The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-04-26

+ WE'RE DROWNED. J
+ New York, April 19.-One !.
I. version of the death of John /
l. Jacob Astor and William T. !
+ Stead was told by Philip i
+ Mock, who with his sister, :
+ Mrs. Paul Schubert, were +
+ among the survivors. "Many /
+ men were hanging onto RATS :
+ in the sea-" said Mr.. Mock. :!
Mr.. Stead, the author, and Col
+ oneI John Jacob Astor chung :
+ to a raft. Their feet being :!
= frozen, they were compelled !
+ to release their hold. Both /
I. were drowned" --- .. ...s.. i
]. !. /. + + /. + I. + 4. I. + I. + /
tempting to get away from the ship
to get out of the suction. All this
time the band was playing. First it
was ragtime and the last heard
they were still playing Autumn
81 was finally picked up by life
boat and discovered that it was the
! same collapsible with which | had
been washed Off 1t was beginning
to sink, having SO many in it, when
one of the other lifebOatS came and
took us into their already full boat.
AS we were being taken up by the
Carpathia | noticed Il dead man in
our boat and found that it was Phil
lips. The next | knew some one was
rubbing my head and giving me a
Stimulant.
at was then that they told me that
the Carpathia wirIess man was get
ting queer and | was taken down to
the wireless room, and remained
there until last night. | do not know
what happened among the passen-
gers.
81 simply worked the wireless, real
iZing that the messages soothed the
hurt and were a tie between those
on board and the ones at home. How
could | take the newspaper messages
then? Sometimes | let a newspaper
query in and would then get long
message asking for full particulars,
which | did not feel that | could
give when there were so many per-
sonal messages waiting. If the Ches-
ter had had competent operator
| could have worked with him longer
but he got on my nerves.
al was still sending my personal
messages when Marconi and a Trlb'
une reporter asked me to prepare
this statement An ambulance man
is waiting with stretcher and l
guess | have to go with him. | hope
my legs get better soon.
THE way that the band kept
playing to the end and the way
that Phillips kept on sending mes
sages are things which ! will never
forget"
"The graveyard of the Atlantic is
the sinister name by which the wa
ters off the Newfoundland coast
where the Titanic went down, are
known to seamen, and well they
have earned the title.
/ Scores of ships have entered the
curtain of fog, which hangs over the
water for good part of the year
never to emerge. The fate of these
| ill-starred vessels is conJectural
Doubtless many of them encounter
ed icebergs and met the fate which
! overlook the Titanic, but in the
days before the discovery OF wire
! less they could hope for no aid.
/ Sable Island is one Of the most
dreaded spots along the coast. Dense
| fogs surround it much Of the time
and it is i'm the line of the icebergs
and foes that come slowly south
ward from Labrador and the arctic
region. 1t is also the point at which
the three great currents OF the AT
lantic ocean meet, the arctic current
flowing southwark, the gulf stream
passing northeastward and the cur
rent from the st. Lawrence.
I'm this most dreaded nook OF the
graveyard" where the winds never
cease to blow and the, fogs to gath
er, more than 100 vessels have beer
wrecked in the last century.
i = =
One of the most terrible sea dlsas
ters of recent years, the sinking o.
the Bourgogne of the CampaSnit
/ Generate Transatlantique, befell neal
the scene of the latest disaster. The
| Bourgogne rammed British stee
sailing vessel, Cromartyshire, sixty
miles south of Sable Island, and
went to the bottom with 571 pas
I senccrs i'm 1898. The Bourgognt
sank fifteen minutes after the COLI
i sion.
i The scenes which accompanied
this disaster are among the mos
disgraceful in all the annals of th'
sea. The crew and most OF the
I steerage passengers ignored that un
written law of the sea which holds
that women and children must b'
} saved first. Men trampled womeI
underfoot and fought among them
) selves, using knives and bludgeons
The tale of the shameful panic i
) sufficiently told in the enumeration
) of those who were rescued-htty
; eight male passengers, nearly al
) from the steerage, 106 of the crew
and one woman.
Tho Pourgogne it was said hat