The Forrest City times., 1912-04-26
.AS THE TITANIC WENT T0 ITS CRAVE


 Queenstown and l.191 miles from New York. speeding for maiden vov. age record. The night was starlight. the sea glassy. Lights were out in most or the staterooms, and only two or three congenial groups remained In the public rooms.
 In the crows nest. or lookout. and on the bridge. officers and members or the crew were at their places, awaiting relief at midnight from their two hours watch
 Danger Warning Sounded.
 At ll:45 came the sudden sound of two gongs. warning of immediate danger.
 The crash against the iceberg which mad been sighted at only a quarter of . mile. came almost simultaneously with the click of the levers operated by those on the bridge. which stopped the engines and closed the water tight doors.
 Captain Smith was on the bridge a moment later giving orders for the summoning of all on board. and for the putting on of lifepreservers and tho lowering of lfeboats.
 Many Mon in First Boats.
 The first boats lowered contained more men than the latter ones, as the men were on deck first and not enough women to fill them.
 When. moment later. the rush of frightened women and crying chil dren to the deck began, enforcement or the women first" rule became rigid. Officers loading some of the boats drew revolvers. but in most cases the men. both passengers and crew. be- haved In a way that called for no such restraint
 Report Captain Shot Self.
 Revolver shots. heard by many persons shortly before the end of the Titanic. caused many. rumors One was that Captain Smith shot himself. another was that First Officer Mur. dock ended his life Smith. Murdock and Sixth Oficer Moody are known to have been lost The surviving of. ficers, Lightoller. Putnam, Bothall and Lowe have made no statement.
 Members of the crew discredlt all reports of suicide. and say Captain Smith remained on the bridge until just before the ship sank. leaping only after those on the decks had been washed away. It Is also related that. when cook later sought to pull him aboard lfeboat he exclaimed: Let me got" and. jerKing away, went down
 Gfe-Prescrvers Effective.
 What became of the men with life preservers Is question asked since the disaster by many persons. The preservers did their work of support ing their wearers in the water until the ship went down Many of those drawn Into the vortex. despite the preservers. did not come up again. Dead bodies noated on the surface as the last boats moved away
 Band Plays as Ship Sinks.
 To relate that the ships string band gathered in the saloon. near the end. and played Nearer, My God, to Thee" sounds ike an attempt to give an added solemn color to a scene which was in itself the climax Of sol emnity But various passengers and survivors of the crew agree in the declaration that they heard the music To some ot the hearers, with hus- bands among the dying men in the water and at the ships rail. the strain brought in thought the words:
 50. by my woes I'll be
 Nearer. my God. to thee.
 Nearer to thee"
 Women and children first" was the order in the filling Of the Titanic S .ifeboats How well that order was fulfilled the list ot missing first and second cabin passengers bears elo- orent witness MT Is before almost every name
 Chose Death With Husbands.
 Mrs lsidor Straus, who chose death rather than to leave her husband s low with her husband and daughter. and others who. in various ways were kept from entering the line of those to be saved are striking examples of those who faced the disaster calmly
 To most Of the passengers the mid. night crash did not seem Of terrific force Bridge players in the smoking room kept on with their game
 Once on deck. many hesitated to enter the fvinging lifeboats. The slassy sea, the starllt sky, the ab- sence. In the first few minutes, of iu- tense excitement, gave them the feel ing that there was only some slight mishap-that those who got into the boats would have chilly half hour below. and might later be laughed at
 It was such a feeling as this. from all accounts. which caused John Ja cob Astor and his wife to refuse the places offered them in the first boat and to retire to the gymnasium In the same way H. j. Allison. Mentreal banker. laughed at the warning. and his wife, reassured by him. took her time about dressing They and their daughter did not reach the Carpathia Their son. less than two years old