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to go back to our cabins again to get anything and we
did not dream it was serious. I thought I should get back
to get more clothes on and get a few other things but
we were put into the lifeboats and pushed off at once.
They put all Ladies and children in first. I guess there
were thirty or forty in our boat. It seemed to be the last
one lowered with Women in it. When we got away from
the ship we could understand the hurry and the order to
get half a mile away as soos as possible for the Titanic
was half in the water. We watched the portholes going
under until half the ship the back half stuck up ; then the
lights went out, and the boilers burst and blew up. There
was a sickening roar like hundred of Lions and we heard
no more but the moaning and shouting for help from the
hundreds of men and a fewwomen who went down with
her. There were not enough boats for so many people.
Twenty lifeboats were lowered and only fourteen picked
up. Several men were on a raft that was thrown out and
the their [sic] cries for help were so pitiful for so long.
Only one fellow about twenty-one yearsold, is alive from
the raft. He says the men were dropping off one after the
other, and so were pushed off to make it lighter. This man
was on it six hours and the saved. Just before the ship
went down the captain « The same Captain Smith of the
twin-ship Olimpic » jumped into the sea and picked up
a little girl who was hanging to the ship and put her on
the raft. They pulled him on too but he would not stay.
He said « Good-bye boys. I must go with my ship ». He
swam back through the icy water and died at his post.
The little girl died too. How the few men worked on our
little boat, and how they kept up, I don’t know. We were
drifting all amonst the Icebergs for hours, and oh it was
so cold. We had not enough clothes on. I had no blouse
and others had no stockings or underclothes. The boat
rocked so and made me seasick there were three or
four young babies there without their mothers and how
they screamed. We were all perished with cold drifting
along looking for a Vessel of some kind and waiting
for the dawn. We sighted a bright light soon and we all
watched it so anxiously it came along closer and closer
till we saw more lights on her and knew that help was
at hand. The suspence was terrible. We were afraid they
did not know of theWreck or that they would not see our
lights for most of the boats had no light only a lighted
rope end. We had no drink or provisions The only thing
in our favor was the clear starlight and a fairly smooth
sea this boat of the Carpathia of the Cunard line was
going from Halifax to Berlin she was the only ship near
enough to catch the Wireless message for help from the
Titanic and then the operator says he was just leaving
and closing the door when he heard the clicking of the
wireless so it was taken just in time for they never sent
another message and it was an hour and a quarter after
that before the first lifeboat got to this ship. Of course
she stood still and waited for us all to come up. They
were all in but two when we got in. We were in the little
boat just five hours and a half before being rescued
they lowered bags for the babies and pulled them up
and we sat on a kind of swing and were drawn up by
a rope to safety they have been most kind to us led us
one by one to the dining room and us brandy I drank half
a glass of brandy down and without water. We were all
perished and it put life into us. The ship of course filled
with its own passengers but they found places for us all
to sleep but none of us slept well after going through
such a nightmare. This ship stood right over the place
were the Titanic went down and picked us up. Two small
boats were picked up later they were floating. One had
seaven seven dead bodies in it and the other just a dead
boatman in it. They sewed them up in canvas here and
weighted them and gave them a Christian burial at sea
two small boats filled passengers capsized they all went
down but two or three who clung to the upturned boat
and were saved. We are told that the S.S. Baltic picked
up about fifty men and the poor women here are hoping
their Husbands are amongst the fifty it is supposed there
are 160 more Widows through this Wreck and most of
them have children it is so heartbreaking to see and hear
them crying for their Husbands. We were all gathered
together and our names taken for the newspapers of
course they cannot tell how many are dead but we have
on this ship only two hundred crew out of nine hundred
and ten and five hundred passengers out of about
two thousand I am amongst the fortunate for God has
spared my life when I was so near death again I have
lost everything I had on board the only thing I saved was
my watch that Dad gave me eleven years ago but all my
treasures and clothes and some money have gone down
I only have the scanty clothes I stand up in including
my big coat which as been such a blessing we expect
to land Wednesday night or next morning I shall be so
thankful for I feel so ill. on this boat the food is not so nice
and we have to sleep in the bottom of the boat but still
I thank God I’m alive I could tell you much more of the
horrors of Sunday night but will write again later on land
I cant bear to think of it all now. Will you let Auntie and
Edie see this letter and tell my friends I’m safe you must
have all been anxious. With fondest love to all… »
Traduction : Ma chère mère et mon cher père,
Je suppose que vous vous êtes demandé si vous auriez
encore de mes nouvelles en apprenant par les journaux
le naufrage du
Titanic
, mais après avoir vécu l’expérience
la plus terrible de mon existence, je suis saine et sauve.
Mes nerfs ont été durement éprouvés, j’ai l’impression
d’avoir vieilli de dix ans, mais avec le temps cela passera.
Vous préférerez entendre la vérité sur les circonstances
du naufrage, les journaux ne donnant jamais des
informations fiables. Nous étions tous au lit la nuit de
dimanche vers 11h30 lorsque nous avons ressenti une
terrible secousse, alors que le flanc du navire frôlait
quelque chose et que la mer semblait inonder le pont.
Les hommes de la cabine voisine enfilèrent leur
manteau et se précipitèrent pour voir ce qui se passait
et vinrent nous dire que le bateau avait heurté un
iceberg de presque sa taille
. La plupart des gens se
remirent au lit mais c’est à ce moment que l’ordre fut
donné de se lever, de s’équiper d’un vêtement chaud,
d’une bouée de sauvetage et d’aller sur le pont. Alors
j’ai pris un jupon, une jupe, des bas, des chaussures
et un manteau et j’ai couru pour trouver une bouée de
sauvetage, parce qu’il n’y en avait que trois dans notre
couchette et nous étions quatre. Un garçon de la cabine
voisine avait volé une des nôtres, mais il a finalement
coulé avec, le pauvre. Nous n’avons pas eu le temps de