YOUNG and old, rich and poor were prostrated by the
news of the disaster. Even Wall Street was neglected.
Nor was the grief confined to America. European
nations felt the horror of the calamity and sent expressions of
sympathy. President Taft made public cablegrams received
from the King and Queen of England, and the King of Belgium,
conveying their sympathy to the American people in
the sorrows which have followed the Titanic disaster. The
President's responses to both messages were also made public.
The following was the cablegram from King George, dated
at Sandringham:
"The Queen and I are anxious to assure you and the American
nation of the great sorrow which we experienced at
the terrible loss of life that has occurred among the American
citizens, as well as among my own subjects, by the foundering
of the Titanic. Our two countries are so intimately
allied by ties of friendship and brotherhood that any misfortunes
which affect the one must necessarily affect the
other, and on the present terrible occasion they are both
equally sufferers.
"GEORGE R. AND I."
President Taft's reply was as follows:
"In the presence of the appalling disaster to the Titanic
the people of the two countries are brought into community
of grief through their common bereavement. The American
people share in the sorrow of their kinsmen beyond the sea.
On behalf of my countrymen I thank you for your sympathetic
message.
"WILLIAM H. TAFT."
The message from King Albert of Belgium was as follows:
"I beg Your Excellency to accept my deepest condolences
on the occasion of the frightful catastrophe to the Titanic,
which has caused such mourning in the American nation."
The President's acknowledgment follows:
"I deeply appreciate your sympathy with my fellow-countrymen
who have been stricken with affliction through the
disaster to the Titanic."
