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CHAPTER V
THE TITANIC STRIKES AN ICEBERG!
TARDY ATTENTION TO WARNING RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENT—THE
DANGER NOT REALIZED AT FIRST—AN INTERRUPTED
CARD GAME—PASSENGERS JOKE AMONG THEMSELVES—THE
REAL TRUTH DAWNS—PANIC ON BOARD—WIRELESS CALLS
FOR HELP
Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters |  |
PASSENGERS NOT ALARMED
The blasting shriek of the sirens had not alarmed the great company of the Titanic, because such steam calls are an incident of travel in seas where fogs roll. Many had gone to bed, but the hour, 11.40 P. M., was not too late for the friendly contact of saloons and smoking rooms. It was Sunday night and the ship's concert had ended, but there were many hundreds up and moving among the gay lights, and many on deck with their eyes strained toward the mysterious west, where home lay. And in one jarring, breath-sweeping moment all of these, asleep or awake, were at the mercy of chance. Few among the more than 2000 aboard could have had a thought of danger. The man who had stood up in the smoking room to say that the Titanic was vulnerable or that in a few minutes two-thirds of her people would be face to face with death, would have been considered a fool or a lunatic. No ship ever sailed the seas that gave her passengers more confidence, more cool security.
Within a few minutes stewards and other members of the crew were sent round to arouse the people. Some utterly refused to get up. The stewards had almost to force the doors of the staterooms to make the somnolent appreciate their peril, and many of them, it is believed, were drowned like rats in a trap.
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CHAPTER V
THE TITANIC STRIKES AN ICEBERG!
TARDY ATTENTION TO WARNING RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENT—THE
DANGER NOT REALIZED AT FIRST—AN INTERRUPTED
CARD GAME—PASSENGERS JOKE AMONG THEMSELVES—THE
REAL TRUTH DAWNS—PANIC ON BOARD—WIRELESS CALLS
FOR HELP
Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters | |