Sinking Of The Titanic And Great Sea Disasters - Logan Marshall (free biff chip and kipper ebooks txt) 📗

But In The Confusion Many May Not Have Known

Where To Look For Them. Mellers,  Who Had Donned A Life-

Preserver,  Was Hurled Into The Air,  From The Bow Of The Ship

By The Force Of The Explosion,  Which He Believed Caused The

Titanic To Part In The Center.

 

"I Was Not Far From Where Captain Smith Stood On The

Bridge,  Giving Full Orders To His Men," Said Mellers. "The

Brave Old Seaman Was Crying,  But He Had Stuck Heroically

To The Last. He Did Not Shoot Himself. He Jumped From

The Bridge When He Had Done All He Could. I Heard His Final

Instructions To His Crew,  And Recall That His Last Words Were:

`You Have Done Your Duty,  Boys. Now Every Man For Himself.'

 

"I Thought I Was Doomed To Go Down With The Rest. I

Stood On The Deck,  Awaiting My Fate,  Fearing To Jump From

The Ship. Then Came A Grinding Noise,  Followed By Two

Others,  And I Was Hurled Into The Deep. Great Waves Engulfed

Me,  But I Was Not Drawn Toward The Ship,  So That I Believe

There Was Little Suction. I Swam About For More Than One

Hour Before I Was Picked Up By A Boat."

 

 

 

 

 

A Faithful Officer

 

Charles Herbert Lightoller,  Previously Mentioned,  Stood

By The Ship Until The Last,  Working To Get The Passengers

Away,  And When It Appeared That He Had Made His Last Trip

He Went Up High On The Officers' Quarters And Made The Best

Dive He Knew How To Make Just As The Ship Plunged Down To

The Depths. This Is An Excerpt From His Testimony Before

The Senate Investigating Committee:

Chapter 7 Pg 53

"What Time Did You Leave The Ship?"

 

"I Didn't Leave It."

 

"Did It Leave You?"

 

"Yes,  Sir."

 

Children Shall Hear That Episode Sung In After Years And

His Own Descendants Shall Recite It To Their Bairns. Mr.

Lightoller Acted As An Officer And Gentleman Should,  And He

Was Not The Only One.

 

 

 

 

 

A Message From A Notorious Gambler

 

That Jay Yates,  Gambler,  Confidence Man And Fugitive

From Justice,  Known To The Police And In Sporting Circles As

J. H. Rogers,  Went Down With The Titanic After Assisting Many

Women Aboard Life-Boats,  Became Known When A Note,  Written

On A Blank Page Torn From A Diary: Was Delivered To His

Sister. Here Is A Fac-Simile Of The Note:

 

 

 

 

 

{Illust.}

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Note Was Given By Rogers To A Woman He Was Helping

Into A Life-Boat. The Woman,  Who Signed Herself "Survivor,"

Inclosed The Note With The Following Letter.

 

"You Will Find Note That Was Handed To Me As I Was Leaving

The Titanic. Am Stranger To This Man,  But Think He Was

A Card Player. He Helped Me Aboard A Life-Boat And I Saw

Him Help Others. Before We Were Lowered I Saw Him Jump

Into The Sea. If Picked Up I Did Not Recognize Him On The

Carpathia. I Don't Think He Was Registered On The Ship Under

His Right Name."

 

Rogers' Mother,  Mrs. Mary A. Yates,  An Old Woman,

Broke Down When She Learned Son Had Perished.

 

"Thank God I Know Where He Is Now," She Sobbed. "I

Chapter 7 Pg 54

Have Not Heard From Him For Two Years. The Last News I

Had From Him He Was In London."

 

 

 

 

 

Fifty Lads Met Death

 

Among The Many Hundreds Of Heroic Souls Who Went Bravely

And Quietly To Their End Were Fifty Happy-Go-Lucky Youngsters

Shipped As Bell Boys Or Messengers To Serve The First Cabin

Passengers. James Humphreys,  A Quartermaster,  Who Commanded

Life-Boat No. 11,  Told A Li{T}Tle Story That Shows

How These Fifty Lads Met Death.

 

Humphreys Said The Boys Were Called To Their Regular Posts

In The Main Cabin Entry And Taken In Charge By Their Captain,

A Steward. They Were Ordered To Remain In The Cabin And Not

Get In The Way. Throughout The First Hour Of Confusion And

Terror These Lads Sat Quietly On Their Benches In Various Parts

Of The First Cabin.

 

Then,  Just Toward The End When The Order Was Passed Around

That The Ship Was Going Down And Every Man Was Free To Save

Himself,  If He Kept Away From The Life-Boats In Which The Women

 

{Illust. Caption =

 "Who Hath Measured The Waters In The Hollow Of His Hand."--Isaiah Xl:Xii}

 

 

 

 

 

Were Being Taken,  The Bell Boys Scattered To All Parts Of The

Ship.

 

Humphreys Said He Saw Numbers Of Them Smoking Cigarettes

And Joking With The Passengers. They Seemed To Think That

Their Violation Of The Rule Against Smoking While On Duty Was

A Sufficient Breach Of Discipline.

 

Not One Of Them Attempted To Enter A Life-Boat. Not One

Of Them Was Saved.

 

 

 

 

 

The Heroes Who Remained

 

The Women Who Left The Ship; The Men Who Remained--

There Is Little To Choose Between Them For Heroism. Many Of

Chapter 7 Pg 55

The Women Compelled To Take To The Boats Would Have Stayed,

Had It Been Possible,  To Share The Fate Of Their Nearest And

Dearest,  Without Whom Their Lives Are Crippled,  Broken And

Disconsolate.

 

The Heroes Who Remained Would Have Said,  With Grenville.

"We Have Only Done Our Duty,  As A Man Is Bound To Do."

They Sought No Palms Or Crowns Of Martyrdom. "They Also

Serve Who Only Stand And Wait," And Their First Action Was

Merely To Step Aside And Give Places In The Boats To Women

And Children,  Some Of Whom Were Too Young To Comprehend

Or To Remember.

 

There Was No Debate As To Whether The Life Of A Financier,

A Master Of Business,  Was Rated Higher In The Scale Of Values

Than That Of An Ignorant Peasant Mother. A Woman Was A

Woman,  Whether She Wore Rags Or Pearls. A Life Was Given For

A Life,  With No Assertion That One Was Priceless And The Other

Comparatively Valueless.

 

Many Of Those Who Elected To Remain Might Have Escaped.

"Chivalry" Is A Mild Appellation For Their Conduct. Some

Of The Vaunted Knights Of Old Were Desperate Cowards By Comparison.

A Fight In The Open Field,  Or Jousting In The Tournament,

Did Not Call Out The Manhood In A Man As Did The Waiting

Till The Great Ship Took The Final Plunge,  In The Knowledge That

The Seas Round About Were Covered With Loving And Yearning

Witnesses Whose Own Salvation Was Not Assured.

 

When The Roll Is Called Hereafter Of Those Who Are "Purged

Of Pride Because They Died,  Who Know The Worth Of Their Days,"

Let The Names Of The Men Who Went Down With The Titanic

Be Found Written There In The Sight Of God And Men.

 

 

 

 

 

The Obvious Lesson

 

And,  Whatever View Of The Accident Be Taken,  Whether The

Moralist Shall Use It To Point The Text Of A Solemn Or Denunciatory

Warning,  Or Whether The Materialist,  Swinging To The

Other Extreme,  Scouts Any Other Theory Than That Of The

"Fortuitous Concurrence Of Atoms," There Is Scarcely A Thinking

Mortal Who Has Heard Of What Happened Who Has Not Been

Deeply Stirred,  In The Sense Of A Personal Bereavement,  To A

Profound Humility And The Conviction Of His Own Insignificance

In The Greater Universal Scheme.

 

Many There Are Whom The Influences Of Religion Do Not Move,

And Upon Whose Hearts Most Generous Sentiments Knock In

Vain,  Who Still Are Overawed And Bowed By The Magnitude Of

This Catastrophe. No Matter What They Believe About It,

Chapter 7 Pg 56

The Effect Is The Same. The Effect Is To Reduce A Man From The

Swaggering Braggart--The Vainglorious Lord Of What He Sees--

The Self-Made Master Of Fate,  Of Nature,  Of Time,  Of Space,  Of

Everything--To His True Microscopic Stature In The Cosmos.

He Goes In Tears To Put Together Again The Fragments Of The

Few,  Small,  Pitiful Things That Belonged To Him.

 

          "Though Love May Pine,  And Reason Chafe,

          There Came A Voice Without Reply."

 

 

 

 

 

The Only Comfort,  All That Can Bring Surcease Of Sorrow,  Is

That Men Fashioned In The Image Of Their Maker Rose To The

Emergency Like Heroes,  And Went To Their Grave As Bravely As

Any Who Have Given Their Lives At Any Time In War. The Hearts

Of Those Who Waited On The Land,  And Agonized,  And Were Impotent

To Save,  Have Been Laid Upon The Same Altars Of Sacrifice.

The Mourning Of Those Who Will Not Be Comforted Rises From

Alien Lands Together With Our Own In A Common Broken Intercession.

How Little Is The 882 Feet Of The "Monster" That We

Launched Compared With The Arc Of The Rainbow We Can See

Even In Our Grief Spanning The Frozen Boreal Mist!

          "The Best Of What We Do And Are,

          Just God,  Forgive!"

 

 

 

 

 

The Ancient Sacrifice

 

And Still Our Work Must Go On. It Is The Business Of Men

And Women Neither To Give Way To Unavailing Grief Nor To

Yield To The Crushing Incubus Of Despair,  But To Find Hope

That Is At The Bottom Of Everything,  Even At The Bottom

Of The Sea Where That Glorious Virgin Of The Ocean Is Dying.

          "And When She Took Unto Herself A Mate

          She Must Espouse The Everlasting Sea."

 

 

 

 

 

Even So,  For Any Progress Of The Race,  There Must Be The

Ancient Sacrifice Of Man's Own Stubborn Heart,  And All His Pride.

He Must Forever "Lay In Dust Life's Glory Dead." He Cannot

Rise To The Height It Was Intended He Should Reach Till He Has

Plumbed The Depths,  Till He Has Devoured The Bread Of The

Bitterest Affliction,  Till He Has Known The Ache Of Hopes Deferred,

Of Anxious Expectation Disappointed,  Of Dreams That Are Not

To Be Fulfilled This Side Of The River That Waters The Meads Of