SURVIVORS' STATEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1419, 20 April 1912, Page 5

SURVIVORS' STATEMENT.

SUICIDE OF CAPTAIN AND CHIEF ENGINEER .PANIC STRICKEN MEN SHOT DEAD. HARROWING SCENES. By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright (Rec. April 19, 11.35 p.m.) < m, n ~■ , . ' CW Yorl; April 19. lhe Cunard liner Carpathia, with the survivors of the wreck • of the Titanic, arrived at 8.30 p.m. yesterday. The interest was intense. Never in its history has the city been so terribly impressed. Notwithstanding the rain, enormous crowds awaited tho vessel, and a crowd of ten thousand gathered at the Battery, and watched her pass in impressive silence. A thousand relatives and friends, many of them weeping, were admitted to the pier. The docking was delayed while thirteen of the Titanic's lifeboats were lowered. The Survivors' Committee issued a statement in order to forestall sensational exaggerations. The statement says:— The Titanic struck an iceberg at 11.40 p.m. on Sunday. The look-out had reported that there was no time to avoid the iceberg. It was a clear, cold, starlight night. The boats were lowered. Three Italians were shot dead in the struggle for the lifeboats. Orders were promptly given to put on the life-belts and launch the life-boats. Distress signals were sent l out by wireless, and rockets were fired. The vessel sank at twenty minutes past two on Monday morning. The Carpathia received a cr 11, and reached the scene at four o'clock on Monday morning. Everything was ready for rescue work. •■ It is impossible to say what occurred on board after the survivors left. There were 2340 persons on board the Titanic, of whom 745 were saved and 1595 were lost. The totals were made up as fol- ■ lows: — , Passengers. Saved. Lost. Total. Ist class 210 120 330 2nd class 125 195 320 3rd class 200 550 750 Crew 210 730 940 745 1595 2340 The''me'm'bers''b'f the crew "who'were saved were made'• up as follows:— Officers 4 Seamen ...;. 39 Stewards 9G Firemen 71 In a statement to Router's correspondent one of the passengers says that Captain Smith shot himself on tho bridge. Some of the officers had previously wrested his revolver from him in the library, but he broke away, and dashed to the bridge, where ho shot himself through the mouth. The engineer likewise committed suicide. The band was playing the hymn "Nearer My God To Thee" when the ship went down. t Thero was no panic while the women and children were leaving, everyone believing that this was simply a measure of precaution. Several women were torn from their husbands when the order was given to rescue women only, and several even then refused to leave, and were drowned wi,h their husbands. _ One woman died in a life-boLt, and three others after reaching the. Carpathia. The Titanic seemed to break suddenly in two, and sink instantly, according to the statement of one passenger. # The captain and officers of the Carpathia gave the most touching attention to the survivors. The Titanic carried fourteen life-boats, two smaller boats, and four collapsible boats. The life-belts were sufficient for all aboard, but the boats were entirely insufficient. On the arrival of the Carpathia, friends of many survivors who were suffering from shock, were wheeled to the dock in invalid chairs.