Voices from the Titanic (34 page)

Mr Byrnes said Jesse Straus left New York late yesterday after-noon for Halifax in the hope of meeting his parents.

Another who made inquiry was Miss Wheelock, of No. 317 Riverside Drive, who requested information relative to the safety of her brother-in-law and sister, Dr and Mrs D. W. Marvin, whom, she said, were returning from a honeymoon trip.

Vice-President Franklin last night said that knowing Capt. Smith as he has for many years, and being familiar with his record as a seaman, he is certain that if any passengers in the
Titanic
were drowned Capt. Smith remained on board assisting in the rescues and went down with the ship while at his post of duty.

(
New York World
, 16 April 1912)

The combined wealth of the first cabin passengers totals more than $500,000,000. Among those on board and their estimated wealth are the following:

Untold wealth was represented among the passengers of the
Titanic
, there being on board at least six men, each of whose fortunes might be reckoned in tens of millions of dollars. A rough estimate of the total wealth represented in the first-class passenger list would each over half a billion dollars.

The wealthiest of the list is Col. John Jacob Astor, head of the famous house whose name he bears, and who is reputed to be worth $150 million. He is connected with most of the large corporations of the country and for years has had direct control of the vast estate left by his father, the late William Astor. Mr Astor was returning on the
Titanic
from a tour of Egypt with his bride, who was Miss Madeline Force, the 19-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs William H. Force. They were married in Providence on September 9.

Mr and Mrs Astor occupied a bridal suite on the doomed liner.

Two years ago Col. Astor and his son Vincent figured in a sea scare when their yacht, the
Noma
, having both on board, could not be traced after a storm in the Caribbean Sea. While government and other vessels were searching for the yacht she steamed safely into Jacksonville, Florida.

Benjamin Guggenheim, probably next in financial importance, is the fifth of the seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim, who founded the American Smelting and Refining Co., the great mining corporation, and is a director of many corporations including the International Steam Pump Co., of which he is now president. His fortune is estimated at $95 million. His wife, whose name does not appear on the passenger list, is the daughter of James Seligman, the New York banker.

George D. Widener is the son of P. A. B. Widener, the Philadelphia ‘traction king', whose fortune is estimated at $50 million. Isidor Straus, one of New York's most prominent dry goods merchants, and notable for his philanthropies, has a fortune also estimated to be worth $50 million. He is a director in various banks, trust companies and charitable institutions and with his brother, Nathan Straus, is the owner of three of New York's largest department stores.

J. Bruce Ismay, president and one of the founders of the International Mercantile Marine, who has always made it a custom to be a passenger on the maiden trip of every new ship built by the company, is said to be worth $40 million. It was Mr Ismay who, with J. P. Morgan, consolidated American and British steamship lines under the International Mercantile Marine's control.

Col. Washington Roebling, builder of the Brooklyn bridge and president and director of John A. Roebling & Sons Co., is credited with a fortune of $25 million.

Among others of reputed wealth who were on board are J. P. Thayer, vice-president of the Pennsylvania railroad; the Countess of Rothes, daughter of an English plush manufacturer, who expected to visit Newport; Clarence Moore, a well-known sportsman, whose wife was Miss Mabel Swift, daughter of E. C. Swift, the Chicago meat packer; Col. Alfonso Simonius, president of the Swiss Bankverein, and Charles M. Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Pacific and vice-president and general manager of the Grand Trunk of Canada.

(
Boston Post
, 16 April 1912)

Bad luck has come to Capt. E. J. Smith, commander of the
Titanic
and commodore of the White Star Line, after forty years on the sea, during which time he worked up from apprentice to commander of the largest steamship in the world.

During all this time, up to last September, when his steamer, the
Olympic
, then, as now, with the sinking of the
Titanic
, the queen steamship of the world, crashed into the British cruiser
Hawke
, he did not figure in a single disaster.

Since then, however, misfortune has come thick and fast, for in February the
Olympic
struck what is believed to have been a submerged wreck and lost a blade from one of her propellers, which made it necessary to put her in dry dock, and last Wednesday the
Titanic
, in leaving Southampton on her maiden voyage, narrowly missed colliding with the
New York
of the American line, which had been pulled from her anchorage by suction from the new ocean giant.

It was undoubtedly because of Capt. Smith's previous fine career that the officers of the White Star Line retained him in its service after the mishaps to the
Olympic
, thus violating a deep sea tradition that has been more rigorously maintained by the British merchant marine than by any other nation. The rule has been almost invariable among steamship companies to dispense with the services of officers in command of vessels that have met with disaster.

One reason for this is the insistence of the insurance companies. Lloyds keeps in its London office the records of all marine officers so that when a man is put in command of a vessel his whole career can be immediately inspected.

Much interest attaches to the fate that now awaits Capt. Smith, if he has survived. If proved at fault in the collision of the
Titanic
with an iceberg – and this will depend in great measure on the degree of vigilance used after the delicate instruments all vessels now carry warned of the vessel's proximity to ice – he may not only be deprived of his command, but also of his certificate, which will force him to give up the sea.

Capt. Smith began his sea career in 1869, when he shipped as apprentice on the
Senator Weber
, an American clipper purchased by Gibson & Co. of Liverpool. In 1878 he got a commission as fourth officer of the square-rigger
Lizzie Fennel
, and in 1880 was appointed fourth officer of the old steamship
Celtic
of the White Star Line. He attained the rank of captain in 1887, when he took command of the old
Republic
.

It was in 1892 that the White Star Line bestowed its first great honour on Capt. Smith, when it made him commander of its best steamship, the
Majestic
, on Mediterranean voyages. Since that time he has commanded every large steamship of the White Star Line. When he was put in command of the
Titanic
, it was reported that he would retire after he had conducted her across the Atlantic and back, but the White Star officials afterwards announced that he would have charge of the
Titanic
until the company built a larger and finer steamship.

Capt. Smith had the utmost confidence in the safety of the ocean giants that are now being constructed. In 1907 when he came to New York in command of the
Adriatic
on her maiden trip, he said: ‘Shipbuilding is such a perfect art nowadays that absolute disaster, involving the passengers, is inconceivable. Whatever happens, there will be time enough before the vessel sinks to save the life of every person on board. I will go a bit further. I will say that I cannot imagine any condition that would cause the vessel to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.

‘When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experiences of nearly 40 years at sea I merely say, uneventful. In all my experience I have never been in an accident worth speaking of.'

(
Boston Post
, 16 April 1912)

The grim truth was broken to the British public in a special late edition of the
Daily Graphic
.

An appalling disaster has overtaken the White Star liner
Titanic
on her maiden voyage to New York.

The huge vessel, which left Southampton on Wednesday, was in collision on Sunday night with an iceberg while still some 400 or 500 miles from land.

She sank at 2.20 on Monday morning – four hours after the collision.

Her wireless messages were picked up by other liners, which hastened to her assistance; but the
Carpathia
, which reached the spot where she foundered at daybreak, found only boats and wreckage.

The full extent of the disaster is not yet known, but it is stated that 675 souls – mostly women and children – have been saved.

If all the others have gone down with the vessel the loss of life will be appalling as the
Titanic
had 2,358 persons on board.

There may still be some hope that vessels other than the
Carpathia
have picked up some survivors.

The
Titanic
's survivors on board the
Carpathia
are stated at the White Star offices in New York to include all first-class passengers. She is expected to reach New York on Friday morning.

A message sent out by Reuter from New York at 9pm states that the White Star officials now admit that probably only 675 out of the 2,358 persons on board the
Titanic
have been saved.

(
Daily Graphic
, 16 April 1912)

The latest information with regard to the wreck of the
Titanic
, in consequence of collision with an iceberg, leaves little room for doubt that the most awful shipping disaster in the history of the world has occurred. And this on the maiden voyage of the largest and most luxurious liner the world has ever known.

Messages from New York to hand early this morning, containing the expressed opinion of a prominent White Star Line official, state that the
Titanic
has sunk, and that probably only 675 of the 2,490 souls aboard the doomed ship have been saved. Thus there is the most terrible loss of 1,825 [sic] lives.

Another estimate of the number of passengers and crew on board is 2,358, but whatever the exact figure, the awful news will stagger humanity.

The
Carpathia
, with the 675 survivors, who include most, if not all, of the first-class passengers, is on her way to New York.

Many west country passengers were on board the vessel.

The earlier news gave hope that the passengers and crew had all been saved, but in the light of the more authentic accounts, many of the telegrams must be discounted.

The main facts stand out plainly. The
Titanic
sank soon after striking the iceberg, and when the
Virginian
arrived on the scene there were nothing but boats and wreckage visible. Some of the passengers picked up by the
Virginian
were afterwards transferred to the
Carpathia
, and it is to be feared that all the souls saved are the 675 on the
Carpathia
, which is now on her way to New York.

The abrupt stoppage of the
Titanic
's wireless message and the absence of definite news during the greater part of yesterday are only circumstantial confirmations of the frightful catastrophe. If the
Titanic
had remained afloat full details of her condition would have been made known by her wireless operators.

Appended are the latest messages received through Reuter's Agency, this morning:

NEW YORK, April 15 – The
Titanic
sank at 2.20 this morning. No lives were lost.

NEW YORK, April 15, 8.20 p.m. – The following statement has been given out by the White Star officials:

‘Captain Haddock, of the
Olympic
, sends a wireless message that the
Titanic
sank at 2.20 a.m., Monday, after all the passengers and the crew had been lowered into the lifeboats and transferred to the
Virginian
. The steamer
Carpathia
, with several hundred passengers from the
Titanic
, is now on her way to New York.'

NEW YORK, April 15, 8.40 p.m. – The White Star officials now admit that some lives have been lost.

8.45 p.m. – A despatch from Cape Race says that all the
Titanic
's boats are accounted for. About 675 souls have been saved of crew and passengers – the latter nearly all women and children. The
Carpathia
is returning to New York with survivors.

NEW YORK, 8.45 p.m. – The following despatch has been received from Cape Race: The steamer
Olympic
reports that the steamer
Carpathia
reached the
Titanic
position at daybreak, but found boats and wreckage only.