Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗
- Author: Logan Marshall
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Among That Gay Ship's Company Were Two Score Or More At
Least For Whom The Wedding Bells Had Sounded In Truth Not
Many Days Before. Some Were On Their Honeymoon Tours,
Others Were Returning To Their Motherland After Having Passed
The Weeks Of The Honeymoon, Like Colonel John Jacob Astor
And His Young Bride, Amid The Diversions Of Egypt Or Other
Old World Countries.
What Daring Flight Of Imagination Would Have Ventured
The Prediction That Within The Span Of Six Days That Stately
Ship, Humbled, Shattered And Torn Asunder, Would Lie Two
Thousand Fathoms Deep At The Bottom Of The Atlantic, That
The Benign Face That Peered From The Bridge Would Be Set In
The Rigor Of Death And That The Happy Bevy Of Voyaging Brides
Would Be Sorrowing Widows?
Almost In A Collision
The Big Vessel Had, However, A Touch Of Evil Fortune Before
She Cleared The Harbor Of Southampton. As She Passed Down
Stream Her Immense Bulk--She Displaced 66,000 Tons--Drew
The Waters After Her With An Irresistible Suction That Tore The
American Liner New York From Her Moorings; Seven Steel
Hawsers Were Snapped Like Twine. The New York Floated
Toward The White Star Ship, And Would Have Rammed The New
Ship Had Not The Tugs Vulcan And Neptune Stopped Her And
Towed Her Back To The Quay.
When The Mammoth Ship Touched At Cherbourg And Later
At Queenstown She Was Again The Object Of A Port Ovation, The
Smaller Craft Doing Obeisance While Thousands Gazed In Wonder
At Her Stupendous Proportions. After Taking Aboard Some
Additional Passengers At Each Port, The Titanic Headed Her
Towering Bow Toward The Open Sea And The Race For A Record
On Her Maiden Voyage Was Begun.
New Burst Of Speed Each Day
The Titanic Made 484 Miles As Her First Day's Run, Her Powerful
New Engines Turning Over At The Rate Of Seventy Revolutions.
On The Second Day Out The Speed Was Hit Up To Seventy-Three
Revolutions And The Run For The Day Was Bulletined As 519
Miles. Still Further Increasing The Speed, The Rate Of Revolution
Of The Engines Was Raised To Seventy-Five And The Day's
Run Was 549 Miles, The Best Yet Scheduled.
Chapter 3 Pg 12But The Ship Had Not Yet Been Speeded To Her Capacity
She Was Capable Of Turning Over About Seventy-Eight Revolutions.
Had The Weather Conditions Been Propitious, It Was
Intended To Press The Great Racer To The Full Limit Of Her Speed
On Monday. But For The Titanic Monday Never Came.
Fire In The Coal Bunkers
Unknown To The Passengers, The Titanic Was On Fire From The
Day She Sailed From Southampton. Her Officers And Crew
Knew It, For They Had Fought The Fire For Days.
This Story, Told For The First Time By The Survivors Of The
Crew, Was Only One Of The Many Thrilling Tales Of The Fateful
First Voyage.
"The Titanic Sailed From Southampton On Wednesday,
April 10th, At Noon," Said J. Dilley, Fireman On The Titanic.
"I Was Assigned To The Titanic From The Oceanic, Where I
Had Served As A Fireman. From The Day We Sailed The Titanic
Was On Fire, And My Sole Duty, Together With Eleven Other
Men, Had Been To Fight That Fire. We Had Made No Headway
Against It."
Passengers In Ignorance
"Of Course," He Went On, "The Passengers Knew Nothing
Of The Fire. Do You Think We'd Have Let Them Know About It?
No, Sir.
"The Fire Started In Bunker No. 6. There Were Hundreds
Of Tons Of Coal Stored There. The Coal On Top Of The Bunker
Was Wet, As All The Coal Should Have Been, But Down At The
Bottom Of The Bunker The Coal Had Been Permitted To Get Dry.
"The Dry Coal At The Bottom Of The Pile Took Fire, And
Smoldered For Days. The Wet Coal On Top Kept The Flames From
Coming Through, But Down In The Bottom Of The Bunkers The
Flames Were Raging.
"Two Men From Each Watch Of Stokers Were Tolled Off, To
Fight That Fire. The Stokers Worked Four Hours At A Time,
So Twelve Of Us Were Fighting Flames From The Day We Put Out
Of Southampton Until We Hit The Iceberg.
"No, We Didn't Get That Fire Out, And Among The Stokers
There Was Talk That We'd Have To Empty The Big Coal Bunkers
After We'd Put Our Passengers Off In New York, And Then Call
On The Fire-Boats There To Help Us Put Out The Fire.
Chapter 3 Pg 13"The Stokers Were Alarmed Over It, But The Officers Told
Us To Keep Our Mouths Shut--They Didn't Want To Alarm The
Passengers."
Usual Diversion
Until Sunday, April 14th, Then, The Voyage Had Apparently
Been A Delightful But Uneventful One. The Passengers Had
Passed The Time In The Usual Diversions Of Ocean Travelers,
Amusing Themselves In The Luxurious Saloons, Promenading
On The Boat Deck, Lolling At Their Ease In Steamer Chairs And
Making Pools On The Daily Runs Of The Steamship. The
Smoking Rooms And Card Rooms Had Been As Well Patronized
As Usual, And A Party Of Several Notorious Professional Gamblers
Had Begun Reaping Their Usual Easy Harvest.
As Early As Sunday Afternoon The Officers Of The Titanic
Must Have Known That They Were Approaching Dangerous
Ice Fields Of The Kind That Are A Perennial Menace To The Safety
Of Steamships Following The Regular Transatlantic Lanes Off
The Great Banks Of Newfoundland.
An Unheeded Warning
On Sunday Afternoon The Titanic's Wireless Operator
Forwarded To The Hydrographic Office In Washington, Baltimore,
Philadelphia And Elsewhere The Following Dispatch:
"April 14.--The German Steamship Amerika (Hamburg-
American Line) Reports By Radio-Telegraph Passing Two Large
Icebergs In Latitude 41.27, Longitude 50.08.--Titanic, Br.
S. S."
Despite This Warning, The Titanic Forged Ahead Sunday
Night At Her Usual Speed--From Twenty-One To Twenty-Five
Knots.
Chapter 4 Pg 14Some Of The Notable Passengers
Sketches Of Prominent Men And Women On Board, Including
Major Archibald Butt, John Jacob Astor, Benjamin
Guggenheim, Isidor Straws, J. Bruce Ismay, George D.
Widener, Colonel Washington Roebling, 2d, Charles
M. Hays, W. T. Stead And Others
The Ship's Company Was Of A Character Befitting The
Greatest Of All Vessels And Worthy Of The Occasion
Of Her Maiden Voyage. Though The Major Part Of
Her Passengers Were Americans Returning From Abroad, There
Were Enrolled Upon Her Cabin Lists Some Of The Most Distinguished
Names Of England, As Well As Of The Younger Nation.
Many Of These Had Purposely Delayed Sailing, Or Had Hastened
Their Departure, That They Might Be Among The First Passengers
On The Great Vessel.
There Were Aboard Six Men Whose Fortunes Ran Into Tens
Of Millions, Besides Many Other Persons Of International
Note. Among The Men Were Leaders In The World Of Commerce,
Finance, Literature, Art And The Learned Professions.
Many Of The Women Were Socially Prominent In Two Hemispheres.
Wealth And Fame, Unfortunately, Are Not Proof Against
Fate, And Most Of These Notable Personages Perished As Pitiably
As The More Humble Steerage Passengers.
The List Of Notables Included Colonel John Jacob Astor,
Head Of The Astor Family, Whose Fortune Is Estimated At
$150,000,000; Isidor Straus, Merchant And Banker ($50,000,000);
J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director Of The International
Mercantile Marine ($40,000,000); Benjamin Guggenheim,
Head Of The Guggenheim Family ($95,000,000):
George D. Widener, Son Of P. A. B. Widener, Traction Magnate
And Financier ($5,000,000); Colonel Washington Roebling,
Builder Of The Great Brooklyn Bridge; Charles M.
Hays, President Of The Grand Trunk Railway; W. T. Stead.
Famous Publicist; Jacques Futrelle, Journalist; Henry S.
Harper, Of The Firm Of Harper & Bros.; Henry B. Harris,
Theatrical Manager; Major Archibald Butt, Military Aide To
President Taft; And Francis D. Millet, One Of The Best-
Known American Painters.
Major Butt
Major Archibald Butt, Whose Bravery On The Sinking Vessel
Will Not Soon Be Forgotten, Was Military Aide To President
Taft And Was Known Wherever The President Traveled. His
Recent European Mission Was Apparently To Call On The Pope
In Behalf Of President Taft; For On March 21st He Was Received
Chapter 4 Pg 15At The Vatican, And Presented To The Pope A Letter From Mr.
Taft Thanking The Pontiff For The Creation Of Three New American
Cardinals.
Major Butt Had A Reputation As A Horseman, And It Is Said
He Was Able To Keep Up With President Roosevelt, Be The Ride
Ever So Far Or Fast. He Was Promoted To The Rank Of Major
In 1911. He Sailed For The Mediterranean On March 2d With
His Friend Francis D. Millet, The Artist, Who Also Perished On
The Titanic.
Colonel Astor
John Jacob Astor Was Returning From A Trip To Egypt With
His Nineteen-Year-Old Bride, Formerly Miss Madeline Force, To
Whom He Was Married In Providence, September 9, 1911. He
Was Head Of The Family Whose Name He Bore And One Of The
World's Wealthiest Men. He Was Not, However, One Of The
World's "Idle Rich," For His Life Of Forty-Seven Years Was A Well-
Filled One. He Had Managed The Family Estates Since 1891;
Built The Astor Hotel, New York; Was Colonel On The Staff Of
Governor Levi P. Morton, And In May, 1898, Was Commissioned
Colonel Of The United States Volunteers. After Assisting Major-
General Breckinridge, Inspector-General Of The United States
Army, He Was Assigned To Duty On The Staff Of Major-General
Shafter And Served In Cuba During The Operations Ending In
The Surrender Of Santiago. He Was Also The Inventor Of A
Bicycle Brake, A Pneumatic Road-Improver, And An Improved
Turbine Engine.
Benjamin Guggenheim
Next To Colonel Astor In Financial Importance Was Benjamin
Guggenheim, Whose Father Founded The Famous House
Of M. Guggenheim And Sons. When The Various Guggen-
Heim Interests Were Consolidated Into The American Smelting
And Refining Company He Retired From Active Business,
Although He Later Became Interested In The Power And Mining
Machinery Company Of Milwaukee. In 1894 He Married
Miss Floretta Seligman, Daughter Of James Seligman, The
New York Banker.
Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus, Whose Wife Elected To Perish With Him In The
Ship, Was A Brother Of Nathan And Oscar Straus, A Partner
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