Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-02

were gotten out and headed directly
away from the ship. The crew seemed
io me to be mostly cooks I'm white lack
ets. two to am oar. with a stoker at the
tiiier. There WAS II certain amount OF
shouting from one end to the other and
discussion as to which way we should
go. but finally it MAS decided to elect
the stoker who WAS steering. captain.
and for all to- obey his orders. He set
TO work at once to- get into touch With
the other boats. calling to them and
getting AS close as seemed wise, 80
when the search boats came In he
morning to look for us there would be
more chance for all to be rescued by
keeping together.
Beautiful Starlight Night.
IT was now about l "A. M. "a beautiful
starlight night. with no moon and not
very light. The sea was as calm as
boats dipped up and down In the swell:
an ideal night, except for the bitter
cold. or nyone who had to be out in
the middle of the Atlantic ocean in an
open boat, and III ever there was a time
when such II night was needed surely
1T was now. with undrcds of people.
mostly women and children, afioat hun
dreds of miles from land.
The captain stOker told us he had
been at sea 26 years and had never yet
seen such a calm night on the Atlantic.
AS we rowed away from the Titanic we
looked back from time to time to watch
her. and Il more striking spectacle it
WAS not possible for nyone to see.
Titanic Settles Slowly.
lin the distance she looked an enor-
nous length. her great bulk outlined
against the starry s!o:N, every portfolio
and saloon blazing with light. 1t was
impossible to think anything could be
wrong with such Il Leviathan were it
not for that ominOus tilt d~ownwards i'm
the bows. where the water was by now
up to the lowest row of portfolios. Pres
emily. about 2 a. M. as near AZ l can
remember, we observed her settling
very rapidly. with the bows and the
bridge completely under water, and
concluded it was now only a question
of minutes before she went; and so 1t
proved. She slowly tilted. straight on
end. with the stern vertically upwards.
and as she did the lights in the cabins
and saloons, which had not fiickered
for a moment since We left, died out.
came on a gain for a single fash n
finally went out altogether. At the
same time the machinery roared down
through the vessel with Il rattle and u
grooming that could be heard for miles.
the weirdest sound. surely, that could be
heard in the middle OF the ocean 1000
miles away from land. But this was
not yet quite the md.
Boat Stands on End.
"rO our Amusement she remained in
that upright position for IA time which
| estimate as five minutes: others in the
boat say less, but it was certainly some
minutes while we watched at least $50
feet Of the Titanic towering above the
level of the sea and looming black
against the Sky
Then with a quiet slanting dive she
disappeared beneath the waters and our
eyes had looked for the last time on the
gigantic vessel we had set out on from
/ Southampton last Wednesday.
And there was left to us the gently
heaving sea, the boat filled to standing
room with men and women in every
conceivable condition of dress and un-
dress. above the perfect Sky of bril-
tempered with a bitter cold that may
long be remembered in the memory OF
the crew who toiled away with the oars
and kept themselves warm.
Cries Heard from Liner.
And then with all these there fell on
the ear the most appalling noise that
human being ever listened to-the cries
OF hundreds of our fellow human be
ings struggling in the icy cold water
crying for help with a cry that we knew
could not be answered. We longed to
return to pick up some of those swim
ming. but his would have mea
swapping our boat and further loss Of
the lives of all of us.
w tried to sing to keep the women
from hearing the cries, and the men
rowed hard to get away from the scene
of the wreck. but the memory of those
sounds will be things the rescued will
find it difficult to forget. We are all
trying hard not to tlsnlk of it.
Our rescuer showed up rapidly and
as she swung round we saw her cabins
all alight and knew h must be a large
came She was now motionless and
we had to row to her.
Fishing Boats Appear.
A we neared the Carpathia we saw
in the dawning light what we thought
was a full rugged schooner standing up
near her. and presently ehind her an
other. all sails set, and we said: They
are fisher boats from the newfoundland
banks and have seen the steamer lying
TO and are standing by to help But in
another five minutes the light showed
pink on them and we saw they were
icebergs towering many feet in the air.
huge glistening masses. deadly white,
still and peaked in a way that had sug-
gested a schooner. The steamer we had
to reach was surrounded by them and
we had to a a detOur to reach her.
for between her n US lay another
huge berg.
we rowed up to the Carpathia about
1920 a. m. and were hOisted or climbed
up the ships sides with very grateful
hearts