Sinking of the "Titanic" : $b most appalling ocean horror; with graphic descriptions of hundreds swept to eternity beneath the waves ...Mowbray, Jay Henry
History
Sinking of the "Titanic" : $b most appalling ocean horror; with graphic descriptions of hundreds swept to eternity beneath the waves ...
Mowbray, Jay Henry
Shipwrecks -- North Atlantic Ocean -- History -- 20th century; Titanic (Steamship)
“We had great difficulty about this time in balancing the boat, as the
men would lean too far, but were all taken aboard the already crowded
boat and in about a half or three-quarters of an hour later we were
picked up by the Carpathia.
“I have noticed second officer Lightholler’s statement that ‘J. B.
Thayer was on our overturned boat,’ which would give the impression
that it was father, when he really meant it was I, as he only learned
my name in subsequent conversation on the Carpathia and did not know I
was ‘Junior.’”
Little Arthur Olsen, eight years old, said that America was a pretty
good place, and that he was going to like it.
TOOK CARE OF HIM IN THE LIFEBOAT.
Arthur came to that conclusion because so many people had been good to
him. First there was Fritzjof Madsen, one of the survivors, who took
care of him in the lifeboat.
Then Miss Jean Campbell gave him hot coffee and sandwiches and propped
him comfortably against some clothing while she busied herself with
others.
Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., next appeared with two nice, big men,
put him in a taxi with Miss Campbell and sent him to a hot bath and bed
at the Lisa Day Nursery, No. 458 West Twentieth street, New York. And
the next morning Miss Florence Hayden taught him kindergarten songs and
dances with her class.
Later Arthur’s stepmother, Mrs. Esther Olson of No. 978 Hart street,
Brooklyn, appeared and clasped him in her arms. Her husband, Arthur’s
father, Charlie Olsen, perished in the wreck.
Mrs. Olsen had never seen Arthur, because after Charlie Oslen’s first
wife died in Trondhjem, Norway, leaving the little baby Arthur, he had
come to America, where he married again.
A while ago Olsen crossed to see about the settlement of an estate
and to bring his son home. He and the boy were in the steerage of the
Titanic.
Arthur is a sturdy, quiet-faced little chap with red hair, freckles and
a ready smile. He speaks only Norwegian, but Mrs. Olsen translated for
him when he told his story.
“I was with papa on the boat,” said the youngster timidly, “and then
something was the matter. Papa said I should hurry up and go into the
boat and be a good boy. We had a friend, Fritzjof Madsen, with us from
our town, and he told me to go too.
“The ship was kind of shivering and everybody was running around. We
kept getting quite close down to the water, and the water was quiet,
like a lake.
THE LAST BOY SAW OF PAPA.
“Then I got into a boat and that was all I saw of papa. I saw a lot of
people floating around drowning or trying to snatch at our boat. Then
all of a sudden I saw Mr. Madsen swimming next to the boat and he was
pulled in. He took good care of me.
“In our boat everybody was crying and sighing. I kept very quiet. One
man got very crazy, then cried just like a little baby. Another man
jumped right into the sea and he was gone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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