The Red Cloud chief., 1912-04-25
Graphic Description Given
By a Reporter.
1,726 Lives Lost In This Most
Appalling Of All Sea Tragedies
Boat Strikes Berg and Then
Boilers Explode-Brave Men
and Women Meet Death With
Undaunted Courage.
az CARTER r. HURD.


(Copyrisht, 1912. by Puii,ser TubIish-
lnS CompsnyJ all rights reserved.
Any violation Of this copyright will
be vigorously prosecuted ~ the NJ.
r. WsPld.
New York, April 19.-Seventeen
hundred lives--the figures will hardly
vary In either direction by more than
q few dozen--were lost In the sinking
Of the Titanic which struck an ice.
berg at 11:45 p. m. Sunday and was
at the oceans bottom 2 hours and 35
minutes after.
The printed rolls Of first and sec.
ond cabins. compared with the list OF
the survivors on the Carpathia. show
that Of 3l1 flrst-cabin passengers, 212
were saved, 154 Of them women and
children; and that Of 262 second.
cabin passengers. 116 were saved. 1902
Of them women and children. Of the
thipd-class passengers. 800 in mum.
ber. 1856 survive. Of whom SO are
women and children.
OF 985 oficers and crew. 1919, In
cluding % women. reached the Car.
pathia. A few in each class doubtless
escaped enumeration on tho Carpa-
thia.
1858 Arc Unaccounted For.
Accepting the estimate of the Car
pathia's oficers that 700 survivors
reached the ship, comparison with the
eotal, 1888. shows that 1858 are un.
accounted for.
There is but the faintest hope that
any Of these reached any other ship.
Reports that the California. a cattle
ship, may have rescued a few persons.
have given merciful respite from ut
nef despair to some Of the women.
Cause. responsibility and similar
questions regarding the stupendous
disaster will be taken up in time by
the British marine authorities. No
aisposition has been shown by any
survivor to question the courage of
the crew, hundreds Of whom saved
others and gave their own lives with
. heroism which equaled. but could
not exceed that Of John Jacob Astor.
Henry II. Harris. Jacques Futrelle and
Others in the long list OF the first
cabin missing.
of'cers Knew icebergs Were Near.
Facts which I have established by
Inquiries on the Carpathia. as posi-.
tively as they could be established in
view OF the silence of the few surviv.
dng officers, are:
That the Titanic's officers knew,
o0veral hours before the crash, Of the
possible nearness OF icebergs.
That the Titanic's speed, nearly 20
knots an hour. was not slackened.
That the number of lifeboats on the
Titanic was insufficient to accommo.
date much more than one-third Of the
passengers. to say nothing Of tho
crew. Most members OF the crew
say there were l6 lifeboats and two
collapsibles; none say there were
moro than 20 boats in all. Tho 700
who escaped filled most OF the l6 life
boats and the one collapsible which
got away to the limit Of their capac.
lty.
"Women First" Rule Enforced.
That the women first" rule. IN
some cases. was applied to the extent
q turning back men who were with
their families. even though not enough
women to all the boats were at hand
On that particular part Of the deck
Some few boats were thus lowered
without being completely filed, but
most OF these were soon filled with
sailors and stewards. picked up out
Of the water, who helped man them
That tho bulkhead system, though
probably working in the manner in
tended. availed only to delay the
ships sinking. the position and length
Of tho ships wound ION the starboard
quarter) admitted Icy water which
caused the boilers to explode. ant
these explosions practically broke tht
ship In two.
euil<heads Rendered Ineffective.
Had the ship struck the iceber,
head-on, at whatever speed, and will
Whatever resultant shock. the bulk
head system Of water.tisht compart
ments would probably have saved tn,
vessel. AZ one man expressed II,
vas the impossible" that happene,
when, with q shock unbelievably mild
The ships side was torn for q length
which made the bulkhead system In
effective.
The Titanic was 1879 miles from
Queenstown and 1871 miles fron
New York. speeding for maiden voy
age record. The night was starligh,
the seA CLASSY. Lights were out Il
most Of the staterooms. and only tw
or tdree congenial groups rename
en the public rooms.
In the crows nest. or lookout, an
ou the bridge. oficers and member
u the crew were at their places
awaiting relief at midnight from thei
two hours watch.
Danger Warning Sounded.