Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗

Women

Played In The Rowing Is As Follows:

 

"There Were Thirty-Five Persons In The Boat In Which The

Captain Placed Me. Three Of These Were Ordinary Seamen,

Supposed To Manage The Boat,  And A Steward.

Chapter 9 Pg 68

"One Of These Men Seemed To Think That We Should Not

Start Away From The Sinking Ship Until It Could Be Learned

Whether The Other Boats Would Accommodate The Rest Of The

Women. He Seemed To Think That; More Could Be Crowded

Into Ours,  If Necessary.

 

" `I Would Rather Go Back And Go Down With The Ship Than

Leave Under These Circumstances.' He Cried.

 

"The Captain Shouted To Him To Obey Orders And To Pull

For A Little Light That Could Just Be Discerned Miles In The

Distance. I Do Not Know What This Little Light Was. It May Have

Been A Passing Fishing Vessel,  Which,  Of Course Could Not Know

Our Predicament. Anyway,  We Never Reached It.

 

"We Rowed All Night,  I Took An Oar And Sat Beside The Countess

De Rothes. Her Maid Had An Our And So Did Mine. The

Air Was Freezing Cold,  And It Was Not Long Before The Only Man

That Appeared To Know Anything About Rowing Commenced

To Complain That His Hands Were Freezing: A Woman Back Of

Him Handed Him A Shawl From About Her Shoulders.

 

"As We Rowed We Looked Back At The Lights Of The Titanic.

There Was Not A Sound From Her,  Only The Lights Began To Get

Lower And Lower,  And Finally She Sank. Then We Heard A

Muffled Explosion And A Dull Roar Caused By The Great Suction

Of Water.

 

"There Was Not A Drop Of Water On Our Boat. The Last

Minute Before Our Boat Was Launched Captain Smith Threw

Aboard A Bag Of Bread. I Took The Precaution Of Taking A Good

Drink Of Water Before We Started,  So I Suffered No Inconvenience

From Thirst."

 

Mrs. Lucien Smith,  Whose Young Husband Perished,  Was

Another Heroine. It Is Related By Survivors That She Took

Turns At The Oars,  And Then,  When The Boat Was In Danger Of

Sinking,  Stood Ready To Plug A Hole With Her Finger If The Cork

Stopper Became Loose.

 

In Another Boat Mrs. Cornell And Her Sister,  Who Had A

Slight Knowledge Of Rowing,  Took Turns At The Oars,  As Did

Other Women.

 

The Boat In Which Mrs. J. J. Brown,  Of Denver,  Col.,  Was

Saved Contained Only Three Men In All,  And Only One Rowed.

He Was A Half-Frozen Seaman Who Was Tumbled Into The Boat

At The Last Minute. The Woman Wrapped Him In Blankets

And Set Him At An Oar To Start His Blood. The Second Man

Was Too Old To Be Of Any Use. The Third Was A Coward.

 

Strange To Say,  There Was Room In This Boat For Ten Other

People. Ten Brave Men Would Have Received The Warmest

Chapter 9 Pg 69

Welcome Of Their Lives If They Had Been There. The Coward,

Being A Quartermaster And The Assigned Head Of The Boat,

Sat In The Stern And Steered. He Was Terrified,  And The Women

Had To Fight Against His Pessimism While They Tugged At The

Oars.

 

The Women Sat Two At Each Oar. One Held The Oar In Place,

The Other Did The Pulling. Mrs. Brown Coached Them And

Cheered Them On. She Told Them That The Exercise Would

Keep The Chill Out Of Their Veins,  And She Spoke Hopefully Of

The Likelihood That Some Vessel Would Answer The Wireless Calls.

Over The Frightful Danger Of The Situation The Spirit Of This

Woman Soared.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pessimist

 

And The Coward Sat In His Stern Seat,  Terrified,  His Tongue

Loosened With Fright. He Assured Them There Was No Chance

In The World. He Had Had Fourteen Years' Experience,  And He

Knew. First,  They Would Have To Row One And A Half Miles

At Least To Get Out Of The Sphere Of The Suction,  If They Did Not

Want To Go Down. They Would Be Lost,  And Nobody Would

Ever Find Them.

 

"Oh,  We Shall Be Picked Up Sooner Or Later," Said Some Of

The Braver Ones. No,  Said The Man,  There Was No Bread In

The Boat,  No Water; They Would Starve--All That Big Boatload

Wandering The High Seas With Nothing To Eat,  Perhaps For Days.

 

"Don't," Cried Mrs. Brown. "Keep That To Yourself,

If You Feel That Way. For The Sake Of These Women And Chil-

Dren,  Be A Man. We Have A Smooth Sea And A Fighting Chance.

Be A Man."

 

But The Coward Only Knew That There Was No Compass And

No Chart Aboard. They Sighted What They Thought Was A

Fishing Smack On The Horizon,  Showing Dimly In The Early

Dawn. The Man At The Rudder Steered Toward It,  And The

Women Bent To Their Oars Again. They Covered Several Miles

In This Way--But The Smack Faded Into The Distance. They

Could Not See It Any Longer. And The Coward Said That Everything

Was Over.

 

They Rowed Back Nine Weary Miles. Then The Coward

Thought They Must Stop Rowing,  And Lie In The Trough Of The

Waves Until The Carpathia Should Appear. The Women Tried

It For A Few Moments,  And Felt The Cold Creeping Into Their

Bodies. Though Exhausted From The Hard Physical Labor They

Thought Work Was Better Than Freezing.

Chapter 9 Pg 70

"Row Again!" Commanded Mrs. Brown.

 

"No,  No,  Don't," Said The Coward.

 

"We Shall Freeze," Cried Several Of The Women Together.

"We Must Row. We Have Rowed All This Time. We Must

Keep On Or Freeze."

 

When The Coward Still Demurred,  They Told Him Plainly

And Once For All That If He Persisted In Wanting Them To Stop

Rowing,  They Were Going To Throw Him Overboard And Be Done

With Him For Good. Something About The Look In The Eye Of

That Mississippi-Bred Oarswoman,  Who Seemed Such A Force

Among Her Fellows,  Told Him That He Had Better Capitulate.

And He Did.

 

Countess Rothes An Expert Oarswoman

 

Miss Alice Farnam Leader,  A New York Physician,  Escaped

From The Titanic On The Same Boat Which Carried The Countess

Rothes. "The Countess Is An Expert Oarswoman," Said

Doctor Leader,  "And Thoroughly At Home On The Water. She

Practically Took Command Of Our Boat When It Was Found That

The Seaman Who Had Been Placed At The Oars Could Not Row

Skilfully. Several Of The Women Took Their Place With The

Countess At The Oars And Rowed In Turns,  While The Weak And

Unskilled Stewards Sat Quietly In One End Of The Boat."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Men Could Not Row

 

"With Nothing On But A Nightgown I Helped Row One Of The

Boats For Three Hours," Said Mrs. Florence Ware,  Of Bristol,

England.

 

"In Our Boat There Were A Lot Of Women,  A Steward And A

Fireman. None Of The Men Knew Anything About Managing

A Small Boat,  So Some Of The Women Who Were Used To Boats

Took Charge.

 

"It Was Cold And I Worked As Hard As I Could At An Oar

Until We Were Picked Up. There Was Nothing To Eat Or Drink

On Our Boat."

 

 

 

 

 

Deaths On The Life-Boats

Chapter 9 Pg 71

"The Temperature Must Have Been Below Freezing," Testified

Another Survivor,  "And Neither Men Nor Women In My Boat

Were Warmly Clothed. Several Of Them Died. The Officer

In Charge Of The Life-Boat Decided It Was Better To Bury The

 

 

 

 

 

{Illust. Caption = Survivors Of The Great Marine Disaster

 

The First Authentic Photograph,  ...}

 

 

 

 

 

{Illust. Caption =

Copyright By Campbell Studio. N. Y.

 

Colonel And Mrs. John Jacob Astor

 

Mrs,  Astor,  Nee Miss Madeline Force,  Was Rescued. Colonel Astor

Who Bravely Refused To Take A Place In The Life-Boats,  Went Down With The

Titanic.}

 

 

 

 

 

Bodies. Soon They Were Weighted So They Would Sink And Were

Put Overboard. We Could Also See Similar Burials Taking

Place From Other Life-Boats That Were All Around Us."

 

 

 

 

 

Gamblers Were Polite

 

In One Boat Were Two Card Sharps. With The Same Cleverness

That Enabled Them To Win Money On Board They Obtained

Places In The Boats With The Women.

 

In The Boat With The Gamblers Were Women In Their Night-

Gowns And Women In Evening Dress. None Of The Boats Were

Properly Equipped With Food,  But All Had Enough Bread And

Water To Keep The Rescued From Starving Until The Expected

Arrival Of Help.

 

To The Credit Of The Gamblers Who Managed To Escape,  It

Should Be Said That They Were Polite And Showed The Women

Every Courtesy. All They Wanted Was To Be Sure Of Getting

Chapter 9 Pg 72

In A Boat. That Once Accomplished,  They Reverted To Their

Habitual Practice Of Politeness And Suavity. They Were Even

Willing; To Do A Little Manual Labor,  Refusing To Let Women Do

Any Rowing.

 

The People On That Particular Boat Were A Sad Group.

Fathers Had Kissed Their Daughters Good-Bye And Husbands

Had Parted From Their Wives. The Card Sharps,  However

Philosophized Wonderfully About The Will Of The Almighty And

How Strange His Ways. They Said That One Must Be Prepared

For Anything; That Good Always Came From Evil,  And That

Every Cloud Had A Silvery Lining{.}

 

"Who Knows?" Said One. "It May Be That Everybody On

Board Will Be Saved." Another Added: "Our Duty Is To