Shipwrecks -- North Atlantic Ocean; Titanic (Steamship)
Before noon, at the captain's request, the first cabin passengers of the
Titanic gathered in the saloon and the passengers of other classes in
corresponding places on the rescue ship. Then the collecting of names
was begun by the purser and the stewards. A second table was served in
both cabins for the new guests, and the Carpathia's second cabin, being
better filled than its first, the second class arrivals had to be sent
to the steerage.
TEARS THEIR ONLY RELIEF
Mrs. Jacques Futrelle, wife of the novelist, herself a writer of note,
sat dry eyed in the saloon, telling her friends that she had given up
hope for her husband. She joined with the rest in inquiries as to the
chances of rescue by another ship, and no one told her what soon came
to be the fixed opinion of the men--that all those saved were on the
Carpathia.
"I feel better," Mrs. Futrelle said hours afterward, "for I can cry
now."
Among the men conversation centered on the accident and the
responsibility for it. Many expressed the belief that the Titanic, in
common with other vessels, had had warning of the ice packs, but that in
the effort to establish a record on the maiden run sufficient heed had
not been paid to the warnings.
"God knows I'm not proud to be here," said a rich New York man. "I got
on a boat when they were about to lower it and when, from delays below,
there was no woman to take the vacant place. I don't think any man who
was saved is deserving of censure, but I realize that, in contrast with
those who went down, we may be viewed unfavorably." He showed a picture
of his baby boy as he spoke.
PITIFUL SCENES OF GRIEF
As the day passed the fore part of the ship assumed some degree of order
and comfort, but the crowded second sabin and rear decks gave forth the
incessant sound of lamentation. A bride of two months sat on the floor
and moaned her widowhood. An Italian mother shrieked the name of her
lost son.
A girl of seven wept over the loss of her Teddy bear and two dolls,
while her mother, with streaming eyes, dared not tell the child that her
father was lost too, and that the money for which their home in England
had been sold had gone down with him. Other children clung to the necks
of the fathers who, because carrying them, had been permitted to take
the boats.
In the hospital and the public rooms lay, in blankets, several others
who had been benumbed by the water. Mrs. Rosa Abbott, who was in the
water for hours, was restored during the day. K. Whiteman, the Titanic's
barber, who declared he was blown off the ship by the second of the two
explosions after the crash, was treated for bruises. A passenger, who
was thoroughly ducked before being picked up, caused much amusement on
this ship, soon after the doctors were through with him, by demanding a
bath.
SURVIVORS AID THE DESTITUTE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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