Evening journal., 1912-04-18

tiAoNlA6 On lltll OWn tAtthoA'C %
perience and knowledge to supple
ment the meagre information as TO
what actually happened told the story
yesterday Of the destruction OF the IL
tanic as they visualizod the details
The three accounts have blended into
the narrative which is given below
and where there we're variations, the
version given by the majority has been
followed
Lights cleaned from a thousand
ports as the Titanic swept through the
southwest swell last Sunday night.
The weather was comparatively clear,
the air cold and raw. The vessel was
going at reduced speed, little more
than half speed in these days when
the leviathans of the deep have the
swiftness of the Wind, terrific one
for the period when smaller craft
crept cautiously in the realm of foes.
The rate was eighteen knots an
hour, far below what the pulsating
engines Of the mighty craft we're able
to attain, yet enough to develop a mo-
mentum quickly translatable into
terms Of destruction.
it Was Speed! Speed! Speed!
1t may have been that suddenly
there came a veil of mist which hid
the glacial mountain while the look
out from the crows nest scanned the
sea for signs of peril. What could
have brought about this disaster is in
deed hard to surmise. when all the
conditions of wind and weather seem
TO have been favorable for the obser-
Vation of peril Was it that field OF
ice was discerned through which IT
was believed that this new empress OF
the seas could easily force her way
On the chance Of her quick journey
so much depended, for every new
fabric which comes from the shipyards
TO vie for the supremacy OF the deep
must reduce the record between the
old world and the new. The daily pools
of the passengers, their talk of the
DAVIS runs. their often repeated com
4 parisons of one days conquest with
that of the twenty-four hours before
all reflected the deep interest of this
marine Atalanta over the pathways OF
the sea If Atalanta should pause by
& the way she easily might lose this, her
4 maiden race, to her suitor, Time
The salons we're aglow, the smoking
room had boon companions of the voy-
age. few passengers we're on deck. II
was Sunday night and most of the pas
sengers were in their staterooms ana
many had gone TO bed. The air was
& still and the rhythmic beat Of propei'
II lers was heard from out OF the roam
ing wake
A slight tremor passed through the
hull and then another. Merely tn'
blow of some yagrant foe There wa
a stir on board and in the cheer.
Il room where the wreathed smoke ros'
a man turned to his neighbor an'
a smoke of how in these days steam
ships are unsuitable, and one MAJ
q hardly know that the ocean is near un
less he looks over the side.
Then came the blow of fate. The II
n tanic hurled herself against glacia
mountain aHoat The terrific impac
racked every frame. strained ever,
vaunted barrier of steel. crumpled tn
how into a shapeless mass OF broker
plates.
a The momentum Of the steamship de
veloped from it's $4,000 tons carried
her over hidden ledge of ice at th'
very base of the towering iceberg. ThI
Titanic listed TO port, the forward par
slipped from the ledge as her plate
were ripped and torn and settled ono
more into the sea.
Masses Of ice fell upon the bow an
slid over the decks. The floating abod
of luxury became a ship Of death. Tn
shYieks of the passengers echoe'
through richly appointed salons an
in the bare walls of the steerage.
Becomes Fight For Life.
Decks which had been almost de
serted teemed with frantic human be
ings The instinct Of self preservatio
o.. cf fOrrn &
nature drove them from every hidde
recess within the hulk Of steel. Her
We're women with jewels worth mi
lions cleaning on their fingers, me
who held the destinies of great proI
critics in industries in their powe
immigrants who had scarcely nor
than the pittance required for the
entrance into a new land, all levele
into one class as in the twinkling {
an eye.
Discipline asserted itself automati,
ally even in the midst of this reig
of terror The blood of the Mort
s. runs cold and often coolest in tin
of peril. Below there we're me
scalded to death in their steel walle
pens and others who had been hurle
from life by the shattering Of plate
and the fall Of heavy machinery.
The impact had racked end wrencl
Cd the great bulk of the Titanic
every part The absorbing Of thi
shock Of collision cut the rivets fro
plates and caused the water to see
through the yawning seams TT
longitudinal girders, driven back
the hammer like blow Of the collisio
had loosened and started bulkhead
weakening them for the irresistib
thrust Of the waters yet to come.
Plates at the bottom broken an
bent were crumpled upward viii
the cross beams. which provided st
bility in the tank space, were made
puncture vital parts, were snapped
two and their broken ends driven l
into the tank deck above.
IA In Power OF the Sea.
BY the force of the collision Il
coal in the bunkers. the cargo in q
holds was hurled forward against d
bulkheads loosening those barriers
metal all the more. The bulkhei
doors had been closed by a hydraul
device after the crash but the who
81 structure was so weakened that II
n was Of little avail The engines HI
been racked by the blow, and wrenc
II ed at their fastenings. Live Goa
were hurled from the doors of {
furnace. the boilers swayed
The engine room was demoralize
and the mighty mechanism. viii
had only a few minutes before ri
den in defiance on the wave. was cri
pied and helpless in the power Of I