THE PORT SIDE: WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
_Foreword_
THE previous chapters, describing my personal experience on board the
_Titanic_ and remarkable escape from death in the icy waters of the
middle Atlantic, were written some months ago. In the interim I have
received the pamphlets, printed in convenient form, containing the
hearings of both the American and British Courts of Inquiry, and have
given them considerable study.
These official sources of information have added materially to my
store of knowledge concerning the shipwreck, and corroborate to a
marked degree the description from my personal viewpoint, all the
salient points of which were written before our arrival in New York,
and on the S. S. _Carpathia_, under circumstances which will be
related in a future chapter.
During the same interval, by correspondence with survivors and by
reading all available printed matter in books, magazine articles and
newspapers, I have become still more conversant with the story of
this, the greatest of maritime disasters, which caused more excitement
in our country than any other single event that has occurred in its
history within a generation.
The adopted standard by which I propose to measure the truth of all
statements in this book is the evidence obtained from these Courts of
Inquiry, after it has been subjected to careful and impartial
analysis. All accounts of the disaster, from newspapers and individual
sources, for which no basis can be found after submission to this
refining process, will find no place or mention herein. In the
discussion of points of historical interest or of individual conduct,
where such are matters of public record, I shall endeavor to present
them fairly before the reader, who can pass thereon his or her own
opinion after a study of the testimony bearing on both sides of any
controversy. In connection with such discussion where the reflections
cast upon individuals in the sworn testimony of witnesses have already
gained publicity, I claim immunity from any real or imaginary
animadversions which may be provoked by my impartial reference
thereto.
I have already recorded my personal observation of how strictly the
rule of human nature, “Women and Children First,” was enforced on the
port side of the great steamship, whence no man escaped alive who made
his station on this quarter and bade good-bye to wife, mother or
sister.
I have done my best, during the limited time allowed, to exhaust all
the above-defined sources of information, in an effort to preserve as
complete a list as possible of those comrades of mine who, from first
to last, on this port side of the ship, helped to preserve order and
discipline, upholding the courage of women and children, until all the
boats had left the _Titanic_, and who then sank with the ship when she
went down.
I shall now present the record and story of each lifeboat, on both
port and starboard sides of the ship, giving so far as I have been
able to obtain them the names of persons loaded aboard each boat,
passengers and crew; those picked up out of the water; the stowaways
found concealed beneath the thwarts, and those men who, without
orders, jumped from the deck into boats being lowered, injuring the
occupants and endangering the lives of women and children. At the same
time will be described the conditions existing when each boat was
loaded and lowered, and whatever incidents occurred in the transfer of
passengers to the rescuing steamer _Carpathia_.
The general testimony of record, covering the conduct which was
exhibited on the port side of the ship, is contained in the careful
statements of that splendid officer, Charles H. Lightoller, before the
United States Senate Committee: (Am. Inq., p. 88.)
Senator Smith: From what you have said, you discriminated entirely in
the interest of the passengers--first women and children--in filling
these lifeboats?
Mr. Lightoller: Yes, sir.
Senator Smith: Why did you do that? Because of the captain’s orders,
or because of the rule of the sea?
Mr. Lightoller: The rule of human nature.
And also in his testimony before the British Inquiry (p. 71):
“I asked the captain on the Boat Deck, ‘Shall I get women and children
in the boats?’ The captain replied, ‘Yes, and lower away.’ I was
carrying out his orders. I am speaking of the port side of the ship. I
was running the port side only. All the boats on this side were
lowered except the last, which was stowed on top of the officers’
quarters. This was the surf boat--the Engelhardt boat (A). We had not
time to launch it, nor yet to open it.”
(Br. Inq.) “I had no difficulty in filling the boat. The people were
perfectly ready and quiet. There was no jostling or pushing or
crowding whatever. The men all refrained from asserting their strength
and from crowding back the women and children. They could not have
stood quieter if they had been in church.”
And referring to the last boats that left the ship (Br. Inq., p. 83):
“When we were lowering the women, there were any amount of Americans
standing near who gave me every assistance they could.”
The crow’s nest on the foremast was just about level with the water
when the bridge was submerged. The people left on the ship, or that
part which was not submerged, did not make any demonstration. There
was not a sign of any lamentation.
On the port side on deck I can say, as far as my own observations
went, from my own endeavor and that of others to obtain women, there
were none left on the deck.
My testimony on the same point before the United States Senate
Committee (Am. Inq., p. 992) was as follows:
“I want to say that there was nothing but the most heroic conduct on
the part of all men and women at that time where I was at the bow on
the port side. There was no man who asked to get in a boat with the
single exception that I have already mentioned. (Referring to Col.
Astor’s request to go aboard to protect his wife. Am. Inq., p. 991.)
No women even sobbed or wrung their hands, and everything appeared
perfectly orderly. Lightoller was splendid in his conduct with the
crew, and the crew did their duty. It seemed to me it was a little bit
more difficult than it should have been to launch the boats alongside
the ship. I do not know the cause of that. I know I had to use my
muscle as best I could in trying to push those boats so as to get them
over the gunwale. I refer to these in a general way as to its being
difficult in trying to lift them and push them over. (As was the case
with the Engelhardt “D.”) The crew, at first, sort of resented my
working with them, but they were very glad when I worked with them
later on. Every opportunity I got to help, I helped.”
How these statements are corroborated by the testimony of others is
recorded in the detailed description of each boat that left the ship
on the port side as follows:
BOAT NO. 6.[6]
[6] British Report (p. 38) puts this boat first to leave port
side at 12.55. Lightoller’s testimony shows it could not have
been the first.
_No male passengers._
_Passengers:_ Miss Bowerman, Mrs. J. J. Brown, Mrs. Candee, Mrs.
Cavendish and her maid (Miss Barber), Mrs. Meyer, Miss Norton, Mrs.
Rothschild, Mrs. L. P. Smith, Mrs. Stone and her maid (Miss Icard).
_Ordered in to supply lack of crew:_ Major A. G. Peuchen.
_Said good-bye to wives and sank with ship:_ Messrs. Cavendish, Meyer,
Rothschild and L. P. Smith.
_Crew:_ Hitchens, Q. M. (in charge). Seaman Fleet. (One fireman
transferred from No. 16 to row.) Also a boy with injured arm whom
Captain Smith had ordered in.
_Total:_ 28. (Br. Inq.)
INCIDENTS
Lightoller’s testimony (Am. Inq., p. 79):
I was calling for seamen and one of the seamen jumped out of the boat
and started to lower away. The boat was half way down when a woman
called out that there was only one man in it. I had only two seamen
and could not part with them, and was in rather a fix to know what to
do when a passenger called out: “If you like, I will go.” This was a
first-class passenger, Major Peuchen, of Toronto. I said: “Are you a
seaman?” and he said: “I am a yachtsman.” I said: “If you are sailor
enough to get out on that fall--that is a difficult thing to get to
over the ship’s side, eight feet away, and means a long swing, on a
dark night--if you are sailor enough to get out there, you can go
down”; and he proved he was, by going down.
* * * * *
F. Fleet, L. O. (Am. Inq., p. 363) and (Br. Inq.):
Witness says there were twenty-three women, Major Peuchen and Seamen
Hitchens and himself. As he left the deck he heard Mr. Lightoller
shouting: “Any more women?” No. 6 and one other cut adrift after
reaching the _Carpathia_.
* * * * *
Major Arthur Godfrey Peuchen, Manufacturing Chemist, Toronto, Canada,
and Major of Toronto’s crack regiment, The Queen’s Own Rifles (Am.
Inq., p. 334), testified:
I was standing on the Boat Deck, port side, near the second officer
and the captain. One of them said: “We must get these masts and sails
out of these boats; you might give us a hand.” I jumped in, and with a
knife cut the lashings of the mast and sail and moved the mast out of
the boat. Only women were allowed in, and the men had to stand back.
This was the order, and the second officer stood there and carried it
out to the limit. He allowed no men, except sailors who were manning
the boat. I did not see one single male passenger get in or attempt to
get in. I never saw such perfect order. The discipline was perfect. I
did not see a cowardly act by any man.
When I first came on this upper deck there were about 100 stokers
coming up with their dunnage bags and they seemed to crowd this whole
deck in front of the boats. One of the officers, I don’t know which
one, a very powerful man, came along and drove these men right off
this deck like a lot of sheep. They did not put up any resistance. I
admired him for it. Later, there were counted 20 women, one
quartermaster, one sailor and one stowaway, before I was ordered in.
In getting into the boat I went aft and said to the quartermaster:
“What do you want me to do?” “Get down and put that plug in,” he
answered. I made a dive down for the plug. The ladies were all
sitting pretty well aft and I could not see at all. It was dark down
there. I felt with my hands and then said it would be better for him
to do it and me do his work. I said, “Now, you get down and put in the
plug and I will undo the shackles,” that is, take the blocks off, so
he dropped the blocks and got down to fix the plug, and then he came
back to assist me saying, “Hurry up.” He said: “This boat is going to
founder.” I thought he meant our lifeboat was going to founder, but he
meant the large boat, and that we were to hurry up and get away from
it, so we got the rudder in and he told me to go forward and take an
oar. I did so, and got an oar on the port side. Sailor Fleet was on my
left on the starboard side. The quartermaster told us to row as hard
as we could to get away from the suction. We got a short distance away
when an Italian, a stowaway, made his appearance. He had a broken
wrist or arm, and was of no use to row. He was stowed away under the
boat where we could not see him.
Toward morning we tied up to another boat (No. 16) for fifteen
minutes. We said to those in the other boat: “Surely you can spare us
one man if you have so many.” One man, a fireman, was accordingly
transferred, who assisted in rowing on the starboard side. The women
helped with the oars, and very pluckily too.[7]
[7] “An English girl (Miss Norton) and I rowed for four hours
and a half.”--Mrs. Meyer in New York _Times_, April 14th, 1912.
We were to the weather of the _Carpathia_, and so she stayed there
until we all came down on her. I looked at my watch and it was
something after eight o’clock.
* * * * *
Mrs. Candee’s account of her experience is as follows:
She last saw Mr. Kent in the companionway between Decks A and B. He
took charge of an ivory miniature of her mother, etc., which
afterwards were found on his body when brought into Halifax. He
appeared at the time to hesitate accepting her valuables, seeming to
have a premonition of his fate.
She witnessed the same incident described by Major Peuchen, when a
group of firemen came up on deck and were ordered by the officer to
return below. She, however, gives praise to these men. They obeyed
like soldiers, and without a murmur or a protest, though they knew
better than anyone else on the ship that they were going straight to
their death. No boats had been lowered when these firemen first
appeared upon the Boat Deck, and it would have been an easy matter
for them to have “rushed” the boats.
Her stateroom steward also gave an exhibition of courage. After he had
tied on her life preserver and had locked her room as a precaution
against looters, which she believed was done all through the deck, she
said to this brave man: “It is time for you to look out for yourself,”
to which the steward replied, “Oh, plenty of time for that, Madam,
plenty of time for that.” He was lost.
As she got into boat No. 6, it being dark and not seeing where she
stepped, her foot encountered the oars lying lengthwise in the boat
and her ankle was thus twisted and broken.
Just before her boat was lowered away a man’s voice said: “Captain, we
have no seaman.” Captain Smith then seized a boy by the arm and said:
“Here’s one.” The boy went into the boat as ordered by the captain,
but afterwards he was found to be disabled. She does not think he was
an Italian.
Her impression is that there were other boats in the water which had
been lowered before hers. There was a French woman about fifty years
of age in the boat who was constantly calling for her son. Mrs. Candee
sat near her. After arrival on the _Carpathia_ this French woman
became hysterical.
Notwithstanding Hitchens’ statements, she says that there was
absolutely no upset feeling on the women’s part at any time, even when
the boat, as it was being lowered, on several occasions hung at a
dangerous angle--sometimes bow up and sometimes stern up. The lowering
process seemed to be done by jerks. She herself called out to the men
lowering the boat and gave instructions: otherwise they would have
been swamped.
The Italian boy who was in the boat was not a stowaway, he was ordered
in by the captain as already related. Neither did he refuse to row.
When he tried to do so, it was futile, because of an injury to his arm
or wrist.
* * * * *
Through the courtesy of another fellow passenger, Mrs. J. J. Brown, of
Denver, Colorado, I am able to give her experiences in boat No. 6,
told in a delightful, graphic manner; so much so that I would like to
insert it all did not space prevent:
In telling of the people she conversed with, that Sunday evening, she
refers to an exceedingly intellectual and much-travelled acquaintance,
Mrs. Bucknell, whose husband had founded the Bucknell University of
Philadelphia; also to another passenger from the same city, Dr.
Brewe, who had done much in scientific research. During her
conversation with Mrs. Bucknell, the latter reiterated a statement
previously made on the tender at Cherbourg while waiting for the
_Titanic_. She said she feared boarding the ship because she had evil
forebodings that something might happen. Mrs. Brown laughed at her
premonitions and shortly afterwards sought her quarters.
Instead of retiring to slumber, Mrs. Brown was absorbed in reading and
gave little thought to the crash at her window overhead which threw
her to the floor. Picking herself up she proceeded to see what the
steamer had struck; but thinking nothing serious had occurred, though
realizing that the engines had stopped immediately after the crash and
the boat was at a standstill, she picked up her book and began reading
again. Finally she saw her curtains moving while she was reading, but
no one was visible. She again looked out and saw a man whose face was
blanched, his eyes protruding, wearing the look of a haunted creature.
He was gasping for breath and in an undertone gasped, “Get your life
preserver.” He was one of the buyers for Gimbel Bros., of Paris and
New York.
She got down her life preserver, snatched up her furs and hurriedly
mounted the stairs to A Deck, where she found passengers putting on
lifebelts like hers. Mrs. Bucknell approached and whispered, “Didn’t I
tell you something was going to happen?” She found the lifeboats
lowered from the falls and made flush with the deck. Madame de
Villiers appeared from below in a nightdress and evening slippers,
with no stockings. She wore a long woollen motorcoat. Touching Mrs.
Brown’s arm, in a terrified voice she said she was going below for her
money and valuables. After much persuasion Mrs. Brown prevailed upon
her not to do so, but to get into the boat. She hesitated and became
very much excited, but was finally prevailed upon to enter the
lifeboat. Mrs. Brown was walking away, eager to see what was being
done elsewhere. Suddenly she saw a shadow and a few seconds later
someone seized her, saying: “You are going, too,” and she was dropped
fully four feet into the lowering lifeboat. There was but one man in
charge of the boat. As it was lowered by jerks by an officer above,
she discovered that a great gush of water was spouting through the
porthole from D Deck, and the lifeboat was in grave danger of being
submerged. She immediately grasped an oar and held the lifeboat away
from the ship.
When the sea was reached, smooth as glass, she looked up and saw the
benign, resigned countenance, the venerable white hair and the
Chesterfieldian bearing of the beloved Captain Smith with whom she had
crossed twice before, and only three months previous on the _Olympic_.
He peered down upon those in the boat, like a solicitous father, and
directed them to row to the light in the distance--all boats keeping
together.
Because of the fewness of men in the boat she found it necessary for
someone to bend to the oars. She placed her oar in an oarlock and
asked a young woman nearby to hold one while she placed the other on
the further side. To Mrs. Brown’s surprise, the young lady (who must
have been Miss Norton, spoken of elsewhere), immediately began to row
like a galley slave, every stroke counting. Together they managed to
pull away from the steamer.
By this time E and C Decks were completely submerged. Those ladies who
had husbands, sons or fathers on the doomed steamer buried their heads
on the shoulders of those near them and moaned and groaned. Mrs.
Brown’s eyes were glued on the fast-disappearing ship. Suddenly there
was a rift in the water, the sea opened up and the surface foamed like
giant arms and spread around the ship and the vessel disappeared from
sight, and not a sound was heard.
Then follows Mrs. Brown’s account of the conduct of the quartermaster
in the boat which will be found under the heading presently given, and
it will be noticed that her statements correspond with those of all
others in the boat.
The dawn disclosed the awful situation. There were fields of ice on
which, like points on the landscape, rested innumerable pyramids of
ice. Seemingly a half hour later, the sun, like a ball of molten lead,
appeared in the background. The hand of nature portrayed a scenic
effect beyond the ken of the human mind. The heretofore smooth sea
became choppy and retarded their progress. All the while the people in
boat No. 6 saw the other small lifeboats being hauled aboard the
_Carpathia_. By the time their boat reached the _Carpathia_ a heavy
sea was running, and, No. 6 boat being among the last to approach, it
was found difficult to get close to the ship. Three or four
unsuccessful attempts were made. Each time they were dashed against
the keel, and bounded off like a rubber ball. A rope was then thrown
down, which was spliced in four at the bottom, and a Jacob’s ladder
was made. Catching hold, they were hoisted up, where a dozen of the
crew and officers and doctors were waiting. They were caught and
handled as tenderly as though they were children.
HITCHENS’ CONDUCT
Major Peuchen (Am. Inq., p. 334) continued:
There was an officers’ call, sort of a whistle, calling us to come
back to the boat. The quartermaster told us to stop rowing. We all
thought we ought to go back to the ship, but the quartermaster said
“No, we are not going back to the boat; it is our lives now, not
theirs.” It was the women who rebelled against this action. I asked
him to assist us in rowing and let some of the women steer the boat,
as it was a perfectly calm night and no skill was required. He
refused, and told me he was in command of that boat and that I was to
row.
He imagined he saw a light. I have done a great deal of yachting in my
life. I have owned a yacht for six years. I saw a reflection. He
thought it was a boat of some kind; probably it might be a buoy, and
he called out to the next boat asking them if they knew any buoys were
around there. This struck me as being perfectly absurd.
I heard what seemed to be one, two, three rumbling sounds; then the
lights of the ship went out. Then the terrible cries and calls for
help--moaning and crying. It affected all the women in our boat whose
husbands were among those in the water. This went on for some time,
gradually getting fainter and fainter. At first it was horrible to
listen to. We must have been five-eighths of a mile away when this
took place. There were only two of us rowing a very heavy boat with a
good many people in it, and I do not think we covered very much
ground. Some of the women in the boat urged the quartermaster to
return. He said there was no use going back,--that there were only a
“lot of stiffs there.” The women resented it very much.
* * * * *
Seaman Fleet (Am. Inq., p. 363):
All the women asked us to pull to the place where the _Titanic_ went
down, but the quartermaster, who was at the tiller all the time, would
not allow it. They asked him, but he would not hear of it.
* * * * *
Mrs. Candee continues:
Hitchens was cowardly and almost crazed with fear all the time. After
we left the ship he thought he heard the captain say: “Come
alongside,” and was for turning back until reminded by the passengers
that the captain’s final orders were: “Keep boats together and row
away from the ship.” She heard this order given.
After that he constantly reminded us who were at the oars that if we
did not make better speed with our rowing we would all be sucked
under the water by the foundering of the ship. This he repeated
whenever our muscles flagged.
Directly the _Titanic_ had foundered a discussion arose as to whether
we should return. Hitchens said our boat would immediately be swamped
if we went into the confusion. The reason for this was that our boat
was not manned with enough oars.
Then after the sinking of the _Titanic_ Hitchens reminded us
frequently that we were hundreds of miles from land, without water,
without food, without protection against cold, and if a storm should
come up that we would be helpless. Therefore, we faced death by
starvation or by drowning. He said we did not even know the direction
in which we were rowing. I corrected him by pointing to the north star
immediately over our bow.
When our boat came alongside No. 16, Hitchens immediately ordered the
boats lashed together. He resigned the helm and settled down to rest.
When the _Carpathia_ hove in sight he ordered that we drift.
Addressing the people in both boats Mrs. Candee said: “Where those
lights are lies our salvation; shall we not go towards them?” The
reply was a murmur of approval and immediate recourse to the oars.
Hitchens was requested to assist in the toilsome rowing. Women tried
to taunt and provoke him into activity. When it was suggested that he
permit the injured boy to take the tiller and that Hitchens should
row, he declined, and in every case he refused labor. He spoke with
such uncivility to one of the ladies that a man’s voice was heard in
rebuke: “You are speaking to a lady,” to which he replied: “I know
whom I am speaking to, and I am commanding this boat.”
When asked if the _Carpathia_ would come and pick us up he replied:
“No, she is not going to pick us up; she is to pick up bodies.” This
when said to wives and mothers of the dead men was needlessly brutal.
When we neared the _Carpathia_ he refused to go round on the smooth
side because it necessitated keeping longer in the rough sea, so we
made a difficult landing.
* * * * *
In Mrs. Brown’s account of her experience she relates the following
about the conduct of the quartermaster in charge of the boat in which
she was:
He, Quartermaster Hitchens, was at the rudder and standing much higher
than we were, shivering like an aspen. As they rowed away from the
ship he burst out in a frightened voice and warned them of the fate
that awaited them, saying that the task in rowing away from the
sinking ship was futile, as she was so large that in sinking she would
draw everything for miles around down with her suction, and, if they
escaped that, the boilers would burst and rip up the bottom of the
sea, tearing the icebergs asunder and completely submerging them. They
were truly doomed either way. He dwelt upon the dire fate awaiting
them, describing the accident that happened to the S. S. _New York_
when the _Titanic_ left the docks at Southampton.
[Illustration: THE TITANIC NARROWLY ESCAPES COLLISION AT
SOUTHAMPTON
_Photograph by Brown Bros., New York_]
After the ship had sunk and none of the calamities that were predicted
by the terrified quartermaster were experienced, he was asked to
return and pick up those in the water. Again the people in the boat
were admonished and told how the frantic drowning victims would
grapple the sides of the boat and capsize it. He not yielding to the
entreaties, those at the oars pulled away vigorously towards a faintly
glimmering light on the horizon. After three hours of pulling the
light grew fainter, and then completely disappeared. Then this
quartermaster, who stood on his pinnacle trembling, with an attitude
like some one preaching to the multitude, fanning the air with his
hands, recommenced his tirade of awful forebodings, telling those in
the boat that they were likely to drift for days, all the while
reminding them that they were surrounded by icebergs, as he pointed to
a pyramid of ice looming up in the distance, possibly seventy feet
high. He forcibly impressed upon them that there was no water in the
casks in the lifeboats, and no bread, no compass and no chart. No one
answered him. All seemed to be stricken dumb. One of the ladies in the
boat had had the presence of mind to procure her silver brandy flask.
As she held it in her hand the silver glittered and he being attracted
to it implored her to give it to him, saying that he was frozen. She
refused the brandy, but removed her steamer blanket and placed it
around his shoulders, while another lady wrapped a second blanket
around his waist and limbs, he looking “as snug as a bug in a rug.”
The quartermaster was then asked to relieve one or the other of those
struggling at the oars, as someone else could manage the rudder while
he rowed. He flatly refused and continued to lampoon them, shouting:
“Here, you fellow on the starboard side, your oar is not being put in
the water at the right angle.” No one made any protest to his
outbursts, as he broke the monotony, but they continued to pull at the
oars with no goal in sight. Presently he raised his voice and shouted
to another lifeboat to pull near and lash alongside, commanding some
of the other ladies to take the light and signal to the other
lifeboats. His command was immediately obeyed. He also gave another
command to drop the oars and lay to. Some time later, after more
shouts, a lifeboat hove to and obeyed his orders to throw a rope, and
was tied alongside. On the cross-seat of that boat stood a man in
white pajamas, looking like a snow man in that icy region. His teeth
were chattering and he appeared quite numb. Seeing his predicament,
Mrs. Brown told him he had better get to rowing and keep his blood in
circulation. But the suggestion met with a forcible protest from the
quartermaster in charge. Mrs. Brown and her companions at the oars,
after their exercise, felt the blasts from the ice-fields and demanded
that they should be allowed to row to keep warm.
Over into their boat jumped a half-frozen stoker, black and covered
with dust. As he was dressed in thin jumpers, she picked up a large
sable stole which she had dropped into the boat and wrapped it around
his limbs from his waist down and tied the tails around his ankles.
She handed him an oar and told the pajama man to cut loose. A howl
arose from the quartermaster in charge. He moved to prevent it, and
Mrs. Brown told him if he did he would be thrown overboard. Someone
laid a hand on her shoulder to stay her threats, but she knew it would
not be necessary to push him over, for had she only moved in the
quartermaster’s direction, he would have tumbled into the sea, so
paralyzed was he with fright. By this time he had worked himself up to
a pitch of sheer despair, fearing that a scramble of any kind would
remove the plug from the bottom of the boat. He then became very
impertinent, and our fur-enveloped stoker in as broad a cockney as one
hears in the Haymarket shouted: “Oi sy, don’t you know you are talkin’
to a lidy?” For the time being the seaman was silenced and we resumed
our task at the oars. Two other ladies came to the rescue.
While glancing around watching the edge of the horizon, the
beautifully modulated voice of the young Englishwoman at the oar (Miss
Norton) exclaimed, “There is a flash of lightning.” “It is a falling
star,” replied our pessimistic seaman. As it became brighter he was
then convinced that it was a ship. However, the distance, as we rowed,
seemed interminable. We saw the ship was anchored. Again the
declaration was made that we, regardless of what our quartermaster
said, would row toward her, and the young Englishwoman from the Thames
got to work, accompanying her strokes with cheerful words to the
wilted occupants of the boat.
Mrs. Brown finishes the quartermaster in her final account of him. On
entering the dining-room on the _Carpathia_, she saw him in one
corner--this brave and heroic seaman! A cluster of people were around
him as he wildly gesticulated, trying to impress upon them what
difficulty he had in maintaining discipline among the occupants of his
boat; but on seeing Mrs. Brown and a few others of the boat nearby he
did not tarry long, but made a hasty retreat.
* * * * *
R. Hitchens, Q. M. (Am. Inq., p. 451. Br. Inq.) explains his conduct:
I was put in charge of No. 6 by the Second Officer, Mr. Lightoller. We
lowered away from the ship. I told them in the boat somebody would
have to pull. There was no use stopping alongside the ship, which was
gradually going by the head. We were in a dangerous place, so I told
them to man the oars--ladies and all. “All of you do your best.” I
relieved one of the young ladies with an oar and told her to take the
tiller. She immediately let the boat come athwart, and the ladies in
the boat got very nervous; so I took the tiller back again and told
them to manage the best way they could. The lady I refer to, Mrs.
Meyer, was rather vexed with me in the boat and I spoke rather
straight to her. She accused me of wrapping myself up in the blankets
in the boat, using bad language and drinking all the whisky, which I
deny, sir. I was standing to attention, exposed, steering the boat all
night, which is a very cold billet. I would rather be pulling the boat
than be steering, but I saw no one there to steer, so I thought, being
in charge of the boat, it was the best way to steer myself, especially
when I saw the ladies get very nervous.
I do not remember that the women urged me to go toward the _Titanic_.
I did not row toward the scene of the _Titanic_ because the suction of
the ship would draw the boat, with all its occupants, under water. I
did not know which way to go back to the _Titanic_. I was looking at
all the other boats. We were looking at each other’s lights. After the
lights disappeared and went out, we did hear cries of distress--a lot
of crying, moaning and screaming, for two or three minutes. We made
fast to another boat--that of the master-at-arms. It was No. 16. I had
thirty-eight women in my boat. I counted them, sir. One seaman, Fleet;
the Canadian Major, who testified here yesterday, myself and the
Italian boy.
We got down to the _Carpathia_ and I saw every lady and everybody out
of the boat, and I saw them carefully hoisted on board the
_Carpathia_, and I was the last man to leave the boat.
BOAT NO. 8.[8]
[8] British Report (p. 38) puts this boat second on port side at
1.10. Notwithstanding Seaman Fleet’s testimony (Am. Inq., p.
363), I think she must have preceded No. 6.
_No male passengers in this boat._
_Passengers:_ Mrs. Bucknell and her maid (Albina Bazzani); Miss
Cherry, Mrs. Kenyon, Miss Leader, Mrs. Pears, Mrs. Penasco and her
maid (Mlle. Olivia); Countess Rothes and her maid (Miss Maloney); Mrs.
Swift, Mrs. Taussig, Miss Taussig, Mrs. White and her maid (Amelia
Bessetti); Mrs. Wick, Miss Wick, Miss Young and Mrs. Straus’ maid
(Ellen Bird).
Women: 24.
_Said good-bye to wives and sank with the ship:_ Messrs. Kenyon,
Pears, Penasco, Taussig and Wick.
_Crew:_ Seaman T. Jones, Stewards Crawford and Hart, and a cook.
_Total:_ 28.
INCIDENTS
T. Jones, seaman (Am. Inq., p. 570).
The captain asked me if the plug was in the boat and I answered, “Yes,
sir.” “All right,” he said, “any more ladies?” He shouted twice
again, “Any more ladies?”
I pulled for the light, but I found that I could not get to it; so I
stood by for a while. I wanted to return to the ship, but the ladies
were frightened. In all, I had thirty-five ladies and three stewards,
Crawford, Hart and another. There were no men who offered to get in
the boat. I did not see any children, and very few women when we left
the ship. There was one old lady there and an old gentleman, her
husband. She wanted him to enter the boat with her but he backed away.
She never said anything; if she did, we could not hear it, because the
steam was blowing so and making such a noise.[9]
[9] By the testimony of the witness and Steward Crawford it
appears that Mr. and Mrs. Straus approached this boat and their
maid got in, but Mr. Straus would not follow his wife and she
refused to leave him.
Senator Newlands: Can you give me the names of any passengers on this
boat?
Witness: One lady--she had a lot to say and I put her to steering the
boat.
Senator Newlands: What was her name?
Witness: Lady Rothes; she was a countess, or something.
* * * * *
A. Crawford, steward (Am. Inq., pp. 111, 827, 842).
After we struck I went out and saw the iceberg, a large black object,
much higher than B Deck, passing along the starboard side. We filled
No. 8 with women. Captain Smith and a steward lowered the forward
falls. Captain Smith told me to get in. He gave orders to row for the
light and to land the people there and come back to the ship. The
Countess Rothes was at the tiller all night. There were two lights not
further than ten miles--stationary masthead lights. Everybody saw
them--all the ladies in the boat. They asked if we were drawing nearer
to the steamer, but we could not seem to make any headway, and near
daybreak we saw another steamer coming up, which proved to be the
_Carpathia_, and then we turned around and came back. We were the
furthest boat away. I am sure it was a steamer, because a sailing
vessel would not have had two masthead lights.
* * * * *
Mrs. J. Stuart White (Am. Inq., p. 1008).
Senator Smith: Did you see anything after the accident bearing on the
discipline of the officers or crew, or their conduct which you desire
to speak of?
Mrs. White: Before we cut loose from the ship these stewards took out
cigarettes and lighted them. On an occasion like that! That is one
thing I saw. All of these men escaped under the pretence of being
oarsmen. The man who rowed near me took his oar and rowed all over the
boat in every direction. I said to him: “Why don’t you put the oar in
the oarlock?” He said: “Do you put it in that hole?” I said:
“Certainly.” He said: “I never had an oar in my hand before.” I spoke
to the other man and he said: “I have never had an oar in my hand
before, but I think I can row.” These were the men we were put to sea
with, that night--with all those magnificent fellows left on board who
would have been such a protection to us--those were the kind of men
with whom we were put to sea that night! There were twenty-two women
and four men in my boat. None of the men seemed to understand the
management of a boat except one who was at the end of our boat and
gave the orders. The officer who put us in the boat gave strict orders
to make for the light opposite, land passengers and then get back just
as soon as possible. That was the light everybody saw in the distance.
I saw it distinctly. It was ten miles away, but we rowed, and rowed,
and rowed, and then we all decided that it was impossible for us to
get to it, and the thing to do was to go back and see what we could do
for the others. We had only twenty-two in our boat. We turned and went
back and lingered around for a long time. We could not locate the
other boats except by hearing them. The only way to look was by my
electric light. I had an electric cane with an electric light in it.
The lamp in the boat was worth absolutely nothing. There was no
excitement whatever on the ship. Nobody seemed frightened. Nobody was
panic-stricken. There was a lot of pathos when husbands and wives
kissed each other good-bye.
We were the second boat (No. 8) that got away from the ship and we saw
nothing that happened after that. We were not near enough. We heard
the yells of the passengers as they went down, but we saw none of the
harrowing part of it. The women in our boat all rowed--every one of
them. Miss Young rowed every minute. The men (the stewards) did not
know the first thing about it and could not row. Mrs. Swift rowed all
the way to the _Carpathia_. Countess Rothes stood at the tiller. Where
would we have been if it had not been for the women, with such men as
were put in charge of the boat? Our head seaman was giving orders and
these men knew nothing about a boat. They would say: “If you don’t
stop talking through that hole in your face there will be one less in
the boat.” We were in the hands of men of that kind. I settled two or
three fights between them and quieted them down. Imagine getting
right out there and taking out a pipe and smoking it, which was most
dangerous. We had woollen rugs all around us. There was another thing
which I thought a disgraceful point. The men were asked when they got
in if they could row. Imagine asking men who are supposed to be at the
head of lifeboats if they can row!
Senator Smith: There were no male passengers in your boat?
Mrs. White: Not one. I never saw a finer body of men in my life than
the men passengers on this ship--athletes and men of sense--and if
they had been permitted to enter these lifeboats with their families,
the boats would have been properly manned and many more lives saved,
instead of allowing stewards to get in the boats and save their lives
under the pretence that they could row when they knew nothing about
it.
BOAT NO. 10.[10]
[10] British Report (p. 38) says third at 1.20. I think No. 6
went later, though Buley (Am. Inq., p. 604) claims No. 10 as the
last lifeboat lowered.
_No male passengers in this boat._
_Passengers:_ First cabin, Miss Andrews, Miss Longley, Mrs. Hogeboom.
Second cabin, Mrs. Parrish, Mrs. Shelley. 41 women, 7 children.
_Crew:_ Seamen: Buley (in charge), Evans; Fireman Rice; Stewards
Burke and one other.
_Stowaway:_ 1 Japanese.
_Jumped from A Deck into boat being lowered:_ 1 Armenian.
_Total:_ 55.
INCIDENTS
Edward J. Buley, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 604).
Chief Officer Wilde said: “See if you can find another seaman to give
you a hand, and jump in.” I found Evans, my mate, the able-bodied
seaman, and we both got in the boat.
* * * * *
Much of Seaman Buley’s and of Steward Burke’s testimony is a
repetition of that of Seaman Evans, so I cite the latter only:
F. O. Evans, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 675).
I went up (on the Boat Deck) with the remainder of the crew and
uncovered all of the port boats. Then to the starboard side and
lowered the boats there with the assistance of the Boatswain of the
ship, A. Nichol. I went next (after No. 12) to No. 10. Mr. Murdoch was
standing there. I lowered the boat with the assistance of a steward.
The chief officer said: “Get into that boat.” I got into the bows. A
young ship’s baker (J. Joughin) was getting the children and chucking
them into the boat. Mr. Murdoch and the baker made the women jump
across into the boat about two feet and a half. “He threw them on to
the women and he was catching children by their dresses and chucking
them in.” One woman in a black dress slipped and fell. She seemed
nervous and did not like to jump at first. When she did jump she did
not go far enough, but fell between the ship and the boat. She was
pulled in by some men on the deck below, went up to the Boat Deck
again, took another jump, and landed safely in the boat. There were
none of the children hurt. The only accident was with this woman. The
only man passenger was a foreigner, up forward. He, as the boat was
being lowered, jumped from A Deck into the boat--deliberately jumped
across and saved himself.
When we got to the water it was impossible to get to the tripper
underneath the thwart on account of women being packed so tight. We
had to lift the fall up off the hook by hand to release the spring to
get the block and fall away from it. We pushed off from the ship and
rowed away about 200 yards. We tied up to three other boats. We gave
the man our painter and made fast to No. 12. We stopped there about an
hour, and Officer Lowe came over with his boat No. 14 and said: “You
seamen will have to distribute these passengers among these boats. Tie
them together and come into my boat to go over to the wreckage and
pick up anyone that is alive there.”
Witness testified that the larger lifeboats would hold sixty people.
Senator Smith: Do you wish to be understood that each lifeboat like
Nos. 12 and 14 and 10 could be filled to its fullest capacity and
lowered to the water with safety?
Mr. Evans: Yes, because we did it then, sir.
Senator Smith: That is a pretty good answer.
Mr. Evans: It was my first experience in seeing a boat loaded like
that, sir.
The stern of the ship, after plunging forward, remained floating in a
perpendicular position about four or five minutes.
* * * * *
W. Burke, dining-room steward (Am. Inq., p. 822).
I went to my station and found that my boat, No. 1, had gone. Then to
the port side and assisted with No. 8 boat and saw her lowered. Then I
passed to No. 10. The officer said, “Get right in there,” and pushed
me toward the boat, and I got in. When there were no women to be had
around the deck the officer gave the order for the boat to be lowered.
After the two seamen (Buley and Evans) were transferred to boat No.
14, some of the women forward said to me: “There are two men down here
in the bottom of the boat.” I got hold of them and pulled one out. He
apparently was a Japanese and could not speak English. I put him at an
oar. The other appeared to be an Italian. I tried to speak to him but
he said: “Armenian.” I also put him at an oar. I afterwards made fast
to an officer’s boat--I think it was Mr. Lightoller’s (i. e., No. 12).
* * * * *
Mrs. Imanita Shelley’s affidavit (Am. Inq., p. 1146).
Mrs. Shelley with her mother, Mrs. L. D. Parrish, were second cabin
passengers. Mrs. Shelley had been sick and it was with difficulty that
she reached the deck, where she was assisted to a chair. After some
time a sailor ran to her and implored her to get in the lifeboat that
was then being launched--one of the last on the ship. Pushing her
mother toward the sailor, Mrs. Shelley made for the davits where the
boat hung.
There was a space of between four or five feet between the edge of the
deck and the suspended boat. The sailor picked up Mrs. Parrish and
threw her bodily into the boat. Mrs. Shelley jumped and landed safely.
There were a fireman and a ship’s baker among the crew at the time of
launching. The boat was filled with women and children, as many as
could get in without overcrowding. There was trouble with the tackle
and the ropes had to be cut.
Just as they reached the water, a crazed Italian jumped from the deck
into the lifeboat, landing on Mrs. Parrish, severely bruising her
right side and leg.
Orders had been given to keep in sight of the ship’s boat which had
been sent out ahead to look for help. Throughout the entire period,
from the time of the collision and taking to the boats, the ship’s
crew behaved in an ideal manner. Not a man tried to get into a boat
unless ordered to, and many were seen to strip off their clothing and
wrap it around the women and children, who came up half-clad from
their beds. Mrs. Shelley says that no crew could have behaved in a
more perfect manner.
* * * * *
J. Joughin, head baker (Br. Inq.)
Chief Officer Wilde shouted to the stewards to keep the men passengers
back, but there was no necessity for the order as they were keeping
back. The order was splendid. The stewards, firemen and sailors got in
line and passed the ladies in; and then we had difficulty to find
ladies to go into the boat. No distinction at all as to class was
made. I saw a number of third-class women with their bags, which they
would not let go.
The boat was let down and the women were forcibly drawn into it. The
boat was a yard and a half from the ship’s side. There was a slight
list and we had to drop them in. The officer ordered two sailors and a
steward to get in.
BOAT NO. 12.[11]
[11] British Report (p. 38) says this was the fourth boat
lowered on port side at 1.25 A. M.
_No male passengers in this boat._
_Passengers:_ Miss Phillips. Women and children, 40.
_Bade good-bye to his daughter and sank with the ship:_ Mr. Phillips.
_Crew:_ Seamen Poigndestre (in charge), F. Clench. Later, Lucas and
two firemen were transferred from boat “D.”
_Jumped from deck below as boat was lowered:_ 1 Frenchman.
_Total:_ 43.
Transfers were made to this boat _first_ from Engelhardt “D” and
_second_, from Engelhardt upset boat “B,” so that it reached the
_Carpathia’s_ side with seventy, or more.
INCIDENTS
F. Clench, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 636).
The second officer and myself stood on the gunwale and helped load
women and children. The chief officer passed them along to us and we
filled three boats, No. 12 first. In each there were about forty or
fifty people. After finishing No. 16 boat, I went back to No. 12. “How
many men (crew) have you in this boat?” the chief officer said, and I
said, “Only one, sir.” He looked up and said: “Jump into that boat,”
and that made a complement of two seamen. An able seaman was in charge
of this boat. (Poigndestre.) We had instructions to keep our eye on
No. 14 and keep together.
There was only one male passenger in our boat, and that was a
Frenchman who jumped in and we could not find him. He got under the
thwart, mixed up with the women, just as we dropped into the water
before the boat was lowered and without our knowledge. Officer Lowe
transferred some of his people into our boat and others, making close
on to sixty, and pretty full up. When Mr. Lowe was gone I heard
shouts. I looked around and saw a boat in the way that appeared to be
like a funnel; we thought it was the top of a funnel. (It was
Engelhardt overturned boat “B.”) There were about twenty on this, and
we took off approximately ten, making seventy in my boat.
* * * * *
John Poigndestre, A. B. (Br. Inq., p. 82).
Lightoller ordered us to lay off and stand by close to the ship. Boat
“D” and three lifeboats made fast to No. 12. Stood off about 100 yards
after ship sank. Not enough sailors to help pick up swimmers. No
light. Transfer of about a dozen women passengers from No. 14 to No.
12. About 150 yards off when _Titanic_ sank. No compass.
BOAT NO. 14.[12]
[12] British Report (p. 38) says this was the fifth boat on the
port side, lowered at 1.30.
_No male passengers in this boat._
_Passengers:_ Mrs. Compton, Miss Compton, Mrs. Minahan, Miss Minahan,
Mrs. Collyer, Miss Collyer.
_Picked up out of sea:_ W. F. Hoyt (who died), Steward J. Stewart, and
a plucky Japanese.
Women: 50.
_Volunteer when crew was short:_ C. Williams.
_Crew:_ Fifth Officer Lowe, Seaman Scarrot, 2 firemen, Stewards Crowe
and Morris.
_Stowaway:_ 1 Italian.
_Bade good-bye and sank with ship:_ Dr. Minahan, Mr. Compton, Mr.
Collyer.
_Total:_ 60.
INCIDENTS
H. G. Lowe, Fifth Officer (Am. Inq., p. 116).
Nos. 12, 14 and 16 were down about the same time. I told Mr. Moody
that three boats had gone away and that an officer ought to go with
them. He said: “You go.” There was difficulty in lowering when I got
near the water. I dropped her about five feet, because I was not going
to take the chance of being dropped down upon by somebody. While I was
on the Boat Deck, two men tried to jump into the boat. I chased them
out.
We filled boats 14 and 16 with women and children. Moody filled No. 16
and I filled No. 14. Lightoller was there part of the time. They were
all women and children, barring one passenger, who was an Italian, and
he sneaked in dressed like a woman. He had a shawl over his head.
There was another passenger, a chap by the name of C. Williams, whom I
took for rowing. He gave me his name and address (referring to book),
“C. Williams, Racket Champion of the World, 2 Drury Road,
Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex, England.”
As I was being lowered, I expected every moment that my boat would be
doubled up under my feet. I had overcrowded her, but I knew that I had
to take a certain amount of risk. I thought if one additional body was
to fall into that boat, that slight additional weight might part the
hooks, or carry away something; so as we were coming down past the
open decks, I saw a lot of Latin people all along the ship’s rails.
They were glaring more or less like wild beasts, ready to spring. That
is why I yelled out to “look out,” and let go, bang! right along the
ship’s side. There was a space I should say of about three feet
between the side of the boat and the ship’s side, and as I went down I
fired these shots without any intention of hurting anybody and with
the positive knowledge that I did not hurt anybody. I fired, I think,
three times.
Later, 150 yards away, I herded five boats together. I was in No. 14;
then I had 10, 12, collapsible “D” and one other boat (No. 4), and
made them tie up. I waited until the yells and shrieks had subsided
for the people to thin out, and then I deemed it safe for me to go
amongst the wreckage; so I transferred all my passengers, somewhere
about fifty-three, from my boat and equally distributed them among my
other four boats. Then I asked for volunteers to go with me to the
wreck, and it was at this time that I found the Italian. He came aft
and had a shawl over his head, and I suppose he had skirts. Anyhow, I
pulled the shawl off his face and saw he was a man. He was in a great
hurry to get into the other boat and I got hold of him and pitched him
in.
Senator Smith: Pitched him in?
Mr. Lowe: Yes; because he was not worth being handled better.
Senator Smith: You pitched him in among the women?
Mr. Lowe: No, sir; in the forepart of the lifeboat in which I
transferred my passengers.
Senator Smith: Did you use some pretty emphatic language when you did
this?
Mr. Lowe: No, sir; I did not say a word to him.
Then I went off and rowed to the wreckage and around the wreckage and
picked up four people alive. I do not know who these live persons
were. They never came near me afterwards either to say this or that or
the other. But one died, Mr. W. F. Hoyt, of New York. After we got him
in the boat we took his collar off so as to give him more chance to
breathe, but unfortunately, he died. He was too far gone when we
picked him up. I then left the wreck. I went right around, and,
strange to say, I did not see a single female body around the
wreckage. I did not have a light in my boat. Then I could see the
_Carpathia_ coming up and I thought: “Well, I am the fastest boat of
the lot,” as I was sailing, you see. I was going through the water
four or five knots, bowling along very nicely.
By and by, I noticed a collapsible boat, Engelhardt “D.” It looked
rather sorry, so I thought: “Well, I will go down and pick her up and
make sure of her.” This was Quartermaster Bright’s boat. Mrs. H. B.
Harris, of New York, was in it. She had a broken arm. I had taken this
first collapsible (“D”) in tow and I noticed that there was another
collapsible (“A”) in a worse plight than this one that I had in tow. I
got to her just in time and took off, I suppose, about twenty men and
one lady. I left three male bodies in it. I may have been a bit
hard-hearted in doing this. I thought: “I am not here to worry about
bodies; I am here to save life and not bother about bodies.” The
people on the raft told me these had been dead for some time. I do not
know whether any one endeavored to find anything on their persons that
would identify them, because they were all up to their ankles in water
when I took them off.
[Illustration: FIFTH OFFICER LOWE TOWING THE CANVAS
COLLAPSIBLE]
[Illustration: THE CANVAS COLLAPSIBLE]
* * * * *
Joseph Scarrot, A. B. (Br. Inq., pp. 29, 30): I myself took charge of
No. 14 as the only sailorman there. The Chief Officer ordered women
and children to be taken in. Some men came and tried to rush the boat.
They were foreigners and could not understand the orders I gave them,
but I managed to keep them away. I had to use some persuasion with a
boat tiller. One man jumped in twice and I had to throw him out the
third time. I got all the women and children into the boat. There were
fifty-four women and four children--one of them a baby in arms. There
were myself, two firemen, three or four stewards and Mr. Lowe, who got
into the boat. I told him the trouble I had with the men and he
brought out his revolver and fired two shots and said: “If there is
any more trouble I will fire at them.” The shots fired were fired
between the boat and the ship’s side. The after fall got twisted and
we dropped the boat by the releasing gear and got clear of the ship.
There were four men rowing. There was a man in the boat who we thought
was a sailor, but he was not. He was a window cleaner. The _Titanic_
was then about fifty yards off, and we lay there with the other boats.
Mr. Lowe was at the helm. We went in the direction of the cries and
came among hundreds of dead bodies and life belts. We got one man, who
died shortly after he got into the boat. One of the stewards tried to
restore him, but without avail. There was another man who was calling
for help, but among the bodies and wreckage it was too late for us to
reach him. It took half an hour to get to that man. Cannot say
exactly, but think we got about twenty off of the Engelhardt boat
(“A”).
* * * * *
E. J. Buley, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 605):
(After his transfer from No. 10 to No. 14.) Then, with Lowe in his
boat No. 14, I went back to where the _Titanic_ sank and picked up the
remaining live bodies. We got four; all the others were dead. We
turned over several to see if they were alive. It looked as if none of
them were drowned. They looked as if frozen. The life belts they had
on were that much (indicating) out of the water, and their heads lay
back with their faces on the water. They were head and shoulders out
of water, with their heads thrown back. In the morning, after we had
picked up all that were alive, there was a collapsible boat (“A”)
swamped, which we saw with a lot of people up to their knees in water.
We sailed over to them. We then picked up another boat (“D”) and took
her in tow. I think we were about the seventh or eighth boat alongside
the _Carpathia_.
* * * * *
F. O. Evans, A. B. (Am. Inq., p. 677):
So from No. 10 we got into his (Lowe’s) boat, No. 14, and went
straight over towards the wreckage with eight or nine men and picked
up four persons alive, one of whom died on the way to the _Carpathia_.
Another picked up was named J. Stewart, a steward. You could not
hardly count the number of dead bodies. I was afraid to look over the
sides because it might break my nerves down. We saw no other people in
the water or heard their cries, other than these four picked up. The
officer said: “Hoist a sail forward.” I did so and made sail in the
direction of the collapsible boat “A” about a mile and a half away,
which had been swamped. There were in it one woman and about ten or
eleven men. Then we picked up another collapsible boat (“D”) and took
her in tow to the _Carpathia_. There were then about twenty-five
people in our boat No. 14, including the one who died.
One of the ladies there passed over a flask of whisky to the people
who were all wet through. She asked if anybody needed the spirits, and
these people were all soaking wet and nearly perished and they passed
it around among these men and women. It took about twenty minutes
after we sighted the _Carpathia_ to get alongside of her. We saw five
or six icebergs--some of them tremendous, about the height of the
_Titanic_--and field ice. After we got on the _Carpathia_ we saw, at a
rough estimate, a twenty-five mile floe, sir, flat like the floor.
* * * * *
F. Crowe, steward (Am. Inq., p. 615):
I assisted in handing the women and children into boat No. 12, and was
asked if I could take an oar. I said: “Yes,” and was told to man the
boat, I believe, by Mr. Murdoch. After getting the women and children
in we lowered down to within four or five feet of the water, and then
the block and tackle got twisted in some way, causing us to have to
cut the ropes to allow the boat to get into the water. This officer,
Lowe, told us to do this. He was in the boat with us. I stood by the
lever--the lever releasing the blocks from the hooks in the boat. He
told me to wait, to get away and cut the line to raise the lever,
thereby causing the hooks to open and allow the boat to drop in the
water.
There was some shooting that occurred at the time the boat was
lowered. There were various men passengers, probably Italians or some
foreign nationality other than English or American, who attempted to
“rush” the boats. The officers threatened to shoot any man who put his
foot into the boat. An officer fired a revolver, but either downward
or upward, not shooting at any one of the passengers at all and not
injuring anybody. He fired perfectly clear upward and downward and
stopped the rush. There was no disorder after that. One woman cried,
but that was all. There was no panic or anything in the boat.
After getting into the water I pushed out to the other boats. In No.
14 there were fifty-seven women and children and about six men,
including one officer, and I may have been seven. I am not quite sure.
I know how many, because when we got out a distance the officer asked
me how many people were in the boat.
When the boat was released and fell I think she must have sprung a
leak. A lady stated that there was some water coming up over her
ankles. Two men and this lady assisted in bailing it out with bails
that were kept in the boat for that purpose. We transferred our people
to other boats so as to return to the wreck and see if we could pick
up anybody else. Returning to the wreck, we heard various cries and
endeavored to get among them, and we were successful in doing so, and
picked up one body that was floating around in the water. It was that
of a man and he expired shortly afterwards. Going further into the
wreckage we came across a steward (J. Stewart) and got him into the
boat. He was very cold and his hands were kind of stiff. He recovered
by the time that we got back to the _Carpathia_.
A Japanese or Chinese young fellow that we picked up on top of some
wreckage, which may have been a sideboard or a table that was floating
around, also survived.[13] We stopped (in the wreckage) until
daybreak, and we saw in the distance an Engelhardt collapsible boat
(“A”) with a crew of men in it. We went over to the boat and found
twenty men and one woman; also three dead bodies, which we left.
Returning under sail we took another collapsible boat in tow (boat
“D”) containing fully sixty people, women and children.
[13] Undoubtedly reference is here made to the same Japanese
described in an account attributed to a second-class passenger,
Mrs. Collyer, and which follows Crowe’s testimony.
I did not see the iceberg that struck the ship. When it came daylight
and we could see, there were two or three bergs around, and one man
pointed out that that must have been the berg, and another man pointed
out another berg. Really, I do not think anybody knew which one struck
the ship.
* * * * *
Mrs. Charlotte Collyer, third-class passenger, in The Semi-Monthly
Magazine, May, 1912:
A little further on we saw a floating door that must have been torn
loose when the ship went down. Lying upon it, face downward, was a
small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a rope to his frail raft,
using the broken hinges to make the knots secure. As far as we could
see, he was dead. The sea washed over him every time the door bobbed
up and down, and he was frozen stiff. He did not answer when he was
hailed, and the officer hesitated about trying to save him.
“What’s the use?” said Mr. Lowe. “He’s dead, likely, and if he isn’t
there’s others better worth saving than a Jap!”
He had actually turned our boat around, but he changed his mind and
went back. The Japanese was hauled on board, and one of the women
rubbed his chest, while others chafed his hands and feet. In less time
than it takes to tell, he opened his eyes. He spoke to us in his own
tongue; then, seeing that we did not understand, he struggled to his
feet, stretched his arms above his head, stamped his feet and in five
minutes or so had almost recovered his strength. One of the sailors
near to him was so tired that he could hardly pull his oar. The
Japanese bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took his oar and
worked like a hero until we were finally picked up. I saw Mr. Lowe
watching him in open-mouthed surprise.
“By Jove!” muttered the officer, “I’m ashamed of what I said about the
little blighter. I’d save the likes o’ him six times over if I got the
chance.”
* * * * *
Miss Minahan’s affidavit (Am. Inq., p. 1109):
After the _Titanic_ went down the cries were horrible. Some of the
women implored Officer Lowe of No. 10 to divide his passengers among
the three other boats and go back to rescue them. His first answer to
these requests was: “You ought to be d---- glad you are here and have
got your own life.” After some time he was persuaded to do as he was
asked. As I came up to him to be transferred to the other boat, he
said: “Jump, G--d d--n you, jump.” I had shown no hesitancy and was
waiting until my turn. He had been so blasphemous during the hours we
were in his boat that the women in my end of the boat all thought he
was under the influence of liquor. (Testimony elsewhere shows that
Officer Lowe is a teetotaler.) Then he took all the men who had rowed
No. 14, together with the men from other boats, and went back to the
scene of the wreck. We were left with a steward and a stoker to row
our boat, which was crowded. The steward did his best, but the stoker
refused at first to row, but finally helped two men who were the only
ones pulling on that side. It was just four o’clock when we sighted
the _Carpathia_, and we were three hours getting to her. On the
_Carpathia_ we were treated with every kindness and given every
comfort possible.
* * * * *
The above affidavit being of record shows Officer Lowe in an
unfortunate, bad light. There is no doubt of it that he was
intemperate in his language only. In all other respects he was a
first-class officer, as proven by what he accomplished. But I am glad
that I have the account of another lady passenger in the same boat,
which is a tribute to what he did. I met Officer Lowe in Washington
the time that both of us were summoned before the U. S. Court of
Inquiry, and I am quite sure that the only point against him is that
he was a little hasty in speech in the accomplishment of his work.
Miss Compton, who lost her brother, I had the pleasure of meeting on
the _Carpathia_. She is still a sufferer from injuries received in the
wreck, and yet has been very kind in sending me an account of her
experience, from which I cite the following:
As she stood on the rail to step into boat No. 14 it was impossible
to see whether she would step into the boat or into the water. She was
pushed into the boat with such violence that she found herself on her
hands and knees, but fortunately landed on a coil of rope. This seemed
to be the general experience of the women. All the passengers entered
the lifeboat at the same point and were told to move along to make
place for those who followed. This was difficult, as the thwarts were
so high that it was difficult to climb over them, encumbered as the
ladies were with lifebelts. It was a case of throwing one’s self over
rather than climbing over.
Miss Compton from her place in the stern of the lifeboat overheard the
conversation between Officer Lowe and another officer, which the
former gave in his testimony.
Just before the boat was lowered a man jumped in. He was immediately
hauled out. Mr. Lowe then pulled his revolver and said: “If anyone
else tries that this is what he will get.” He then fired his revolver
in the air.
She mentions the same difficulties, elsewhere recorded, about the
difficulties in lowering the boat, first the stern very high, and then
the bow; also how the ropes were cut and No. 14 struck the water hard.
At this time the count showed 58 in the boat, and a later one made
the number 60. A child near her answered in neither of the counts.
“Mr. Lowe’s manly bearing,” she says, “gave us all confidence. As I
look back now he seems to me to personify the best traditions of the
British sailor. He asked us all to try and find a lantern, but none
was to be found. Mr. Lowe had with him, however, an electric light
which he flashed from time to time. Almost at once the boat began to
leak and in a few moments the women in the forward part of the boat
were standing in water. There was nothing to bail with and I believe
the men used their hats.