The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1912-04-19

htth &fftus
WRITTEN FOR THE UNITED
PRESS
~ MISS CAROLINE aoNNELL
Copyright. 1912, by the United prcss
NEW YORK. April fs,--'Weil,
thank goodness. Nathalie. we are
going 20 sec our iceberg AZ last"
Thst--that single foolish little
sensence--was the one thing. Of all
things. that ! said 20 my cousin. a.
tho great. beautiful Titanic vac
shiverioa beneath her death blow.
And Yet II was the most natural
remark In the world for mesto mate
that Sunday midnight az the VERY
minute when the hand OF death be-
gan pullins down its terrible cargo
of souls For. though the world haa
not come To realize II. that was a
hidden hand-a hand SO hidden that
mono Of us suspected II for an In.
slant. or how strong and how cruel
II was. In lesa than two hours
after. n gave quick. final Jerk.
aud tho Titanic OF vessels sank be-
meath the swells.
My cousin. Nathalie Wick. aud |
were lying In our berths half asleep
when tho blow came. II was ter
rifle. For a SECOND the whole boat
iust stood stock atill In ita swift
tracks. and then Il gave a great
SILVER all through. After that ev.
erything was dcathly quiet for a
minute
Then. "oh. she has hit an Ice
berg" came ringing through the
window In a ~cmsn's xhrill voice.
Fer 10 minutes AFTER the blow Ma
thalie and ! lay In bed and dis
cussed whether or not we would Get
up 10 view the berg. Nathalie was
pretty sleepy. but I had been 10 to
fiii hot water bottle. and was Wide
awake enough for anything. Final
W We decided to go up" ~ We had
been waiting to ace an iceberg all
the way over. but had been told that
u was probably too early In the
season. We Just slipped on our
shoes and stockings and put on
some heavy outside wraps and
went up.
When we 10, out on the deck
Everything was as calm as an
August Afternoon. The sea was as
smooth as glass. there was not a
berg nor an ice foe In sight. aud
the sky was Just thick with stars.
Tho water itself gllmmered blue
with their glow
\ We had Just determined to 20
back to bed when an officer came
Iup 10 uH
60 below and pu, on yonr life
belts" he said. 'you may need
them later"
We went down and told rny aunt
ard uncle. Mr.. ard Mrs. George
Wick. what we had been told. I'm.
Gle George Iust laughed AZ us.
why. that's nonsense. airIs." he
said. This boa, 10 ali right. She's
going along finely. she Just got .
alsneina blow. guess"
That's tho way everyone seemed
10 think and we went Into our state.
room. but In q minute or 50 an Of.
ficer Knocked al the door and told
rs 20 20 mp on the "a deck. He
sald there was really no danger
\ and that II was juat a precaution-
AIRY measure We got a few
clothes on and went up. ! picked
np my eve glasses In my excltomont
and Ieff my watch lying on the
II dresser. Nathalie hung her watch
around her neck We both wore
two or three coats.
n was bitterly cold outside. when
xe rot ON deck uncle and aunt were
there. and there we're crowds OF
people standing around. Nobody
seemed very much excited. Every.
one was talking and n seemed 10
be- the general idea that we would
soon be ordered hack to bed.
lust then an officer came up 10
us and said we should 20 Up to the
next deck.
Mrs. John Jacob Assor was there.
sitting In . steamer chair. Her
husband. Col. Assor. was besids
her and her maid wss helping her
70 finish her dressing.
N whatever damage was done to
/ thu vessel was done beneath her
water line. we knew. for above she
was In perfect condition. She had
Il hit the berg alongside. we found
out. and not In front.
There was very little discipline
IN fact there VAS practically none.
People had TO be begged to get into
the iifeboafs 40 one thought the
Titanic was going 10 sink and pas.
seuxers did not feel like trusting
themselves 10 the tiny rowboata
when they were aboard the biggest
4 liner In the world. AT least they
80 argued with the officers.
The boat we were IN was the
second to be let down the side, but
the first 20 strike the water. In Il.
though u would have held more,
were 20 women. two sailors and a
steward. The latter were 70 do the
rovira. As we took TO the oars,
the officer shouted 10 W 20 row
over TO q distant light and land
there. sending the boat back Tor
others.
n We watched the other boats be-
|. ing lowered M We got under way.
| And then. In few minutes. we
noticed that the Titanic began 70
liar more heavily. After a while.
when We we're o considerable dis
tance away. a whole deck OF lights,
the lowest deck, was suddenly
znuffed ont. Al the same time the
mast lights dropped a little further
down In the water.
After this the tragedy developed
with a relentless s~iftness- Deck
by deck we watched the lights 90
out as the boat dropped lower and
lower in the sea. A. last but four
rows Of lights were left. Then the
water reached the port holes, and
as II rushed into her there was one
great explosion and another, ano
the ship left the horizon unbroken
l And those that we're In the NE
bozts who we're close TO the vessel
ssy that the orchestra played I'll
the very last and that the men went
down into the sea singing, "Nesre'
Av God To Thee"