THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE TITANIC DISASTER
"THE TITANIC IN COLLISION, BUT EVERYBODY SAFE" -- ANOTHER TRIUMPH
SET DOWN TO WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY -- THE WORLD GOES TO SLEEP
PEACEFULLY -- THE SAD AWAKENING
LIKE a bolt out of a clear sky came the wireless message on Monday,
April 15, 1912, that on Sunday night the great Titanic, on her maiden
voyage across the Atlantic, had struck a gigantic iceberg, but that
all the passengers were saved. The ship had signaled her distress and
another victory was set down to wireless. Twenty-one hundred lives
saved!
Additional news was soon received that the ship had collided with a
mountain of ice in the North Atlantic, off Cape Race, Newfoundland, at
10.25 Sunday evening, April 14th. At 4.15 Monday morning the Canadian
Government Marine Agency received a wireless message that the Titanic
was sinking and that the steamers towing her were trying to get her
into shoal water near Cape Race, for the purpose of beaching her.
Wireless despatches up to noon Monday showed that the passengers of
the Titanic were being transferred aboard the steamer Carpathia, a
Cunarder, which left New York, April 13th, for Naples. Twenty
boat-loads of the Titanic's passengers were said to have been
transferred to the Carpathia then, and allowing forty to sixty persons
as the capacity of each life-boat, some 800 or 1200 persons had
already been transferred from the damaged liner to the Carpathia. They
were reported as being taken to Halifax, whence they would be sent by
train to New York.
Another liner, the Parisian, of the Allan Company, which sailed from
Glasgow for Halifax on April 6th, was said to be close at hand and
assisting in the work of rescue. The Baltic, Virginian and Olympic
were also near the scene, according to the information received by
wireless.
While badly damaged, the giant vessel was reported as still afloat,
but whether she could reach port or shoal water was uncertain. The
White Star officials declared that the Titanic was in no immediate
danger of sinking, because of her numerous water-tight compartments.
"While we are still lacking definite information," Mr. Franklin,
vice-president of the White Star Line, said later in the afternoon,
"we believe the Titanic's passengers will reach Halifax, Wednesday
evening. We have received no further word from Captain Haddock, of the
Olympic, or from any of the ships in the vicinity, but are confident
that there will be no loss of life."
With the understanding that the survivors would be taken to Halifax
the line arranged to have thirty Pullman cars, two diners and many
passenger coaches leave Boston Monday night for Halifax to get the
passengers after they were landed. Mr. Franklin made a guess that the
Titanic's passengers would get into Halifax on Wednesday. The
Department of Commerce and Labor notified the White Star Line that
customs and immigration inspectors would be sent from Montreal to
Halifax in order that there would be as little delay as possible in
getting the passengers on trains.
Monday night the world slept in peace and assurance. A wireless
message had finally been received, reading:
"All Titanic's passengers safe."
It was not until nearly a week later that the fact was discovered that
this message had been wrongly received in the confusion of messages
flashing through the air, and that in reality the message should have
read:
"Are all Titanic's passengers safe?"
With the dawning of Tuesday morning came the awful news of the true
fate of the Titanic.