River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-04-25
AS THE TITANIC WENT To IT'S GRAVE

| Inc titanic was LOB IullSS 1IOLA
Queenstown and 1871 miles from
New York, speeding for a maiden voy-
age record. The night was starlight,
the sea CLASSY Lights were out In
most of 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
Of the crew were at their places,
awaiting relief at midnight from their
! two hours watch.
Danger Warning Sounded.
| At 11:45 came the sudden sound OF
two gongs, a warning of immediate
| danger.
The crash against the iceberg which
had been sighted at only 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 lowering Of lifeboats.
Many Men 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, a moment later, the rush of
| frightened women and crying chill
dren to the deck began, enforcement
of 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-
baved 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 Muir
dock ended his life. Smith, Murdoch
and Sixth officer Moody are known
to have been lost. The surviving Of
ficers, Lightoller, Pitman, Bothall and
Lowe have made no statement.
Members of the crew discredit all
reports of suicide, and say Captain
Smith remained on the bridge until
just before the ship sank, 1eaping only
after those on the decks had been
| washed away. It is also related that,
| when a cook later sought to pull
him aboard a lifeboat he exclaimed:
Let me go!" and, jerking away. went
| down.
Life-Preservers Effective.
What became Of the men with life
preservers is a 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 fioated 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 like 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 of 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
! lifeboats. How well that order was
fulfilled the list OF missing first and
second cabin passengers bears elo-
quent witness. "Mr." is before almost
every name.
Chose Death With husbands.
Mrs. Isidor Straus, wLo chose death
rather than to leave her husbands
side; Mrs. Allison, who remained be-
| 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 swinging lifeboats. The
| CLASSY sea, the starlit sky, the alb
| sence, in the first few minutes, of in
tense excitement, gave them the feel
ing that there was only some slight
mishap--that those who got into the
boats would have a chilly half hour
below, and might later be laughed at.
| 1t was such a feeling as this, from
| all accounts, which caused John ia
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 Fl. j. Allison, Montreal
banker, laughed at the warning. and
his wife, treasured by him, Sook her
time about dressing. They and their
| daughter did not reach the Carpathia.
Their son, less than two years old,
was carried into lifeboat by his