Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World (51 page)

  1
sat down with the Futrelles
May Futrelle describes dining with the Harrises on the last night in the “luxurious saloon after-deck,” which likely means the restaurant.

  2
“It made me feel”
Harris, “Her Husband Went Down.”

  3
“caviar, lobster, quail”
Douglas, in OBT, p. 278.

  4
“any claims”
and
“absolutely unfounded”
Ibid.

  5
“Mr. Widener, Major Butt and I”
Marian Thayer affadavit, cited in Davie,
Titanic: The Death and Life
, p. 520.

  6
“From the moment we met”
and all other quotes from Marian Thayer’s letter to Taft OBT, p. 415. (See p. 309 for full text of letter.)

  7
Widener party actually lasted longer
. Daisy Minahan stated in her affadavit to the U.S. Senate Inquiry that the Widener party broke up at 9:25; William Sloper recalled seeing the captain on his way to the bridge after dinner at 10:00 p.m.

  8
“There is not much wind”
and dialogue with captain from Lightoller testimony, U.S. Senate Inquiry, TDH, p. 47.

  9
“did not know how,” “a method of control,”
and
“It would be”
Thayer, in OBT, p. 415.

10
“everybody was so merry”
Futrelle, in OBT, p. 287.

11
“clicked her satin heels”
Candee, “Sealed Orders.”

12
“made gay by”
and dialogue and
“How gay they were”
Ibid.

13
“I have only one”
Duff Gordon,
Discretions
, p. 167.

14
“heavy pack ice”
Lynch,
Titanic: An Illustrated History
, p. 80.

15
this all-important message … went undelivered
Lightoller claimed that this message was not seen on the bridge, but whether it was delivered or not is unknown.

16
“of a mummy case”
Seward, newspaper article, ET.

17
“This is exactly what”
Eckley,
Maiden Tribute
, p. 105.

18
“dancing motion”
Beesley, in ST, p. 26.

19
“I must have looked”
Harris, “Her Husband Went Down.”

20
“hot grog”
Woolner, in OBT, p. 179.

21
“very pretty young woman”
Sloper,
Life and Times
, p. 398.

22
“the White Star, the Cunard,” “the pleasure,”
and
“an ominous feature”
Gracie, in ST, p. 118.

23
two other Frenchmen and one American
Paul Chevré’s bridge companions were the French aviator Pierre Maréchal, twenty-eight, a cotton dealer, named Alfred Omont, twenty-nine, from Havre, and the honeymooning Lucian Smith, twenty-four, from Huntington, West Virginia.

24
“Say, old man”
and
“Keep out!”
Lynch,
Titanic: An Illustrated History
, p. 83.

25
“Is someone there?”
Fleet, in TDH, p. 179–80.

CHAPTER 12: COLLISION AND AFTER

  1
a ferryboat striking the planks
Sloper,
Life and Times
, p. 399. 163
“An iceberg just passed astern!”
Woolner, in TDH, p. 369.

  2
“An iceberg has ground”
Barkworth, “Barkworth’s Account,” ET.

  3
a thousand marbles
White, in TDH, p. 423.

  4
a giant hand was playing bowls
Duff Gordon,
Discretions
, p. 172. 164
“What have we struck?”
and dialogue Boxhall, in TDH, pp. 132–33.

  5
stoker Frederick Barrett
TDH, pp. 527–28.

  6
“All up on deck”
Buckley, in TDH, p. 438.

  7
“I expect the iceberg”
and
“Just run”
Beesley, in ST, pp. 29–30.

  8
“What has happened?”
and dialogue Ismay, in TDH, pp. 3–4.

  9
“The ship is making”
and
“The mail hold”
Boxhall, in TDH, p. 136.

10
Thomas Andrews, was already making his own inspection
Most accounts claim that Captain Smith asked Andrews to make an inspection, but it seems that Andrews was already inspecting the damage on his own. Steward James Johnson saw Andrews descending to the post office and Stewardess Annie Robinson saw a mail clerk fetch Smith and McElroy and overheard Andrews say, “Well, three have gone …”

11
“The captain says”
Sloper,
Life and Times
, p. 400.

12
“What has happened?”
Ibid., p. 400.

13
“It will take more than an iceberg”
Hustak,
Titanic: The Canadian Story
, p. 91. 168
“Why, she is listing”
and dialogue Peuchen, in TDH, p. 198.

14
Smith opened his hand
, Gracie, in TDH, p. 407.

15
“The order is”
and dialogue Peuchen, in TDH, p. 198. 169
“Didn’t I tell you”
Brown, in OBT, p. 219.

16
“What for?”
and dialogue Russell [Rosenbaum] article.

17
“I will be forced to report you”
Williams, “CQD.”

18
gone through it up to B deck
Buckley was in a forward cabin and went up a stairway to a first-class area, so this gate would likely have been at B deck.

19
“had a look”
Sloan, in OBT, p. 397.

20
“You had better”
and dialogue, Bride, in TDH, pp. 84–85.

21
Have struck an iceberg
Foster,
Titanic Reader
, p. 72.

22
“What are you sending?”
and dialogue Bride, in ST, p. 315.

23
“Send
SOS” Bride’s account makes it seem as if they began using
SOS
early on, but the first call from the
Titanic
using
SOS
was received by the
Mount Temple
and the
Olympic
at 12:57 a.m.
Titanic
time.

24
not, as is often claimed, the first time
The
SOS
signal was introduced on July 1, 1908, and was first used in an emergency on June 10, 1909, when the SS
Slavonia
was wrecked off the Azores.

25
“I’ll never ride”
Sloper,
Life and Times
p. 404.

26
“Oh, I suppose”
Quoted in Hays bio, ET.

27
At twelve-forty Murdoch instructed
Lifeboat launch times and sequence are based on new research by Bill Wormstedt, Tad Fitch, and George Behe, in “Titanic: The Lifeboat Launching Sequence Re-examined” on the website
wormstedt.com
.

28
“There is no time to waste”
Pitman, in TDH, 164.

29
“Come along, ladies”
and dialogue, Pitman, in TDH, 164–65.

30
“Can the men come too?”
and dialogue Behr, in OBT, p. 208.

31
“You go ahead”
Pitman, in TDH, 165.

32
“Lower away”
and
“If you will”
Lowe, in TDH, pp. 212–13. 175
“Hebrew doctor”
Stengel, in OBT, p. 403.

33
“They wouldn’t send”
and Ryerson dialogue in Lynch,
Titanic: An Illustrated History
, p. 110.

34
“Don’t you hear”
Emily Ryerson, in TDH, p. 492.

35
“Fire one”
Lynch,
Titanic: An Illustrated History
, p. 110.

36
“Gentleman, the accident” New York American
, April 24, 1912, in Behe,
“Archie,”
vol. 3, p. 628.

37
“desired to show”
Gracie, in ST, p. 129.

38
“a strange unseeing look”
and dialogue Thayer letter to Taft, in OBT, p. 415.

39
“to see the stars”
Spedden diary,
Titanic Commutator
, p. 48.

40
“rather like a stupid”
Harper, in OBT p. 315.

41
“You and mother”
Hustak,
Titanic: The Canadian Story
, p. 96.

42
“At last the ropes”
Shutes, in Gracie, ST, p. 235.

CHAPTER 13: TO THE LIFEBOATS

  1
“Down below”
Candee, “Sealed Orders.”

  2
“a splendid act”
Peuchen, in TDH, p. 196.

  3
“Have some iceberg!”
Candee, “Sealed Orders.”

  4
“Why are we so calm?”
and
“We are”
Ibid.

  5
a
little silver flask
Bigham, “Life’s Décor,” ET.

  6
Berthe kept insisting
Brown, in OBT, p. 219.