My wife was my only active helper in a task which ten newspaper men could not have performed completely. Mr. S. V. Silverthorne, of St. Louis, aided greatly by lending me his first cabin passenger list, one of the few in existence. Robert Hichens, one of the surviving quartermasters of the Titanic, the man who was on duty at the wheel when the ship struck the iceberg, told me the tale of the wreck on the Carpathia Thursday. Save for the surviving fourth officer, Boxhall, whose lips are sealed, Hichens saw Sunday night’s tragedy at closer range than any man now living. In the hastily compiled list of surviving members of the crew, the names of Hichens and other quartermasters appear among the able-bodied seamen; but the star and anchor on the left sleeve of each distinguishes them in rank from the A. B.’s. Hichens has followed the sea fifteen years and has a wife and two children in Southampton. His tale of the wreck, as he told it to me and as he expects to tell it to a Marine Court of Inquiry, is here given: “I went on watch at eight o’clock Sunday night and stood by the man at the wheel until ten. At ten I took the wheel for two hours. “On the bridge from ten o’clock on were First Officer Murdock, Fourth Officer Boxhall and Sixth Officer Moody. In the crow’s nest (lookout tower) were Fleet and another man whose name I don’t know. SECOND OFFICER ON WATCH. “Second Officer Lightoller, who was on watch while I stood by, carrying messages and the like, from eight to ten, sent me soon after eight to tell the carpenter to look out for the fresh water supply, as it might be in danger of freezing. The temperature was then 31 degrees. He gave the crow’s nest a strict order to look out for small icebergs. “Second Officer Lightoller was relieved by First Officer Murdock at ten, and I took the wheel then. At 11.40 three gongs sounded from the crow’s nest, the signal for ‘something right ahead.’ “At the same time one of the men in the nest telephoned to the bridge that there was a large iceberg right ahead. As Officer Murdoch’s hand was on the lever to stop the engines the crash came. He stopped the engines, then immediately by another lever closed the water-tight doors. “The skipper (Captain Smith) came from the chart room on to the bridge. His first words were ‘Close the emergency doors.’ “‘They’re already closed, sir,’ Mr. Murdock replied. “‘Send to the carpenter and tell him to sound the ship,’ was the skipper’s next order. The message was sent to the carpenter. The carpenter never came up to report. He was probably the first man on that ship to lose his life. [Illustration: COLUMBIA AND BRITANNIA MOURN FOR THE “TITANIC’S” DEAD.] “The skipper looked at the commutator, which shows in what direction the ship is listing. He saw that she carried five degrees list to the starboard.