The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-19


/ them away. Had we made any eff
fort to save them we all might have
persisted.
THE hours that elapsed before we
We're picked up by the Carpathia were
! the longest and most terrible that 1
ever spent. Practically without any
| sensation of feeling because of the icy
water, we were almost dropping from
fatigue. We were afraid to turn
around to look to see whether we were
| seen by passing craft and when some
one who was facing astern passed the
! word that something looked like
| steamer was coming up, one of the
men became hysterica1 under the
| strain. The rest Of us, too, were near
| ing the breaking point
Colonel Oracle denied with empha-
| sis that any men were fired upon and
declared that only once was a revol-
yer discharged.
timidating some steerage passengers,
he said, who had tumbled into a boat
before 1t was prepared for launching.
| This shot was fired in the air and
when the foreigners were told that the
next would be directed at them, they
promptly returned to the deck. There
was no confusion and no panic"
Contrary to the general expectation,
there was no jerring impact when the
vessel struck, according to the army
officer. He was in his berth when the
vessel smashed into the submerged
portion of the berg and was aroused
by the jar. He looked at his watch, he
said, and found it was just midnight.
The ship sank with him at 2:22 a. M.
for his watch stopped at that hour.
Hays Went Down.
Before I retired" said Colonel
Oracle, 81 had a long chat with
Charles H. Hays, president of the
Grand Trunk railroad. One of the
last things Mr.. Hays said was this:
The White Star, the Cunard and
the Ham burg-Am erican are devoting
their attention and ingenuity in vie
ing with each other to attain the SUI
premacy in luxurious ships and in
come when this will be checked by
some appalling Disaster
Poor fellow, few hours later he
was dead
Colonel Oracle said that despite the
warnings of icebergs, no slowing down
of speed was ordered by the COM
mander of the Titanic. There We're
other warnings, too, he said. I'm the |
"a hours run, ending the 14th, he |
said, 1.-The ships run was 546 miles |
and we were told that the next "a
hours would see even a better record
posted. No diminution of speed was
indicated in the run and the engines
kept up their steady running. When
Sunday evening came we all noticed |
warning that the ship was in close 1
proximity to icebergs or ice fields
The officers, I am credibly informed
had been advised by wireless from 4
and dangerous floes in that vicinity. i
The sea was as smooth as glass and
the weather clear, so that 1t seems
that there was no occasion for rear.
Passengers JoI1ed About Collision.
when the vessel struck" he con-
tinued, s'the passengers were so little
alarmed that they joked over the mat 1
ter The few that appeared on deck
early had taken their time to dress /
properly and there was not the slight
est indication of panic. Some OF the
fragments of ice had fallen on the
deck and these were picked up and
passed around by some of the facetious
ones, who offered them as mementoes Il
of the occasion. On the port side a
glance over the side failed to show any
evidence of damage and the vessel
seemed to be on an even keel James
Clinch Smith and I, however, soon
found the vessel was listing heavily. I
A few minutes later the officers order
ed men and women to don life pre-
servers
one Of the last women seen by
Colonel Oracle, he said, twas Miss
Evans of New York, who virtually re
fused to be rescued, because" accord
ing to the army officer, "she had been
told by fortune teller in London that
she would meet her death on the
water"
A young English woman. who re
quested that her name be omitted, told
a thrilling story of her experience IN
one of the cola psible boats which had
from the Titanic. The boat was in
of the fifth officer, H. Lowe,
whose actions she described as saving
the lives of many people. Before the
life boat was launched, he passed
along the port deck of the steamer,
the people not to jump
into the boats, and otherwise restrain
ing them from swapping the craft
When the collapsible was launched, 4
officer Lowe succeeded in putting up
a mast and small sail. He collected
The other boats together; in some cases
the boats were short of adequate
;rewg and he directed an exchange by
which each was adequately manned.
He threw lines connecting the boats
together, two by two, and all thus
moved together Later on he went |
back to the wreck with the crew of |
,ne of the boats and succeeded in pick
ing up some of those who had jumped |
overheard and were swimming about.
On his way back to the Carpathia he
passed one of the collapSible boats
which was on the point of sinking with |
30 passengers aboard, most of them in /
scant night clothing. They were
rescued Just in the nick of time.
Was Sea of Ice.
r. H. Taylor of Philadelphia, one of
the survivors, jumped into the sea just
-hree minutes before the boat sank.
4e told graphic story as he came |
'sI was eating when the boat struck |
The iceberg he said. There was an
awful shock that made the boat trem-
Die from stem to stern. I did not real
re for some time what had happened.
No one seemed to know the extent of
he accident We were told that an |
iceberg had been struck by the ship. |
[ felt the boat rise and it seemed to
me that she was riding over the ice
ran out on deck and then 1 could see 1
&C. 1t was a veritable sea of ice and
he boat was rocking over it. should l
say that parts of the iceberg were 80
feet high, but it had been broken into
sections, probably by our ship.