Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-05-02

j. Bruce lSmay, managing director OF
the White Star line, who was one of the |
few prominent men who escaped with |
their lives, is said by some of the pas
sengers to have been one of the first
to get into the lifeboats, but this is
denied by Mr.. Ismay himself. /
The Unbelievable" Happened.
The survivors of the Titanic, still suf- |
fering from exhaustion, arrived in New |
York last night, releasing a series Of
narratives so long and numerous that
many are yet untold. The surviving
passengers are unanimous that the Gun
believeable" happened.
The voyage had been pleasant and
uneventful except for the fact that it
was being made on the largest vessel
that ever sailed and for the keen inter
est which the passengers took in the
daily bulletins of the speed. The I'll
tanic had been making good time and
all accounts agree that on the night of
the disaster she was apparently going
at her usual rate of from 81 TO rs knots
an hour.
Quartermaster Moody, who was at the
helm, said the ship was making 21 knots
and that the officers were under orders
to keep up speed in the hope of max
ing a record passage. These orders
were being carried out in the face of
the knowledge that the steamer was
in. the vicinity of great icebergs sweep
ing down from the north.
That very afternoon, according to
the record of the photographic office,
the Titanic had relayed to shore wire
less warning from the steamer Amerika
that an unusual field of pack ice and
icebergs menaced navigation off the
banks.
" But it was a clear and starry
niglt,' all the survivors declared, and
the great water sped through the quiet
seas with officers confident that even
though an iceberg should be seen, the
vessel could be controlled in ample time
and the passengers rested in full con-
idence that their temporary quarters in
the largest and most magnificent YES
sci ever constructed were as safe as
at their own fresides.
This confidence is emphasized in the
stories of nearly all the survivors that
when the crash came there was prac-
tically no excitement. Many who felt
anxious enough to do on deck to inquire
what had happened were but little per-
turbed when they learned that the
ship chad only struck an iceberg"
1t appeared to be a glancing blow
and at first there was no indication of
serious accident. A group of men at
cards in the smoking room sent one of
their number to look out of the window
and when he came back with the an
nouncement that the boat had grazed
an iceberg, the party went on with the
game, but it was never finished. The
stoppage of the engines was noticed
more than the collision, the effect being
as one survivor put it, like the stopping
of a loud ticking clock
The over-confident passengers were
not brought to the slightest realization
that the collision might mean serious
danger until the call ran through the
= ship, call passengers on deck and will
life belts on"
Captain Smith, it is said, was mo-
on the bridge when the collision oc
Cured, but when hurriedly summoned
by his first officer, he took charge o.
what seemed a hopeless situation in
manner which the passengers praise a
j. calm, resolute and efficient to the last
Survivors of the sinking liner toll
of hearing "Nearer, Ny God to Thee ,
played as the liner sank and some O.
: those in the lifeboats blended thei
=. voices in the melody. Suddenly Their
= was mighty roar and the ship, alread,
half submerged, was seen to buckle an
apparently break in two by the force o
an explosion caused when the waite
- reached the boilers. The bow poise
8 almost vertically in the air, when sud
= denly it plunged out of sight.
- With the last hope of seeing thei
, loved ones alive, many of the women i
the lifeboats seemed to be indifferen
whether they were saved or not. The
II were nearly 1000 miles from land an
had no knowledge that ship of succo
~ was speeding toward them. With n
o provisions or water there seemed n
IL hope of surviving the bitter COLI
y There were 16 boats in the forlorn pr,
l. cession which entered upon the terribl
hours of suspense.
70 The shock of learning that their live
u were in peril was hardly greater tina
IL the relief, when at dawn large steam
Z er's smokestack was seen on the hor
" zon, and eager eyes soon made out thu
IL the vessel was making for the scene.
IN The rescue ship proved to be I'll
IN Carpathia, which had received the T
TO tc 81