The Washington herald., 1914-02-01
Monroe Survivor, Tells Tragic
Story of.Heartlessness
of "Rescuers.
IN WATER TWO HOURS
Woman Dies in His Arms on the
Nantucket~for LACK of
Stimulants.

New York. Jan. sl.-out OF all thu
stories OF suffering and COURAGEOUS be
havior which attended the sinking of the
Old Dominion liner Monroe. on the Vir'
ginia Coast, came today from the lips OF
Thomas r. Harrington. a survivor, one
which stood out for its tragic pathos.
Harrington, who arrived in New York
with a party of survivors from Norfolk
| was too sick and shaken to talk immedi-
ately after his arrival, but this afternoon
he told simple story Of how he battled
In the fog-shrouded waters OF the Allan
| tic to save his wife.
II saved her, but she died afterward.' -
declared Harrington. who had swan for
| two hours. holding his wife's hair in his
teeth to keep her face above water.
Ignored by Rescuers.
when we plunged into the water my
wife was helpless from a broken arm.
| grasped her and whispered TO her that
| would save her. / don't know how long
| I remained in the water. but shall never
1 forget those moments of suffering and
danger. I foated upon my back holding
4 my wife's head above the water the best
could. ! shouted to attract the atten-
tion Of life boats, but tried not to waste
my strength, for / knew 1 would need ii
all
|
| ed to IL. but whether the occupants heard
me or not ] do not know. II they did
| hear my voice they ignored US.
81 comforted Margaret, my wife. by
| telling her that another boat would be
along soon. She did not reply. but
knew all her trust was in my strength.
And then another boat came up. I
called to the sailors, and when they
came close one leaned over and said:
Drop the woman: she rs dead That
angered me and I cried out that she
was not dead: that she had tainted in my
arms.
You will take us both aboard or you
will not take either OF us cried. I
thought the boat was going to draw OF
and leave US.
Throw Her Overheard
"If YOU don't take her on board you
will go to hell with the stamp OF murder
OH your souls shouted in my anguish.
They lifted us both into the boat. but I
still clung to Margaret. shielding her with
my body and chafing ner hands for
warmth.
at was cold. nerve-shakinc ride
through the gloom to the Nantucket. The
poor girl died soon after being taken on
board. Her life might have been saved
by the quick application of stimulants,
but on the Nantucket all was excitement.
and there were So many half-frozen, hys-
terical people. all clamoring for cloth
ing and medicines. that ] could get no
attention.
81 carried Margaret into an unoccupied
stateroom and did what I could. but she
died while I sat by her side holding her
hands in mine.
- steward. 4 heartless fellow. entered
as I sat sobbirg by the berth. He saw
that my wife was dead and advised that
her body be thrown overheard.
That was mere than I could stand.
Leaping TO my feet. I struck that man in
the face with all the strength of my right
arm He crumpled down upon the floor
and I kicked him into the corridor.
Then was left alone with my dead
and throughout the balance OF that tor
turing trip TO Norfolk was unmolested."
Trapped Like, Rt..
Penniless and wearing the clothing that
was given him by members Of the CROW
OF the Nantucket, George NJ. NARROW.
another survivor. today told a graphic
story of the collision. indicating that
many passengers were trapped like rats
in their staterooms and perished without
knowing what had happened.
Il lost everything on that boat-all OF
my belongings" he said And am
higher power than man knows of for
sparing my life. The whole thing now
seems to NE like a nightmare. / have
not yet begun to realize fully that / AM
awake. Once1 gave myself up for dead.
For hours I could not believe that I
really was alive
The suddenness of the disaster stunned
everybody on board. Heroism was shown
plenty Of IL. It was shown by whites
haf hau 7 Il
lied that human beings confronted with
death could display as much herolsm as
was shown aboard the Monroe.
Gould Not Find Door.
II occupied a stateroom with George
l.. Lewis, a member of the opera COM
pany of which am a member. l retired
at IL o'clock
Il did not hear the crash. The first
knew Of danger was when Lewis awoke
me and said: For Gods sake. George,
get up. The boat is sinking Our room
was in darkness.
II leaped from my berth.
"'Open the door, l said to him. I
can't find it, he replied.
The lights were out then and the boat
was leaning far over to one side. The
leaning, together with the darkness, up
set our calculations as to where the door
VI tne SldltrOOfn "db-
Have you ever awakened in your
room, seen the reflection from a window
on a wall and believed it really was
window, and then tried to figure out how
II could be there? Well. that Is the way
felt. I believed the door was in a GER
tain place. and felt for 1t. but all could
feel was the wall. 1t took US fully five
minutes to find the door, and unlock Il,
and by that time the boat was leaning
SO that we were on our hands and knees
Il remember looking out of the port
hole. and seeing the lights of the Nam
stuck my head out of thesport hole and
saw ia sailor from the Monroe jump over
the deck of the Nantucket.
Loses His Senses.
Then I realized the worst, and turned
to Lewis and said: We must get out
OF here quick We crawled back and
found the door and got outside.
I'VE kept crawling after getting out
into the hallway. We crawled up the
stairs to the deck. n had a life pre-
server; Lewis did not. We stuck to-
gether.
THE boat was over on her side-so
far over that when We reached the up-
per part we could feel the barnacles or
the hull.
People were sitting on the hull ali
around us. l saw q woman holding a
baby in her arms. Several of us tried
to reach her, but just then she slid down
into the cabin and both were lost.
From down in the cabin could hear
shrieks. / know that men were locked
In their stateroous and could not rat