The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-04-24

TELL GRAPHIC STORIES OF TIL
AWFUL DISASTER.
| A THRILLING DESCRIPTION
Col. Graice, Rescued After Going
Down With the Titanic, and Other
Survivors, Tell Graphic Tales OF
the Sinking Of the Great Liner and
Great Loss Of Life.
Some Of the survivors from the
Titanic wreck tell graphic stories OF
the terrible disaster, by which nearly
sixteen hundred people lost their
lives. E. q. Taylor OF Philadelphia,
one OF the survivors,, jumped into
the sea just three minutes before the
boat sank. He told a graphic story
as he came from the Carpathia, when
she arrived in New York Thursday
night.
81 was wakened when she struck
the iceberg" he said. "Thera wan
AZ awful shock that made the boat
tremble from stem to stern. I did
not realize for some time what mad
happened. No one semed to know
the extent Of the accident. We were
told that an iceberg had been struck
by the ship. / felt the boat rise and
it seemed to me that she was riding
over the Ice. I ran out on deck and
then 7 could see Ice. It was q yeri-
table sea Of ice, and the boat was
rocking over it.
"I should say that parts of the
iceberg were 80 feet high, but it had
been broken into section, probably
by our ship. I jumped into the ocean
and was picked up by one Of the
boats. I never expected to see land
again. I waited on board the boa,
until the lights were out. 1t seemed
to me that the discipline on board
was wonderful"
Col. Oracle a Hero.
Col. Archibald Oracle, Q. S. A.,
the last man saved, went down with
the vessel, but was picked up. Col.
Oracle told a remarkable story OF
personal hardship and denied en-
phatically the reports that there had
been any panic on board. He praised
in the highest terms the behavior
Of both the passengers and crew and
paid high tribute to the heroism Of
the women passengers.
"Nrs. Isador Straus," he said,
went to her death because she
would not desert her husband. AL
though he pleaded with her to take
her place in the boat, she steadfastly
refused and was in the ship when It
settled at the head and the two were
engulfed by the wave that swept
her." Col. Oracle told OF how he
was driven to the topmast deck when
the ship settled, and was the sole
survivor after the wave that swept
her just before her final plunge had
passed.
81 jumped with the wave," he
said, "just as I often have jumped
with the breakers at the seashore.
BY great good fortune, managed to
grasp the brass railing on the deck
above and I hung on by might and
main. When the ship plunged down,
was forced to let go, and was
swirled around and around for what
seemed to be an interminable time.
Eventually I came to the surface to
find the sea a mass Of tangled wreck
age.
Luckily I was unhurt, and cast
ing about managed to seize a wood
en- grating floating nearby. When
Rad recovered my breath I discov-
cred large canvas and cork liferaft
which had floated up. A man, whose
name did not learn, was struggling
toward it from some wreckage to
which he had clung. I cast OF and
helped him to get on to the raft, and
we then began the work Of rescuing
those who had jumped into the sea
and were foundering in the water.
Saw Wretched Men Die.
"When dawn broke there were 80
of US on the raft, standing knee deep
in the icy water and afraid to move
lest the cranky craft be overturned.
Several unfortunates, benumbed and
hals-dead, besought us to save them,
and one or two made an effort to
reach Us. but we had to warn them
away. Had we made any effort to
save them, We all might have per-
ished. The hours that elapsed be-
fore we were picked up by the Car
pathia were the longest and mos:
terrible that I ever spent.
practically without any sensation
Of feeling because Of icy water, We
were almost dropping from fatigue.
We were afraid to turn around to
look to see whether we were seen p5
pass-craft, and when some one WHO
was facing astern passed the Woro
that something that looked ike
steamer was coming up, one OF the
men became historical under the
strain. The rest OF Us, too' were
nearing the breaking point Col.
Oracle denied with emphasis tnat
any men were fired upon, and de-
clared that only once was a revolver