Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-02
MRS. ESTER HARRIS STORY
Returns With Fatherless Daughter
to Old Home in England.
HUSBAND AMONG DROWNED
Loss Of Many Lives Due to Misman-
agement and Haste, She
Believes.
Special Cablegram to The Star.


LONDON. June Lone of the most
dramatic stories of the Titanic wreck yet
told Is recounted by Mrs Ester Hart In
the Ilford Graphic.
Mrs. Hart, with her husband and seven
year old daughter Eva, was on her way
to Canada. where they We're looking for
ward to making new home. But this
disaster came-Mr. Hart was drowned
and Mrs. Hart has returned with her
fatherless child to the old country. She
is now living at Slinfold. Caldwell Heath.
II have no coherent recollection Of
what happened" she writes, in describing
the wreck. Il know that there was
cry of She's SINKING 1 heard hoarse
shouts of Women and children first.
and then from boat to boat we were hur-
ried, only to be told Already full: -Four
boats were tried, and at the fifth there
was room. Eva was thrown in first and
followed her.
Just then a man who had previously
tried to get in succeeded In doing So
but was ordered out. and the officer
fred his revolver into the air to let
every one see it was loaded and shouted
out. Stand back, l say! The next man
who puts his foot in this boat l will
shoot down like dog.
"
what he could to help the women and
children said quietly. I'm not going
in, but for Gods sake look after my
wife and child" and little Eva called out
to the officer with the revolver:
Don't shoot my daddy. You shan't
shoot my daddy!
Last Glimpse of Husband.
That was the last saw of my poor
lost dear-no farewell kiss. no fond word
but in a moment he had gone and we
were hanging over the sea-ffty or
sixty feet above it, and then there were
two or three horrible jerks as the boat
was lowered from the davits. and We
were in the water, so crowded tnat we
could scarcely move.
The officer in charge of our boat was
standing on that raised part of it at the
end. We were all women and children
aboard tat least 1 thought so then, out
we were not. as I will presently tell YOU,
and we were all crying and sobbing: ana
the officer said. not roughly. but with
kindly desire to keep our minds off the
terrible time we had gone through:
Don't cry-please, don't cry. You'll
have something else to do than cry; some
of you will have to handle the oars FOR
the responsibility of looking after You
would put bullet through my brain
so we got away from the ship Tor
safe distance, for there was no DOUBT
now about her sinking. The front por-
ton of her was pointing downward, and
she appeared to be breaking in halves.
Then, with a mighty and tearing SOD.
as of some gigantic thing. instinct with
life. the front portion of her dived.
IAN inky b.ackness now settled over
match, but the officer found in his pock-
cts an electric torch. which he Kept
flashing, shouting out all the time, Keep
together-it's our only chance
Finds Man Under Seat.
THE duty that the officer allotted to
me was to bail the water out of the
boat. While sitting there l had the i'm
preston that there was somebody near
me who ought not to be there. So. when
could get my elbows free. l put my
hand down under the seat and touched
human form. 1t was a poor wretch
of a man who had Struggled himself into
the boat and had sat there during all
that dreadful time. under the seat, In
about six inches of water. When We got
him out he was SO stiff he could scarcely
move.
1T had got a little lighter now. and
our officer had collected nearly all the
boats together. He called from one to
the other: How many In yours-how
many in y6urs?' and then he discovered
that there was room in those other boats
to put the VIII e of our fifty-five in, SO
we were transferred to them, and the
officer collected few seamen in his
now empty boat and rowed away to see
what he could find.
Others Might Have Been Saved.
so with proper management another
fifty-fve people could have easily been
saved
There we sat the weary night through
until o'clock in the morning the Car
pathia came on the scene. / always
thought that these ship boats had to be
provisoned beforehand in view Of pos
sible accidents. but there was no water
nor were there Biscuits. in the boat An
oversight. 1 suppose: but one fraught
with terrible consequences had not the
Carpathia arrived in good time"