Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall [ebook reader with highlight function TXT] 📗
- Author: Logan Marshall
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Hardly Anyone Could Have Got Away."
A Sad Message
One Of The Titanic's Stewards, Johnson By Name, Carried
This Message To The Sorrowing Widow Of Benjamin Guggenheim:
"When Mr. Guggenheim Realized That There Was Grave
Danger," Said The Room Steward, "He Advised His Secretary,
Who Also Died, To Dress Fully And He Himself Did The Same.
Mr. Guggenheim, Who Was Cool And Collected As He Was Pulling
On His Outer Garments, Said To The Steward:--
Chapter 6 Pg 39
Prepared To Die Bravely
" `I Think There Is Grave Doubt That The Men Will Get Off
Safely. I Am Willing To Remain And Play The Man's Game, If
There Are Not Enough Boats For More Than The Women And
Children. I Won't Die Here Like A Beast. I'll Meet My End As
Man.'
"There Was A Pause And Then Mr. Guggenheim Continued:
" `Tell My Wife, Johnson, If It Should Happen That My Secretary
And I Both Go Down And You Are Saved, Tell Her I Played
The Game Out Straight And To The End. No Woman Shall Be
Left Aboard This Ship Because Ben Guggenheim Was A Coward.
" `Tell Her That My Last Thoughts Will Be Of Her And Of Our
Girls, But That My Duty Now Is To These Unfortunate Women
And Children On This Ship. Tell Her I Will Meet Whatever Fate
Is In Store For Me, Knowing She Will Approve Of What I Do.' "
In Telling The Story The Room Steward Said The Last He Saw
Of Mr. Guggenheim Was When He Stood Fully Dressed Upon
The Upper Deck Talking Calmly With Colonel Astor And Major
Butt.
Before The Last Of The Boats Got Away, According To Some Of
The Passengers' Narratives, There Were More Than Fifty Shots
Fired Upon The Decks By Officers Or Others In The Effort To Maintain
The Discipline That Until Then Had Been Well Preserved.
The Sinking Vessel
Richard Norris Williams, Jr., One Of The Survivors Of The
Titanic, Saw His Father Killed By Being Crushed By One Of The
Tremendous Funnels Of The Sinking Vessel.
"We Stood On Deck Watching The Life-Boats Of The Titanic
Being Filled And Lowered Into The Water," Said Mr. Williams.
"The Water Was Nearly Up To Our Waists And The Ship Was
About At Her Last. Suddenly One Of The Great Funnels Fell.
I Sprang Aside, Endeavoring To Pull Father With Me. A
Moment Later The Funnel Was Swept Overboard And The Body
Of Father Went With It.
"I Sprang Overboard And Swam Through The Ice To A Life-
Raft, And Was Pulled Aboard. There Were Five Men And One
Woman On The Raft. Occasionally We Were Swept Off Into The
Sea, But Always Managed To Crawl Back.
Chapter 6 Pg 40
"A Sailor Lighted A Cigarette And Flung The Match Carelessly
Among The Women. Several Screamed, Fearing They Would
Be Set On Fire. The Sailor Replied: `We Are Going To Hell Anyway
And We Might As Well Be Cremated Now As Then.' "
A Huge Cake Of Ice Was The Means Of Aiding Emile Portaleppi,
Of Italy, In His Hairbreadth Escape From Death When
The Titanic Went Down. Portaleppi, A Second Class Passenger,
Was Awakened By The Explosion Of One Of The Bulkheads Of
The Ship. He Hurried To The Deck, Strapped A Life-Preserver
Around Him And Leaped Into The Sea. With The Aid Of The
Preserver And By Holding To A Cake Of Ice He Managed To
Keep Afloat Until One Of The Life-Boats Picked Him Up. There
Were Thirty-Five Other People In The Boat, He Said, When He Was
Hauled Aboard.
The Coward
Somewhere In The Shadow Of The Appalling Titanic Disaster
Slinks--Still Living By The Inexplicable Grace Of God--A Cur
In Human Shape, To-Day The Most Despicable Human Being In
All The World.
In That Grim Midnight Hour, Already Great In History, He
Found Himself Hemmed In By The Band Of Heroes Whose Watchword
And Countersign Rang Out Across The Deep--"Women
And Children First!"
What Did He Do? He Scuttled To The Stateroom Deck, Put
On A Woman's Skirt, A Woman's Hat And A Woman's Veil, And
Picking His Crafty Way Back Among The Brave And Chivalric
Men Who Guarded The Rail Of The Doomed Ship, He Filched A
Seat In One Of The Life-Boats And Saved His Skin.
His Name Is On That List Of Branded Rescued Men Who Were
Neither Picked Up From The Sea When The Ship Went Down
Nor Were In The Boats Under Orders To Help Get Them Safe Away.
His Identity Is Not Yet Known, Though It Will Be In Good Time.
So Foul An Act As That Will Out Like Murder.
The Eyes Of Strong Men Who Have Read This Crowded Record
Of Golden Deeds, Who Have Read And Re-Read That Deathless
Roll Of Honor Of The Dead, Are Still Wet With Tears Of Pity And
Of Pride. This Man Still Lives. Surely He Was Born And Saved
To Set For Men A New Standard By Which To Measure Infamy
And Shame.
It Is Well That There Was Sufficient Heroism On Board The
Titanic To Neutralize The Horrors Of The Cowardice. When
The First Order Was Given For The Men To Stand Back, There Were
A Dozen Or More Who Pushed Forward And Said That Men Would
Be Needed To Row The Life-Boats And That They Would Volunteer
For The Work.
Chapter 6 Pg 41
The Officers Tried To Pick Out The Ones That Volunteered
Merely For Service And To Eliminate Those Who Volunteered
Merely To Save Their Own Lives. This Elimination Process
However, Was Not Wholly Successful.
The Doomed Men
As The Ship Began To Settle To Starboard, Heeling At An Angle
Of Nearly Forty-Five Degrees, Those Who Had Believed It Was All
Right To Stick By The Ship Began To Have Doubts, And A Few
Jumped Into The Sea. They Were Followed Immediately By
Others, And In A Few Minutes There Were Scores Swimming
Around. Nearly All Of Them Wore Life-Preservers. One Man,
Who Had A Pomeranian Dog, Leaped Overboard With It And
Striking A Piece Of Wreckage Was Badly Stunned. He Recovered
After A Few Minutes And Swam Toward One Of The Life-Boats
And Was Taken Aboard.
Said One Survivor, Speaking Of The Men Who Remained On
The Ship. "There They Stood--Major Butt, Colonel Astor
Waving A Farewell To His Wife, Mr. Thayer, Mr. Case,
Mr. Clarence Moore, Mr. Widener, All Multimillionaires, And
Hundreds Of Other Men, Bravely Smiling At Us All. Never Have I
Seen Such Chivalry And Fortitude. Such Courage In The Face Of
Fate Horrible To Contemplate Filled Us Even Then With Wonder
And Admiration."
Why Were Men Saved? Ask: Others Who Seek To Make The
Occasional Male Survivor A Hissing Scorn; And Yet The Testimony
Makes It Clear That For A Long Time During That Ordeal
The More Frightful Position Seemed To Many To Be In The Frail
Boats In The Vast Relentless Sea, And That Some Men Had To Be
Tumbled Into The Boats Under Orders From The Officers. Others
Express The Deepest Indignation That 210 Sailors Were Rescued,
The Testimony Shows That Most Of These Sailors Were In The
Welter Of Ice And Water Into Which They Had Been Thrown From
The Ship's Deck When She Sank; They Were Human Beings And
So Were Picked Up And Saved.
"Women And Children First"
The One Alleviating Circumstance In The Otherwise Immitigable
Tragedy Is The Fact That So Many Of The Men Stood Aside
Really With Out The Necessity For The Order, "Women And
Children First," And Insisted That The Weaker Sex Should First
Have Places In The Boats.
Chapter 6 Pg 42There Were Men Whose Word Of Command Swayed Boards
Of Directors, Governed Institutions, Disposed Of Millions. They
Were Accustomed Merely To Pronounce A Wish To Have It Gratified.
Thousands "Posted At Their Bidding"; The Complexion
Of The Market Altered Hue When They Nodded; They Bought
What They Wanted, And For One Of The Humblest Fishing Smacks
Or A Dory They Could Have Given The Price That Was Paid To
Build And Launch The Ship That Has Become The Most Imposing
Mausoleum That Ever Housed The Bones Of Men Since The
Pyramids Rose From The Desert Sands.
But These Men Stood Aside--One Can See Them!--And Gave
Place Not Merely To The Delicate And The Refined, But To The
Scared Czech Woman From The Steerage, With Her Baby At Her
Breast; The Croatian With A Toddler By Her Side, Coming
Through The Very Gate Of Death And Out Of The Mouth Of Hell
To The Imagined Eden Of America.
To Many Of Those Who Went It Was Harder To Go Than To
Stay There On The Vessel Gaping With Its Mortal Wounds And
Ready To Go Down. It Meant That Tossing On The Waters They
Must Wait In Suspense, Hour After Hour Even After The Lights Of
The Ship Were Engulfed In Appalling Darkness, Hoping Against
Hope For The Miracle Of A Rescue Dearer To Them Than Their
Own Lives.
It Was The Tradition Of Anglo-Saxon Heroism That Was Fulfilled
In The Frozen Seas During The Black Hours Of Sunday
Night. The Heroism Was That Of The Women Who Went, As Well
As Of The Men Who Remained!
Chapter 7 Pg 43
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