Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-04-14
ANNIVERSARY Of THE
TITANIC DISASTER
One Year Ago Today Greatest
Ship Ever Built Sunk on
Her Maiden Voyage.
1917 PERSONS DROWNED
Damage Suits Amounting to More
Than $s,OOO,0o Filed Against the
Company.
1sl7 PERSONS DROWNED
tBy Brand whitlock.)

(By Brand Whitlock.)
New York, April 14.-Just a year age
more than 1000 persons were joyful
that they had a share in the maiden
voyage of the greatest boat the world
ever knew, playing tennis on deck,
Floating in the tempered waters of .
swimming pool, dining in luxurious sa'
Ions, chatting in drawing rooms more
regal than king palace and listening
to the world finest music. Then came
o crash, darkness, death, herOism, cow
ardice, the manning Of lifeboats, the
escape of those who could get away
from the sinking hulk, featured the
last moments of the Titanic as she sank
April IA, 1912, and the most frightful
sea tragedy of all time was enacted.
It was late in the evening when the
craft ground into the iceberg off the
Newfoundland Grand Banks, four days
after she started on her first trip. The
night was clear, the sea smooth 1t
was 11:46 ships time, or 1913 New
York time. The orchestra was playing
on the decks, the women Of the first
cabin were lingering in the light and
warmth and gaiety of the dining rooms
where there was music and bubbling
life. The men were smoking their good
hight cigars. In the second and third
cabins, there was like JOY, with the
prospect of "home" or "new land"
but few hours away.
And then came the towering berg,
The belated needing of repeated warn
ings that ice was in the vicinity, the
grinding crash and the icy sea. The
whole tale has been often told, how
brides were torn from husbands; how
children were put into boats by fren-
zied parents who hoped their little ones
might be saved even though they per-
ished themselves; how the men, save
for few shameful exceptions, stood
back and waited for death while the
women were given first place in the
Iifeboats; how the musicians struck up
@'Nearer My God to Thee, " and played
until the water smothered their melody;
how the Carpathia, rushing to the res
cue, stood by and gathered up surviv'
ors; how relatives in New York, in ag-
ony of anxiety, besieged the offices OF
the White Star Line for the news that
was three days in reaching land. That
disaster stands out grim and awful to-
day, though the world has again been
shocked by tales of cyclone aud flood
that have exacted great toll Of life.
The Titanic, launched May 81, 1911
represented the best that marine archi
tects could build. She was built fol
capacity, comfort and speed. She was
1895 feet long, 02.6 feet beam, was Of
1926 tons register and cost 81 900
She carried 1928 persons, including the
crew.
Of these, 1917 were lost and 7O6 wert
saved. OF the 800 first-class passeu
gers, 19o were saved, or 60 per cent; o.
the 2s5 second-class passengers, III
were saved, or AZ per cent; Of the 7lI
third-class passengers, 1874, or 25 pc
cent were saved; Of the crew, "a pc
cent were saved.
Whether or not this ocean hOrro
might have been avoided had owner
And officers needed the repeated ic,
warnings of other ships soon ceased Il
be important. The question after tn
official Investigation by the Unitet
States senate, which ended May 2s
1912, was whether such catastrophe
could be avoided hereafter. After day
of investigation, the commission heade'
4, by Senator William Alden Smith o
Michigan, recommended drastic change
in the laws relating to ship construction
W ana n system VI NikliHheV e'N' "N"'
expedite the handling of passengers Il
time Of peril
Among the Inflated passengers on tn
ship that went down were some Of tn
prominent figures Of contemporary hf'
There were Col John Jacob Astor, Ma
ior Archibald W. Butt, Francis D. Mi
let, the artist; William T. Stead joul
nalist and philosopher; Jacques FL
trolle, novelist; BENJAMIN Guggenhein
merchant; Charles Melville Hays, raj
# road president; lsidor Straus, merchar
and philanthropist; John B. Thaye
railroad Independent; George D. Wiz
ener, traction magnate; Henry B. Ha
y ris, theatrical manager; Clarence Moor
sportsman; Arthur RyersOn, lawye