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CHAPTER VI
"WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!"
COOL-HEADED OFFICERS AND CREW BRING ORDER OUT OF
CHAOS—FILLING THE LIFE-BOATS—HEARTRENDING SCENES
AS FAMILIES ARE PARTED—FOUR LIFE-BOATS LOST—INCIDENTS
OF BRAVERY—"THE BOATS ARE ALL FILLED!"
Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters |  |
MEN SHOT DOWN
The officers had to assert their authority by force, and three foreigners from the steerage who tried to force their way in among the women and children were shot down without mercy.
Robert Daniel, a Philadelphia passenger, told of terrible scenes at this period of the disaster. He said men fought and bit and struck one another like madmen, and exhibited wounds upon his face to prove the assertion. Mr. Daniel said that he was picked up naked from the ice-cold water and almost perished from exposure before he was rescued. He and others told how the Titanic's bow was completely torn away by the impact with the berg.
K. Whiteman, of Palmyra, N. J., the Titanic's barber, was lowering boats on deck after the collision, and declared the officers on the bridge, one of them First Officer Murdock, promptly worked the electrical apparatus for closing the water-tight compartments. He believed the machinery was in some way so damaged by the crash that the front compartments failed to close tightly, although the rear ones were secure.
Whiteman's manner of escape was unique. He was blown off the deck by the second of the two explosions of the boilers, and was in the water more than two hours before he was picked up by a raft.
"The explosions," Whiteman said; "were caused by the
"The crew and passengers had faith in the bulkhead system to save the ship and we were lowering a collapsible boat, all confident the ship would get through, when she took a terrific dip forward and the water swept over the deck and into the engine rooms.
"The bow went clean down, and I caught the pile of chairs as I was washed up against the rim. Then came the explosions which blew me fifteen feet.
"After the water had filled the forward compartments, the ones at the stern could not save her, although they did delay the ship's going down. If it wasn't for the compartments hardly anyone could have got away."
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CHAPTER VI
"WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!"
COOL-HEADED OFFICERS AND CREW BRING ORDER OUT OF
CHAOS—FILLING THE LIFE-BOATS—HEARTRENDING SCENES
AS FAMILIES ARE PARTED—FOUR LIFE-BOATS LOST—INCIDENTS
OF BRAVERY—"THE BOATS ARE ALL FILLED!"
Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters | |