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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 |  |
CONFUSION AMONG THE IMMIGRANTS
Below, on the steerage deck, there was intense confusion. About the time the officers on the first deck gave the order that all men should stand to one side and all women should go below to deck B, taking the children with them, a similar order was given to the steerage passengers. The women were ordered to the front, the men to the rear. Half a dozen healthy, husky immigrants pushed their way forward and tried to crowd into the first boat.
"Stand back," shouted the officers who were manning the boat. "The women come first."
Shouting curses in various foreign languages, the immigrant men continued their pushing and tugging to climb into the boats. Shots rang out. One big fellow fell over the railing into the water. Another dropped to the deck, moaning. His jaw had been shot away. This was the story told by the bystanders afterwards on the pier. One husky Italian told the writer on the pier that the way in which the men were shot down was horrible. His sympathy was with the men who were shot.
"They were only trying to save their lives," he said.
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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 | |