"The Titanic In Collision, But Everybody Safe"-- Another Triumph Set Down To Wireless Telegraphy-- The World Goes To Sleep Peacefully--The Sad Awakening.
Chapter 1 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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.
Boating Safety Equipment
- 04- Some of the Notable Passengers of the Titanic (Sketches of prominent men and women on board, including Major Archibald Butt, John Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, Isidor Straus, J. Bruce Ismay, Geo. D. Widener, Colonel Washington Roebling, 2d, Charles M. Hays, W. T. Stead and others
Chapter 4 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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The ship's company was [...])
- 12- The Tragic Home-Coming — of Titanic Survivors (The Carpathia reaches New York--An intense and dramatic moment --Hysterical reunions and crushing disappointments at the dock--Caring for the sufferers--Final realization that all hope for others is futile--List of survivors--Roll of the dead.
Chapter 12 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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It was a solemn moment when the Carpathia [...])
- 21- Searching for the Dead — of The Titanic Disaster (Sending out the Mackay-Bennett and Minia--Bremen passengers see bodies--Identifying bodies--Confusion in names--Recoveries.
Chapter 21 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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A few days after the disaster the cable steamer Mackay-Bennett was sent out by the White Star Line to cruise in the vicinity of the disaster and search for [...])
- 28- Time for Reflection and Reform — after the Wreck of the Titanic (Speed and luxury overemphasized--Space needed for life-boats devoted to swimming pools and squash-courts--Mania for speed records compels use of dangerous routes and prevents proper caution in foggy weather--Life more valuable than luxury--Safety more important than speed--An aroused public opinion necessary--International conference recommended--Adequate life-saving equipment should be compulsory-- Speed regulations in bad weather--Co-operation in arranging schedules [...])
- 05- The Titanic Strikes an Iceberg! (Tardy attention to warning responsible for accident--The danger not realized at first--An interrupted card game--Passengers joke among themselves--The real truth dawns--Panic on board--Wireless calls for help.
Chapter 5 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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Sunday night the magnificent ocean liner was plunging through a comparatively placid sea, on the [...])
- 13- The Story of Charles F. Hurd — How the Titanic Sank (How the Titanic sank--Water strewn with dead bodies-- Victims met death with hymn on their lips.
Chapter 13 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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The Story of how the Titanic sank is told by Charles F. Hurd, who was a passenger on the Carpathia.
He praised highly the courage of [...])
- 19- How the World Received the News — of the Titanic Disaster (Nations prostrate with grief--Messages from kings and cardinals-- Disaster stirs world to necessity of stricter regulations.
Chapter 19 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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Young and old, rich and poor were prostrated by the news of the disaster. Even Wall Street was neglected. Nor was the grief confined to [...])
- Facts about the Wreck of the Titanic (Titanic Facts -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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Number of persons aboard, 2340. Number of life-boats and rafts, 20. Capacity of each life-boat, 50 passengers and crew of 8. Utmost capacity of life-boats and rafts, about 1100. Number of life-boats wrecked in launching, 4. [...])
- 22- Criticism of Ismay — Managing Director of the White Star Line (Criminal and cowardly conduct charged--Proper caution not exercised when presence of icebergs was known--Should have stayed on board to help in work of rescue--Selfish and unsympathetic actions on board the Carpathia--Ismay's defense--William E. Carter's statement.
Chapter 22 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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From the moment that Bruce Ismay's [...])
- 27- Safety and Life Saving Devices — the Titanic Disaster (Wireless telegraphy--Water-tight bulkheads--Submarine signals-- Life-boats and rafts--Nixon's pontoon--Life-preservers and buoys--Rockets.
Chapter 27 -- Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters -- Logan Marshall (1912)
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The fact that there are any survivors of the Titanic left to tell the story of the terrible catastrophe is only another of the hundreds of instances on record of the [...])
