Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1912-04-24

sink before they could reach the boats
In wild. apparently ungovernable
mob they poured out of the saloons
to witness one of the most appalling
scenes possible to conceive. Towering
nigh above the shattered bow Of the
great steamship were the glistening
plnnacles of the monster iceberg
against which the Titanic had hurled
itself with the force of half a hun
dred express trains.
BOW A SHAPELESs MASS.
For a hundred feet the bow was in
a shapeless mass of bent. broken and
splintered steel and iron. Cries of the
injured added to the panic. fear
erazed mob of Storage passengers
broke loose from the lower cabins and
poured upon the deck with cries of
fright.
Women and children were hurled
aside in the first mad rush for the
boats. Two hundred of the crew Law
crushed to death in the bow of the
great steamship, where they had been
killed as they slept Above all the din
OF the panic were the hoarse orders of
the captain. repeated by the second
tnird and fourth officers down the list.
The remnants of the crew rallied
about the lifeboats. and while some
back the panic-sticken passen-
gers crowded about them. others pre-
pared to lower the boats
ORDERED TO SHOOT MEN.
Everybody to the boats" was the
startling cry that was repeated from
end to end of the Titanic.
Women and children first" was
the hoarse order that went along the
line of lifeboats.
Shoot the first man who attempts to
get into a boat"
Armed officers with revolvers in
their hands faced the fear-crazed Z
throng that poured like an overwhelm-
ling food through the gangways and
upon the upper deck. First class pas
sengers who kept their wits amid the
awful confusion of the first ten min
utes rallied to the support of the
crew and with drawn reyolvers awed
the mob which fought to climb into
the lifeboats.
Then came the shudder of the riven
hulk of the once magnificent steam
ship as it slid back from the shelving
ice upon which it had driven, and its
bow settled deeply into the water.
Were lost! We're lost" was the
cry that rose from hundreds of threats.
The ship is sinking. We must
drown like rats"
Women in evening gowns, with jew
els about their necks, knelt on deck,
amid the vast, fear-stricken throng.
crowded about the lifeboats and pray
ed for help. others, clad in their
nightclothing, begged the officers to
let them enter the boats.
NO CHOICE BETWEEN CLASSES.
Men whose names and reputation
were prominent in two hemispheres
were shouldered out of the way by
roughly dressed Slavs and Hungarians.
Husbands were separated from their
wives in the battle to reach the boats.
fearful leave-takings as the Iifeboats,
one after another, were filed with sob
bling women and lowered upon the ice
covered surface of the ocean were
heart-breaking
There was no time to pick or
choose The first woman to step into
a lifeboat held her place even though
she were maid or the wife of a
Hungarian peasant Many women
chung TO their husbands and refused to
be separated In some cases they
dragged their husbands to the boats
and in the confusion the men found
places in the boats.
FLEET DRAWS AWAY.
One by one the little fleet drew
away from the towering sides of the
giant steamship, whose decks were al
ready Keeling as it sank lower in the
water
The Titanic is doomed" was the
verdict that passed from lip to lip.
I'VE will sink before help can
comet"
Water poured into every eompart-
ment of the SSO-foot hull, where great
plates had been TORN apart and huge
rivets were sheared off as though they
were so much cheese
Pumps were started in the engine
room. but the water poured into the
great hull in such torrents through
scores of rents that all knew the fight
to save the steamship was hopeless.
Overhead the wireless buzzed the
news to the other steamships. The
little feet of lifeboats withdrew to a
safe distance and the 1900 left on
board with no boats waited four long
hours for the merciful death plunge
which ended all.