter 7 Pg 52And Retained A Certain Amount Of Air That Added To Buoyance.
I Shall Never Part With It.
"The Testimony Of J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director Of
The White Star Line, That He Had Not Heard Explosions Before
The Titanic Settled, Indicates That He Must Have Gotten Some
Distance From Her In His Life-Boat. There Were Three Distinct
Explosions And The Ship Broke In The Center. The Bow Settled
Headlong First, And The Stern Last. I Was Looking Toward
Her From The Raft To Which Young Thayer And I Had Clung."
How Captain Smith Died
Barkworth Jumped, Just Before The Titanic Went Down.
He Said There Were Enough Life-Preservers For All The
Passengers,
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