River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-04-25


and the chilling waters began to echo
splash after splash as passengers and
sailors in life preservers leaped over
and started swimming away to es-
cape the expected suction.
Icy Water Brings Death.
Only the hardest of constitutions
could endure for more than few mo-
ments such a numbing bath. The
first vigorous strokes gave way to
heartbreaking cries of Help! Help!"
and stiffened forms were seen. the
faces relaxed in death.
Revolver shots were heard in the
ships last moments. The fiyst report
spread among the boats was taat Cap
tain Smith had ended his life with a
bullet. Then it was said that raate
had shot steward who tried to push
his way upon boat against orders.
None of these tales have been ver1-
fed, and many of the crew say the
captain, without preserver. leaped
In at the last and went down, refusing
a cooks offered aid.
Last Lifeboat Is Capslzed.
The last of the boats, collapsible,
was launched too late to get away,
and was overturned by the ships
sinking. Some of those in tall. say
some witnesses--found safety On g
raft, or were picked up by lifeboats.
In the Marconi tower, almost to the
last, the loud click of the sending in.
strument was heard over the waters.
Who was receiving the message, those
In the boats did not know, and they
would least of ali have supposed that
Mediterranean ship in the distant
South Atlantic track would be their
rescuer.
Music Was a Sacrament.
AS the screams in the water multi
piled another sound was heard, strong
at first, then fainter in the distance
1t was the melody of the hymn,
"1Jearer, My God, to Thee" played by
the string orchestra in the dining
saloon. Some of those on the water
started to sing the words, but grew
silent as they realized that for the
men who played, the music was sac
rament soon to be consummated by
death. The serene strains of the
hymn and the frantic cries OF the dy-
ing blended in symphony of sorrow.
Titanic Goes to Bottom.
Led by the green light, under the
light of the stars, the boats drew
away, and the bow, then the quarter,
then the stacks, and at last the stern
of the marvel-ship of few days be-
fore passed beneath the waters. The
great force OF the ships sinking was
ments, and the suction, not so great
as had been feared, rocked but mildly
the group of boats now a quarter of a
mile distant from 1t.
Sixteen boats were in the fOrlorn
procession which entered on the terri
BILE hours of rowing, drifting and sus-
pense. Women wept for lost hus-
the ship which had been their pride.
Men choked back tears and sought to
comfort the widowed. Perhaps, they
said, other boats might have put off in
another direction toward the last.
They strove, though none too sure
themselves, to convince the women OF
the certainty that a rescue ship would
appear.
Carpati&sN Brings Joy.
Early dawn brought no ship. but not
long after a. m. the Carpathia. far
out of her path and making 18 knots
an hour instead OF her wonted Is,
showed her single red and black
smokestack upon the horizon. In the
Joy of that moment, the heaviest
griefs were forgotten.
Soon afterward, Captain Rostcon
and Chief Steward Hughes were vel
coming the chilled and bedraggled
arrivals over the Carpathias side.
Men Praised by Women.
One of the few women able to give
an account of the disaster was Miss
Cornelia Andrews of Hudson, N. Y
Miss Andrews said she was IN the last
boat to be picked up.
"The behavior OF the men," she saiG.
was wonderful-the most marvellous
have ever beheld."
did you see any shooting?" she
was asked.
mo" she replied, "but one officer
did say he would shoot some of the
steerage who were trying to crowd in
to the boats. Many jumped from the
decks. | saw a boat sink"
Miss Andrews was probably refer
ring to the collapsible boat which
overturned. She said that the sinking
of the ship was attended by a noise
such as might be made by the boilers
exploding. She was watching the ship.
she said, and it looked as If 1t blew
up: anyhow. 1t broke in two
Henry STENCIL of Newark said 1t
was only the forethought of member
of the boat crew who was quick-Wtt-
ted enough to snatch up three green
lights that saved a number of the
lives of those adrift in the tiny life
boat
These green lights" he said,
shining through the darkness en-
abled the other boats crews to keep
close together in the ice filed wa
ters."
Mr.. Stengel put his wife in boat
and then followed. He said that early
the next morning, shortly after they
had been picked up, they saw floating
far away gigantic iceberg, with two
peaks shining in the morning sun.
This was the berg that sent the IL
tanic to the bottom, he thought.