A SURVIVOR'S STORY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 53, 20 July 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

A SURVIVOR'S STORY

Til]'" WRECK OF THE TITANIC. S;ME IIITIIERTO I'XRECURDED IXCIDEXTS. What is certainly one of the best narratives of the wreck of the Titanic ia told by .Mis. Charlotte Coilyer, ill the Chicago Semi-Monthly Magazine. The reading public has had a surfeit of Titanic stories, but Mrs. Collyer's story is so good, and records so many hitherto untouched incidents, that 110 apology need be made for printing some extracts from it. There are no "fireworks" about it, 110 effort at posing. It is a simple narrative, simply told, by a woman whose remarkable power of observation could not be quenched even by the acutest grief, for Mrs. Coilyer lost her husband in the wreck. Mr. and Mrs. Coilyer, and their little girl Marjorie, were second cabin passengers, and intended to settle in the State of Idaho. But the husband remained on the ship. and went down with her. Mrs. Collver describes the ship and the voyage up to ■the time of the disaster.

I iiad just climbed into my berth when a stewardess came in. She was a sweet woman, who had been very kind to me. I take this opportunity to thank her; for I shall never see her again. She went down with the Titanic. "Do you know where we are?" she said pleasantly. "We are in what is called the Devil's Hole." "What doea that mean?" I asked.

"That is a dangerous part of the ocean," she answered. "Many accidents have happened near here. They say that icebergs drift down as far as this. It's getting to be very cold on deck, so perhaps there's ice around now!" ■She left the cabin and I soon dropped off to sleep. Her talk about icebergs had not frightened me; but it shows tha crew were awake to tlie danger. As far as I can tell, we had not slackened our speed in the least. Mrs. Coilyer relates how the passengers gathered on the decks, where the officers assured them there was 110 danger. But —

Suddenly there was a commotion near one of the gangways, and we saw a stoker come climbing up from below, lie stopped a few feet away from us. All the fingers of one hand had been cut off. Blood was running from the stumps, and blood was spattered over his face and clothes. The red marks showed very clearly against the coal dust with which he was covered.

I .started over and spoke to him. I asked him if there were any danger. "Dynger!" lie screamed, at the top of his voice. '•[ should just say so! It's 'ell down below. Look at me! This boat'll sink like a log in ten minutes." He staggered away, and lay down, fainting, with his head on a coil of rope. And at that moment I got my first grip of fear—awful, sickening fear. That poor man with his bleeding hand arid his , speckled face, brought up a picture ofsmashed engines and mangled human bodies. I hung on to my husband's arm, and although he was very brave and was not trembling, I saw that his face was as white as paper. We realised that the accident was much worse than we supposed; but even 'then I, and all ,the others about me of whom I have any knowledge, did not believe that the Titanic could go down. The officers, now, were running to and fro. and shouting orders. I have no clear idea of what happened during the next quarter of an hour. The time seemed much shorter; but it must have been between ten and fifteen .minutes. I saw First Officer Jlurdock place guards by the gangways, to prevent others like tin* wounded stoker from coming on deck. How many unhappy men were shut off in that way from the one chance of safety I do not know; but Mr. Murdock was probably right, He was a masterful man, astoundingly brave and cool. I had met him the day before, when he was j inspecting the second-cabin quarters, and though him a bulldog of a man who j would not be afraid of anything. This I proved to be true; he kept order to the i last, and died at his post. They say he shot himself. Ido not know.

Those in charge must have herded us toward tlip nearest boat deck; for that is whore T presently found myself, still oliiifrinir to my husband's arm, and with little Marjorie beside me. Many women were standing with their husbands, and there was no confusion.

Then, above the damor of people asking questions of each other, there came the terrible try: "Lower the boats. Women and children first!" Someone was >houting those last words over and over again: "Women and children first! Women and children first!" They struck utter terror into my heart, and now they will ring in my ears until I die. They meant my own safety; but they also meant the greatest loss I have ever suffered—the loss of my husband. The first lifeboat was quickly filled and lowered away. Very few men went in her, onlv five or six members of the crew, I should say. The male passengers made no attempt to save themselves. I never saw such courage, or believed it possible. How the people in the first cabin and the steerage may have acted, I do not know; but our second-cabin men were heroes. I want to tell that to every reader of this article.

The lowe ring of the second boat took more time. F think all those women who were really afraid and eager to go had got into the first. Those who remained were wives who did not want to leave their husbands, or daughters who would not leave their parents. The ollioer in charge was Harold Lowe, First Ollieer Murdock having moved to the other end of the deck. I was never close to him again.

Mr. Lowe was very young and boyishlooking; hilt, somehow. In: compelled 'people to obey him. He rushed along unions: the passengers and ordered the women into the boats. Many of them followed him in a dazed kind of way, but others stayed by their men. I could have had a seat in that second boat; but [ refused to go. It was filled at last, and disappeared over the side with a rush. There were two more lifeboats at that part of the deck. A man in plain clothes was fussing about tliem .and screaming out instructions. T saw Fifth Ollicer Lowe order him away." I did not recognise him; but from what I have read in the newspapers, it must have been Mr. .T. Bruce Jsmay, the managing director of the line. The third boat was about half full when a sailor caught Marjorie, my daughter. in his arms, tore her away from me.

and threw her into the boat. She was not even given a chance to tell her father good-bye. "You. too!" a man yelled close to my ear. "You're a woman. Take a seat in that boat, or it will be too late."

The deck seemed to be splitting under my feet. It was leaning at a sharp angle; for the ship was then sinking fast, bows down. I clung desperately to my husband. Tdo not know what I said; but I shall be always glad to think I did not want to leave him.

A man seized me by the arm. Then, another threw both his arms about my

waist and dragged me away by main

strength. I heard my husband say: "Go. Lotty! For God's sake, be brave, and

yo! i.'il get a seat in another boat." The men who held me rushed me across (.lie (leek, and hurled me bodily into i,ae lifeboat. I landed on one shoulder and bruised it badly. Other women were crowding behind me; but 1. stumbled to my feet and saw over their luads my husband's baek, as he, walked steadily down the deck and disappeared among i!i ■ men. 11:-. face was turned away, so that he went unafraid to his death. His last words, when he .said that he would get a seat in another boat, buoyed me up until every vestige of hope was gone. Many women were strengthened by the. same pioniise, or they must have gone mud and leaped into the sea. 1 let myself be saved, because £ believed that lie, too, would escape; but I sometimes envy those whom no earthly power could tear from their husband's arms. There were several such among those brave second-cabin passengers; I saw them standing beside their loved ones to , the last, and when the roll was called ' the next day on board the Carpathia they did not answer. The boat was practically full, and no more women were anywhere near it when Fifth Officer Lowe jumped in and ordered it to be lowered. The sailors oil deck had started to obey him, when a very sad thing happened. ,A young lad, a pink-cheeked lad, almost small enough to be counted as a child, was standing close to the rail. He had made no attempt to force his way into the boat, though his eyes had been fixed piteously on the officer. Now, when he realised' that he was really to be left behind, his courage failed him. With a cry, he climbed upon the rail and leaped down into the boat. He fell among us women, and crawled under a seat. I and another woman covered him up with our skirts. We wanted to give the poor lad a chance, but the officer dragged him to his feet and ordered him back upon the ship. He bogged for his life. I remember him saying that lie would not take up much room; but the officer drew his revolver, and thrust it into his face. "I give yon just ten seconds to get back oil to that ship before I blow your brains out!" he shouted. The lad only begged the harder, and I thought I should see him shot as lie stood. But the officer suddenly changed his tone. He lowered his revolver, and looked the boy squarely in the eyes. "For God's sake, be a man!" he said gently. "We've got women' and children to save. We must stop at the decks lower down and take on women and children." The little lad turned round and climbed back over the rail, without a word. lie took a few uncertain steps, then lay face down upon the deck, his head beside a coil of rope. He was not saved. All the women about me were sobbing; and I saw my little Marjorie take the officer's band. "Oh, Mr. Man, don't shoot, please don't shoot the poor man!" she was saying; and be spared the time to shake his head and smile. He screamed another order for the , boat to be lowered; but just as we were getting away, a steerage passenger, an Italian, I think, came running the whole length of the deck and hurled himself into the boat. He fell upon a young child, I found out afterwards, and injured her internally. The officer seized him by the collar, and by sheer brute strength pushed him back on to the Titanic. n As we shot down toward the sea, I caught a last glimpse of this coward. He was in the hands of a dozen men of the second cabin. They were driving their fists into his face, and he was bleeding from the nose and mouth. As a matter of fact, we did not stop at any other deck to taken on other women and children. It would have been impossible, I suppose. The bottom of our boat slapped the ocean, as we came down, with a force that I thought must have shaken us all overboard. We were drenched with ice-cold spray; but w& hung on, and the men at the oars, rowed us rapidly away from the wi'eck. We had gone perhaps half a mile when the officer ordered the men to cease rowing. Xo other boats were in sight, and we did not even have a lantern to signal with. We lay there in silence and darkness on that utterly calm sea. . . • No sound reached us, except the music of the band, which I seemed, strange to say. to be aware of for the first time, j Oli, those brave musicians! How wonderful they were! They were playing lively tunes, ragtime, and they kept it up to the very end. Only the engulfing ocean had power to drown them into silence. At that distance, it was impossible to recognise anyone on board. But I could make out groups of men on every deck. They were standing with arms crossed upon their chests, and with lowered heads. • I am sure that they were in prayer. On the boat deck that I had just left, perhaps fifty men had come together. In the midst of them was a tall figure. This man had climbed upon a chair, or a coil of rope, so that he was raised far above the rest. His hands were stretched out, as if he were pronouncing a blessing. During the day. a priest, a certain Father Byles, had held services in the second-cabin saloon; and I think it must have been he who stood there, leading those doomed men in prayer. The band was playing "Nearer, my God, to Thee." I could hear it distinctly. The end was very close. ; Mrs. Col Iyer then describes the sinking of the doomed ship, and goes on to tell of the gallant work of Fifth Officer T owe "We went in search of other lifeboats that had escaped. We found four or five, and Mr. LoWe took command of the . little fleet. He ordered that the boats should be linked together with ropes, so as to prevent any one of tliem from drifting away and losing itself m the darkness. This proved to be a very wood plan, and made our rescue all the more certain when the Carpathia came. He then, with great difficulty, distributed most of the women in our boat among the other craft. This took perhaps half an hour. It gave him an almost empty boat, and as soon as possible he cut loose, and we went in search of survivors. ... I know that we rescued a large number of men from the wreckage; but I can recall clearly only two incidents. Not far from where the Titanic went down, we found a lifeboat floating bottom up. Along its keel were lying about twenty men. They were packed closely together, and were hanging on desperately; but even the strongest were so badly frozen that, in a few moments more, they must have slipped into the ocean. We took them on board, one by one. and found that of the number four were already corpses. The dead men were cast into the. sea. The living grovelled in the bottom of our boat, some of tliem gabbling like maniacs. A little farther on, we saw a floating door that must have been torn loose when the ship went down. Lying upon it, face downwards, was a small Japanese. He had lashed himself with a rope to his frail craft, using the broken hinges to make the knots secure. As far as we could see, lie was dead. The sea washed over him ever time the door bobbed up and down, and he was frozen still, 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

liis chest, while ollici's chafed his liiintls and feet. 11l less time than it Uikos to tell, lie opened his eyes. Tie spoke to us in his own tongue; then, seeing that wo 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 or the sailors near him was so tired that he could hardly pull his oar. The Japanese bustled over, pushed him from his seat, took the 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." Finally.—We all stood at last upon the deck of the Carpathia, more than six hundred and seventy of us; and the tragedy of the scene that followed is too deep for words. There was scarcely any one who,had not been separated from husband, child or friend. Was the lost one among the handful of saved? We could only rush frantically from group to group, searching the haggard faces, crying out names and endless questions. No survivor knows better than I the bitter cruelty of disappointment and despair. I had a husband to search for, a husband whom, in the greatness of my faith, I had believed' would be found in one of the boats. He was not there; and it is with these words that I can best end my story of the Titanic.