The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-04-25

Hays, president OF the Grand Trunk;
of Benjamin Guggenheim, and OF VIII
liam T. Stead, no one seems, to know
whether they tarried too long in theii
staterooms or whether they forebore
to approach the fast filling boats
None of them was in the throns
which, weary hours afterward, reached
the Carpathia.
Pistols Check Steerage Men.
simultaneously on the upper decks
Of the ship the ropes creaked with the
lowering Of boats, and a. they reached
the water those in the boats say
what those on the decks could not
see-that the Titanic was listing rap
idly to s%tarboard, and that her stern
"a rising at a ~portentious angle. A
rush Of steerage men toward the
boats was checked by officers with
revolvers In hand.
Some of the boats, crowded too full
to give W a chance, drtfted for a
time. None had provisions or water,
there was a lack of covering from the
icy air, and the only lights were the
still undimmed arcs and incandescents
OF the settling ship, save for n OF
the first boats. There a steward, who
explained to the passengers that he
had been shipwrecked twice before,
appeared carrying three oranges and a
green light.
Green Lantern as Savior.
That green light, many OF the sur
vivors say, was to the shipwrecked
hundreds as the pillar of fire by night.
Long after the ship had disappeared,
and while confusing false lights
danced about the boats, the green Ian
tern kept them together IN the course
which led them to the Carpathia.
AS the end of the Titanic became
manifestly but a matter OF moments,
the oarsmen pulled their boats away,
and the chilling waters began to echo
splash after splash as passengers and
sailors in life preservers leaped over
and started swimming away to es-
ape the expected suction.
Icy Water Brings Death.
Only the hardest of constitutions
could endure for more than a few mo-
ments such a numbing bath. The
first vigorous strokes gave way to
hea%rtbreaking cries of Help! Help!"
and stiffened forms were seen, the
faces relaxed in death.
Revolver shots were heard in the
ships last moments. The first report
spread among the boats was that Cap
tain Smith had ended his life with a
bullet. Then 1t was said that a mate
had shot a steward who tried to push
his way upon a boat against orders.
None Of these tales have been veri-
fed, and many Of the crew say the
captain, without a preserver, leaped
in at the last and went down, refusing
a cooks offered aid.
Last llfeboat Is capslzed.
The last OF the boats, a %collapsible,
was launched too late to get away,
and was overturned by the ships
sinking. Some Of those in tall, say
some witnesses-found safety on a
raft, or were picked up by ~lifeboats.
In the Marconi tower, almost to the
last, the loud click Of the sending in
strument was heard over the waters.
Who was receiving the message, those
in the boats did not know, and they
would least Of all have supposed that
a Mediterranean ship in the distant
South Atlantic track would be their
rescuer.
Music Was a Sacrament.
Az the Spraams In tba uator m,ltt-
piled another sound was heard, strong
at first. then fainter in the distance.
1t was the melody of the hymn,
Nearer, My God, to Thee" played by
the string orchestra In the dining
saloon. Some of those on the water
started to sing the words, but grew
silent as they realized that for the
men who played, the music was a sac
rament soon to be consummated by
death. The serene strains Of the
hymn and the frantic cries of the dy-
ing blended in a symphony Of sorrow.
Titanic Goes to Bottom.
Led by the green light, under the
light Of the stars, the boats drew
away, and the bow, then the quarter,
hen the stacks, and at last the stern
Of the marvelship of a few days be-
fore passed beneath the waters. The
great force OF the ships sinking was
unaided by any violence of the ele-
ments, and the suction, not SO great
as had been feared. rocked but mildly
the group of boats now a quarter of a
mile distant from 1t.
Sixteen boats were in the forlorn
procession which entered on the terri.
BILE hours OF rowing, drifting and sus.
pense. Women wept for lost hus-
bands and sons. Sailors sobbed for
the ship which had been their pride.
Men choked back tears and sought to
comfort the widowed. Perhaps, they
said, other boats might have put OF in
another direction toward the last.
They strove, though none too sure
themselves, to convince the women OF
the certainty that a rescue ship would
appear.
Carpathla Brings Joy.
Early dawn brought no ship, but not
long after 5 a. m. the Carpathia, far
out Of her path and making is knots
an hour instead OF her wonted Is,
showed her single red and black
smokestack upon the horizon. In the