The Washington times., 1912-04-21

4
craft.
IL was along about dawn that the
fearful and stricken survivors OF the
| Titanic saw the funnel of the Carpathia
pouring out smoke on the horizon miles
away from where the lifeboats aim
lessly hoated. The sight of black fun
mel and masts was a godsend to the
refugees. Many were the prayers that
were offered to heaven as the survivors
| sensed that rescue was at hand.
That had been a night of horror and
terror for those who nestled on The
broad bosom of the ocean. In Their
little craft they had wandered about
aimlessly, tugging at the oars and
keeping courage warm and sturdy.
There were scenes that met their eyes
which, while they did not blot from
their minds the loss of the Titanic and
the death of husbands, wives, brothers,
sisters and sweethearts,, impressed
themselves indelibly on their memorieJ
Bodies swirled by their boats-the
lifeless forms of those who had braved
death In the water for their chance of
| life, and the die has been cast against
them. Other passengers, who had
CHANGED the same fate as their broth
ers, were pulled from the water alive,
Pnd died In the succoring craft. Babies,
whose parents had been snatched from
them by the hand of death, were or
' phaned and alone in the world. 1t was
the one touch of nature that makes the
whole world kin, that these orphaned
babes. were adopted with legal recourse
by some of the other survivors.
Numbed by Icy Waters.
Men, numbed by the icy waters, were
pulled on board the other lifeboats, and
those who had been rescued combed the
waters about the wreck in the hope
that some struggling survivors might be
| pd mi Nf he ,,f
This had been the trying and awful
experience of those until dawn. Babes,
who had been rescued with their moth
ers and to whose infantile minds the
catastrophe did not appeal, cried in
their hunger. They could not be COM
forted. Little boys and girls, whose
minds were capable of realizing their
own escape and the fact that father
and mother had died. cried In an aban-
don Of grief that nothing could assuage.
| Wives, who knew they were widows,
broke into torrents of tears, refused to
be comforted, and had to be dragged
from fiinging themselves into the sea
to rejoin in death those froan whom
they had been torn in life.
And there was the other side of the
4 picture-a picture OF hope sprang eter-
nal in some breasts. Women, like Mrs.
Astor and others, utterly refused to
believe the worst and still clung with
pathetic hope of the possibility that
their kin might have escaped and had
been saved. These women, while bent
under the weight of sorrow and adver-
sity still bore their troubles, buoyantly
hugging to their breasts with all the
wish that their thoughts fathered the
hope that their relatives had been saved.
That picture when dawn broke over
The scene of disaster could rot be de-
scribed. Many women, whose wealth
Is summed iE the financial rating of
the oldest and strongest of our million
airc families, had escaped with nothing
but their night clothing. In their minds
were no thought 3f appearance: fac
had crowded too many events into those
hours between the collision and the
rescGe to interest thcm.
Children Tired Out.
Children. whom nature, tired by exer-
tion, had sent TO sleep. dotted mothers
breasts, as the latter sat and thought
and cried and thought and wept and
thought and raved and thought and
wondered.
Slowly the Carpathia threaded her
. way over the carpet of the sea to the
, lifebvats. Four of them formed one
little squadron IF safety. In these four
were the women whose husbands were
numbered among the millionaires
aboard-A Mrs. Astor. Mrs Widener, Mrs
Carter, Mrs. Thayer. an6 others. who
were picked no first and sent on deck
10 ;hC carpathia.
The Carpathia wasted but little time
in picking up the sixteen life craft that
formed the refugee fleet. Aboard the
Cunardcr most of the passengers were
asleep. and :lll unprepared for the story
which their ears would hear and their
eyes would see in the morning. The
: tramp of feet overhead as the rescued
= were rushed to state rooms and to
places where they could be helped and
. assisted, awakened many OF the Car
pathia's passengers. and they went on
deck to learn the cause of the rumpus
The sight which asSailed their vision
r did not take long 20 have its effect
r Instantly the news was spread that ths
> 'ritamc had sunk 1t was the laconic
: answer of a stewardcss to one of tlir
passengers that toli the tale. THE tt
tanic. She's at the bottom Of the
ocean This was the answer to j
query as TO all the excitement.
Need of Relief Work.
Instantly the Carpathia's passengers
) saw the need for relief work. Women
I went into their wardrobes and
brought forth their creations of fash
! ION and their modish gowns. A ball
' dress that probably cost more money
in the world went from a devotee OF
fashion to a poorly clad immigrant
Many times had these same women
cf the steerage often wished when
e ashore that they might be gowned
Z like the fine women they saw in the
= streets. And when it. came their LOT
8 to be garbed as feminine and vain
a wish had often pined for, it was as
r refugees stripped of their relatives
G and survivors of a terrible catas-
|, trophe.
. AS soon as the tired, stricken pas
sengers had been cared for, their
physical pain assuaged and their
mental anguish eased by the cheer
r full harbingers of hope-the belief
that other vessels might have picked
up survivors floating in the water-tht
= Carpathia's captain decided on his
). duty in the hour of travail. He was
q booked for passage to Queenstown
but he swung his ship about and
started for New York, to bring the
= refugees ashore.
:, The first day on the Carpathia was
7 scene of indescrihable grief and
sorrow. Women whose reason tot
tered on its throne sat mumbling OF
i telling the terrible stories over again
4 But all seemed to be imbued with