Evening journal., 1912-04-19
Like Babel New York Pier When Carp Arrived With 745
MAN AT TITANIC'S
WHEEL TELLS OF CRASH

Hichens, one OF the surviving quarter
masters of the Titanic, the man who
was on duty at the wheel when the
ship struck the iceberg. told the
story of the wreck ON tho Carpathia
Thursday
Save for the surviving fourth ot1-
Ger, BoNhall, whose lips are sealed,
Hichens saw Sunday nights tragedy
at closer range than any man now
living
In the hastily compiled list of sur
viving members of the crew. the
names of Hichens and other quarter
masters appear among the able bodied
seamen, but the star and anchor ON
the left sleeve of each distinguishes
thcm in rank from the A. BIS.
Hichens has followed the sea fifteen
years and has wife and two chill
drcn in Southampton. History of
the wreck. as he told II and as
he expects TO tell it TO the Marine
Court of Inquiry. is here given;
went on watch at s o'clock Sunday
night and stood by the man at the
wheel until TO- At 10 | took the
wheel for two hours.
On the bridge from 10 o'clock on
were First Officer Murdock. Fourth
Officer Boxhall and Sixth OhlceI
Moody. In the crows nest Oookou'
tower) were Fleet and another man
whose name ! cont know
Second Officer Lightoller. who was
on watch while I stood by, carryinl
messages and the like. from 8 to 10
sent me soon after s to tell the car
penier TO look out for the fresh watel
supply. as it might be i'm danger o
freezing The temperature was ther
81 degrees. He gave the crows nes
a strict order to look out for small
icebergs.
Second Officer Lightoller was re
lieyed by First Officer Murdoch at II
and I took the wheel then. At. ia
three gongs sounded from the crow
nest the signal for something righ
ahead"
At the same time one Of the men il
the nest telenhoned to the bridge tha
there was large iceberg right ahead
AS Officer Nurdock's hand was on tn
lever to stop the engines the crasl
came He stopped the engines. the
Immediately by another lever closes
the watertight doors.
The skipper Capt SMITH cam
from the chart room onto the bridge
His first words we're "Close tn
emergency doors"
They're already closed. sir" Nj
Mnrdock replied.
Send to the carnenter and tell hir
20 sound the ship" was the skiper
next order. The message was sent {
the carpenter The carpenter neve
came up TO report He was probabl
the first man on that ship to lose hi
4 life
The skipper looked at the cummuts
tor which shows in what directio
g the ship is listing He saw that sh
carried five degrees list to starbOarl
shin Rapidly Settling Forward.
The ship was then rapidly settlin
forward. All the steam sirens wei
\ blowing BY the shippers order, give
Il in the next few minutes, the engine
we're put to work at pumping out n
ship distress signals we're sent
Marconi and rockets were sent i
from the bridge by Quartermast'
Rowe All hands we're ordered {
deck and life belts we're sewed TO Il
crew and to every passenger.
The stewards and other hands he'll
I'd the sailors in getting the boats ou
Il The order women and children frs
was given and enforced. There was I
panic
7 was al the wheel until 1925
was my duty to stay there until r
Ieved. I was not relieved by any OF
else, but was simply sent away
Second Officer Lightoller. who 10
me TO take charge of a certain bO
and load II with ladies.
! did so and there we're thirty-tv
ladies. a sailor and myself in the bo
when ID was lowered some time aft
I o'clock can't be sure of the tim
Tho Titanic had sixteen lifeboa
and two collapsible boats. All Of the
got away loaded, except that one
the collapsibes did not open prope
" and was used as a raft Forty sa
ors and stewards who were floating
the water got on this raft and lat
had TO abandon the raft and we
picked up by the different boats. Sor
others were floating about on chai
when picked up
# Every boat, s. far as ! saw. was fl
when IL was lowered and every bo
that set out reached the Carpathi
The green light on one Of the boa
helped to keep us together, but the
We're other lights One was an ele
trio iashlight that a gentleman h
carried in his pocket
Our boat was 400 yards away VIII
the ship went down. The sucti
nearby must have been terrific, but
were only rocked somewhat.
| have told only what ] know a
& what ! shal ltell any marine cou
that may examine me.
Blown Into Water. Picked
Up Two Hours Lat
G.. Whiteman. of Palmyra, ~ j., {
Titanics barber. was lowering boa
on Deck A after the collision and 4
clares the officers on the bridge, o
# of them, Second officer Murdo,
RI promptly worked the electrical apr
ratus for closing the watertight co
partments He believes the mach
cry was in some way so damaged
the crash that the front cOmpartmel
failed to close tightly. although
rear ones were secure.
Whiteman's manner of escape "
unique. He was blown off the deck
the second of the two explosions
the boilers, and was in the wa
more than two hours before he v
picked up by a raft.
The explosions" Whiteman sa
were caused by the rushing i'm of
& lex water ON the boilers. A bnu
OF deck chairs. roped together. v
blown off the deck with me. a
struck me i'm the back. injuring
||3 spine. but it served as a tempor'
1t raft
81 THE crew and passengers had "a
I'm the bulkhead system to save
3 ship. and We were lowering a Bentl
|4- L.l lI.l.- I...aL III