"Since half-past four this morning I have experienced one
of those never-to-be-forgotten circumstances that weighs
heavy on my soul and which shows most awfully what poor
things we mortals are. Long before this reaches you the news
will be flashed that the Titanic has gone down and that our
steamer, the Carpathia, caught the wireless message when
seventy-five miles away, and so far we have picked up twenty
boats estimated to contain about 750 people.
"None of us can tell just how many, as they have been
hustled to various staterooms and to the dining saloons to be
warmed up. I was awakened by unusual noises and imagined
that I smelled smoke. I jumped up and looked out of my
port-hole, and saw a huge iceberg looming up like a rock off
shore. It was not white, and I was positive that it was a
rock, and the thought flashed through my mind, how in the
world can we be near a rock when we are four days out
from New York in a southerly direction and in mid-ocean.
"When I got out on deck the first man I encountered told
me that the Titanic had gone down and we were rescuing the
passengers. The first two boats from the doomed vessel
were in sight making toward us. Neither of them was crowded.
This was accounted for later by the fact that it was impossible
to get many to leave the steamer, as they would not believe
that she was going down.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140