The Washington times., 1912-04-21

glowing chRpter-a tribute that must
be paid to breeding, character training.
and pride, sucn az man OF the stamp
Of .Irchibald Wiilingham Butt can
i,oasL
Major Butt Hero.
Major Butt had retired for the night
when the blow that bruised and buried
the Titanic had been struck. He hastily
arose. and climbed to the deck. 1t re-
| qured but a moment for. him to realize
| that Captain Smith needed coadjutors
1t was time when man was help,
| when subordlnates had a duty TO full
| fli as great as that of a commander.
He yelled to Colonel Astor, after the
latter had sent his wife away on the
| llfeboat, and the pair went to the7side
of First officer Murdoch. They fanked
this man. and saw that the law of the
| sea-women and children first-was
| obeyed to its letter and spirit.
Major Butt was herculean figure.
| He aided the officers and he gathered
| the women and escorted them to the
| lifeboats. To his fellow passengers
| among the men he gave by splendid
example a model of conduct which, with
| rare exception, they followed.
And when all the boats had been low
J cred, and hope had fed from every
, breast, as the twin explosions that COM
! pleted the work of the iceberg's blast,
roared above the sound of the sea, it
| was Archie Butt, who stood at the rail,
| and waved a farewell to those on the
water, as the Titanic convulsed and
! died beneath the waves
The last person that spoke to Major
Butt was Miss Marie Young, and even
| In the stress OF danger, even When
| death loomed on the horizon of his life,
Major Butt was the same courtier that
| womanhood knew, during his life. Miss
Young's appearance at the side OF Major
Butt was another example of the
| smallness Of this world.
Met Miss Young.
Miss Young had been a music teach
er in the family of President Roosevelt.
As such she had known Major Butt
When the Rough Rider left the White
! House at the end Of his term. Miss
Young. Of course, had ceased her visits
to the mansion And since that time
she had not met Major Butt.
1t was he that espied her among the
women waiting to be rescued. With
| that innate courtesy and estimable
grace that marked his 'every action,
Major Butt went to Miss Young and
bade her good-by, which was also his
| first greeting to the woman in more
| than two years.
Hundreds OF stories similar to these
go into the volume OF the wreck. How
| the wireless operators supttered their
| signals OF distress and saved the lives
| of those thrown on the mercy of wind
and wave is another story that thrills
ones soul and throbs with the pulsa-
| tions of heroism. Jack Phillips. the
operator on duty at the time OF the dis
aster, went to his grave. But II was
his work, his constant hammering at
that key, that sent the cry of distress
| hickering across the ozone and reached
the rescue ship Carpathia.
Phillips, too, is named among the
heroes, and he yields. in courageous
exhibition In the face OF death, to none
of those heroic names illustrious in
| America This simple Englishman,
master of the harnessed electricity. has
his niche secure and safe.
| But when the historian of the future
| writes into the chapter devoted to the
, heroic deeds the stories OF those who
gave their lives that others might live.
| the chapter is incomplete without the
story of the Titanic orchestra Hardy
! person whose feelings were attuned to
the awfulness of the tragedy read the
story of the musicians with dry eye.
Orchestra Musicians Aid.
When the ship struck the huge berg
the musicians had finished then con-
cert. They were on their way to quar-
| ters, prepared to retire. In the scenes
consequent on the collision the thought
of rest and seclusion was banished. and
these yeomen of harmony wanted to
help their brothers in the work OF as
sisting those aboard to escape.
The leader, one whose name will not
be unhonored when the role of heroes
has been completed, marshaled his en-
voys of music together. None Of those
| aboard seemed to know his intention
| In the rush, the yelling, the shock. no
| one gave but scant attention to the
leader and his men.
But one wave Of the baton struck the
signal for the striking action Of the
orchestra. Above the din of the lower
! ing of boats. above the noise of the
work of rescue, above the roar Of the
waters and the churning of the seas,
arose the strains of that grand old
hymn, Nearer. My God. to Thee
Played with exquisite sweetness, the
strains of that hymn were to those In
! the boats the augury of escape and
| safety; to those left behind II was the
unasked requiem that even the hardest
in fiber would have been glad to have
played at his burial
And even when the mistress of the
| ocean was drawn down in the sucking
| Of the whirlpool, when she was settling
| in her grave, when her death throes
were visible to those on the bosom of the
ocean. the music of Nearer. My God
| To Thee" came as the dying benedic.
ton of those heroes of harmony, And
1t was to this measured swelling chorus
that the Titanic carried down to death
| 1885 souls, the greatest number of VIC
| tins in any disaster that modern chron.
| icles has registered.
Scenes of Horror.
From this sublime spectacle one turns
with the horror to those scenes that
transpired when the steerage gates were
flung athwart for the huddlers in the
bowels of the Titanic to step forth In
ferno had no terrors greater than those
scenes which turned the absolute ordeI
that prevailed among the first and sec
e-cabin passengers into a rout anc
riot and panic when the steerage pas
sengers were given their chance tC
wrestle with the angel of death.
Down IN the depths of that levia-
than had been herded 710 persons
They had been drawn from all OF
continental Europe with majority
from the British Isles, though by nc
means a preponderating majority