The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-04-21
DEATH ROLL IS
YET SAID TO Be
INCOMPLETE
THOUGH NEARLY A WEEK HAS
PASSED SINCE THE TITANIC,
GREATEST MARINE ACHIEVE
MENT, SANK, MUCH OF HER
STORY is STILL UNTOLD.
BY Associated Press.

Il
never be exactly determined. The
of survivors is fixed at 7O5 by
Captain Nostron Of the Carpathia.
The White Star Line officials believe
the death list totalled approximately
1885.
The narratives gathered piecemeal
from the liners 705 survivors pay n
tribute without precedent to the cour-
age of the men and women of these
modern days, a bravery of impulse un-
studied, unassuming and Instructive
alike in steerage passenger. stoker and
millionaire.
Ample provision for the needy sur
vivors is rapidly being made. The re-
lief funds being gathered in New York
and London already total well up In
the hundreds Of thousands. Most of
the steerage passengers who reached
New York distraught and penniless,
have already come to realize the gen.
erosity and hospitality of America.
Clad, fed and housed, they will be
given ample time to recover from the
shock of their experience and will
start their life in the new world with
ample funds.
The most complete story of the I'll
tanic's fate yet obtained is being gath
cred in New York by members of the
senate investigating committee.
The burden of the testimony thus far
given emphasizes the unquestioning
faith of the Titanics officers in her
unsuitable character, the recklessness
of steaming full speed through a sea
where dangerous icebergs were known
to threaten, and the remarkable calm
ness with which doomed passengers
and crew faced their last moments.
The Titanic's fate has inspired
Tt ha tV1 n q
lines to insure liners hereafter taking
course to the south, away from the
iceberg danger. There is little, dispo-
sition to criticize Captain Smith for
having followed the ocean lane in
which he met disaster. He showed 1un-
usual caution, according to the naval
biographers, in steering a course well
to the south of the regular southern
lane.
The new route eastpound provides
that steamships shall dip to latitude
1920 on the first third of their course,
making a total distance from New
York to Festnet of 5000 miles, where
the distance is now reckoned as 2,S5S
miles. Liners will thus be carried go
miles, below the route heretofore fol-
lowed. The loss of time on the new
course will be about nine hours for a
24-knot boat.
There was criticism among the sur
vivors here today of the Titanic crews
inability to handle the lifeboats.
The crew of the Titanic was a new
one, of course" declares Mrs. George
n. Stone of Cincinnati, land had never
been through a lifeboat drill or any
training in the rudiments of launching,
manning and equipping the boats.
Scores Of lives were thus ruthlessly
wasted, a sacrifice to inexperien"e.
Had there been any sea running in
stead of the CLASSY calm that prevailed,
not a single passenger would have
safely reached the surface Of the wa
ter. The men did not know how TO
lower the boats; the boats were not
provisioned; many Of the sailors could
not handle an oar with reasonable
skill
Albert Major, steward on the IT.
tanic, admitted that there had been TO
boat drills Esd that the lifeboats were
poorly manned.
Another story told by members Of
the Titanics crew which did not have
a bearing in the investigation of the
rapid sinking of the ship, is of a fire
which is said to have started in one of
the coal bunkers Of the vessel soon
after she left Southampton, and was
not extinguished until Saturday after
noon. The story as told Ny the fire.
man follows:
A FIREMAN'S STORY.
"It had been necessary to take the
coal ont of sections two and three on
the starboard side forward and when
the water came rushing in after the
collision with the ice the bulkheads
would not hold because. they did not
have the supporting eight of the coal.
Somebody reported to Chief Engineer
ReU that the forward bulkhead had
given away and the engineer replied:
My God, we are lost
1.-THE engineers stayed by the pumps
and went down with the ship. The
firemen and stokers were sent on deck
five minutes before the Titanic sank,
when it was seen that they would in
evitably be lost if they stayed longer
at their work of trying to keep the
fires in the boilers and the pumps at
work. The lights burned to the last
because the dynamos were run by oil
engines"
The story of what injuhes were sus-
tanned by the Titanic in striking the
ice that caused her to sink has yet to
be told and may forever remain a mys-
terry. Did the Titanic strike head on
or did some sharp knife-life edge Of
berg shear off her side or bottom?
Second Officer Lightholder says that
the Titanic did not break in two but
made her dive diagonally into the sea
and that when half way under the
waves there We're two EXPLOSIONS which
he believed TO be the boilers.
Happy were the members Of the IT,
tsnic's surviving crew as they pre-
uared to depart this morning on the
I.5pland. Generous merchants and
others had fitted them out with
clothes. hats. brushes and razors and
numerous other things Tor their use
together with sums of mtney for their
Immediate needs. OthG sums of
money will be sent later by the relief
committee
]. Bruce Ismay discussed with in
reviewers today the work of the SEN
ate investigating committee, viii n he
characterized as 'brutally unfair" He
said: Il cannot understand this SEN
sational inquiry. They are going a: il
in 4 manner that Seems unjust and
the irjustice lies heaviest upon me.
Why. I cannot even protect myself by
having my counsel ak questions.
Don't misunderstood me by thinking L
mean questions calculated to twist