Shipwrecks -- North Atlantic Ocean -- History -- 20th century; Titanic (Steamship)
Mr. Stengel: No, sir, there were not. These two gentlemen had put
their wives in and were standing on the edge of the deck and when they
started lowering away, they jumped in. I saw only two.
* * * * *
N. C. Chambers, first-class passenger (Am. Inq., p. 1041):
Witness referring to boat No. 5 as appearing sufficiently loaded says:
“However, my wife said she was going in that boat and proceeded to
jump in, calling to me to come. As I knew she would get out again had
I not come, I finally jumped into the boat, although I did not
consider it, from the looks of things, safe to put many more in. As I
remember it, there were two more men, both called by their wives, who
jumped in after I did. One of them, a German I believe, told me as I
recollect it on the _Carpathia_ that he had looked around and had seen
no one else, and no one to ask whether he could get in, or not, and
had jumped in.” Witness describes the difficulty in finding whether
the plug was in, or not, and recalls someone calling from above: “It’s
your own blooming business to see that the plug is in anyhow.”
* * * * *
Mrs. C. E. H. Stengel, first-class passenger, writes as follows:
“As I stepped into the lifeboat an officer in charge said: ‘No more;
the boat is full.’ My husband stepped back, obeying the order. As the
boat was being lowered, four men deliberately jumped into it. One of
them was a Hebrew doctor--another was his brother. This was done at
the risk of the lives of all of us in the boat. The two companions of
this man who did this were the ones who were later transferred to boat
No. 7, to which we were tied. He weighed about 250 pounds and wore
two life preservers. These men who jumped in struck me and a little
child. I was rendered unconscious and two of my ribs were very badly
dislocated. With this exception there was absolutely no confusion and
no disorder in the loading of our boat.”
* * * * *
Mrs. F. M. Warren, first-class passenger’s account:
... Following this we then went to our rooms, put on all our heavy
wraps and went to the foot of the grand staircase on Deck D, again
interviewing passengers and crew as to the danger. While standing
there Mr. Andrews, one of the designers of the vessel, rushed by,
going up the stairs. He was asked if there was any danger but made no
reply. But a passenger who was afterwards saved told me that his face
had on it a look of terror. Immediately after this the report became
general that water was in the squash courts, which were on the deck
below where we were standing, and that the baggage had already been
submerged.
At the time we reached the Boat Deck, starboard side, there were very
few passengers there, apparently, but it was dark and we could not
estimate the number. There was a deafening roar of escaping steam, of
which we had not been conscious while inside.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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